Thread:WorshipperOfTheOldReligion/@comment-4814726-20120613015556/@comment-5191335-20120613035128

Merry meet, new friend! It is a pleasure to virtually meet you! I am, of course, happy to answer any and all questions you direct towards me. I may no longer be on the path towards priestesthood, but I am always willing to guide others in their search for their personal truth.

Now, I cannot answer much when it comes to the Wiccan faith, as I am not of it and only have surface-level training in the Wiccan beliefs. I simply correlate my own faith to that of the Wicca peoples because most have never heard of my religion and it is similar on many levels to the Wiccan faith, with which more people are familiar.

As a Transcendentalist, I believe, as Christians and people of many other faiths do, that a Great Being (who has many names: God, Allah, Mother Earth, Cronos, Father of All, etc.) created the world. We believe that in all aspects of Creation the Great One placed aspects of His/Her powers (living creatures can reproduce life, some can snuff out life - like man, hemlock, predatory animals, etc., some can heal - like penicillin and other such natural substances with medical uses). This is similar the the Wiccan, Native American, and otherwise Pagan beliefs of spirits which inhabit all things. We believe the Great One gave the Creation these gifts to help it to thrive. We can use science to unlock many of these powers, like with medicine. Some of us try to harness these powers in a less scientific way and in a more mystical way. We consider the "casting of spells" to be more akin to praying, though a bit stronger, (we refer it as "prayer-casting," asking the Great One to use the power He/She placed in a particular piece of Creation (like your salt and water) to fulfill the pray-caster's needs or to focus the power He/She placed in the prayer-caster (like you, for instance) through another object so as to achieve a particular ends. Like all forms of prayer, the Great One may or may not answer it as you desire and it may be a very long time before you even know what the answer is.  We believe that only some have the gift of actual "magic," as others tend to call it (we call it "channeling"), or the ability to perceive the Powers in use, just as some have the talent to dance and some can write and some can play sports and some can sing, while others can't.  I was selected for training as a Priestest at a young age because my abilities were, as my Priestest stated, "promising." I know much about the art of prayer-casting and I have a sixth-sense about people. Also, since I had a near-death experience at the age of 2, I can perceive spirits. Since my 2nd near-death experience at the age of 9, I have had oddly accurate (though often difficult to interpret) dreams. We don't believe any need to choose to prayer-cast, but it is a choice. Some in my Circle are a bit skeptical about prayer-casting, some see it as possibly dangerous, and some have great faith in it. When I left my priestest-training, I stopped prayer-casting to a large extent. Since September, when I had a 3rd near-death experience and spent a month in ICU in the hospital after seeing a dark spirit (unrelated to anything of my doing), my dreams have become less frequent. However, my knowlege still remains, my priestest-training prepared me to answer many questions, and my faith remains strong.

Transcendentalism is conducive to following many other religions as well. We are Universalists. We believe the Great One reveals Himself/Herself to every individual a different way, which we call our own "personal truth." My Circle contains Christians, Buddists, Muslims, and a girl who follows most of the beliefs found in the mythology and legends of the Ancient Greeks. I, myself, am a Transcedentalist Christian.

Again, new friend, it is a pleasure meeting you! If you would care to discuss this further, please do not hesitate to ask anything. Also, if you want to ever talk about anything else, I'm up for any conversation!

Blessed be,

Sybil