tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25987874.post4674306937229543776..comments2023-10-05T06:20:40.173-04:00Comments on Quaker Pagan Reflections: Peter asks, “By what name?”Cat C-B (and/or Peter B)http://www.blogger.com/profile/10002916434676859262noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25987874.post-26636704199804569202010-05-30T12:40:30.751-04:002010-05-30T12:40:30.751-04:00the Light that covers a Quaker meeting just seems ...<i>the Light that covers a Quaker meeting just seems nothing at all like the terrifying and capricious pastoral deity who demanded that blood be smeared on the horns of his golden altar.</i><br /><br />I've seen this association mentioned here before, and — although I know you are speaking from your own experience, out of a sense of what each name calls up for you — as a Jew it still unnerves me the way this phrasing seems to elide the last 2500 years of development in Judaism. The Four-Letter Name is still an integral part of an evolving faith tradition.<br /><br />Is Herne, too, not inseparable in his origin from the idea that the passing of life force at the violent death of a food animal is a sacred and integral part of the natural order of things?<br /><br />On a more agreeing note, I like "Holy Spirit", "Presence", "embraced"... I might even say "Big Hug".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25987874.post-14703137248000489862010-04-26T09:51:32.668-04:002010-04-26T09:51:32.668-04:00Thanks Peter for your reflection. I find it very ...Thanks Peter for your reflection. I find it very insightful and I often struggle with how to talk of things that there are no words for. I now know that I will never find the words unless I try and I know that I will be disapointed with not getting it right, but happy with the glimpses (word?) that are reveled.<br />GlennAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25987874.post-35415320707733875562010-04-26T09:01:58.677-04:002010-04-26T09:01:58.677-04:00I kind of like Thorne Coyle's often-used phras...I kind of like Thorne Coyle's often-used phrase "God Herself", though I am of the belief that my friend <a href="http://drolleriepress.com/authors-and-excerpts/a-through-l/sarah-avery/" rel="nofollow">Sarah Avery</a> was spot on when she referred to "the Living Universe" many years ago - it really resonated with me and has been the way I think of the Divine ever since.Karennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25987874.post-6821171772595851922010-04-19T02:26:47.175-04:002010-04-19T02:26:47.175-04:00And the word “Lord,” used anywhere that Christians...<i>And the word “Lord,” used anywhere that Christians are present, is also the word used to translate the Hebrew name “Yahweh,” and the Light that covers a Quaker meeting just seems nothing at all like the terrifying and capricious pastoral deity who demanded that blood be smeared on the horns of his golden altar.</i><br /><br />Um, that would be the Jews, I think. The Christians came later.<br /><br />I personally stick with "Light," and live with the clumsy metaphors.kevin robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07336902422644197456noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25987874.post-11145721749672514982010-04-14T12:16:02.083-04:002010-04-14T12:16:02.083-04:00I like this post.
The Unitarians have a great hym...I like this post.<br /><br />The Unitarians have a great hymn that goes, "Before God was, I AM."<br /><br />Unitarian ministers are in the habit of, every time they use the word God, then referring to She / Her. I like this (suitably gender-bending).<br /><br />I tend to refer to "the Divine", "the Source", "the Tao", sometimes "Spirit of Life" (UU terminology).<br /><br />I like Melissa's "the Presence" (implies the Shekhinah to me).<br /><br />Alternatively, try <a href="http://twitter.com/SexToysEden/status/10314999708" rel="nofollow">"Linda"</a>. (Srsly.)Yewtreehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02028699564003381058noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25987874.post-82739777028999842772010-04-13T13:23:28.415-04:002010-04-13T13:23:28.415-04:00Thanks to all who responded. I was just kind of m...Thanks to all who responded. I was just kind of musing, going through my thoughts like papers in an old attic, and I had no idea I would touch on so many other people's struggles.Peter Bishophttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03357059083130301973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25987874.post-46778548124475220742010-04-13T12:15:32.464-04:002010-04-13T12:15:32.464-04:00Peter, you speak my mind.Peter, you speak my mind.Iron Muffinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25987874.post-41342585006819255942010-04-13T12:14:38.380-04:002010-04-13T12:14:38.380-04:00I have had the same problem....giving a name to th...I have had the same problem....giving a name to the divine.....I am a Pagan as well and I can tell you that you this gives a voice to one of the questions for a project of mine.... "How can I get people to understand that you don't need to tease people about their religion because we all serve the divine?" and your post gives me part of an answer...by whatever the name, we all serve the divine, but in by other names/faces. Like She might come to you as The Mother, Te Maiden, or The Crone.<br /><br />I have done some meditation on this and what I found is that She is always with us, embracing us, loving us and no matter what shape She comes in or what face She wears, She is in all of us, and we are Her children. <br /><br />blessed beHaylie Vezzolihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01101270796366649154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25987874.post-75574742022151638952010-04-12T23:02:35.359-04:002010-04-12T23:02:35.359-04:00Well done!
I sort of focussed on, "If it is ...Well done!<br /><br />I sort of focussed on, "If it is the Creator of the Universe, that’s not exactly relevant right then. It is present, Here, Now, very intimately with me, and who or what it was thirteen billion years ago doesn’t really matter." and that's sort of the difference between religion or theology and the <i>experience</i> of the divine that resonates with me.<br /><br />Thank YouNatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07004334102672210987noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25987874.post-65123425804676788192010-04-12T15:05:16.477-04:002010-04-12T15:05:16.477-04:00This is something I've been meditating on for ...This is something I've been meditating on for the last week or so as well, though the concern for me is more the "form" of "it" than the "name". I spent a lot of energy during Holy Week/just before Easter exploring Jesus and my relationship with that aspect of the divine. I felt exhausted after Easter because that is not a primary way for me to relate to the divine so I have been really delving back into the pagan aspects that feel more natural to me. My evening prayers have focused on flowers and rain all week :) <br /><br />This blogger, who is well written and amazingly insightful, uses the phrase G!(d)dess. I kind of like that :)<br /><br />http://www.peelapom.comAlysshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04820396354932192545noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25987874.post-75134337283708621592010-04-12T10:49:59.676-04:002010-04-12T10:49:59.676-04:00Peter,
It was good to read this. You have given ...Peter,<br /><br />It was good to read this. You have given voice to a concern that haunts me and in so doing have made me feel less alone. Thank you for that.Hysteryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02044678910937934731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25987874.post-58155195596591780392010-04-12T08:14:28.139-04:002010-04-12T08:14:28.139-04:00Thank you for naming the very thing I've been ...Thank you for naming the very thing I've been struggling with. What to call this Presence that isn't limited by gender and doesn't make it small, limited, boxed-in to some pre-established definition that has little to do with what I experience. Right now, I'm using "My Friend God" which isn't quite right either but is closest to how I feel.Melissa Fosternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25987874.post-89709364354297669522010-04-12T07:43:26.184-04:002010-04-12T07:43:26.184-04:00Well, I'm a pagan friend who knows exactly wha...Well, I'm a pagan friend who knows exactly what you're talking about. ;-) The odd thing is that I feel like that (held by a/the Holy Spirit) <i>almost all the time</i>, and it's been rather odd to gradually realize that this isn't the case for everyone.<br /><br />A few years ago I did an exercise suggested by a friend that allowed one to meet and 'see' one's primary spirit guide. When I tried it, at first I didn't see anything, and then suddenly I realized that my guide was <i>permanently embracing me</i> in a hold so tight that our bodies actually overlapped. It was pretty freaky.Jeffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16358942133639236705noreply@blogger.com