How many are having more direct experiences with the God(desses)?

[the Hearthwitch]

It seems, lately, as though more & more people are having direct, personal experiences with the Gods and Goddesses, as well as other Beings. I've been seeing this in blogs and elsewhere online, and since I'm kind of isolated, the online world is the only place that I've been connecting with like-minded people- I don't run into a lot of Pagans, Heathens, or witches of any stripe, in my everyday world. I've also been seeing that "supernatural" activity is reportedly on the rise, too, in these online communities- and I've noticed it, for the last few years, long before I found those communities and sites.

But, I am also keenly aware that birds of a feather tend to flock together...so, thought it would be a good idea to ask here, too, since this is broader site, in beliefs-

 

Have you had more going on in your spirit and spiritual world than you used to? Are you Seeing/Feeling/(insert-your-method-of-detection-here) more activity than in past years?

And are the God(dese)s calling on you personally?

[LeopardBoy]

I haven't had any direct, personal experiences or revelations from the gods I worship, and honestly I don't expect to have any.  My religion really isn't reliant upon individual mystical experience, but private and community acts of devotion.  Sure one could point to the ecstasy of the mystery cults or the phenomenon of nympholepsy, or oracular visions and insights, but those were historically rare and happened in specific settings.  The vast majority just worshipped according to whatever level of piety suited them, and went about their lives never having grand mystical experiences.

 

I think a lot of the reason mysticism and personal divine experiences and revelations are so prominent in the pagan community, is that the gateway to the community for the most part is still Wicca, and those pagan religions that are influenced and inspired by Wicca.  A religion with no laity, where everyone is a priest or priestess, and the focus of the religion as it relates to their god and goddess is on ecstatic experience (drawing down the moon, the practice of magic, etc.)

 

I had also been among the online pagan community long enough to be very skeptical about the majority of the claims people make about their direct experiences with gods or demons, etc.  I've seen many a wild claim accepted almost blindly and affirmed by others in the community out of some sense of inclusiveness and solidarity.  Many a forum became an echo chamber for ridiculousness, and I grew very disenchanted with the community because of it.

[RevTom]

I have felt a call to the ministry in recent months after many years having turned away from my calling in 1965. Honestly, I don't believe I would have entertained it had I not stumbled back upon ULC and read the forums. The points that always stick in my soul are that I have had several near death experiences, and no matter what I was involved with at the time - Wicca, Atheism, agnosticism, every single time when I was on the doorstep of death, I would unconsciously call upon God to save me, which obviously He did. In many of these instances, there is no reasonable possibility for me not to have died.

[Jonathan H. B. Lobl]

1 hour ago, RevTom said:

I have felt a call to the ministry in recent months after many years having turned away from my calling in 1965. Honestly, I don't believe I would have entertained it had I not stumbled back upon ULC and read the forums. The points that always stick in my soul are that I have had several near death experiences, and no matter what I was involved with at the time - Wicca, Atheism, agnosticism, every single time when I was on the doorstep of death, I would unconsciously call upon God to save me, which obviously He did. In many of these instances, there is no reasonable possibility for me not to have died.

 

Life is not reasonable.  There is mystery.  Not quite the same thing as God.  Only an observation.  Not an argument.  

[RevTom]

31 minutes ago, Jonathan H. B. Lobl said:

 

Life is not reasonable.  There is mystery.  Not quite the same thing as God.  Only an observation.  Not an argument.  

I agree.I think we all relate to things happening based n our personal experiences. I like your input and observations. I might not always agree, but they always give pause for thought.

[Jonathan H. B. Lobl]

1 hour ago, RevTom said:

I agree.I think we all relate to things happening based n our personal experiences. I like your input and observations. I might not always agree, but they always give pause for thought.

 

Thank you.  It is my understanding of the Agnostic way.  I have questions.  I have doubts.  Very few answers.  

[Brother Kaman]

12 hours ago, RevTom said:

I have felt a call to the ministry in recent months after many years having turned away from my calling in 1965. Honestly, I don't believe I would have entertained it had I not stumbled back upon ULC and read the forums. The points that always stick in my soul are that I have had several near death experiences, and no matter what I was involved with at the time - Wicca, Atheism, agnosticism, every single time when I was on the doorstep of death, I would unconsciously call upon God to save me, which obviously He did. In many of these instances, there is no reasonable possibility for me not to have died.

I do not understand. How do you know you called upon G/god if you were not conscious of it? Were others with you who witnessed your call and related it to you later?

Edited August 10 by Brother Kaman

[Key]

1 hour ago, Brother Kaman said:

I do not understand. How do you know you called upon G/god if you were not conscious of it? Were others with you who witnessed your call and related it to you later?

Maybe he attributes a kind of pull towards doing something for his faith as a call from his God. Many people feel lacking or pulled toward something spiritual. Not all, and not everyone does anything.

[Brother Kaman]

RevTom said he did something (Called upon his G/god) and said he was not conscious of having done so. I was wondering how he manage that and yet be conscious enough of it to relate the anecdote.

[RevTom]

8 hours ago, Brother Kaman said:

I do not understand. How do you know you called upon G/god if you were not conscious of it? Were others with you who witnessed your call and related it to you later?

