Why do you believe?

[Vanilla eXee]

All of us are here because we have an interest in the occult, whether we practice or just study. For you, was it just one moment that brought you here, or a series of events? Tell me your stories and what made you want to pursue your particular path in life.

As for me, I really don't remember how it all started. To be honest, I've always been interested in magic in all of it's forms, as well as spirits, demons, and other creatures that go bump in the night. As the years have gone by, I've wavered in my beliefs, but never in interest. Right now, I believe a dose of skepticism is healthy and I'm on a quest of sorts for truth.

Ok, now you go.  

[Chieftain Twilight]

well, I grew up in a household where the idea of an Astral Plane or Spirit Dimension, as well the idea of Ghosts, Spirits, Magic and the like, was as normal and mundane as cars and trees and food. it wasn't realy questioned, it was just accepted.

but that said, it was the idea of a God or Gods which was the mystery to me, and which I was skeptical about. I accepted the possibility, but found it to be unlikely.

I had a very strange personal experience though, when I was 17, which changed my outlook on it completely. that experience had proved to me that the Divine truely was Conscious, and not just some random Mystical Energy.

before that event, I would maintain that "it doesn't make sense for their to be a God." but afterwards, I feel it doesn't mak sense for there NOT to be a God! the question I have now, though, is when exactly did that change happen? I have no memory of the actual process by which my logic changed, and can't even remember what my previous logic was.

anywho, my mom is a Witch and she had been into th eOccult as a teenager and into college. she was reckless though, and had a scare one time that caused her to distance herself from the Occult. she's since settled into a more fluffy magical practice, though she still remembers and uses what she used to do. she can be timid about using Tarot though (just as well... everytime women around me use Tarot, creapy stuff happens that I can't always handle).

I have always been interested in the Occult. the older I get, the more I want in. for a while I had an obsession with the Necronomicon that has severely damaged my relationship with the woman I am in love with... it's become a very problematic obsession. but in the end, I can't fight my love for her. so that's won out.

lately though, what's been keeping me drawn in to the Occult are portents which have to do with my Goddess. there have been alot of Ravens showing up, and the number 3 has been everywhere.  

[Vanilla eXee]

Chieftain Twilight

I had a very strange personal experience though, when I was 17, which changed my outlook on it completely. that experience had proved to me that the Divine truely was Conscious, and not just some random Mystical Energy.

I understand if it's personal, but is your experience something you wouldn't mind sharing? Thank you for your input btw.  

[Aydenfyre]

Hmm... mine started with a huge interest in religion. Started simple. Like many kids, it started with some grade school books that went over Greek, Roman, and Egyptian mythology.

I then went through a scientific phase. I began learning all sorts of things, but it wasn't so fulfilling, then I picked up a book on Egyptian practice, and that's what picked me back up. I started dabbling in things, some things became clearer, some more vague. So on and so forth.

Some things started making sense after my parents told me some "odd stories" about when I was a kid.

In any case, I'm rather lost on the whole matter, but that's what research is for.  

[Leeches in my peaches]

I grew up in Christian household... But I always had a few quirks to me- I always loved witches, and couldn't grasp the afterlife being forever (I believed strongly in reincarnation even though I was never told about it*)

I found out about Wicca/Paganism and studied into it a little in my teens, but I found it didn't quite suit my tastes as I don't feel like anything should be too structured or ritual when it comes to beliefs. There are ideas I do take from them, but I can't honestly say I am devoted to any true deity.

I moved out whenever I turned old enough and left the state. I found that my beliefs suddenly focused more on the ideas of Karma and things happening more or less due to influence of actions (Yours and other peoples*). Things tend to happen to as needed... etc...

I kinda formed my own beliefs since I couldn't find anything that suit me particularly.  

[Jinx Noir]

Existence.... exists. It's not a belief. It just is. Awareness rather than belief might be a better term.

But I understand the purpose of the thread.

As far as experiences go I have a few... I'm not much for dabbling in things that are greater than myself, particularly those I don't understand. I don't intend to ******** with any deep occult. There are terrible things that lie beneath the surface, stir the pot and they will reach out and stir back.

I do: practical magic, protection spells, a little candle magic here and there, some sex magic, energy work.... nothing too extreme, beginners things only. If I had a mentor or someone else to work with I might be a little more adventurous. Just because magic exists does not mean everyone should ******** with it.

If you are sensitive to energies, I suggest visiting ancient sites in Ireland. The fairy circles and burial mounds are... interesting to be sure.

