Oriental Wicca

The Mother of Chaos

2012-01-23T12:42:00.011+08:00

After studying myths and religion for so long I am seeing links to different ideas and gods. I seem to see links that other are missing, which surprises me. The link I see now is with an interesting character of Greek myths known as Echidna.

Echidna, the mother of monsters and wife of Typhon, the terrible giant whom fought the gods. There are diverse ideas of her parentage, but the parents that seem most plausible are Gaea(the Earth) and Tartarus(the pit, basically Hell.) She has connections with the earth element, living in a cave, so her other possible parents, Ceto and Phorcys, 2 sea deities, are unlikely.

She appears as a beatiful woman above the waist, but as a serpent below. This makes her a Dracaina, a dragon-woman. Dragon women almost always have comely human features and can be quite enticing to human men. She married Typhon though, her brother. With him she bore many monstrous children. The sphinx, Cerberus, Orthus, the Hydra, the Chimeara, etc... Typhon was urged by his mother, Gaea, to make war with the gods after they imprisoned her children, the Titans. They lost this war, leading to Typhons being imprisoned under Mount Etna and Echidna living in the cave Arima. Zeus allowed her and her children to live so that heroes had challenges. Later Herakles (Roman name was Hercules) met her and after a time, he too fell to her charms and she bore him 3 sons. One of them, Scythes, became a great Scythian king and passed his name onto those Asian peoples.

Later, the hundred eyed giant, Argus, killed her as she slept, on orders of Hera, the queen of the gods (they don't really say why, maybe because she produced children with Herakles.)

She sounds very familiar to another goddess, an ancient goddess from Mesopotamia. Tiamat, the mother of gods and monsters. The great mother goddess, the primoridial sea of chaos. She mated with her other, Apsu, the primordial waters of the the dark abyss under the earth and birthed the gods. The absolute silence they were born into and lived was no longer though and so they consipired to kill their offspring and all their progeny. The god Enki/Ea learned of this and warned the gods. He then poisoned Apsu, killing him. In retaliation Tiamat birthed the dragons, sea serpents, merpeople, scorpion men, the lion-centaurs, and others to form an army. Her son, Kingu, joined her cause and became her new significant other. She bestowed in him the tablets of destiny and he made war against the gods. Marduk, the god of storms, had claimed kingship over the gods and so was to fight against them. He slew Kingu, taking the tablets of destiny for himself and creating mankind from his blood. Then after a lengthy, stormy battle he slew Tiamat, splitting her into two and forming the earth and sky from her body. This shows that she not only had sea and chaos connections, but to the earth as well. She is a primordial goddess and is thought by later peoples to be more dragon-like, though we don't know how the ancient Mesopotamians originially imagined her.

Here we see the connection with Echidna, a dragon woman, mother of monsters, mated to someone who fights against gods and is defeated. Tiamats monstrous children were allowed to live and serve the gods and aide mankind as guardian spirits, similar to Echidnas, though her children hurt mankind, they gave challenges to heroes, which is needed. The 2 are the same. The Greeks took the stories coming in, and added it to their own. This is nothing unusual, as they did it all the time.

The movement of the mesopotamian great mother goddess Tiamat, up to the Greeks as a minor goddess, moved up even further. Another connection I see is that of the Norse Angrboda. She was a giantess and her name means "one who brings grief." She is also called the "witch of the ironwood," the place were giantesses live. She was the mother of the world serpent Jormungandr, Fenrir, the great wolf, and Hel (also called Hela,) the goddess of the underworld and where we get the world Hell from. She bore these children with Loki, the evil trickster of the gods, and the son of a giant himself. Her son Fenrir was raised by Odin, but had to be chained, fated to one day kill his foster-father at the end of time. Her other son, Jormungandr, was tossed into the ocean, where he grew so large he circled the Earth. He will one day fight Thor and be killed by him, but not before delivering a fatal dose of venom to Thor, killing him moments after the battle. Hel was givent he domain of death by Odin. She was born with half her body being pitch black (I have also read that she is half rotten corpse, though this may be from modern writers) and having a gloomy disposition. She rules the underworld and is the judge of the dead. Only those who die as brave warriors go to Valhala, basically Heaven, the rest go to Hel's realm. She is the enemy to all, only in the form of Death, cold and without mercy. She takes from all, equally and is the only of Angrboda's children to be honored and to survive the end of the world, watching over the dead.

Angrboda is also thought to have then mated with her son, Fenrir, to produce a brood of giant wolves, Hati and Skoll, who chase the sun and moon across the sky, and Garm(also Garmr) the guardian of the underworld. Garm is just like Cerberus, who is a son of Echidna. The connection here, to Echidna and Tiamat, is of a supernatural woman mating with a man who wants to destroy the gods to produce monstrous offspring to battle the gods.

Echidna, Tiamat, Angrboda, they are all the same. An ancient image passed down through the generations and cultures. A primordial goddess, mother of monsters. She was said to have been defeated, but she keeps returning to mother more monsters across the world. I am sure she is found in other cultures, but these are the only connections I have found as of now. Honor her, honor the mother of chaos and pray.

Off Topic

2012-01-14T11:00:00.002+08:00

Yeah, yeah, I know I need to post another interesting article soon, and I will. It will be about the origin of Echidna.

But, to get off topic, I noticed that of my blogs, this is the easiest to google. Google "Oriental Wicca" and my blog is in the top. Google my other blogs and I'm not so lucky.

So, to get around those pesky fees associated with dating sites (the bastards) I told people to check out my blog. I see from my little map here, that people have checked it out. So, to those people, you can leave a comment for me with your e-mail info, I have to moderate them first. You can also go to my profile and click "email" to get in touch with me. That was the whole point of the hint. If you got the hint to find me here, then you should get the hint to contact me through here.

Also, if I happen to have any decent guys from 18-38 who happen to read this blog entry and are interested in being pen-pals then, I am up for that. I am moving back to Korea next month and it would be nice to talk to people. Though I am primarily interested in people who live in Washington state's Seattle-Tacoma area, as that is where I will move when I return.

Thanks all. As I said, next post will deal with Echidna, a lesser known Greek entity.

Benu, Phoenix and the Holy Spirit

2011-11-03T01:14:00.012+08:00

It has been a year since I posted, so I think the break was long enough. read my other blog, The Journey to my Son, to know the boring details of what happened. Suffice to say, that even though I will start posting again, it won't be regularly.

This post will be about something which I see as very overlooked in the great debate of what Christians borrowed from the pagans. Where did the idea of the Holy Spirit come from? While theologians will definatly give you a very different answer than what I post here, it will end up coming as no shock. I don't understand why I seem to be the only one that saw this.

The Hebrew people lived in Egypt for several generations. They absorbed a lot of the culture and ideas. Many people already know about the Isis-Horus and Jesus-Mary similarities, and some others know that the original angels where imagined in more animalistic forms, similar to the genii of Mesopotamia and gods of Egypt. They became known as the Kerubim, and later Cherubs. People confused the little gods of love, the putti, with the Cherubs in Rennaisance art and that is what people call them today. Here is another idea that they borrowed from the Egyptians. The idea of the Benu.

The Benu is a divine bird, often pictured as a heron or later as a bird of prey, that is the representation of the sun god Ra. It is the Ba of Ra, the ba being the part of the soul allowed to fly free upon death. Look at old mummification scenes from Egypt and you will see a hawk or falcon with the head of the deceased flying away or looking on. That is the soul of the person. Ra allows his soul to fly free at times, or at least a part of his great divine being. As Ra is the creator and father of the gods, that makes him The God. The Hebrews took this idea of the soul of God and applied it to their own stories, allowing God to still be God in heaven and yet still travel around and deliver his will, along with his angels. When Christians began to take over, there were many in Alexandria, Egypt. These Alexandrian Christians were very influential in early Christian history. They spread many ideas, among them was the idea of the "Father, Son and Holy Spirit/Ghost" This fits right in with Egyptian mythology, as Ra, was being replaced by his great-great grandson Horus, whom also appreared like him, with Falcon head and bearing the eye of the sun. And then there was the benu, the ba of Ra, the holy spirit.

The Benu was translated by the ancient Greek pagans into the Phoenix, a well known bird. So the pheonix is the soul of the sun, which rises and sets, is born and dies, everyday. It is the symbol of resurrection and life and fire. When the Chrisitans came, they accepted this bird as a symbol of Jesus. You might find it ironic, given its pagan history, but since the phoenix is the Benu and the Benu is the Holy Spirit, then it makes sense.

The Holy Spirit, also known as the Holy Ghost, is the spirit of God. To Jewish people the Holy Spirit can come upon people and offer them divine inspiration or as a presence. It is God and is not considered different than him. To some Christians, they split God into a Holy Trinity of The Father(God,) The Son(Jesus, God incarnate on Earth) and the Holy Spirit. The Holy spirit is the spiritual essence of God, and can bring prephecy and inspiration to people. It also gives gifts to Baptized followers like wisdom, council, knowledge, etc... When a person gets baptized, they are thought to be filled with the Holy Spirit and reborn as good Christians. It often appears as a dove, the symbol of peace. It also appeared to Jesus as a dove when he was baptized by John. It can also appear as wind, light, clouds, fire or water. In art, the most often used form is of a white dove, often with a corona of light, a halo, over its heard or from its body. It is not surprising that people associate it with this form. God sends out his essence to the world and to man, just as Ra sent his out. Ra's essence appeared as a falcon, God's appears as a dove. It is an ancient idea that found its way into Christianity.

Now you know that the Holy Spirit is the Ba of God. You can celebrate this as well as the Chritians, for it is just another image taken from the past, taken from us, that we can reclaim in glory. Since many Wiccans/pagans also worship God, in their own way, they can incorporate this ancient idea into their beliefs without feeling like they are copying, or becoming, Chrisitans. For other pagans, it is not just the Benu and Ra, but other similar (though not the same) figures would be Zeus and his Eagle, Odin and his Ravens, etc...

