My blogging friend, Kay, from Ephemeral Thoughts, tagged me with the “Three Religions” Meme, after being tagged herself by Erin at Decompressing Faith. The rules of the meme are to list three religions, apart from your own, that you find fascinating and why. She tagged me because I am a bad blogging friend for not visiting her site more often; it is punishment, but I realize that she does it because she cares…
It isn’t too difficult for me to pick three religions that I’m interested in – the trouble is picking *only* three. My own spiritual path is a particular blend of Qabalah, Hermeticism, Zen Buddhism, and Taoism, so I’m going to assume that these four are off limits to my list. But -but-but… there are so many cool religions and I only get to pick three! It’s no fair!!! [Weeps uncontrollably]
Okay, I’m over it. This is my list:
• Catholicism
Take a moment and laugh and get it out of your system, and I’ll tell you why. Catholicism is cool. That’s right, I think Catholicism is cool. The ritual, artwork, architecture, history, and culture is fascinating to me. Catholicism is rich in traditions that reach back almost two thousand years that lays the ground work for the modern world. Sure – the dogma can be a little stifling, and Catholic attitudes towards sex and sexuality are deeply dysfunctional, but the advent of Catholic school girls more than makes up for all of that! GO NOTRE DAME!
• Wicca
I love the idea of worshiping the divine as Goddess and God rather than a singular male deity. Wicca has an honest approach to religion, sexuality, and life that I find emotionally refreshing and fulfilling. I like the idea of being closer to nature and freed of mankind’s need to dominate nature. I have to admit, Wicca is very attractive to me; it is a different mind-set that puts me deeply at peace. Unfortunately, Wicca does not fulfill my need for intellectual stimulation, as there is little need for deep philosophical thinking. Of course, this is part of why Wicca is so attractive – it isn’t complicated, it just is.
•Atheism
I know this isn’t technically a religion, but I believe it fits the intention of the meme. I admire atheists for their dedication to the truth and intellectual integrity. I admire how most atheists deal with the overwhelming prejudice they face in modern society – with a healthy sense of humor and honest debate. And despite rumor to the contrary, atheists are some of the most morally right-minded people in the world today. They actually think of why an action is right or wrong, rather than just accept someone’s word for it. I may disagree with Atheists on one important point – whether there is a God or not – but I respect them enough to admit they are more often right about the world than wrong.
I am tagging for this meme Ms. Kitty, Julian and Reg Webb. Have fun with it, guys.
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Thank you John for the “religions” and the tag. This is all new ground for me, so I hope my response on Tangentville is appropriate.
I was once interested in Gnostic Hermeticism. (Is that redundant? Like saying Christian Lutheranism?) I tried to find some online resources or some books to read, but had difficulty.
Do you have any books that you’d recommend?
Hello Kay,
Hermeticism and Gnosticism are actually two different things, although those who practice one or the other sometimes draw inspiration from both. Hermeticism came first – it is a blend of Greek philosophy, Egyptian religion, and numerous other sources that gave rise to a magical psuedo-religious philosophy. It’s rise is mostly thanks to the conquests of Alexander the Great and the Roman Empire. Gnosticism draws on Hermetic philosophy, but is theologically more Christian than Pagan. The two can be easily confused, due to the fact that they each borrowed so often from the other. Both were driven underground by the Catholic Church soon after its rise to power in Europe. These underground traditions would eventually co-mingle with the northern European pagan traditions (Celtic, Norse, etc.) and Jewish Mysticism (Qabalah) which were also driven underground, to give rise to Occultism.
In terms of books & resources regarding Hermeticism, I could recommend volumes… but I would most likely lose you if I don’t stop for a moment and ask you to clarify what you are looking for… There is a lot of information out there to be had, but not a lot of it will make sense unless you know what you are looking at. I’ll e-mail you to further this discussion…
Namaste.
To start I think I’d like a book that discusses an overall philosophy or view of reality. You know, the “Why are we here?” type questions.
I look forward to your email.
Though discussing it here might be of interest to various lurkers. You never know who you might help.
Either way, I’m good.
Hello Kay,
Well, if you think it might help some lurkers…
What I would ask is, how “original” did you want your Hermeticism? The most modern version of Hermeticism is The Golden Dawn and its teachings… I suggest “The Essential Golden Dawn” by Chic and Sandra Cicero. However, if you wanted to go further back into time, I would suggest checking out the Kybalion – which is public domain, so you should be able to find it online. I wouldn’t call the Kybalion beginner friendly, but it is just about as authentic and complete as you can get.
Regarding Gnosticism, I will admit I am not as well read as I would like to be. I know that Willis Barnstone edited a large number of Gnostic and Christian Apocrypha together to make “The Other Bible”… much of which I think you would be interested in… But besides that, I’m not so keen on Gnosticism myself. I would strongly recommend seeking out an online message board for Gnostics and asking what they suggest for beginners. You can tell that something is “beginner” material if someone else pipes up and says that there is too little substance – that’s just another way of saying “I already know this stuff…”
I hope that helps, Kay.
Namaste.
Thanks John.
I’m not sure if I’m so much interested in Gnosticism as I am in Christian and Jewish esoterica. I’m such a non-dualist, I don’t imagine I’d be a good fit within Gnosticism proper.
I’ll definitely check out The Essential Golden Dawn and see if any of it jumps out at me.
I dipped a toe into Qabalah waters a few years back, but instantly encountered the “red string” stuff. I was put off by that, and didn’t know which way to turn. I didn’t know what was worthwhile and what was Madonna-esque, Hollywood Qabalah.
I really enjoyed God is a Verb, but can’t remember now if the Rabbi really got into Qabalah or not.
I really must check out The Chicken Qabalah! I’ve heard such wonderful things!
[...] Posted in Books, Ontology by Kay on December 22, 2009 I’m having a nice conversation with John over at The Pageless Book about Jewish and Christian esoterica. In that conversation he recommended a couple of books which I [...]
[...] having a nice conversation with John over at The Pageless Book about Jewish and Christian esoterica. In that conversation he recommended a couple of books which I [...]