 

[Chieftain Twilight]

Vanilla, you may think me a loon, I warn. if you still want to know, ask me again in a PM and I'll tell you the story. but I won't divulge those details publically. I a selective with my audience.

@ Strangeness: I would venture to argue that you cannot assume anything exists. but then, I'm a very strange fellow myself. everything is a matter of belief, because... well, I suppose there is no real way to word it, and cause is just as much lie as anything else.

reality is a lie, and illusion. I'm schitzophrenic, and I have come to acknowledge that I cannot be certain a any given time that anything I experience is real. and then I realized, how can anyone else?

realy though, there is no point in worrying about all that, because as we experience so must we accept and believe that existence is as we perceive. no practical good can come of contemplating the unfathomable.

I just mean to remind you that "belief" is all there realy is, if even that can be said to be.  

[BSPBleach]

Well i honestly have no idea when i started. the earliest memory im concious of is my 4th birthday and then i didnt know what any of religion or occult or anything is......the earliest memory i have of occult is when i was.....6 i believe. and in that memory occult was something my mind just acceoted and was familiar with.  

[Obscurus]

I always thought this subject matter was cool and then when I became a teenager I wondered if any of it was real. I've been studying and practicing ever since.

The existence of the unseen world is a foregone conclusion to me now. The nature of the unseen world is what I'm trying to figure out.  

[Vanilla eXee]

the strangeness

Existence.... exists. It's not a belief. It just is. Awareness rather than belief might be a better term.

But I understand the purpose of the thread.

As far as experiences go I have a few... I'm not much for dabbling in things that are greater than myself, particularly those I don't understand. I don't intend to ******** with any deep occult. There are terrible things that lie beneath the surface, stir the pot and they will reach out and stir back.

I do: practical magic, protection spells, a little candle magic here and there, some sex magic, energy work.... nothing too extreme, beginners things only. If I had a mentor or someone else to work with I might be a little more adventurous. Just because magic exists does not mean everyone should ******** with it.

If you are sensitive to energies, I suggest visiting ancient sites in Ireland. The fairy circles and burial mounds are... interesting to be sure.

In a similar vein to what chieftain said, how do you know that existence exists? We could all just be a dream.  

[Jinx Noir]

Vanilla eXee

the strangeness

Existence.... exists. It's not a belief. It just is. Awareness rather than belief might be a better term.

But I understand the purpose of the thread.

As far as experiences go I have a few... I'm not much for dabbling in things that are greater than myself, particularly those I don't understand. I don't intend to ******** with any deep occult. There are terrible things that lie beneath the surface, stir the pot and they will reach out and stir back.

I do: practical magic, protection spells, a little candle magic here and there, some sex magic, energy work.... nothing too extreme, beginners things only. If I had a mentor or someone else to work with I might be a little more adventurous. Just because magic exists does not mean everyone should ******** with it.

If you are sensitive to energies, I suggest visiting ancient sites in Ireland. The fairy circles and burial mounds are... interesting to be sure.

In a similar vein to what chieftain said, how do you know that existence exists? We could all just be a dream.

That starts a ridiculously long list of theoretical bullshit that I don't care to get in to at the moment. I've had an hour of sleep and I've been at a Pirate Faire all day in garb runnin around on the hottest day of the year.

But I will say this: Existence by it's very definition is things that exist. And if we are all in some cosmic dream, then it is a dream that EXISTS. Obviously. So on some level we exist. To what extent is debatable.

And actually I'm not much like Cheiftan, he grew up with a witch for a mother. My family is hardcore christian. I went to a private church run school for 7-12th grade it had no more than 150 kids in it at any given time. My parents grounded me for months when I was 14 and they found me looking at cloaks on a pagan website. They forced me to attend church until I was 18 and tried everything short of brainwashing me. Not that I was ever stupid enough to talk to them about my beliefs. They just knew I didn't like church.

 

[Jinx Noir]

Chieftain Twilight

Vanilla, you may think me a loon, I warn. if you still want to know, ask me again in a PM and I'll tell you the story. but I won't divulge those details publically. I a selective with my audience.

@ Strangeness: I would venture to argue that you cannot assume anything exists. but then, I'm a very strange fellow myself. everything is a matter of belief, because... well, I suppose there is no real way to word it, and cause is just as much lie as anything else.

reality is a lie, and illusion. I'm schitzophrenic, and I have come to acknowledge that I cannot be certain a any given time that anything I experience is real. and then I realized, how can anyone else?

realy though, there is no point in worrying about all that, because as we experience so must we accept and believe that existence is as we perceive. no practical good can come of contemplating the unfathomable.