Many of the rituals and beliefs of the Christians are not original ideas. They existed long ago in other cultures and religions. They took the ideas they liked and felt comfortable with and made it their own. Many also added pagan concepts to the religion so that they could keep worshipping their pagan faith in secret or face persecution.

The Heirophants Mysteries

2010-07-29T08:40:00.006+08:00

This summer is slipping by too fast. I apologize for the lateness of this entry. I guess I need to get another computer, as my son has hogged this one all summer. This is not as long and scholarly as the other entries I have done. I am moving soon and won't have the internet for a while and wanted to get this out before I go.

Eleusian mysteries initiation

Dionysus-god of wine, grapes, intoxication, agriculture, wild nature, fertility, madness, ecstasy, the theater, carnivals, among other things. Sadly, he is usually just explained as a god of wine and left at that, but he was so much more. He was also known as the Liberator, allowing you to free yourself from your cares and worries. He is an ancient Greek god, with mentions of him as old as 1200 B.C., though for some reason the Greeks of later ages treated him as a foriegn god or even as a newer god. Though they did the same thing to Eros, who was originally told of as one of the Elder gods of creation, but was later turned into a minor god of love and son of Aprhodite. You can see the shamanic themes in his worship, with animal skins and the thyrsus (pine cone tipped wand wound in ivy leaves.)

His story is one of the themes of the Orphic Mysteries. It starts with the son of Zeus and Persephone, named Zagreus, concieved when Zeus took the form of a snake and laid with his daughter, by Demeter. Zeus loved this child so dearly, that he was going to make him his true heir, above all his other children. This angered Hera, the wife of Zeus, so much, that she had the Titans kidnap the child and planned to kill him. He shapeshifted into many animals to escape them and finally turned into a bull and was caught by the Titans, who tore him to peices and devoured him. Zeus reacted by immediatly hurling a thunderbolt at them and turned them all to ash. The ashes mixed with water and the human race was created from this divine ash, with both traces of Zagreus' good nature and the Titans malicious nature. Persephone was able to recover Zagreus' heart though. Zeus fed the heart to Semele, a mortal woman, and she gave birth to Dionysus, who became the god we know today, thus securing that he was an ancient god and a young god at the same time. While he is mentioned as a son of Zeus, Persephone was the wife of Hades and one of Hades titles was Zeus Katachthonios, "Underground Zeus". So, he may have actually been the son of Hades. Semele eventually died and went to Hades. Dionysus went into Hades after her, and pulled her up to Olympus with him, showing the dying and ressurecting god of nature.

Dionysus can be contrasted with Apollo. Dionysus represents freeing your emotions, wild beasts and wild nature in general. While Apollo represents culture and civility.

His legions of female followers were called Meanads, and many were thought of as being supernatural creatures themselves, similar to nymphs, though only when they were in the company of Dionysus, or touched by him. They were intoxicated and fueled with strength and ecstasy.

Demeter-goddess of agriculture, the earth, seasons and fertility. The sister of Zeus and one of the great Olympians. She had a daughter with Zeus, named Kore "maiden." They are thought to actually be the same goddess, in 2 forms, the Maiden and Mother. The Eluesian Mysteries is about the story of how Hades came and abducted Kore to marry her. She searched for her daughter and the earth grew barren while she searched. Meanwhile, Kore resided in Hades, waiting for her mother to free her. Finally, with the earth wilting away, Zeus was forced to act, and told Hades to let Persephone go. But, Hades had tricked Kore into eating one of his pomegranites. If you eat the food of Hades, you must reside in Hades, so he tried to lay claim to her again. Zeus finally judged that she would reside in Hades for half the year and with her mother for half the year. She then became Persephone. Here she is the Crone, goddess of the underworld. Also, her mother, when she is the old woman of winter, sad and alone waiting for her daughter, is the Crone. So Kore is the maiden, Demeter is the mother, and Persephone and old Demeter are the Crone.

Hermes bringing Persephone back to Demeter from Hades

The Eluesian Mysteries: were the ancient mystery rites that surround the story of the Goddesses Demeter and Persephone.

The Dionysian Mysteries: give an often unheard of interpretation of the story of the birth and life of Dionysus. The Dionysian mysteries are entwined with the Orphic Mysteries.

The Orphic Mysteries: revolve around the story of Orpheus and his tragic loss. Orpheus was the son of Apollo and he was very musically inclined, so much so, that is was supernatural. His fiance was killed when a snake bit her, after his friend tried to rape her and she ran away. In his sadness, Opheus went to the underworld to retrieve his bride, where he used his music to charm first Cerebus, the canine guardian of Hades realm and later of Hades and Persephone, the rulers of the Underworld themselves. They promised that he could take his bride, if he lead her out of Hades without looking at her once. He agreed and led her all the way out of the underworld, resisting the temptation to see his love, until at last they reached the entrance and he exited, turned to see his wife, but she had not left the entrance yet, and she was pulled back into Hades. In his sadness he wandered around, until a pack of Meanads came upon him and ripped him to pieces in their ecstasy. Orpheus was said to have created the Dionysian mysteries, and revered Persephone and Dionysus.

Death of Orpheus

Modern Heirophant

2010-06-15T21:14:00.004+08:00

So I know it has been a while since I posted. But with work and my son finishing his first year of school in American and me trying to get custody of my nephew, househunting, trying to adopt a another son, I have been very busy. Sadly, I will be busy again starting next week at a new job, with extra-long summer hours, though I hope that this will give me the permanancy at the job I want so that I can get hopefully settle down for a while in a home. That is a laugh, me settle down. I have the nickname Wanderlust for a reason, though I am trying to settle down for my son, nephew and hopefully new son.

As you can see from the title of this entry, I am talking about what a Modern Heirophant is. This is an old Greek word that literally means "to show holy." In modern usage it is used to mean a person that brings people into the presence of that which is deemed holy, or as an interpretor of the sacred or arcane. It is the name of one of the tarot, also called the High Priest and I have also seen it used by some mystics as their title. But the Heirophant was originally the initiating priest of the Eleusian Mysteries. I will talk about what those mysteries were, the gods and goddesses involved with them, how these mysteries tie into the Dionysian Mysteries and the Orphic Mysteries and how it relates to the modern world and how I became a modern day Heirophant.

I will break this into several posts with these as the ideas:

Eleusian Mysteries-Dionysian Mysteries-Orphic Mysteries
Demeter-Persephone-Kore
Dionysus-Hades
Dionysus-Apollo
Dudachos

Taking a break

2010-05-03T19:47:00.003+08:00

I am taking a break right now from all my blogs. With an increased work load and therefor hours and my sons school year ending, I don't have time right now to do much, but I will get back to it soon enough.

I decided not to do Hinduism right now, sorry Anon. Instead I will be doing these next 3 posts when I have more time:

Modern Hierophant

Who is Jebu?

Pagan Virtues

Thanks for reading and for your patience.

The Way of the Kami

2010-02-26T10:23:00.023+08:00

Japan is filled with gods, spirits, monsters, demons, dragons and all manner of other things. They worship the Kami, which can be translated as both a god and a spirit. They believe that many things hold spirits, trees, stones, animals, even man-made objects which have reached 100 years of age hold a spirit. This would make them animists. This part of the religion is called Shinto, which we can split up into two Chinese words Shin "spirit/god" and Tao "the way" to make it the way of the spirits or the way of the gods. This is considered to be the religion of Japan, and comes down from prehistoric times, making it one of the worlds great pagan religions. It used to be not very organized, and only started changing when Buddhism came to Japan and the 2 religions became antagonistic to each other. For a long time the 2 fought, until finally, war gave way to peace and the 2 religions began to merge and influence each other. The modern Japanese government decided to have a national religion though, and so broke the 2 up, forcing them apart from each other, so that they could proclaim Shinto as the national religion. Many Japanese beleive that only Japanese can be Shinto (and Koreans as well, since they used to have the same religion basically,) causing this to be a Ethnic based religion, i.e. racist. There are Shinto temples in America though, and there are some white (non-Japanese) priests, which has caused a stir and a whole debate over whether the gods of Japan would care about and work with/through other peoples. But since all kinds of people use Greek gods and Norse gods and Egyptian gods, etc..., then there would be no problem with people using the Japanese gods.

Buddhism on the other hand, is not Ethnically based. Anyone can be a Buddhist, so even Bodhisattvas that only exist in Japan will help other people, too.

There is another native religion of Japan, started by the original inhabitants of Japan, the Ainu people. The Ainu were there first, then came people from the Korean continent that took over their lands and the 2 people became intermarried. The government of Japan refuses to admit that the Ainu or the aboriginal peoples though. They had, and still have, a bear cult, which can also be seen among some peoples in Russia, showing that they are culturally related to those peoples.

Torii, Japanese spirit gates, placed at the entrance to many temples or holy places.

Here I will list some of the gods/kami of Japan. Maybe in another post I will cover the other beings like the Yokai, Oni, Baku, etc...

Izanagi-no-Mikoto-the first man, father of the gods, god of life. He crossed the bridge of light into the world and stirred up the oceans to create the first land. He married Izanami and together they had several children, but they were all deformed and horrible. These deformed children were the result of Izanami's insolence of being the first to speak in this new world and so they walked around the world again and allowed him to speak first. After this, they birthed the other islands of Japan and then the gods were born, until Ho-Masubi, the fire god was born and his fiery birth killed Izanami. In a rage Izanagi killed his fiery son and then went on a quest to the underworld to find his wife. She was an underworld goddess now though, and looked like a corpse, and so he fled from her sight and washed his eyes and nose in a river, to cleanse her sight and smell from him, and from this were born Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi and Susanoo.

