The Craft

Wicca is a Neopagan Religion. Wicca became popular in the 1950's and early 1960's. This religion worships a Goddess (The Triple Goddess) and a God (Horned God). Unlike other religions, Wicca allows you to be what you choose; monotheistic, polytheistic, or atheistic. Also, what I find most interesting is-- Wicca involves the practice of magic! Wicca has several denominations within the religion--like Christianity does as well. The religion is an earth-based religion, worshipping the earth as well as the mother Goddess and father God.

In today's world there are so many different groups of Wiccans that there are also a great number of beliefs between Wiccans. After researching the religion it's come to me that Wicca is almost the "hippy" of religion. Their beliefs revolve around the world, making sure to do no harm to; yourself, others, or the earth. They do not believe in a hierarchy, but respect, and honor teachings, knowledge, and wisdom. They believe in the five main elements; Fire, Air, Earth, Wind, and Aether (Spirit). A symbol you will often see involved with Wiccan religion. Often enough, Wiccans are thought to be satanists. This is mis-led through the terms Witch, magic, witchcraft, and the Craft.

"When one defines oneself as Pagan, it means she or he follows and earth or nature religion, one that sees the divine manifest in all creation. The cycles of nature are our holy days, the earth is our temple, its plants and creatures our partners and teachers. We worship a deity that is both male and female, a mother Goddess and father God, who together created all that is, was, or will be. We respect life, cherish the free will of sentient beings, and accept the sacredness of all creation."-- Edain McCoy

The Big Three

The big three; Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. We have learned a great deal about these religions in class, and in our readings. I feel they all have something very important in common, the most important similarity. Monotheism. Each of the religions are monotheistic; all believe in one God. For each of these religions, the idea of one God is the most important part of their history! It is the germane part of the religion. At the same time, I feel this is the biggest difference between the three religions. Although all three (Islam, Christianity, and Judaism) are monotheistic, their beliefs in who God actually is, are very different. For Christians, God is the messiah. He consists of; God, Jesus, and the holy trinity. All are one. In Judaism, God and ONLY God, is God. After God comes prophets. They do not believe that God is three beings at once! "Hear , O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one." Islam believes there is no God but Allah. It is believed that Muhammed is not one with Allah, but a messenger of God. Each of these are the germane beliefs of each religion. Where they are the same, they are different.

The Golden Rule

"In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets."(Smith 242) Ever since I was a kid, this has been a saying that I have stood by. My mother always told me, "Treat others how you would want to be treated." That to me, is exactly what The Golden Rule is. No one wants to be treated badly, so why push it upon others? No one wants their opinions and ideas to be made fun of, so why make fun of others beliefs? It's simple. There is no reason to treat others badly. If you treat them with respect, and love you will get the same in return. If you talk down to someone, or hurt them, expect the same to be done for you. I feel the Golden Rule goes along with much of the pledge my Philosophy class took at the beginning of the semester. "My classmates ideas are no less important than my own. I will respect and honor my classmates' opinions, beliefs, and choices." In this pledge not only did we agree to do our part in the classroom; homework, classwork, exams, etc, but we also agreed to treat others as we would want to be treated. To respect each others beliefs and ideas. When I googled searched this saying, I found mostly all the same type of results. Most websites I explored were sites made for religions specifically. All sites talked about the meaning of the Golden Rule, and had some tips on following it. Although there were some random sites.. like the Golden Rule BBQ and grille and the golden rule tattoo parlor. (:

Do Opposites Attract?

When you look at both Confucianism and Taoism, and compare the major beliefs of both religions, they are almost the complete opposite. Confucianism believes your role in life is who you are. You cannot get to your full wholeheartedness alone. They do not believe change is germane, to reaching your best. Taoism, on the other hand, believes the opposite. Wuwei or; action without action, spur of the moment; going with the flow: is one of the major parts of Taoism. They believe that you CAN reach your ultimate self, by yourself. That life is ever changing. I believe the two religions fit in with the "opposites attract" category. Someone, who believes in both, may think "Hey, I think I can achieve certain parts of my ultimate self on my own... but certain things I cannot." Or one may believe that change can be both good, and bad, but not things do not constantly change. Following different beliefs from each religion, would make it possible to follow both religions.

Asceticism, Samsara, and Castes

The Hindu religion revolves around 3 things most importantly; Samsara: the cycle of life, death, and rebirth, Castes: a strict set of social status, and, the ascetics: a few select renouncers. The idea of Samsara is to escape the cycle of life, death and rebirth. To find release, or liberation (known as moksha in the Hindu religion.) The caste system is what you could call strict. There are five different categories of status; Brahmins: priestly, Kshatriya: the warrior, Vaishya: the householder, Shudra: the servant, and, Dalits: the untouchables. You are born into a caste, and the decisions you make in life, effect where you will be placed in reincarnation. In a way, this system is a Hindu version of Christianity's Adam and Eve, meant to illustrate social status. One who chooses to follow asceticism, is what you would call a Holy Man. These men deny themselves of certain pleasures in life, and show extreme devotion to a higher deity. I believe Hindu religious practices and beliefs informed the Buddas new dhamma in a few ways. They have the same idea of finding a form of enlightenment, but go about it in different ways. Also, the idea in Buddhism of, how all of life is suffering, reminds me of the idea of escaping samsara in the Hindu religion. To me, both are a form of suffering, all for the idea of a better self, and a better life.

Hidden

After looking through some articles on the huffington post website, I found one that really sparked my interest. "Why Does God Hide?", by author Alan Lurie addresses the dilemma cause by God not literally being "present". For some, this makes it hard to truly believe, and for others it is just enough to believe he does not exist. Lurie explains four possible "misunderstandings" for those of whom the question of Gods presence is a dilemma. Firstly, the misunderstanding of the nature of God. This revolves around the idea of God as a being, which has been understood for years that God is not a limited being. Secondly, a misunderstanding of the nature of religion. Lurie explains that religion is the mass amount of the want to find a purpose or a meaning. Also, the misunderstanding of the means to experience Gods presence (there is too much going on to expect that Gods presence be immediately noticed by someone.) And lastly, a misunderstanding of the proof. Lurie simply states that even with all attempts made to prove the existence of God, few people must be convinced by the evidence given to them.

The attempt Lurie was trying to make in this article was to break down several ideas, in simple way, in hopes of creating an opening where one can be more in touch with the world and him/herself. The question of why God "hides",I agree, is simply possibly a misunderstanding Growing up I was raised Catholic. I attended CCD classes up until my junior year of high school. Over those years I had come to the realization of several things. I grew up believing that if God was real I should be able to see him, or feel him. For years I thought I was being lied to because I never actually saw God when I needed him. After graduating high school I started meeting several people of different religions. I had a realization that if there is a God, no matter what it be, or what religion, there may never have proof of existence. To me, that is what makes it easier for me to believe that there is a God, even though I am unsure of what religion I choose to follow.

My Life As Jess

Hi! My name is Jessica, but I usually go by Jess. I'm 20 years old and have lived in the Boston area my whole life. This blog will be used for my Philosophy of World Religions course this semester. I don't know much about blogging, or most of the religions I'll be learning about. But, this gives me more to look forward to! I look forward to all the different voiced opinions I will be hearing also (: