ProNihil

The very nature of the occult is that it is knowledge that is "hidden" and accessable to only those few who have for whatever reason been "initiated" into it's revoltingly confusing philosophies.

Just try reading the "Corpus Hermeticum" (if you google it you will probably find a number of sites with the entire document there.) Since the dawn of modern man, there have been those who for one reason or another have discovered how to fool everyone else into believing non-rational bullshit. I fucking hate it. I myself was caught in its web for years, having never learned how to think critically. Pisses me off really. :banghead:

AdamWho

Monk

It seems to me that paying attention to the supernatural is all pop culture does. How many TV shows can you name that highlight strange mysteries, unexplained phenomena and ect; mabe a dozen or more? How many shows do you know that are serious devoted to debunking these claims; ZERO?

Harumi

Well, I'm not pagan and I use incense. I like the smell of vanilla, junglestorm, and rainfall. At times when it's raining outside and the world just seems beautiful I would burn incense. When the night is clear and the stars are bright I like to burn incense then too.

Also, the majority of my family are Buddhists. My mother burns incense or tells me to drink holy water or wear charms to fend off evil spirits and bad karma and the like. Sometimes when we visit a temple in Taiwan, I burn incense before the statues of the gods and goddesses of old China, not because I believe in it, but because I appreciate the peace and beauty that it brings.

For some odd reason I never seem to burn incense on a sunny day. Sunny days just are mysterious enough for me. Besides, I hate the sun. Shades and cloudiness for me, thank you.

I've never heard of a license to buy incense. Where do you live?

Monk

AdamWho,thats part of my point,respectable institutions would do a better job rather than leaving it to ratings driven media stations and producers.The fact there are no serious shows that I know of engaging this,It will just mean if theres superstition or bad science it can grow in acceptance among the general public without any challenge.

Harumi,I think JTVrocher was being sarcastic about the incense.

Harumi

Maybe. But that would be the first time I've seen it.

Oh well, just trying to be nice and making silly conversation. I'm gullible and stupid like that.

happyboy

ok, JTVrocher: if you can work magic-with-a-k, cure my dad of cancer. perform a ritual to purge the cancer from his brain. i want a 100% recovery within a week or so. if you can do that, i'll GLADLY become an occultist as well, and admit to my ignorance as to the true nature of reality.

go ahead. what are you waiting for? you have my consent to aid my father, who is terminally ill and guaranteed a very horrible death. get cracking. i expect results, and i expect them soon. i want you to videotape the ceremony. i'll send whatever materials you need for the ceremony/ritual/spell/whatever. after you're done, send me the videotape, so i can rest assured that my dad will get well soon.

happyboy, so angry he can barely see straight

Aquila ka Hecate

happyboy, I hear you.

I was a 'faithful' wiccan right up until the day my Mom died, of Alzheimers', with her so-called 'soul' drizzled away to nothingness.

There were no spells, no rituals I could perform, that would bring back her brain.

I think, though, that JTVrocher would agree with you, and with me-however you spell 'magic', it doesn't work like that.

The most I can ever expect from a pagan ritual (and yes, I continue as a pagan, albeit an atheist one) is a change in my own attitude,perhaps an apreciation of what I do have rather than what I would like to have.

There are no miracles because there are no deities.
There are no supernatural cures because the supernatural is a figment of our own desires.

happyboy

JTVrocher, i am waiting with held breath for your answer. your magickal skills are the keys to curing my father.

BioBeing

Occultists in the sense of "pyschics" and "fortune tellers" ARE out to mess with people - and separate them from their money. People like Sylivia Browne seem to me to be perpetrating a hoax, preying on the grief-stricken in the false hope of speaking to their lost ones again. (I believe she charges $750 an hour). Check out JREF for more on her hoaxes (if she was for real, she would be 1 million dollars richer, and have absolute "paranormal" bragging rights).

Harumi

And those "animal psychics". Normally I don't look twice at most animals (except for snakes, dolphins, and other animals that are plain cool), but I winced when I saw this woman psychic on animal planet tell this guy what to do and he actually listened. I felt sorry for the animal, even if it probably doesn't understand much.