Stirring the ocean to create the first land

Izanami-no-Mikoto-the first woman, mother of the gods, goddess of the underworld and death, as she was the first to die when she gave birth to the fiery god Ho-Masubi. Her first children were deformed, brought on by her sin of being the first person to speak in the world, which should have been her husband (this is a patriarchal society, obviously.) After cleansing this sin, she gave birth to most of the islands of Japan and many gods. When her husband left her in the underworld after seeing what had become of her form, she shrieked that she would kill 1000 living things each day as vengence. So he said that 1500 things would be born each day.

Ho-Masubi/Kagu-tsuchi-god of fire, his esplosive birth killed his mother, Ianami. His father, Ianagi, was so enraged with grief that he slew his son. From his body arose the mountain gods and from his blood came the sea and rain gods. Though he was still worshipped, so he didn't stay dead, and in fact there is another legend that states that his mother birthed a twin brother of sorts before she died, the water god Mizuhame, so that he could pacify his brother if he should become violent.

This was the only picture I could find of Ho-Masubi

(modern art from pgannon.com)

Amaterasu-goddess of the sun, she is the sister of Tsukuyumi and Susanoo. She was born from a tear shed from Izanagi's left eye. She once hid in a cave because of her brother, Susanoo's, abusive and lewd behavior. As the goddess of the sun, she took all daylight with her, causing much turmoil. The other gods tried and tried to get her to come out, but she would not. So, they devised a plan to lure her out, saying they found a new goddess to replace her, that was even more beautiful than her and had a party, with the goddess Uzume dancing and creating mirth. They placed a mirror, the Yata no Kagami, in front of the cave and curious to see the new goddess, she came out and saw her reflection(for the first time). The gods then sealed the cave shut so she could not return. She was so pleased with her reflection that she decided to stay out, but banished Susanoo to the earthly realm to atone for his behavior. She was the grandmother of the first Emperor of Japan, Ninigi, and as such is viewed as the special goddess of Japan(land of the rising sun) and guardian of Japanese people. As the sun goddess, she is one of the most powerful of the Kami and so is their ruler. One of her activities is to weave the sacred kimonos of all the other gods, showing her as a caring mother figure. She sent her grandson to the earthly realm to help pacify the land, giving him her 3 sacred possessions, the Yata no Kagami(mirror,) the Kasanagi-no-Tsurugi (sword) and the Yasakani-no-megatama (curved jewel, symbol of benevolence.)

Uzume dances to lure Amaterasu out of the cave

She leaves the cave to see what all the fun is about

Tsukuyomi-god of the moon, brother of Amaterasu and Susanoo. He was born from a tear from the right eye of Izanagi. He once visited Uke-Mochi, and viewed how she made food. He was so horrified that he slew her. Amaterasu was so angry and embarassed by this act, that she will have nothing to do with him, and this is why they never see each other.

Susanoo-no-Mikoto-god of storms and seas, a folk hero. The brother of Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi, born when Izanagi blew his nose. He was a wild and rude god, and offended(or abused) his sister so much, that she fled into a cave. When the other gods finally got her out of the cave, he was banished to the Earthly realm for his actions. This is when he became a folk hero, as he wandered around he met an old couple that told him that 7 of their 8 daughters had been devoured by Yamata no Orochi, and eight headed dragon. He slew the Orochi by getting each of it's 8 heads drunk on barrels of saki and they fell asleep, then he hacked it to pieces, finding a magical sword in the tail, the Ama-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi ("Sword of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven") or the Kasanagi-no-Tsurugi ("Grasscutter Sword"). He presented this sword to his sister as a gift and she allowed him back into the heavenly world.

Susanoo versus Orochi, a common theme in Japan

Ishikori-dome-the smith goddess, she made the first mirror, the 8 sided Yata No Kagami, to help lure Amaterasu out of the cave she had sealed herself in.

Ana-no-Uzume-goddess of dance, revelry and mirth. She danced and spread mirth to help lure Amaterasu out of the cave she sealed herself in.

Uke Mochi-goddess of food. Tsukuyomi came to visit her one day, and so she decided to prepare a feast, but Tsukuyomi spied upon her and was horrified to see that she was creating food from her body. He slew her and from her body arose all the foodstuff that humans eat.

Ninigi-No-Mikoto-the grandson of Amaterasu, father of Hoori and Hoderi and great-grandfather of Jimmu. He was sent to the earthly realm to pacify the land and plant rice. Amaterasu gave him her 3 sacred gifts, of the Kasanagi-no-Tsurugi(sword), Yata-no-Kagami(mirror) and the Yasakani no Megatama(jewel,) which he gave to Jimmu and have been kept by the emperors since then.

Hoori/Yamasachihiko-god of hunting, younger brother of Hoderi and great-grandson of Amaterasu. He lost his brothers fish hook in the ocean when he wanted to try his hand at fishing. So, he went diving to find it and met Otohime, Ryujin's the sea dragons daughter. She fell in love with him and took him to her fathers palace. Ryujin was not happy, as he was the guardian of the sea and he thought this was a fisherman, a plunderer of the sea. Eventually Ryujin gave into his daughters pleas and allowed the two to marry. They lived happily for many years, until Hoori became homesick and remembered the whole reason he came down there was to find his brothers treasured hook. Ryujin found the hook and Hoori returned to the surface world with his bride, who was not pregnant. After settling into life on the surface world, she went into labor and asked that her husband not see her until it was over. He was annoyed that he couldn't see his child being born though and snuck a peak, only to see her change into a dragon. He screamed in horror, she screamed in fear and fled, leaving him his son. Later, she sent a sister up to raise her son as a nanny, but the 2 fell in love and had a son together, Jimmu, who became the first emperor of Japan.

Hoori meets Otohime

Hoori losses the fish hook

Hoderi-god of fishing, older brother of Hoori and great grandson of Amaterasu.

Ryujin-dragon god, guardian of the seas and it's creatures. The father of Otohime, and grandfather(and great-grandfather) of Jimmu, the first emperor of Japan. As the god of the sea, he was revered by many sailors and fishermen, who depended on his kindness for their livelihoods. He lived in a palace of coral an crystal, named Ryugu, under the sea and used turtles, jellyfish and fish as his messengers. He once game the Empress Jingo magical tidal jewels that would control the tides (and then some,) which she used to attack Korea, first removing the water under their ships, grounding them, and then to send a tidal wave to crush, and drown, the fleeing sailors and warriors. He made the jellyfish boneless when he sent it on a mission to find a monkey for him to eat and the poor thing came back emptyhanded, so was beaten so severly that his bones all crumpled to powder.

Ryujin or one of his servants

Musubi-no-Kami-god of love and marriage, appears as a young man. He also represents creation or the power of becoming, which makes him very similar to Eros, who was first thought of as a child of Chaos (the primodial god) who used love to help create the universe, and later as a demi-god son of Aphrodite, that went around shooting arrows of love at people. Musubi lives in a sacred cherry tree, Kanzakuri, where he will leap out of and offer young girls a bough of cherry blossoms, with a promise of love in their future (not his love, the love of a human man.)

Gekka-O-god of binding in marriage, he ties the bride and grooms feet together with a magic red silk cord.

Hachiman-god of war, bravery and honor, the divine protector of Japan and it's people. He was a real historical figure, Emperor Ojin, that was deified after his death. He was thought to be the special guardian of the Minamoto Samurai clan, who took eventual became the shoguns of Japan. He is also very popular with the average people (peasants in the old days.) Over half the registered shrines in Japan are for him, making him second only to Inari, the rice god. He was so popular that the buddhists found a way to make him into a bodhisattva of sorts, following the way of the warrior, so he became a kind of synchronistic deity, fusing the 2 main religions of Japan.

Inari-god/goddess of rice and fertility. This ambigous deity has shrines all over Japan, and is very important, as rice is the staple food there. S/He uses pure white foxes as messengers, and you will see them all over the shrines. Because of this, s/he is also called the fox god, but many priest discourage this (because the foxes can also be thought of as evil.) Both a god and a goddess, appearing as either one, someitmes a young maiden, or an old man, a bodhisattva or a even as a fox. This deity has more shrines than any other in Japan, showing the importance of rice to the people. The shrines often have the red torii (spiri gates) at the entrance, and since there are so many shrines and so many torii, red has become associated with Inari. The shrine itself is often flanked by a pair of fox statues, one male and one female. People would leave offerings of rice or saki at the temple, but the most common is to offer a fox statue.

Statue of Inari as an old man, with his white foxes

Inari, as a young woman, appears before a samurai

Fox guardian at a shrine to Inari

Fuujin-god of the wind, often depicted as an Oni with a bag slung over his shoulder. He is thought to be one of the oldest gods, present at the creation of the world, where he let loose his winds to clear the mists between heaven and earth, letting the suns light reach the world. What is even more interesting is that there is clear evidence that Fuujin was actually originally the Greek wind god Boreas, who traveled along the silk road as the wind god Wardo and was eventually brought over to Japan. He is of course now his own unique self and is not Boreas anymore, but it is amazing nontheless. The buddhists use him too, claiming that he was a demon that the Buddha captured and converted, becoming a wind god.

Raijin/Raiden-god of thunder and lightning, often paired with Fuujin and depicted as an Oni. As an oni figure, he is fond of eating childrens navels, so parents would tell their children to cover their tummies. He carries a circle of drums with him, beating on them produces the thunder. He is similar to his Chinese counterpart, Lei Gong, but is more well known in the west, in part thanks to the Mortal Combat game (though he appears a lot more human looking in the game and subsequent movies.) He is very well known in Japan, with pretty much everyone knowing who he is, even if they are not Shinto, and his image appears on a number of things from cards, to cups to blankets.