I just mean to remind you that "belief" is all there realy is, if even that can be said to be.

I disagree. I theorize that I can safely say that anything exists. Tangible or not, "real" or not. Say that the world is a dream. Well... just because it's a dream, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Just because something isn't tangible on one level doesn't mean it doesn't exist. If you say otherwise then you threaten to unravel the meaning of the term existence.

If none of that made sense, I'm sorry. I need sleep. It makes perfect sense in my head though.

 

[Chieftain Twilight]

the strangeness

Chieftain Twilight

Vanilla, you may think me a loon, I warn. if you still want to know, ask me again in a PM and I'll tell you the story. but I won't divulge those details publically. I a selective with my audience.

@ Strangeness: I would venture to argue that you cannot assume anything exists. but then, I'm a very strange fellow myself. everything is a matter of belief, because... well, I suppose there is no real way to word it, and cause is just as much lie as anything else.

reality is a lie, and illusion. I'm schitzophrenic, and I have come to acknowledge that I cannot be certain a any given time that anything I experience is real. and then I realized, how can anyone else?

realy though, there is no point in worrying about all that, because as we experience so must we accept and believe that existence is as we perceive. no practical good can come of contemplating the unfathomable.

I just mean to remind you that "belief" is all there realy is, if even that can be said to be.

I disagree. I theorize that I can safely say that anything exists. Tangible or not, "real" or not. Say that the world is a dream. Well... just because it's a dream, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Just because something isn't tangible on one level doesn't mean it doesn't exist. If you say otherwise then you threaten to unravel the meaning of the term existence.

If none of that made sense, I'm sorry. I need sleep. It makes perfect sense in my head though.

I suppose that might as well be true. and in any case, my eternal acceptance of the possibility of mass insanity is pointless to speculate at length.

still, though, I feel that I can never be safe to assume anything.

one thing I have to say though, is that (after 2 years of knowing her) I've finally accepted that it is impossible for me to have halluscinated my Beloved and all my experience of her. she is unfathomable in the complete.  

[Jinx Noir]

Chieftain Twilight

the strangeness

Chieftain Twilight

Vanilla, you may think me a loon, I warn. if you still want to know, ask me again in a PM and I'll tell you the story. but I won't divulge those details publically. I a selective with my audience.

@ Strangeness: I would venture to argue that you cannot assume anything exists. but then, I'm a very strange fellow myself. everything is a matter of belief, because... well, I suppose there is no real way to word it, and cause is just as much lie as anything else.

reality is a lie, and illusion. I'm schitzophrenic, and I have come to acknowledge that I cannot be certain a any given time that anything I experience is real. and then I realized, how can anyone else?

realy though, there is no point in worrying about all that, because as we experience so must we accept and believe that existence is as we perceive. no practical good can come of contemplating the unfathomable.

I just mean to remind you that "belief" is all there realy is, if even that can be said to be.

I disagree. I theorize that I can safely say that anything exists. Tangible or not, "real" or not. Say that the world is a dream. Well... just because it's a dream, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Just because something isn't tangible on one level doesn't mean it doesn't exist. If you say otherwise then you threaten to unravel the meaning of the term existence.

If none of that made sense, I'm sorry. I need sleep. It makes perfect sense in my head though.

I suppose that might as well be true. and in any case, my eternal acceptance of the possibility of mass insanity is pointless to speculate at length.

still, though, I feel that I can never be safe to assume anything.

one thing I have to say though, is that (after 2 years of knowing her) I've finally accepted that it is impossible for me to have halluscinated my Beloved and all my experience of her. she is unfathomable in the complete.

Mass insanity is a perfectly acceptable theory. I completely agree with it and I do believe that all humans are nuts. And it's perfectly likely that we aren't what we think we are. But existing is not to be questioned. If we are crazy.... well we have to exist to be anything at all. Crazy or no.

You do sound utterly smitten with this female. I do hope she deserves such lavish attentions. Having been recently heartbroken I find it hard to believe that such perfect love exists, but I'm a biased melancholy crone.

 

[Sweet Tooth Cyanide]

i grew up In my household where magic, ghosts, spirits pixies faeries everything to do with the supernatural and magic were considered normal conversation. My mother used to read tarrot cards for a living and my uncle regularly talks to the dead.

Many a time i have woken in the night with someone sitting on my bed, mostly the little spirit girl who has attached herself to me. Then there are times when i have people in my room who i dont know and that scares the crap out of me.