Hello Fred,
A faithful follwer of Christ!

Take care,
Hope12

Wiccan High Priest and Magician

Wicca is an Old English word for wicked.
Why choose to be called that?
It does not make sense to me.
Fred (arcura)

Hi Arcura, It doesn't make sense because it's not true. You should check your source and make sure they're not putting some 'spin' on the name of my religion. Is your source scholarly or political; even handed, or something less? Wikipedia has a very good informative entry about the religion. Here is what they say about the origins of the name:

"The most likely derivation is through the Old English word wigle (sorcery, divination) from the Indo-European root *weg (liveliness, wakefulness).[27][28] Gardner and other writers on Wicca have proposed a relationship with the Old English words wita 'wise man' and witan 'to know', asserting that witches had once been regarded as the "wise" people;[29][30] Wicca is often called the "Craft of the Wise" in allusion to this derivation. Still others claim a derivation from the Indo-European root *wei which connotes bending or pliance (from which we get the words 'wicker' 'willow' and 'witch-elm'), suggesting the concept of magic as a "bending" of forces of nature."

Thanks for that infornation.
Wicce and wicca, male and female witches. Thought to be wicked persons.
I got the information from the "Dictionary of Word Origions"
The entimology also mentions wizard or wise person.

Christian, United Methodist, but don't go as much as I should :(

Christian, lover of the Truth. ;)

Agnostic, also lover of the truth.

Lol Doesn't matter, lover of peace

Endeavoring, Buddhist, Healer, Photographer, Composer. :)

I am spiritual with love!

Thomas1970,
Interesting saying!
I set traps for the mice in the house and keep the screens closed to keep the moths out.
Mice and moths can carry deadly diseases and mold and they will eat hole in your garments.
Peace and kindness,
Fred (arcura)

Yes. But lack of compassion is also an affliction, and intolerance will eat a hole in your soul. ;) Caigentan was a Taoist. The Tao does not discriminate, and I try not to either. Keep spreading that peace and kindess. :)

Oh, and by the way. I have gone so far as to pull wild mice out of a friend's glue traps, getting bitten multiple times in the process. So far, no ill effects. The incidence of rabies alone in wild mice is less than .01 percent. And I'm not real concerned about Hanta Virus. That is a risk I have occasionally been willing to take.
I photograph moths all the time and wasn't aware they carried deadly diseases. Thanks for the info, but they'd likely have to have the ability to bite me first.
Do you want to know something truly interesting though? Out of the dozen or so reported cases of Beubonic Plague in the past half century, the only established link has been flying squirrels, which incidentally are primarily nocturnal. Gee Fred, if I was you, I wouldn't venture out of the house after dark unless I was packing some real good pesticide! :D

Peace and Kindness
Thomas

Aclectic
Pagan
Self practicing
... Me...

Me, myself and I

Thomas1970.
Thanks for the advice. I'll take it into consideration.
Peace and kindness,
Fred (arcura)

Compassion's my middle name. But because of the Fall of Man we have pestilents and deadly animals.
Who is wasting their compassion on pestilent insects?

Who is at the same time sarcastic & disrepectful to other humans? Not as compassionate as you think you are!

Lover of the Truth, Karma, with a capital T, which is in the Bible. So let me distinguish between your liitle t!

31Pumpkin,
Unfortunately sometimes truth is what one thinks it is, but another one does not.
Peace and kindness,
Frdd

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 31pumpkin

Compassion's my middle name. But b/c of the Fall of Man we have pestilents and deadly animals.
Who is wasting their compassion on pestilent insects?

Who is at the same time sarcastic & disrepectful to other humans? Not as compassionate as you think you are!

Lover of the Truth, Karma, with a capital T, which is in the Bible. So let me distinguish between your liitle t!

---

I agree, I am known to have a scything wit at times. Perhaps it is one of my flaws. Heck, I never claimed not to have any. We all do.
Though I prefer to look at it more as "tough love", or perhaps "wrathful compassion" to use a more common Buddhist term. And though I do realize this term is open to a great deal of misinterpretation, properly explaining such would require me to delve deeply into works such as The Tibetan Book of the Dead, of which I'm sure you'd rather not care to hear. I have not said anything to Fred that I would not have said to my best friend under similar circumstances. My true friends understand where such words come from. It is only offensive to you, because you chose to take personal affront. I was simply trying to elucidate the point, that all animals seek happiness in much the same capacity as him.
I am a very compassionate person. I like Fred! I've never been one to dismiss people who perhaps challenge me, I rather enjoy it, it helps break me out of the occasional mediocrity of my own routines and thinking. I truly hope he finds the peace he is looking for, as I do you.
But I feel your compassion is far more limited than mine. Who is wasting their time on pestilence and deadly animals? Buddhists, Taoists, Shinto, Bon, Hindus, Jains, Native Americans, Wiccans... Well, you get the idea.
And who is to say who is the real pestilence. How about global warming, for one fine example that has been discussed here lately? There is a theory known as the "Gaian Theory" which states that the Earth itself is a living organism, and that human beings are nothing more than a pestilence, like fleas on a dogs back. An itch the Earth has yet been able to scratch. But the dinosaurs had their time, and should we continue to abuse the Earth and disrespect nearly all other life, there may well come a time that arguments such as these will no longer be opportune, if even possible.

And by the way, Buddhist teachings are collectively know as the Dharma. Dharma with a capital "D." Dharma is a Sanskrit word with many complex meanings, though it is most commonly translated as "Truth." The Dharma teaches that everyone has their own Relative Truth, but there is only one Ultimate Truth. And this latter truth is something that can never be put into words. This is a teaching shared by Taoists, where incidentally Lao Tzu's "Tao Te Ching" said it quite aptly in many chapters. To quote on of them:

Chapter 56

Those who know don't talk.
Those who talk don't know.

Close your mouth.
Block the door.
Quiet your senses.
Blunt the sharpness.
Untie the angles.
Soften the brightness.
Be one with the dust,
And enter the primal oneness.

One who has merged with Tao in this way
Can't be courted,
Can't be bought,
Can't be harmed,
Can't be honored,
Can't be humiliated.
He is the treasure of the world.

;)

Thomas1970.
More interesting post by you. I like them. They make me think.
They also remind me that wisdom is not confined to just one religion.
Peace and kindness to all,
Fred (arcura)

Thank you very much Fred. Your posts make me think as well. And I do appreciate what I sense as your somewhat mischievous humor, honestly inquiring intellect, and gracious receptivity coupled with a degree of humility.
I know we will probably never see eye to eye on many things, but we are stimulating some thought, mutual respect, and a degree of acceptance. I feel that is all anyone really wants here. As I always say, to agree to peacably disagree. Just respect for the fact that we're all human. :)
Thanks again. Take care. :)

Thomas,
Your discription of me humbles me. I'm please to hear it, but I must not think that way of myself.
Thank you,
Fred

Lutheran (Lutheran Church Missouri Synod)
www.lcms.com
Church home www.mt-olive.com

Hi Lutheranmom... I have a few relatives in the faith... do not know much about the faith...

lutheranmom welcome...
I was a Lutheran for 35 years and still like denomination much.
Peace and kindness,
Fred (arcura)