He has a companion beast, Raiju, which is the actual lightning itself. It appears as a cat, tanuki, or a blue wolf make of fire or wrapped in lightning. This beast becomes aggitated during storms and will leap about, causing fires to everything he touches. He likes to sleep in navels, of which Raijen will shoot arrows of lightning at to wake him up (frying the poor individual whose navel he was sleeping in.) So don't sleep outside during a storm, and even if you are inside, it is suggested that you sleep on your stomach. Raiju was used to make the Pokemon character Raichu, Pikachu's evolved form.

Chimata-no-Kami/Sai-no-Kami-god of crossroads, roads and footpaths. He was originally a phallic god, and the phallus is still his symbol, and images or carvings of a phallus are placed at crossroads.

O-Watatsumi-god of the sea and all it's creatures, the most important of the sea gods. Some people think he is the same as Ryujin.

O-Yamatsumi/Ohoyamatsumi-god of the mountains, the most important of all the mountain gods. He is the son of Izanagi and older brother of Amaterasu. He is also the father of Konohanasakuya-Hime, the kami of the sacred Mt. Fuji.

Konohanasakuya-Hime-goddess of Mt. Fuji, a sacred mountain in Japan. She is the daughter of O-Yamatsumi and the wife of Ninigi, mother of Hoori and Hoderi. Her symbol is the cherry blosson, and she is called the "blossom princess." Because this is her symbol, and cherry blossoms are fleeting, human life is short. If Ninigi had married her sister, Iwa-Naga, the rock princess, human life would have been very long.

Mt. Fuji

Amaatsu-Mikaboshi-god of stars, specifically the pole star, and of evil. He is the personification of the void, the primordial darkness that existed before creation. He was the only being there, and ruled it absolutly and with absolute darkness, stillness and silence. Then for one tiny instant he lost control when the In and Yo (yin-yang) began flowing and the movement caused the universe sprang into being. As it was the ruler of the void, all things that rushed to fill that void have peices of it now, including humans, and this is the cause of our passions (well the dark side of our passions.) He is not really a god per say, but a force, the anithesis of life and light. It is constantly trying to return the universe back to the dark and silent void (i.e. destroy it) and feeds off of these negative emotions and dark passions. Those who die with strong attachments to him will have their sould turned into his agents, or even become Oni. Some Onmyoji (Japanese sorcerers) worship him in an attempt to steal his power. Many blame him and the Onmyoji for the atrocities commited by the Japanese before and during WWII. This god became a major villian in Marvel comics Hercules, where he killed Zeus and recently took over an alien pantheon. He was the inspiration for the Star Wars Sith Palpatine. He was also the inspiration for a villain in the Sailor Moon series(the season where the daughter comes back in time and they don't know who she is.) He has been compared to Satan by some, though Satan wants to pervert creation in defiance and rebellion to God, while Mikaboshi just wants to destroy everything, people, gods, the whole universe. So, not the same at all. And while Mikaboshi is thought of in the male tense, it is not male or female, existing in the void before anything even remotely like sexes was formed.

As he has no real form, there are no real depictions of him used.

Here is the Marvel comics version of him

Bodhidarma/Daruma-the founder of Zen buddhism, he was an Indian monk whose teachings reached all the way to Japan, where most people think Zen buddhism came from. Often seen as the little Daruma rolly-polly dolls, used as toys for children, or as good luck charms. The good luck lasts for one year, so a new doll would be bought the next year, while the old one would be burned together at the temple with other old dolls.

I got one of these when I was in Japan, too.

I had no idea it was supposed to be a toy though, I like that idea.

Kannon/Kwannon-god/goddess/bodhisattva of compassion and mercy. This deity is the Chinese goddess Kwan Yin, who is really the male Bodhisattva Avaloketisvara. In Japan there seem to be more male images of Kannon than female, but both are shown. Kannon is widely revered in Japan, and is seen as the protector of children, as well as the giver of children. There are many incarnations of Kannon, as woman, as man, as demon, as god, as bodhisattva, as tengu, etc...all of them are there to help people. Together with Jizo and Amida (see below,) they are the bedrock of Japanese buddhism, with Jizo offering salvation from hell, Amida giving people the pure land and Kannon offering salvation in this life.

Kannon in a masculine form, with multiple arms

Giant, building sized statue of Kannon, in a more feminine form

Amida Nyorai-is the Bodhisattva Amitabha, the "buddha of infinite light." Bodhisattva of protection and forgiveness. He created the pure land, a place for those that have not yet broken the cycle of rebirth to go to when they pass on, to learn more of the Budda's teachings and then become Bodhisattvas themselves to return to the world and help more people. It is basically a kind of short cut to Nirvana, or a time extension so you can learn more. There are many 48 different vows to take to get to the pure land, though you only need to complete one to get in. The 2 easiest that I have seen are to call upon Amida's 10 times or more, or to call upon him when you are about to die. This easier path is what led so many people to him, and frankly, I myself am attracted to this idea. While I will still endeavor to learn more in this life, it is a relief that Amida give's me extra time in his pure land if I haven't figured it out. Some people love life and want to be born again and again. I am not one of those people, I am someone that feels the weight of too many lifetimes and am ready to go to Nirvana. That is why I am both a pagan and a buddhist and feel comfortable in the Asian pagan-buddhist faith.

Jizo-is actually the Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha, who took it as his role to teach mankind the ways of Buddha, after the death of Buddha until the time of Maitreya, the last Buddha. In Japan he is the protector of all mankind and rescues souls in hell. He especially cares for dead children, as they are believed to not have had enough time to gather merit to cross over, so are stranded in-between and forced by demons to carry rocks down a river to make piles, basically crude stupas, as penance for making their parents grieve (this is a culture of absolute respect for sure!) He will scoop up those children and hide them in his robes keeping them safe until their time has passed and they can move on. Grieving parents will often leave childrens toys at his idols or dress him in childrens clothes, hoping that he will take pity on their child and give them special attention. His statues are often seen in semetaries or anyplace that children have died. He protects travllers too. so roadside statues of him are common as well. He looks like a Buddhist monk, with a shaved head, often with closed eyes and cubby, child-like cheeks. He carries a staff with rings atop it, which he would shake, like a rattle, to ward off demons. He is a very popoluar Bodhisattva in Japan, and can be found in Shinto areas as well.

Offerings left for Jizo, to keep their deceased children safe from demons and punishment

Ekibio-Gama-god of plagues and epidemics. I am not sure if he causes it, like Bimbo-Gami causes poverty, or if he helps ward away plagues, or if he is the personification of plagues (then he should be an Oni, not a Kami.)

Emma-O-god of the undeworld and judge of the dead, he keeps the souls of the dead until it is their time to be reborn or they are saved and can go to a heavenly paradise. He is really the Hindu-Buddhist god Yama, and is also the same as the Chinese god Yanluo (The Yama King.)

Fudo-god of fire, wisdom and protection from disaster. He appears rather like a sumo wrestler in appearance.

Okuninushi-god of healing, medicine and sorcery. He was once a man, whose brothers grew jealous of and so they killed him, but his mother was able to resurrect him. His brothers then again killed him and he took refuge in the underworld. While in the underworld, he met Susanoo and his daughter, Suseri-hime. He immediatly fell in love with her and Susanoo gave him many tests to perform to prove his worth, hoping to destroy him. With Suseri's aide, as well as that of an animal ally he was able to overcome these tests, but then decided to tie Susanoo's hair to the rafters of his palace while he slept and fled with this daughter and stole Susanoo's bow and arrows. Susanoo had finally grown fond of him, so allowed him to escape and told him to use his arrows to kill his treacherous brothers, which he did. He became the ruler of the province of Izumo, until Ninigi came and took his place. He then became the ruler of the unseen world of spirits and a healer.

Sukunaa-Biko-god of rain, faming and cultivation, he was a friend and ally of Okuninushi. He was dwarf-like in appearance.

Kawa-no-Kami-god of rivers, the lord of all the river gods, goddesses and spirits.

Bimbo-Gami-god of poverty. He causes it wherever he dwells, so people perform rituals to get rid of him. He is a thin and filthy man, and during times of economic troubles people would beat idols of him to punish him and force him to leave.

Recession bothering you?

Go beat the crap out of Bimbo-Gami!

Marisha-Ten-goddess of war and victory. She had 8 arms, each bearing a sword and had an army of 7 ferocious boars. She was able to confuse the enemy, by making you invisible. She is the Japanese version of an indo-European goddess and Tibetan boddhisattva, Marici.

Shichi Fukujin-The seven gods of luck, which are almost the same as the
Chinese 8 Immortals

Benten-goddess of words, speech, eloquence and music
Bishamon-god of warriors, guards and the punisher of criminals, protector against diseases and demons
Daikoku-god of wealth
Ebisu-god of mirth, joy and happiness
Fukurokuju-god of wisdom and longevity
Hotei-god of contentment and abundance
Jurojon or Gama-god of longevity
Kichijoten/Kisshoten/Kudokuten-goddess of happiness, fertility and beauty, sometimes considered to be the 8th god of fortune

Modern worship in Japan, means you can carry luck on a keychain,

and all your gods, too

Japan is a land of gods and spirits, a land little touched by Christian and Muslim hands, so there are just too many gods to list here. There are other gods I wanted to list, but much of my research from my travels is still sitting in storage waiting for me to move. I may work on some of the spiritual creatures, demons, monsters and heavenly beings of East Asia next time or I may work on the gods of another country like India or the Phillipines. I am also open to requests if you want me to focus on a specific country, otherwise, wait and see what I post next.

Japan is almost done

2010-02-25T12:49:00.001+08:00

I am currently preparing the post on Japan and will have it up within a week or 2.

