The culture Jew: Preserving ethnic identity over religious observance
Just One Mississippi Redneck’s Jew Of The Metaphysical, Kaballah, Jerry Falwell, Physics, Tolerance, Forgiveness, Life, Liberty And Justice For All
I am not an expert or authority on religion, new age beliefs, physics (or much of anything else for that matter); one might say I could now be “a pseudo-expert” regarding cartooning or e-commerce, but I think anyone becomes “an expert” at just about anything after persisting and doing it long enough.
The topic (or topics if you will) of this article regards matters such as energy vortexes, New Age religion, traditional religion, paganism, etc. and how they all have similarities, yet are so very different in traditions. It talks about why we are here, why we believe what we do, what we can do (or not do) with it, and a myriad of ramblings that, sometimes, I get in the mood to discuss. Again, I do not claim to be an expert on any of them, simply thoughts from readings and observations. I am a believer, but I certainly don’t demand it or judge others if they are not.
I guess the place to start is with paganism. How the word “pagan” ever got a negative connotation from anyone is beyond me. It is an ancient Greek word meaning “rural dweller” or “person or family living outside of a city”.
The ancient pagans did not really behave that much different than city-dwellers, except for the fact that since they relied so intensely on nature, that is, mostly farming, they were considered to worship it. Fruits, berries, herbs etc. were used as medicines. G-d (we use the spelling of G-d in Judaism and I happen to be a believer, which has very little to do with my story or observations).
So when the Torah (or first bible, or Jewish Bible or often referred to as The Old Testament) was written; much was included about the wisdom of “the country-dweller” or “rural person” and their behavior.
In fact, we all know from both Old and New Testaments the term “…and the fruits from the trees shall be thy medicine”. (I may have the exact phrase wrong). That was pagan wisdom long before we ever thought about it.
In both testaments also, most, if not all, revered religious leaders were chosen by G-d for a main reason. They were good shepherds. In His eyes, anyone who could take care of animals could take care of his people. In fact, the very reluctant leader Moses allegedly asked G-d “Why me?” The answer was, “Because anyone who can lead animals to safety
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