Near death experiences doesn't always mean in a state of unconsciousness. One of the instances was in a van when the driver swerved to miss an oncoming car. He ran off the road down a steep embankment abut 35 feet, and the van rolled numerous times. I heard glass breaking - I was flopping around in the van - no seats: I was sitting on two stacked crates of wine when the accident started. I couldn't see all the glass breaking, but heard it, and saw the top peel off the van like it was opened with a can opener. I knew I was knocking on death's door, and in desperation called out to God to save me. We all (4 of us) came out of it with minor scratches. Another time, I was just a boy fishing with my family. Nobody was catching anything so I moved to a different lace on the lake, about 50 yards from my family. As the day progressed from cool morning to warm noon, I looked around and found myself surrounded by cottonmouth moccasins, 16 of them sunning themselves along the bank. As I tried to creep by them to get out of there, the closest ones noticed me moving and started slithering 3 of them flicked their tongues at me and touched me with their tongues checking me out. One of them came partway up my pants. I called upon God for deliverance, and after about 15 minutes the snakes right at me moved away, and I was able to pick a path through them. These are just two incidents: I have had several, yes including serious injury: I smashed my finger in a printing press requiring 4 hours of microsurgery to put my finger back together - sort of. I lost almost two liters of blood from the injury, and was in and out of consciousness for a few hours. I remember a white being around me and calling upon God to save me. The doctor told me he hadn't expected me to live.

[RevTom]

9 hours ago, Brother Kaman said:

I do not understand. How do you know you called upon G/god if you were not conscious of it? Were others with you who witnessed your call and related it to you later?

By unconsciously I did not mean that I was necessarily unconscious, although in a couple of instances I was. Being unconscious does not mean you do not have recollection of what happened.

[RevTom]

7 hours ago, Key said:

Maybe he attributes a kind of pull towards doing something for his faith as a call from his God. Many people feel lacking or pulled toward something spiritual. Not all, and not everyone does anything.

I do not understand. How do you know you called upon G/god if you were not conscious of it? Were others with you who witnessed your call and related it to you later?

Being unconscious does not always mean you have no recollection of events that happen. 

[Brother Kaman]

4 minutes ago, RevTom said:

By unconsciously I did not mean that I was necessarily unconscious, although in a couple of instances I was. Being unconscious does not mean you do not have recollection of what happened.

The way you used the word "unconscious" was that you were unaware of calling upon G/god. You were fully conscious but unconscious of your action.

[RevTom]

4 minutes ago, Brother Kaman said:

The way you used the word "unconscious" was that you were unaware of calling upon G/god. You were fully conscious but unconscious of your action.

A bit of quibbling? I did not realize I had called upon God until I had done so. When I had called upon Him, I realized that I had, and that I felt guilty because I had stepped away from my faith for a number of years in a couple of the instances.

[Jonathan H. B. Lobl]

1 hour ago, RevTom said:

A bit of quibbling? I did not realize I had called upon God until I had done so. When I had called upon Him, I realized that I had, and that I felt guilty because I had stepped away from my faith for a number of years in a couple of the instances.

 

This is getting oddly complicated.  Perhaps you meant "unaware"?  Meaning that you were fully conscious but not paying attention?  Like walking down the street and not stepping in the dog poo, because you were on auto-pilot.  You were not aware of avoiding the dog poo.  You just walked around it without paying attention.  In other words, how most of us get through a day.  

 

Edited August 10 by Jonathan H. B. Lobl

[the Hearthwitch]

I like that analogy- good explanation! Prayer and spellwork is like that, for some- a blessing can be interwoven into the most mundane of chores. 

[Key]

17 hours ago, RevTom said:

I do not understand. How do you know you called upon G/god if you were not conscious of it? Were others with you who witnessed your call and related it to you later?

Being unconscious does not always mean you have no recollection of events that happen. 

Curious how you responded to my post with this. Maybe in error? I never questioned if you were conscious of a call or not.

[Brother Kaman]

18 hours ago, RevTom said:

A bit of quibbling? I did not realize I had called upon God until I had done so. When I had called upon Him, I realized that I had, and that I felt guilty because I had stepped away from my faith for a number of years in a couple of the instances.

Shared connotations of words and phrases are necessary to communicate data and ideas. It is becoming obvious that we do not share those connotations and semantics. I am not quibbling. I am trying to understand what you have written. Ultimately it makes no difference so I will bow out of this.

[Jonathan H. B. Lobl]

2 hours ago, the Hearthwitch said:

I like that analogy- good explanation! Prayer and spellwork is like that, for some- a blessing can be interwoven into the most mundane of chores. 

 

Are you making a distinction between prayer and spellwork?  I regard them as the same.  A way to focus intent.  

 

I speak from the perspective of Reiki.  What are the Reiki symbols but a means of focusing intention?   Since you are a Reiki Master, you must know about the process.  If a Wiccan does the same thing, it's called magic.

 

 

Edited August 11 by Jonathan H. B. Lobl

[the Hearthwitch]

3 minutes ago, Jonathan H. B. Lobl said:

 

Are you making a distinction between prayer and spellwork?  I regard them as the same.  A way to focus intent.  

 

No, not really. *I* see them as being the same- but I also was doing my best not to offend anyone, as I have known Christians and others who DO make that distinction, rather strongly.