The Chinese Way

2010-01-26T20:44:00.014+08:00

Last time I spoke about Buddhist gods and Boddhisatvas. This time I will talk about the Folk and Taoist gods of China. The Chinese are interesting. It's like a religious buffet set up for them, where they get to pick and choose what they want, a little Taoist philosophy, a little Folk gods, a little Buddhist meditation, a little Confuscius and viola', a personal religion. It is from them that I have developed my own personal religious views of picking and choosing what I feel comfortable with from all the religions, past and present, that I am exposed to.

Confucius, Buddha and Lao Tzu

Taoism (it is supposed to be pronounced with a "D" to make Daoism, but so many people say it with the "T" that it can no longer be called innacurate. Wasn't it the British whom first translated Chinese into English, because they messed up big time, creating a huge mess with Chinese and English spelling translations, also you will see that I am not a fan of Pinyin and mostly prefer the Wade-Giles form of latinized Chinese, ) is a philosophy that originated from Lao Tzu, also spelled Laozi, whom has become immortal and a god. It was created around the 6th century BCE, though that is only when written records appear, it may be older. Tao means "the way" or just "way" and refers to the way that you should act in regards to morals and towards nature. Taoism is where the concept of Yin-Yang came from, the idea that opposite forces do not fight each other, but flow into each other and work together to make the cosmos. This is in contrast to the Western worlds modern (as of 2000 years ago) idea that opposing forces fight each other for control of the world. As a Taoist, you are supposed to work with the cosmos and if you can align the forces just right in your body, you may achieve immortality. Taoists have temples and priests, called Daoshi, which are distinct from the Folk temples. Some western scholars have suggested that Taoism is not a religion, but more like a way of life. If that is true, then the same could be said of the Ancient Egyptians, yet thier views were called a religion, too. Taoists use a book called the Tao Te Ching, also called the Dao de Jing, which is a book filled with poems and philisophical advice for all people. I could go on and on about Taoism, but I would suggest looking up more information on your own. "The Tao of Pooh and the Te of Piglet" by Benjamin Hoff is a great book for Western people to read to learn about Taoist philosophy.

Taoism and the Folk Religion are intertwined, but not the same thing. Though many foriegn people often confuse the two as the same, which irritates Daoshi (see above.) The folk religion is the old religion of China, well the older religion of China, meaning it is the pagan religion of China. The folk religion is centered around the old mythology of China dealing with the gods and goddesses, ancestors, dragons, and other mythic entities. It comes from the neolithic times, having an incredible history. It has later taken bits and pieces from other Chinese religions and philosophies, so you will see hints of Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism it there as well. Because of this, and because of the reservations of the writers, many Westerners have branded the Folk Religion adherents as Taoist, since it is considered a named and organized religion closer to what modern (i.e. Christian) western people know. So there are actually millions of pagans living in China.

Confucianism was developed by the Chinese philosopher Confucius, though that is his Westernized name, his name is actually Kung Fu Tzu. Confucius saw that the people of his time were becoming morally corrupt and so made up a philosophy to help lead the people back to a golden age. It stresses morality, obedience, scholarship and leadership. His teachings also back the ruling elite, showing that it is up to them to lead the way. Many other Asian countries adopted his philosophies, well at least the ruling elite did. While I admire many of his teachings, I personally blame Confuciusians for the decline of Korea, weakening their military because the nobles were too busy spending that money so that they could show everyone how scholarly they were, and leading to Japan so easily taking over before WWII. Confucianism has no gods, it is a philisophical religion, but they do honor and revere Confucius.

Here is a list of some of the deities of China. There are far too many too list, and some haven't even been seen in English before, so I don't even know their names. Also, as China is an Empire made up of many smaller kingdoms, each kingdom had its own gods and goddesses, there are just too many to count. I even saw that there was a goddess of Pears in the Hanyuan province, though I don't know her name, just like the Gauls had a god of apples. I guess she was only meant to be known there, though that makes me sad, as she may be the only goddess of pears and so should be known to all who eat pears. I guess I am a lot like the Chinese in that I like to have a divine beaurocracy.

Celestial beaurocracy in action, the Ministry of Demons and Monsters

The 3 Pure Ones-primordial gods that represent creation from the void of nothingness, they are the highest gods, higher than the Jade Emperor (see below.) They are not clearly defined and are more revered as abstract deities.

Guan Yu-the great general of heaven, patron of policemen, soldiers and protectors of law, seen as the epitome of loyalty and righteosness. He was a mortal man living in the times of the 3 Kingdoms, a much romanticized period of history in China, where he was an important figure in the civil war to dispose the Han dynasty. He is portrayed as a powerful warrior with a red face (the color, not rouge) and black hair and a long beard. Though many modern artists have taken the red face away to show that he was born a mortal. He carried a guando, which is similar to a halberd, called the Green Dragon Cresent Blade (though I have also seen it called the Black Dragon Blade,) and wears a green robe with his body armor. After his defeat and death, he was apotheisized into a god. He is a Folk god, a Taoist god, a Boddhisatva, and a Confucian ideal of the virtues of honor and loyalty. He is a very popular deity, and there is a lot of information available about him, so look him up.

Kuan Yin-known as Kwannon/Kannon in Japan, is the goddess of mercy, though she is at times depicted as a boy as well. This is because she was originally the Boddhisatva Avaloketishvara, a man, but because of how he dressed and his feminine appearance, when his worship came to China, he was confused for a girl and eventually became a seperate goddess in her own right. Though buddhists have no problem with this and see it as Avaloketishvara taking the form of a goddess to show non-Buddhists the path to enlightenment, and boddhisatvas can take any form anyways. This goes to show that it doesn't matter how a god or goddess came to be, they exist all the same. She appears as a woman wearing a white gown and having a white headscarf or some form or hair ornament(I always imagine her with the headscarf,) holding a vase full of the waters of compassion. She may also appear with a thousand arms (showing her Indian heritage) or as a young man, or as a mother, or as a buddhist seated in meditation, and a myriad of other forms. As the goddess of mercy, compassion and unconditional love, she is also the mother of orphans, protector of mothers, women in general, and all children. She can also grant children, help the poor and unfortunate and heal the sick. She is a goddess for everyone and her worship has spread all over the world. I have even invited her into my pantheon of gods. She is a popular goddess and you can find a lot of information about her.

Matzu-also spelled Mazu, was the goddess of sailors and the ocean. I would also call her the patron goddess of Taiwan, as she has so many temples there, and as an island nation (yes I believe in their soverignity) surrounded by the ocean and having many fisherman and sailors, she is perfect for them. She is often portrayed with a black face(the color, not the race of people,) and surrounded by the Jiu Huang Ye, the 9 emperors, her emanations and servents, or 2 demon generals she has conquered and subdued, named Qianli Yan and Shunfeng Er. She was said to have been a mortal girl, whom would dress in red and sit or walk along the shore, so that sailors and fishermen could see the shore and not crash, she also went into a trance and saved her father or brothers from drowning once and was apotheosized into a goddess. While she is a goddess of the ocean and sailors, people also pray to her for other things, like health, careers, etc... Her worship has spread to other countries and she can be found wherever the Chinese have moved. When I lived in Taiwan, I went to one of her temples and prayed for her to help get my sons visa (see my other blog, The Journey to my Son, for info about that mess) and he did eventually get it, but I also prayed to her for another son and that never happened. I guess she can only do so much.

Pa Hsien/8 Immortals-are popular figures in art and literature in China, Japan and now in the Western World. They were 8 mortal people that found different paths to immortality. They are also called the lucky gods, as they are though to dispense luck. Each one has a different sphere of power and influence though, such as music, sholarship, or acting. They were often shown together on a ship and they are often drunk.

Cao Guojiu-patron of actors, and older man with a beard, holds a jade tablet or castanets.

He Xiangu-patron of musicians, the only woman in the group, she often holds a sheng(a stringed instrument) or a magical lotus that can cure all ills.

Zhongli Quan-shown as an older man with an open robe showing a large belly, holding a magical fan that can revive the dead

Li-T'ieh Kuai-patron of doctors and all healers, is an ugly looking older man, using an iron crutch to help him walk, often appearing as a begger, and holding a gourd that holds special medicine that can cure all illnesses. He was actually handsome before he became an immortal, but his spirit left his body to go visit heaven, and his apprentice thought he had died, so cremated his body, when he returned he possessed the nearest body available, which was that of a recently deceased begger.

Zhang Guo Lao-represents old age and seems to be patron of wine and alcohol. He loved to make alcoholic drinks and the drunken style kung fu was named after him. He often rides his donkey and can turn into a bat (a symbol of good fortune in Asia.)

Lan Ts'ai-ho-patron of minstrels, buy I am not sure what he is really a patron of, he seems to do things contrary to normal, such as dressing like a woman, or wearing very little in the winter or stuffing his clothes in the summer. He is a young man.

Han Tsiang Tzu-patron of flautists (thats people who play flutes and related instruments)

Lu Tung Pin-patron of scholars and carries a sword that dispells evil spirits. He is said to be the leader of the group and can have a huge temper.

Shangdi-heaven, the primordial god, the first ruler of the gods and creator of the universe. His name is literally over 4 thousand years old. Never represented as a person or thing, just his name written on tablets placed in the temple of heaven. Ruler of the great ancestral spirits and nature spirits, and maintainer of the natural order. The emperor would perform annual sacrifices to him to maintain social order and give good harvests.

Yu Huang-the Jade Emperor, the ruler of heaven, earth and hell. He is the supreme power in creation and has done such things as create the Chinese zodiac to divide up the years, conquer the most powerful demon to stop him from laying waste to the heavens, and help transform the earth to make it more habitable for mankind. He is seen as either the second to hold the position of Emperer of heaven and will be succeeded by only one more Emperor, or as one among a line of Emperors. He represents the Yang, in the Yin-yang of Taoist philosophy. He holds his celestial court in the topmost layer of the sky and can grant immortality or other riches and blessings to people.

