Confessions

i wish it were that simple Aldric-san,but both gods from your so called light and dark hath both spoken to me ,in consicious presence and within dream,unless either are considered religious taboo,if that be the case,i will report to your high religious lord's dwelling to commit seppuku in protest but before i sever my mortal coil i wil sever my many fingers until us,the people whos spirit that the great light and darkness hath affected are addressed and not cast aside,and if i complete my hara kiri , my spirit will remain until a priest of either gods will dismiss me so

Am I to understand Gods talk to [strike]you[/strike] thee directly? They are now walking Arawyn, so that is possible. It is not taboo to experience the Divine, for most it is a gift of inspiration and insight. I have met a Goddess, and the experience is one I cherish.

As for the self mutilation and offers of death, I am unsure what would merit this? Thou art critical in this missive, as in many others, of the concept of religion and how the Light and Dark conduct our respective affairs. That is thine right to dissent, but as this thread has been overrun by such, perhaps airing thine grievance personally would be more appropriate. I am somewhat curious about the visions thee hath, and thine aversion to them. I am currently in the Proper, staying in the Monastery, but we can talk here at the Dragon's Claw if that suits thee.

both of great spirits of this land spoke to me before the oni incursion,through dreams and dead,of piles of dead friends,of highblood that would not listen,all i did was give my blood and fish offering and move amognst,
......only of those arawyn stock thought them of what you call light and dark,unless this be heresy to you?spirits of the land are common to wayward travlers where i be from and speak to us and provide spiritual plenty,unless....tis my peoples custom provide heresy to you?

Mister Belfast:

I apologize if I am being pedantic, but I find your argument/metaphor regarding the existence of light and dark to be somewhat flawed. You write:
"Light can exist without darkness, it always has. Light is an expression of goodness and effort and energy. Darkness is simply its absence. Darkness cannot in turn exist without light, but it is only by the grace of light that darkness has its corners to dwell in."
As you say, darkness is the absence of light. By definition then, darkness can exist without light - in fact, this is a requisite. If I am misunderstanding what you mean, please explain further.

A student of the world,
Seeker of the Lost Word,
Illyrin Soral

Illyrin,

Lucien's logic was sound in terms of its definition. It is agreed upon for this metaphor that darkness is the absence of light. If light does not exist, then darkness would not be able to exist as a concept. This is because darkness is defined in terms of its relationship to light. For darkness to be able to exist without light, the agreed upon definition of what darkness is would have to be changed.

Spirits of Arawyn are not heresy. That word, heresy, is used too much I think, and I include myself in this. The concept of heresy is old fashioned now I suppose. The New Church hath given up the old Church's attempts to suppress and control, we judged that unworthy of the Light and reformed becoming wholly new and rededicated to helping others. Though many grudges still hold sway in people's minds, and we labor under these, now false, perceptions, as a penance for the sins of the old Church.

Now the term of heresy is largely confined to those who would have us return to the old ways, that long for the arrogance of the Old Church to return. It applies now to any person who bears words, intending to twist the mission or faith of the New Church away from the people.

I assure thee, nothing of what thou hath said is heresy. Disagreeing with the New Church is not heresy either. An unexamined faith is not worth the effort, is the old saying. Debate and discussion about our worship and service to the Gods of Light, is a welcome thing.

As to thine spirits, be they Light or Dark, if through them thou hath reached spiritual peace, then that is thine business. Thou art free to listen to whatever source of peace thee canst find. I would hasten to add, I hope that thee canst include us in thine time to listen, but that is thine choice to make.

Mr Tuddlesworth:

I see. Thank you for the elucidation.

A student of the world,
Seeker of the Lost Word,
Illyrin Soral

There is this thing called "conviction." Many people have it for many different things. A priest of any religion has it, or he's kind of doing it wrong.

That's the thing. None of you are going to agree on anything. The Light followers are going to say that the Light is right. The Dark followers are going to say that the Darkness is right. And in each of their minds, they have completely valid reasons for believing what they do.

Each god has their facets, their tenants and their faiths. I have heard from followers of BOTH Dark and Light, the gods are subject to things like emotions. They've killed each other, they've traveled in time, they've fallen in love, etc. I have heard of priests falling out of favor with their gods for small misunderstandings, so much as to experience suffering or loss of their abilities to do something like HEAL someone. Gods, as I have come to believe so far, are just extremely powerful versions of us who can tap into the benign and negative energies so freely and easily that they can disperse their powers into their believers, apparently, at their whim.

So, if the gods are not expected to be perfect, how can we be expected to be perfect?

Confess to a priest if you want to. It is not helpful to body or soul to hold things in. As a healer, I promise you, there is a difference in the body's energy flow when it is hurting-- whether the ailments are physical or not. But do not expect your priests to know all the answers. Expect them to be a shoulder to lean on and an an ear to listen. And if they think their god will help you to feel better, Dark or Light, then they should help. But pay attention to whom you choose. I think it is more likely you would get the comfort and reassurance you needed from a priest of Light... but that is not for me to decide.

