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Last night I ended up going to the moot even though I really didn't feel like it, so I'm pretty damn proud of myself! I really wanted to support the leader guy Ian as he's had a rough time lately and there's been lots of pagan moots closing down which absolutely sucks. It was a good moot anyways, even if a lot of it was Ian explaining things to people who were attending out of interest (yes, they asked what we kill at rituals).
I was making notes on my phone through our discussions, and I brought up the topic of what we do when we're ill/fatigued etc in terms of prayer/ritual. Denise who is a Lokean said something like 'if you literally can't do it and feel you have to, then that deity doesn't deserve to be worshipped' and it was such a weird moment like it full on felt like it was Loki saying it. So that's been in my mind a lot.
We also talked about the similarities between prayer and magic and about how it's all about intent and not the method. I feel this is especially important in Shinto, especially when people say they can't pray properly and such because they don't have a Goshintai/ofuda. Ian was talking about how a magic spell is like focusing in on a specific problem and actively trying to change yourself - whether you believe in magic or not. I thought that was a kind of mental breakthrough for me, as I often have the doubts and such when I work with magic.
We also had a great discussion on what causes harm in paganism and what can be considered harm. I love that kind of philosophicalspeech! I felt bad that Ian had to talk so much but it feels like we're all gathering around and listening to a bard or something when he speaks and I really love it!
So yeah, good moot and I'm looking forward to the next one!
I was making notes on my phone through our discussions, and I brought up the topic of what we do when we're ill/fatigued etc in terms of prayer/ritual. Denise who is a Lokean said something like 'if you literally can't do it and feel you have to, then that deity doesn't deserve to be worshipped' and it was such a weird moment like it full on felt like it was Loki saying it. So that's been in my mind a lot.
We also talked about the similarities between prayer and magic and about how it's all about intent and not the method. I feel this is especially important in Shinto, especially when people say they can't pray properly and such because they don't have a Goshintai/ofuda. Ian was talking about how a magic spell is like focusing in on a specific problem and actively trying to change yourself - whether you believe in magic or not. I thought that was a kind of mental breakthrough for me, as I often have the doubts and such when I work with magic.
We also had a great discussion on what causes harm in paganism and what can be considered harm. I love that kind of philosophicalspeech! I felt bad that Ian had to talk so much but it feels like we're all gathering around and listening to a bard or something when he speaks and I really love it!
So yeah, good moot and I'm looking forward to the next one!