Hsi Wang Mu-the Queen mother of the west, holder of the peaches of immortality. She is the goddess of life and immortality, living on the sacred mountain in the West (of China,) Kun-lun. There she lives in a palace paradise, where many gods, goddesses and immortals meet for events. She is the highest of the goddesses and so many live in her palace or work as her servents. She represents the Yin in the Taoist philosphy of yin-yang. In some myths she is the mother of the Jade Emperor, in others she is his wife.

Zao Shen-the kitchen god. He lives in everyones stove in the kitchen, the hub of the home, where he observes and listens to everything you do. Then once a year, the day before Lunar New Year, he will go to the heavens and report what he has seen and heard to the Jade Emperor, who then rewards or punishes the family. To stop him from this, people will offer him sticky rice on this day, making it hard for him to speak. Despite this, he was seen as one of the most important gods to the common man, as he was in charge of overseeing the wellfare of the family.

Tu Di Gong-the Earth god, both a singular god and a genius loci. Each locality was supposed to have its own Earth god, in charge of protecting the land and maintaining peace. Villagers would lovingly call him Grandpa and ask for his help with crops and weather, especially in times of drought and famine. As he is an earth god, he is also seen as able to grant wealth (Earth gods hold precious metals and gems in their realms.) He had many local shrines, often very rustic. I had the pleasure of seeing a museum exhibit about Tu Di Gong when I was living in Taiwan and these are a couple of the pictures I took about it.

Lung Wang-the dragon kings. They rule the four seas of China and represent the four directions. They live in crystal palaces under the seas guarded by shrimp soldiers and crab generals. They control not only earthly waters, but celestial ones as well, causing rains and clouds and even floods. Their true forms are those of dragons, but they can also shapeshift into other forms, even human.

Ao Guang-ruler of the East Sea, he often caused storms, was an enemy of both Son Wu Kong and Nezha. When he was defeated by Son Wu Kong, he gave him the golden chain mail, phoenix feather cap and cloud walking boots.

Ao Qin-ruler of the South Sea, when he was defeated by Son Wu Kong, he gave him a red and gold cape.

Ao Run-ruler of the West Sea

Ao Shun-ruler of the North Sea

Sun Wu Kong -the Monkey King, a very popular and famous character of Chinese mythology, he is also known as Son Goku in Japan, which is where the Dragonball character got his name and story idea from. Sun Wu Kong is the son of the earth, born from a stone. Because of his great strength and intelligence he became king of the monkeys and later became a student of Buddha. He learned many magical techniques, including cloud hopping, 72 magical transformations, and each of his hairs could become a clone of himself or anything else he could transform into. When he shapeshifts into human form, he still has his tail though, so was not perfect. He became boastful, so Buddha ordered him to leave. He travelled far and wide, even under the seas, were he aquired his magical staff, which could grow or shrink, fight by itself and multiply itself. This staff was a treasure of the Lung Wang and was used to keep the flow of the seas in check, so they battled him over it. He beat the Lung and forced them to give him several more treasures, like golden chain mail, a phoenix feather cap, and cloud boots. Full of pride, he sneaked into hell and erased his name from the registry of death, along with all his monkey kin. This caused chaos for the Yama Kings, and so the Yama Kings and Lung Wang reported all this to the Jade Emperor. The Jade Emperor thought that a royal position would calm him down and so offered him one and he accepted, but was then given charge of the royal stables. Humiliated, he stole the peaches of immortality, Lao Tzu's pills of longevity and the Jade Emperors special royal wine, and fled back to his monkey kingdom to plan a rebellion. He defeated all the forces of heaven sent against him, even the highest and best general, and was only finally defeated by the combined might of the Jade Emperors forces and Boddhisattvas. They tried to execute him, but failed, so Lao Tzu tried to boil him away into a potion, and after being sealed in a boiling pot for 49 days, he was still alive and given a new power, the power to see evil in any form, but smoke hurt his eyes after that. Then Buddha came and made a bet that Sun Wu Kong could not escape from his palm, he agreed and lept to the pillars of heaven, thinking he had won, he signed his name and did other things, then lept back to Buddhas palm, only to see that the pillars of heaven where the Buddhas fingers. Buddha then sealed him below a mountain, where he stayed for 500 years, until the goddess Kuan Yin released him to protect a buddhist monk as he traveled to India to get sacred sutras. He was tricked into wearing an iron headband that would tighten on his head causing unbearable pain if he betrayed the monk. For the rest of the story, read the "Journey to the West" a Chinese classic. He was given godhood and buddhahood afterward. He is often compared to Hanuman, a Hindu monkey deity.

Nezha-also named Zhongtan Yuanshuai or Nataku (in Japanese). I know him from the Japanese Anime, Hoshi Engi, named Soul Hunter in English. He is a guardian god and trickster. He was born to a military leader, and took 3 and a half years to grow in his mothers womb, and when he was born, he came out in a lump of flesh(a reference to a stone baby?), that his angry father split with a sword and he jumped out fully grown, which reminds me of Athena, only his body was grown, but not his mind. Later he killed a nature spirit and the son of the Dragon King Ao Guang, who threatened to kill his family in revenge, so he killed himself to spare his family. But, his teacher was one of the immortals, and brought him back to life using lotus blossoms to construct his body. He later became a general(or served right under the general) in the Jade Emperors army, and fought against Son Wu Kong, but was defeated. He can fly through the sky with a wheel of fire under each foot, carries a golden celestial hoop and spear and wears a red sash. Sometimes he is depicted with multiple heads and arms.

The Anime version from Soul Hunter

Chang O-also called Chang'e, goddess of the moon, though she did not make the moon or is the personification of the moon, she lives there with the Jade Rabbit of the moon, who makes magical elixers. She is China's version of the "man on the moon." She is the wife of Houyi, the great archer of heaven, who had the sad job of shooting down the suns when they all rose at the same time on the same day, leaving only one last sun. Though this was his answer to save the world from being burned to death, or having drought, he was punished by having his immortality removed along with his wife. While he was able to live quite well among humanity, his wife could not stand it, and so he journeyed west, to visit Hsi Wang Mu, who gave him one pill of immortality, saying that half a pill will make you immortal, the whole thing will make you into a god. He took the pill home and told her to wait while he finished some things, but she could not wait, and took her half, but then she decided she wanted more and ate the whole pill, which caused her to rise up to the moon and stay (another version said she fled there to escape the wrath of her husband.) Houyi eventually becomes immortal anyways and set up residence on the sun.

Xuan Wu-is a god of magic, the elements, martial arts and the great general of the north. He accidentally created the great tortoise and snake monsters that terrorized the land, but when he found out, he came and conquered them, where they became the beast Xuanwu, the black tortoise and remain as his mount. They also exist as his 2 generals in human form. He appears as a warrior wearing imperial robes, carrying a sword that he borrowed from Lu Tung Pin and never returned.

Tian Mu-goddess of lightning, she uses mirrors to create the flash. She is married to Lei Gong.

Tian Mu and an orange Lei Gong

Lei Gong- god of Thunder. He looks like a man, with blue or green skin, a birds beak, claws, and bat or bird wings on his back. he carried drums around his waist and beats them to create thunder.

Feng Po-god of the winds, he carries a sack with him, which is full of the winds. He can also appear as a dragon.

Lei Gong and Feng Po

Zhang Xian-is a god that almost no one knows of. He is a god that offers sons to those that pray to him. I found him because I was desperate to adopt my son and so I tried to choose a god from the area that could help. Since I did get to adopt my son (though he didn't help with the other boys I tried to adopt) I will mention him here. He is often pictured hunting his enemy, the north star or sirius.

Fu Lu Shou San Hsing-the three gods of fortunes, almost always shown grouped together. They are extremely popular and many people keep images of them in their homes to invoke their fortunes. They are also called the 3 stars and are connected to astronomy.

Fu Hsing-(short name would be Fuk, and no, I am not joking) god of happiness and fortune, he is taller than the other two and when shown together, he is placed in the center.

Lu Hsing-(short name Luk) god of affluence and helps with careers and official ranks, he is often shown carrying a small boy

Shou Hsing-(short name Sao) god of longevity, shown as an older man with a large rounded bald head, often astride a deer and holding a peach

Men-Shen-Door Gods, their function is to protect people from demons and other threats, by protecting the entrance to a home or temple. People would place their images on the outside doors or entrances to invoke their protection. They appeared as 2 fierce warriors holding an axe or sword. When I lived in Asia, I put a picture up of the door guardians as well, and we never had any villainous people or spirits enter our home.

Yama Kings-the rulers of Diyu, often translated into English as hell. THE Yama King is Yan Wang or Yanluo, the god of death and ruler of Diyu. There are 10 or more Yama Kings, each in charge of their own district in Diyu or Naraka. Naraka is where they mete out the punishment to those souls that did ill in the world. Most people do not stay in Diyu for long, as they are reincarnated, but if you are bad, your next life will be miserable, if you are good, you will have a good next life. The yama kings keep track of everything, they are the epitome of beaurocracy. People give them offerings hoping that this bribe them into putting their name or the name of a loved one on the good list, or at least shorten thier tortures, or to extend their alloted time on earth. The Yama Kings are not evil, but they are efficient and do not like a disruption to the natural order.

As I said, there are many, many gods, goddesses and other entities in China, so this is only a tidbit to give you an idea and help you on your way. I might post more later, but I think next time I will blog about Shinto gods and goddesses.

