Introductions

[Owlswing]

I don't need a plethora of water or seasonal deities to comfort me thank you very much. Can you imagine what it means to confront one's aloneness without a safety blanket? I guess not. I'm not belittling you or vour tradition in any way, indeed it sounds to have solid morality, but don't imagine for a moment that your notions of 'freedom' have anything in common with mine.

I don't really like to be labelled with any 'ist' or 'ism', but existentialism is a useful contrivance if people ask. People might assume I'm atheist, agnostic or whatever, but in truth I just accept the mystery at the centre of my life and live it as best I can. Surprisingly, I could even accept notions of an afterlife and indeed I have had some very odd 'psychic' events in my life both as a child and an adult as I expect many people have. These are perplexing, but unlike Carl Jung, I'm too sensible to go down some unlit road chasing them into insanity as he did.

Matthew, the one overriding sense I gained from these psychic events was the absolute sense of 'aloneness' in the sense that a deity might shoulder. If there is a 'top' deity, pagan or otherwise, we can be sure that She is lonelier than any of us.   

You have my sympathy for your situation; however, I was in total ignorance of it (being a pagan and a witch but not using a crystal ball) when I made my comment which was not a judgement, or a suggestion that you are pagan or anything else it was merely expressing my agreement with your philosophy and giving my reason for my agreement.

It was not in any way, shape or form intended to offend.

If it did I will just have to take responsibility for that consequence, won't I?

Matthew,
   forget it. I was just having one of my grumpy moments and very unfair to load you with it. Apologies.

elevenses
 

None necessary!

[Gonnagle]

Dear Grantus,

Welcome back mate, next time you go AWOL the Mods will require a note from your guardian.

Gonnagle.

[Leonard James]

Dear Grantus,

Welcome back mate, next time you go AWOL the Mods will require a note from your guardian.

Gonnagle.

Wow! I had quite forgotten Grantus Maximus. For some reason I found that name sooooo sexy. Is he still here under another name?

[torridon]

Calm down Len

[Rhiannon]

He mysteriously appears at the bottom from time to time before just as mysteriously disappearing again.

[Leonard James]

Calm down Len

Well, my libido is much more quiescent than it used to be, but still lifts its head occasionally. 

[Enki]

We still keep in touch, Len, and meet up(with Horsethorn) every few months. In fact  it's about time for another meeting.... Sorry to disappoint you,  Len, but he's happily married to a very lovely lady.

[Rhiannon]

Well tell him to start posting again! Clearly he's missed (and not just by Len  )

[Enki]

I'll remember, if he hasn't read it first.

[Leonard James]

We still keep in touch, Len, and meet up(with Horsethorn) every few months. In fact  it's about time for another meeting.... Sorry to disappoint you,  Len, but he's happily married to a very lovely lady.

Yes, I remember he was straight, but lots of straight guys are good eye candy! 

[Bramble]

Hello everyone, I’ve been asked to introduce myself so here goes. I’m an ecologist, now more or less retired, and happily married with grown up children. I was born into a Christian family but none of that seemed to rub off on me and I’ve come to suspect that I haven’t a religious bone in my body. The nearest I got to any of that kind of thing came when as a postgraduate student I was introduced, perhaps oddly by my zoologist supervisor, to meditation and the writings of Alan Watts. This led to a rather unhappy period of ‘seeking’ before it eventually dawned on me that nothing was actually missing. Alan Watts had already pointed this out, of course, but sadly I think one has to discover it for oneself. My worldview seems to be essentially animistic and if I have a 'spirituality' of my own it is probably the intense feeling of belonging I experience when out of doors and amongst wild things, rather than in the human world. These days I like to like to indulge my love of walking, idleness, haiku, strong coffee and weasels (of all kinds).

[Gonnagle]

Dear Bramble,

Welcome to our happy little band, the strong coffee may be needed but a nice wee whisky might be needed to help you swallow some of the more, well just the more.

Anyway happy posting, oh! and weasels are trousers involved.

Gonnagle.

[horsethorn]

Welcome to the fore
Um, Bramble, I don't think this
Is a very good Hai

...ku

ht

[Brownie]

Very interesting introduction Bramble, thank you.

[torridon]

Welcome Bramble, nice intro, great to have diversity in our mix.

[Bramble]

Thanks everyone.

Gonnagle, yes, weasels (of the ferrety kind) have often been down the trousers, as a matter of fact, at least when I was younger. And a teenager I commonly had one or more about my person, usually asleep in a warm, dark spot somewhere. If they got restive I could usually send them back to sleep by singing to them.

horsethorn, very good! I expect you know this one:

'Writing a poem
In seventeen syllables
Is very diffic'

[Gonnagle]

Dear Brambles,

You sing to weasels Mods make our newest recruit a hero straight away, this is what we want

Gonnagle.

[Bubbles]

Hi Bramble,

Welcome aboard.

Ecologist? That should spark some interesting POV 

I'm glad you joined 

I thought it was ferrets people put down their trousers 

🌹

[SteveH]

Greetings.  Thanks for approving my membership request.  I am a 65 years old man living in Hemel Hempstead, U.K., a liberal anglican (Paul Tillich/John A.T.Robinson type liberal), a postal worker, a pipe smoker, a cyclist sometimes, a real ale lover, divorced, and a member of the Labour party.  I have in the recent past been a member of the Green Party, and stood for them in the local elections in 2011, and if Labour gives Jeremy the boot, I'll be back off to the Greens like a shot.   I was told about this forum by a friend on another forum who there is called Lyn, but I don't know whether that's her user name here.

[Aruntraveller]

Welcome SteveH - there is someone who posts here who some of us know as Lyn - but whether it is the same Lyn we will have to see if she confirms this - either way welcome to this little forum, I hope you enjoy it here.

[Bubbles]

Hi SteveH

Welcome 

🌹

[SteveH]

Thanks for the welcomes.

[ad_orientem]

Hi, SteveH. I think I know you from another board, there I'm known as flying finn. Good to see you.

[Gonnagle]

Dear Steve,

Welcome to the Thunderdome, ( Okay! maybe whimperdome but it does have its moments ) Paul Tillich and John Robinson, God as the ground of being, sounds interesting, may be we could have a wee thread on that once we have all shut up about all the political shenanigans we have had to suffer.

Gonnagle.

[SteveH]

Thanks, Gonnagle and Flying Finn.  Yes, FF, I do know you elsewhere!