not rude at all, and HAPPY to answer, as I feel there is some misunderstanding on both sides of the equation when it comes to these religions.<br><br>
But I warn you, this post will be LONG. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/orngbiggrin.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="orange big grin"><br><br>
First of all, when I read Scott Cunningham and was first drawn to Wicca, it seemed so appropriate because basically what Cunningham was saying was that there was a G-d and a G-ddess and they were One. All parts of the life cycle, the mating the death of the G-d and him being reborn as the Sun/Son it all really resonated with me. Now, some call this paganism, as there are two seperate entities there, but they are also ONE...joined together.<br><br>
Well, I got to thinking of this, and at the time I was in a Catholic school and I was learning about the Trinity and I was really confused. Because they were talking about THREE seperate entities (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) and yet they were all ONE. And this was called Monotheism.<br><br>
I was SOOOO confused by this because the way I saw it Catholicism had one more g-d than the Paganism of Scott Cunningham but the concencious was that one was clearly pagan and the other was clearly monothestic.<br><br>
Then I began to look into my birthright...my blood tie...Judaism. At first, I thought it was just this one all powerful G-d and the SOUL of monotheism, if you will. Quite simple. One G-d and that is all. And this G-d, as I saw it at the time, studying Reform and Conservative Judaism was most likely Male (all the pronouns I could find in the English translations of the Hebrew would refer to G-d as "he" and so forth and there was this image of "Our Father/Our King") and I KNEW that wasn't the whole picture, for me. For me there was some serious G-ddess energy that was not being addressed, so I couldnt buy into that and so I delved into Wicca.<br><br>
Now, the problem with Wicca, for me, was the casting of spells and so forth. I was never good at it (though I met people who really and truly WERE) but trying to harness the G-d/dess Power to my will just wasn't working for me. Maybe I wasn't doing it properly, but I did study with others and on my own and began reading outside of Cunningham, whom I later learned was kind of looked down upon by many "die hard" Wiccans as being "Wiccan Lite" lol, but he always really resonated with me. What he practiced was so simple, so straightforward. So profound. And he wasnt the ONLY Wiccan author to say that even w/ an infinite # of G-d/desses...the bigger picture was that all together, they were ONE, all interrelated and parts on the Universal Whole.<br><br>
Sorry, Im getting distracted with the kids a lot so I hope I don't loose my train of thought and make this "clear as mud"...<br><br>
Anyways, I practiced Wicca, minus the spell casting, but with all of the positive intentions...burning of incense and using blending oils and lighting candles and runes and symbols...though I felt that in doing the runes and symbols, after stumbling across some "magical formulas" which were orginally written in Hebrew Letters, that I, too, needed to begin using this magical alphabet instead of or in addition to runes, and began to do that as well. I was also reading the Tarot, and though I couldn't really predict the future so well, I COULD see what was currently going on in peoples lives and was able to help them make decisions based on all the options. The list goes on, I mean, I can't get into every detail of my practice right at this moment...and some time has passed so I'm not sure if I even remember, but that was where I was at.<br><br>
And then I met this Chabad Rabbi and he asked if I was "Jewish" and I said my bloodline through my mother was, which made me Jewish by Jewish Law, and I was "culturally and ethnically Jewish (I won't even get into that here!)" but, no, I didn't practice Judaism (though at the time I DID celebrate the holidays but in a "Wiccan context"). ANd he asked me why not and I said couldn't go along with Judaism, it just wasn't right for me or what I believed. And he said "how so" and I said "well, I, for example, believe that EVERYTHING, a tree, a rock, even my car has divine energy in it...a "spark" if you will and that it is all also "G-d". I belive in reincarnation. I belive in..." and he cut me off and said "THIS IS Judaism!" and I was like "yeah right, you are just trying to suck me in..." and he was like "nope...this IS what Jews believe." and I said "well, I KNOW that G-d is both female and masculine energy..." and he said "have you heard of the Shechina?" and I said "WHAT?!" because I thought he was just making all of this up lol.<br><br>
So he began to tell me about the Shechina...the Sabbath Bride, which I DID know about, as I remembered rising to "greet" this imaginary sabbath bride at synagogue services on shabbat and he said that this was the FEMALE G-d...the G-ddess Energy that I was referring to. The Mother of Us All. She is a very real force in Judaism, even in mainstream Judaism, though many don't pay her so much mind. He said that if you delve into Judaism deeper you will see the G-ddess all over the place. That G-d is as much female as male. That G-d is BOTH female and male energies and we call on one or the other as needed. G-d/dess also has many names (something like 70...depending on who you ask) and these are different facets of G-d/dess that we can call on that will arouse the compassion or understanding of G-d/dess for different situations. And immediately I thought of all those books that gave me all the names of the G-d and G-ddess, like Diana or Brigid etc... and it was blowing my mind. I NEVER in my wildest dreams thought that THIS could be judaism.<br><br>
So I began to study with them. Studied about the "Divine Spark" in all things. About the Nature Base to Judaism. About how all our holidays are in honor of the harvest or the land...the important connection we have with an actual PLOT OF LAND (Israel) and all that happens there. All of the laws associated with the LAND (shmitta, for example...but also eating kosher and so forth) and how we treat our bodies as a "temple" and eating is an "offering" and mikvah and the power of water and the elements of Water/Fire espically for a woman in Mikvah and Shabbat Candles (both a woman's domain) and the Earth (also a womans domain symbolized in her mitzvah to make "bread from the earth" for shabbat and otherwise) and it was just blowing my mind.<br><br>
So I stepped out of Wicca. Got rid of all my books. Learned with a full heart and then met my dh. We were married, moved to Israel as we built (and are building) our family and so forth.<br><br>
We are both religious, but we both came from a place of having lots of "witchy energy" around us. His family lineage is Cohen (the priestly caste of Israel) and everyone in the family is very into stones/energy/etc... DH was an AMAZING palm reader, but stopped and hasn't resumed. The story for him about that is more complicated and every now and again he will look at a palm and then stop himself. I think it is part not knowing if this is okay by G-d/dess to do this and also the fear of learning about things that are not so pleasant, which he did with a friend who later died. But I digress.<br><br>
For me, I KNOW that there is a tarot/hebrew alphabet connection, but I also stopped reading and gave away my 3 decks and now am needing to get clarity on if this is okay to do in a context of judaism and what are the perimeters and boundaries. I just recently learned that a pendulum would be allowed under certain peramaters and so I need to just get more clarity on that before I can go to that place again so that is where I am there.<br><br>
I DO believe that there are limits or boundaries to what we can do with our energy/power and if we don't obey them it can turn out disasterous. I believe in the ripple effect in this way and Judaism has boundaries to help protect us and others from harm. Think of it as the Three Fold or Ten Fold rule...if you will. It's not enough sometimes that we don't have "bad" intentions....or even that we have "good" intentions. Sometimes when we ask for things they CAN cause harm to others, even if we think we covered all the bases. So it's like playing with fire...or water...or any of the elements, really. We have to do so responsibly and let the experts and texts guide us.<br><br>
So maybe this is how I differ from *some* witches now.<br><br>
So, now I am trying to responsibly integrate two religions that, for me, spell the doorway to truth and also allow me to embark on a path of exploration for truth. So it's complicated.<br><br>
Anyways, I hope that answers your question. NOw if only I had some of those Cunningham books here so I could cross reference information...<br><br>
*sigh*