Bodhisattvas, Buddhist gods and saints

2009-11-30T22:01:00.009+08:00

Buddhism originally started out as a philosophy, a reaction to the Hindu caste system where you were born into your station in life and there was no way out except by being reincarnated. Buddha found a way out, by helping people achieve Nirvana and avoid the endless cycle of reincarnation. He offered people a way out, a way past suffering, a way to peace. He was a man, that the people made into a god, and his virtues became gods themselves, embodied in the Bodhisattvas (they are also just called Buddhas). Not all buddhists worship the Buddha, some see him as a teacher. Not all buddhists worship the bodhisattvas, some see them as teachers, some see them as ideals to meditate upon or emulate, and the others see them as like unto gods. All bodhisattvas are good and helpful towards mankind. Some look like demons, and they are called wrathful, but they are still there to help.

As Buddhism spread throughout Asia, it merged with the local religions and old gods became new bodhisattvas, while some bodhisattvas changed and become other kinds of gods and goddesses. This sounds a bit like what happened with Christianity, and indeed some buddhists of the past were very agressive and destructive in their conversions, but this is where the spread of Buddhism and the spread of Christanity differ, you can be a buddhist and still be part of another religion. This is why many Asians are buddhist and follow the Chinese folk religion, or Shinto or whatever their local religions are. Buddhism calmed down and merged with the people, it didn't try to dominate and control, like Christianity did and still does.

Western Pagans believe in reincarnation. Some believe that we reincarnate into any living thing, other that we only reincarnate as humans. It's up to you what you believe, but I like the idea of Nirvana, as a final way out of endless incarnations. Some people just grow tired of life, as if all the eons are weighing them down. Many of the historical pagans of Europe did not believe in reincarnation. The Egyptians were judged by Osiris and if they passed, they went to paradise (which looked like a nicer version of their life on Earth, they loved life so much they made it their afterlife) the Greeks and Romans went to Hades, the Norse went to Valhalla or Hel, etc... So this idea of reincarnation was brought over from Asia and merged with modern western pagan ideals, this is already a form of Oriental Wicca then.

Here are some of the Bodhisatvas.

Vajrapani: some call him the embodiment of power or might, he is righteous wrath and the guarian of the dharma. He carries a vajra/dorje, a thunderbolt and his skin is dark blue. When he is calm, he appears as a human buddha, but when he is wrathful, he appears as an angry bull headed, blue skinned man, wearing a tigerskin, with a corona of flames surrounding him. He is thought to have originally been the Hindu god of storms, Indra.

Manjushri: the embodiment of wisdom and knowledge, especially spiritual and divine knowledge. He appears as a yellow skinned man, usually holding a flaming sword, which he uses to cut ignorance away with, and either a lotus blossom or a vase.

Avalokiteshvara (Chenrezi): the embodiment of compassion. He emanated from the Buddhas tears, as he cried for the plight of all sentient beings. When Buddhism came to China, he was merged with a goddes to form Kuan Yin, the goddess of compassion, she who hears the cries of the world. He appears as a white skinned man(the color white, not the race of people) sometimes with multiple arms and/or multiple heads.

Medicine Buddha (Bhaisajyaguru): his job is to protect sentient beings from sicknesses, mental, physical and spiritual. He also actively attempts to eradicate what he calls the "three poisons", the three things that make us most ill, which are attachment, hatred and ignorance. To overcome sickness, people would recite his mantra. He appears as a dark blue man, often wearing red or orange robes. He is often attended by two other bodhisattvas, Suryaprabha, the bodhisattva of the sun, and Candraprabha, the bodhisattva of the moon.

Budai (Hotei): this is the well known Bodhisattva in the West and is often confused for Buddha, he is commonly called the "Fat Buddha," or the "Laughing Buddha." He is the embodiment of contentment, as he is a poor monk, but is always happy and laughing and content with what he has in his life. He was a Chinese monk and was brought into the buddhist pantheon later. He is often merged with the Maitrya (future buddha to come.) Rub his belly for luck when you see a statue of him. He is also a Taoist god, and appears in China and Japan as one of the 7 gods of luck.

Mahakala: the king of wrathful Bodhisattvas, he is like Ganesha, in that he removes all obstacles in your life, but he especially removes obstacles to your spiritual life. He runs the universe and controls time, at the end of time he will swallow up the universe and then will himself be devoured by his consort, the goddess Kali. He appears as a black skinned man (the color, not the race of people,) with a boars face and tusks (or a bulls face, with tusks,) wearing a crown of 5 skulls, and has anywhere from 2 t0 6 arms.

Yama: the Hindu god of death, is also part of the Buddhist pantheon. He judges where the dead will go, Nirvana, rebirth or to hell. He supervises the hells, places where people who defy karma go when they die, to be punished before their next incarnations. He is a wrathful deity and is the guardian of spiritual practice. He sends old age, disease, calamities and other punishments out into the world as a warning to behave. He appears as a man, sometimes dark blue in color, with either a wrathful ogre-like face or a bulls head, wearing a crown of skulls or a Chinese crown with the hanji for "king" on it. He has two servants, called "Horse-face" and "Ox-head," whom are the guardians of hell.

Tara: is a female bodhisattva, and a goddess. She appears in 21 different forms with different colors, powers and attributes. As Tara, she is the embodiment of achievement and success. She is called the "mother of liberation" and also the "mother of the buddhas." She is the yogic partner of the Bodhisattvas, calming the wrathful bodhisattvas and doing the dance of live and death. She was originally a Hindu mother goddess, maybe a form of Parvati or Uma, but is now the goddess of Tibet.

Her are a few of her forms:

Green Tara: enlightened activity

White Tara: compassion, long life, healing serenity (I have also seen her as death)

Red Tara: wrathful, helps bring good things

Black Tara: power, might

Yellow Tara: wealth, properity

Blue Tara: transmutes anger

It would be quite easy to bring the Bodhisattvas into your life. You don't need to be Buddhist to use them, or even use their rituals. If you want more wisdom in your life or more spiritual knowledge, then get and image of Manjushri and focus on him. If you need help controling that anger and righteous wrath of yours, get Vajrapani. Ask them to help you and that is all you need to do. You can meditate and recite their mantras, but those are just tools of focus, do what you normally do to focus and they will hear you. Their job is to help people and so they will, whether you are buddhist or not. Most of the Buddhists I met overseas, would keep an image of the Buddha or bodhisattva they felt the closest too and meditate in front of it, burn incense too it and at times leave and offering, maybe of fruit. flowers or rice.

As I stated in an earlier entry, I have already added the Medicine Buddha to my eclectic pantheon. I also like the wrathful buddha Mahakala, after my sojourn in Mongolia. I guess as a guy I am attracted to the idea of using wrath to make peace, similar to the King Arthur idea of using might to make right. As always, it is up to you what you decide to use for your personal spiritual life, but since pagans are still under attack by the Christians, I feel that having divine guardians of spirituality by my side really help.

Trials of an eclectic pagan

2009-11-18T11:39:00.003+08:00

I am back in America now after living abroad for 5 years and having a son. During my time in Asia, my spiritual side has ebbed and flowed. I have had new ideas and insights brought to me and I have changed. Now that I am back in America and trying to reconnect with my past and teaching my son the old ways, I am having problems.

One problem is that all these books out for pagan kids are extremely slanted towards wiccans. They only talk about the wiccan idea of god and goddess (to dualistic for me) and only their holidays, and are too magic oriented and dictate how to set up an altar their way.

While I appreciate having any pagan kids education books at all, I am rather annoyed. I know that as an eclectic pagan, there will be no book that has my exact path, but it would be nice if there was one that gave a less wiccan worldview. Where are the books for Druid kids, or Thelema kids, or Hellenistic kids or the Asatru kids? Also, are there modern Taoist, Chinese folk religion and Shinto books for kids? Mix these together with the Wiccan ones and you got me.

I do believe in and use magic, but it is not a major part of my religious life. Not all pagans are witches and wizards and whatnot. Not all pagans believe in the Wiccan wheel of the year. I don't believe in it. I celebrate Yule as the birth of the sun god, and of the god. I celebrate Midsummer as the sun god and fertility gods in their prime. I celebrate the Lunar New Year, not Imbolc (they are around the same time,) I celebrate Buddhas birthday. I celebrate Easter (as in the celebration of Spring and rebirth, not the Christian one) and Halloween. I also celebrate the Harvest (though we use the Korean name "Chuseok," as my son is from Korea, and it happens around the same time as the Wiccan harvest festival.)

I am polytheistic, believing in many gods and goddesses, bodhisatvas, fae, spirits, angels and daemons. Though that is not unusual in wicca as well. But, I don't like how they say that all pagans believe their way.

I also don't agree with their altars. Look at historical altars and they don't have athames and pentacles on them. Some may have chalaces and candles. But all this, "you must have a knife with a black handle and another knife with a white handle...blah, blah, blah." It might work for them, but don't tell me that we "have to" do it their way. Wicca is a new religion, based on old religions, so I know that many things they do are actually new ideas, and if it works for them, then it works, but it doesn't suit me. When I think of an altar, I feel it should be more organic,and I know many other pagans feel the same. We put things on there that we feel are important, divine or magical. It shouldn't be structured, but flow free from you.

I guess I can get off my fat tuckus and make my own books for my son and future kids. I bet there are other people that feel like me, but we just have to make due while the eclectics become numerous enough to make a statement like the Wiccans did.

Magic Beasts of China and Magic beasts of the West

2009-05-29T10:49:00.006+08:00

The Chinese have 5 sacred beasts. Each of these beasts represent a different element and a different direction. These animals have a god level status and are the kings of their kinds. They represent power and luck. They are used for magic and blessings. They are found in temples, with the gods, in homes, paintings, everywhere.

They are the Lung (dragon), Xuanwu(black tortoise), Feng-Huang(phoenix), Ki-Lin(unicorn), and Baihu(white tiger). In the west, they loosly correspond to the dragon, phoenix, unicorn, lion and sacred bull. There are numerous other sacred beasts, but these are the most primal to use.

