Path: typhoon.sonic.net!not-for-mail Newsgroups: alt.religion.wicca,alt.traditional.witchcraft,alt.witchcraft,alt.pagan Subject: Veneration of the Dead/Ancestors/Necromancy References: From: lorax666 Reply-To: spam@luckymojo.com User-Agent: nn/6.6.0 Lines: 34 Message-ID: Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2003 20:06:04 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 208.201.242.18 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sonic.net X-Trace: typhoon.sonic.net 1048795564 208.201.242.18 (Thu, 27 Mar 2003 12:06:04 PST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2003 12:06:04 PST Xref: typhoon.sonic.net alt.religion.wicca:673568 alt.traditional.witchcraft:150679 alt.witchcraft:63174 alt.pagan:348039 50030327 VII om peace NULatix! ren-kaite-sidhe re: Why Are You Afraid To Work With The Dead? >> I pose this question to those of you who could have chosen this path but >> declined it due to fear. Just what is it about the dead that you fear? my family was so materialistic and non-funeral-oriented that I have found no connection to the dead, don't know that I'd want to engage what I've seen of Spiritualism/Spiritism, and am not part of a dead-veneration culture such that I'd pick up elements (not that I haven't had exposure, I've lived with neos and hardcore ritualists in this regard who were very open with me in answering queries I might have). Relayer Bin Geekin : >What is it you think the dead have to offer? here's the main issue: within certain perspectives, cosmologies, the dead might have access to something we do not, but from a perspective where the dead are gone and unable to assist, or from that which doesn't include the dead because they have transcended this earthplane or somehow gone to other dimensions/heavens/hells/etc., their influence is minimal. the issue of the dead (which comes up around Samhain in Wiccan communities) is one which seems rather unexplored or specialized in Neopagan culture. only some work with the dead in any duration, and quite often I've noticed that this is in a *facilitating* function (i.e. facilitating the dead's transition to the Next World) rather than getting something from the dead in terms of assistance or information. this has important exceptions, of course, such as overlaps with Norse and African diasporic and neuvoreligious. blessed be! lorax666