We're all here on Arawyn for a reason. Some of us want to wreck it. Some of us want to preserve it. That's just the way it is and is probably going to be for some time. We have to deal with it.

As for the rabble over Andorrans calming people down, I know of someone else who calls Love mind manipulation. His name is Jediah Frost, a priest of Glomm...

You know! I think I need to bring something up here! A while ago I brought up a very easy solution to all of this. No Darkness, No Light, you just sit down and eat bacon and drink ale.

So once again I submit to this discussion! To The Gods Of Bacon and Ale!

Signed, With Truth,
Jack Dimms

Mr Dimms.

Good food and drink are often a part of any good faith tradition. I have noticed that people find it hard to pray and find peace with grumbling stomachs. We at the Monastery give freely, much, if not all of our personal wealth to the hungry and the thirsty.

With the remainder of our coin we seem to make a lot of cakes and mead!

ah Jack Dimms, I must concur let us toast to conviction, the death of rationality and to the light gods of bribery

on another note are these dark gods heavier than the light gods or something because all this talk about weight is starting to make me feel self-conscious about my own.

Mr. Silver, while we would never refuse services to even those who spit on our faith, I invite thee to stand by thine convictions about our Light Gods of Bribery by declining our services when thou art in need of healing or defending.

To the clergy,

If a person has done things, thought things or contemplated things that weigh upon their heart mind and thus their soul, can they come to you to talk? If a person seeks advice can seek you and talk? If a person is troubled in any way, can they come talk to you in the privacy of confession with the knowledge that you will try to help them?

Can they trust that in this sacred duty of un burdening of '' troubling thoughts and actions that silence will be maintained, help will be garnered and guidance given?

If these answers are all yes regardless of the God or Goddess sought the person who is seeking help will find it. The Priest or Priestess found will be exercising their duties to Gods and the people whom their sacred trust is held will be unburdened at least in part to the troubles and trials they have.

Is this not what was originally offered? Is this not what was originally intended? If another does not seek this particular God or Goddess they have the freedom of choice to seek another. Not everything one person considers a 'sin' matches what another thinks as 'sin'. The important thing is the the help and the guidance in lives.

It is comforting for me to know it is there. While the Lady of the Heart is not the one I would currently chose to unburden my '' troubles too at this time it is nice to know that should something happen that falls that bastion I have choices available.

It is nice to know there are others as well. For all the theological questioning and word battles being had here I would love to hear who would offer what in confessions; of what kind or topics would be covered according to their God or Goddess.

Please.

Lori Blackstone

**not Caelvan **
Like I said before. I will gladly speak to anyone who wishes to talk.

-Merikh

Lori Blackstone,

To answer your questions, yes. For any reason, and at any time one may reach out to the Church and find someone willing to listen if that is all that is wanted, or offer counsel if it is asked for.

Confession specifically is part of a greater process which involves, not necessarily you and me, for example, but you and your faith, even if you feel you have none. In a confession, I would only be an "observer" as it were, between your desire to release some grief, guilt or pain from your conscious and soul.

The differences between how different faiths approach Confession are in my experience, very subtle, but all uniquely beneficial. I have COnfessed to priests of all of the gods in the Church of Light, and each time I felt a different way.

Valos is my personal god. I most often offer my confession to priests of Valos. During the process the priest will often begin by asking a Confessor what troubles them. From there it can feel like nothing more than a pleasant conversation, but people who are burdened by fear and doubts of a heavy conscious will seldom offer up all of what is troubling them. At that point it becomes the duty of the person hearing the confession to ask the appropriate questions in order to have the truth revealed.

I confess at least once a month and I ask for guidance and counseling far more often than that. I hope we will see you Lori Blackstone.

In faith and fellowship

I will not speak for others, Lori, but anything told to me in a confession has never been repeated by me. The salient point is that once one decides upon a confessor, if one does not like the ":penance" or tone of the conversation, one is not free to shop for another concerning the same occurrance. Shopping confessors is not allowed.

The variety of deities oft brings confusion about who the "right" confessor may be. The truth is that confession is more about the confessee than the confessor. Meaning, that the benefit thee derive is personal and the person whom takes the confession is often irelevant.

The penance assigned is important only as a means to confirm true repentance. Speaking of the same situation to different confessors is not discouraged as insight can come from multiple sources. The penance, while it is encouraged to not be the focus, is not something to negotiate, nor is it something that is cause for concern.

To those responding to my questions,

You have my humble thanks. Each in turn offered some enlightenment and much comfort in knowing that similar is here than was at home, across the rift, before the demons came.


Lori Blackstone