The Lung. He is a symbol of rain, weather, water, spring and the east. It is the guardian of the emperor and the city of Kyoto. It is a part of the Chinese zodiac and is a constellation in the sky. It is a symbol of yang, the positive and masculine energies of the universe. They are generally benevolent. The Lung are full of power, and the only animal that is their equal would be the white tiger. Some well known dragons are the four dragon kings, worshipped as the gods of weather, the yellow dragon that is the symbol of the Emperor of China and the Azure dragon, a great warrior of the heavens.

The western dragon is seen more as a symbol of fire and power. They are usually malevolent and slaying them represents the climax of a heroes quest. They are greedy and love gold and beautiful virginal girls. Their blood gifts heroes with power or knowledge. They usually lair in large caves, symbolizing their connection with the Earth. They are variously described as children of the gods or of the prime creator/creatrix(like Tiamat) or as cursed individuals (like Fafnir.) Their ferocious temperment and power got them identified with Satan in the Christian mythos and because of that they were demonized even more as the symbols of sin. But, they can be used for good as well. The Welsh turned the red dragon into their symbol. In the pagan community dragons are regarded now as guardians of knowledge and so must be contended with to learn more advanced techniques. They are seen as forces of nature and the epitome of natural power

The Fenghuang is actually 2 immortal birds. The male is the Feng, and the female is the huang. Together they represent harmony and marriage. Over time, the fenghuang came to symbolize the Yin, the female energies of the universe, and so became a symbol of the empress to balance out the Yang of the Lung(dragon.) The 2 birds are now usually depicted as single female entity. They came to be identified with fire and the south direction and is called the King of birds. It is a symbol of grace and virtue, justice, the sun and the power of heavens sent to man.

The phoenix has become very well known in the west. It is a symbol of rebirth, rising from the ashes of it's own destruction. It used to be a symbol of the sun, but has also become a symbol of fire. It is the king of birds and can live for a thousand years before it needs to immolate itself. It is a much loved and well remembered symbol. The church took this beast as a symbol of Christs resurrection and so it was saved from demonification (poor dragon.) The phoenix was given a power boost by the comic book characte Jean Grey, when it became a creature made of all the psychic energy in creation and a cosmic entity, giving it a cult status among fans.

The kilin is the symbol of grace, speed, wisdom and the wind, for it is able to walk across grass without bending a blade and can walk swifter than any animal and can even walk across water. After the Lung and the Fenghuang, it is the third ranked beast. It is the herald of sages and benevolent rulers. One came to Confucius' mother, and told her she would have a son that would be "a king without a crown." It also used to be sighted during the reign of great emperors and kings. The Kilin looks like a mix of dragon and deer covered with flames and bearing a single horn, but is not feirce at all. While is usually a pacifist, and a vegetarian, it will spout flames from its mouth to punish those whom sin.

The unicorn is a symbol of raw nature, purity, healing and virginity. The unicorn can heal poisons and will protect innocense. It is not a horse with a horn! It has a head like a horse, with a goats beard, a deers body, a lions tail, cloven hooves(like a goat) and a single horn upon its head. In classical times, the Unicorn was simply thought of as a fierce exotic animal, it wasn't until the medieval times that it got it's power and beauty. The unicorn has both pagan and christian associations. The Catholics saw it as a symbol of Christ and gave the name of a herd of unicorns a "Blessing" of Unicorns (like a murder or crows.) The pagans saw it as raw, pure nature. The unicorn hunt is a symbol of taming that power, but also of destroying purity. The unicorn was kind to those who were pure, virginal and peaceful, but was a fierce warrior to those whom would harm it or those it regarded as pure. The enemy of the unicorn is the lion, both of whom are symbols of England.

Baihu, the white tiger. The king of beasts and the strongest of all, able to equal the power of the dragon. He represents the dark, negative yin, to the dragons postive, good yang. He was not evil though and would appear to a ruler when he ruled with absolute virtue. He is the lord of the west and is connected to the element of metal. He represents the fall, when the world is dying, but I have also seen him represent winter and the cold.

In the west we do have a creature similar to the White Tiger, it is the Lion(also called Lyon in Medieval times.) He is the king of all beasts. He is a great leader and warrior, symbol of kings, strength and the sun. But he can also be cruel, as when he attacks the unicorn.

The Xuanwu, black tortoise, is the symbol of the north. He represents the earth in some cosmologies, in others he is the water. He is actually two entities, the tortoise and the snake. At times he is pictured as chimeara like beast, with a turtles body and head, but a long snake tail (with its own head.) Other times it is depicted as a tortoise with a dragons head, with or without the snake tail. It is the symbol of guardians and warriors, and also of longevity and good fortune.

The only other animal that is widly known and worshipped in the west that could roughly correspond to the Xuanwu would be the sacred bull. The sacred bull is a symbol of the earth, of fertility and of life. It is also a symbol of the maculine forces of creation and of virility. They have had cults all over the West and some parts of the East, with Hindus being the only people in the world that still openly worship and/or adore it. It has been thought of as a blessed beast by most pagans, but at times also demonized. The Greeks demonized the sacred bulls of the Minoans into the Minotaur, while the Jews demonized the sacred bull into form of the golden calf. Most pagans in modern times think of the bull as a symbol of the horned lord or nature.

With these beasts being sacred in the East and adorning their temples and altars, I feel that they should regain so much more importance in the west. I know many pagans adorn their altars with dragons, but they should also think of the other beasts here. I have had the phoenix be part of my spiritual life for a while now. I know many people love the unicorn, but many think of it as a girlish symbol or as childish. Break out of the box and think of them as beasts of power to be honored and respected.

Runes or Hanji

2009-05-26T13:07:00.005+08:00

In western paganism we use magical writing. Magical writing serves as a focus for our will. Words have power and when we focus on that word, we hope to will a change. We usually use other languages to help us, as everyday English is too common and cannot help us focus our thoughts. When we use the other language, in our head we see that that is only the word and nothing else.

When most people think of magical writings, the first system that pops into their heads would be the runic system. Runes are the letters of the old nordic alphabet, each letter can also have a specific meaning. The vikings and other related peoples would use them not just for writing, but also for magic and divination, a practice carried on today in modern paganism and wicca.

But the Chinese characters, called Hanji (or Hanzi) are very old. They are a kind of pictoglyph, pictures that mean words, similar to the ancient Egyptian heiroglyphs, but more advanced and stylized. Hanji has been used for thousands of years and so with being very old, should carry a bit more power than the "newer" rune system. Hanji has found it's way into the New Age group, thanks to Feng Shui, Taichi and Kung Fu. Now it needs to establish itself more into the pagan groups. Paganism is a bit Eurocentric (I know we also use a few ideas from India and the Americas, too) and needs to embrace more of a world culture. I like the idea of using Hanji as part of my magic system.

In Asia, it is already part of their magic system. They use it to write spells and blessings. Here is a picture of a talisman I got from a local temple. They write a protective plea to the gods and then fold it up into a hexagonal ba-gua(lucky mirror) shape. Then they put it into the sheath and wear it for the blessing.

But I know that if you are part of cultural tradition, then you should use the cultures language. So if you are a Hellenist, then use Greek, if you are an Odinist, then use runes. But I do not belong to any one tratition, along with many others. You could incorporate Hanji into your system with relative ease. There are different kinds of Chinese spoken, but the Hanji tends to be mostly the same.

Elf=Asian

2009-05-20T12:21:00.005+08:00

Has anyone else noticed that fantasy elves seem to be very Asian. Their body shape is identical, being very thin and having almost no body hair. They have similar faces. And fantasy elves have Asian hairstyles. When was it decided that elves would be Asian? I would like to know that. My son is playing the free online MMORPG game "Fiesta" and the elves there are very Asian. Though, the game was probably made in Korea, so of course with Koreans high level of Xenophobia, they would have made the characters look just like them, though with the gigantic eyes copied from Japanese anime (Koreans copy a lot of things from other cultures. They do have some things that are distinctly theirs, but I found that the majority of things were copied or borrowed from other cultures, with Japan, China and America being the strongest influences. Which is so odd that they copy so much from the other cultures they with them being Xenophobic and so passive aggressive with other cultures. Sorry, I rant about Korea at times still, it happens when you live there for any period of time.)

It is also that the style of their clothes and armor tend to mimic or be influenced by historical asian fashions.

I have also noticed that Asians have become very fond of Elves in anime and comics. My son reads Koren comics still and the elf characters are very popular. Maybe they have picked up that the elves look a lot like them, either consciously or subconsciously.

Lunar New Year

2009-05-16T12:12:00.004+08:00

I have got to ask, why is Lunar New Year not an important holiday for western Pagans?

For Eastern pagans, it is a huge event, lasting from a few days, up to a month. They have the festival of lights, they were new clothes for the new year, they visit temples and clean up and give money to their children and grandchildren in lucky red envelopes.

An important symbol of paganism is the moon and it's 13 Lunar months. The lunar calendar was the calendar used widely by our ancestors, before the Roman occupation and Christian invasion, and is still used widely in the Asian world (in conjuction with the "western" calendar.) So, why isn't the conclusion of the 13th month a time of festivity?

Imbolc/Candlemas/Brigid's Day/Feast of Torches, is the holiday that is around the same time as the Lunar New Year. Did this holiday, centered around fire and ewe's milking, displace the Lunar New Year? Why was it deemed so unimportant? I know that some people think of Samhain/Holloween/Hollomas as the new year for pagans, but it was only for the celts(and other closely related tribes), not for the other pagans. Wicca sprang from the old Celtic pagan religion, along with some other pagan ideas. Wicca is the most recognized pagan religion in the west and as such, their Celtic ideas have become the most widespread and accepted pagan practices (you would think it would be the Hellenists, but sadly people seem to dismiss them as followers of a myth (which should be a blasphemy, as I worship some of the Greek gods and find it offensive when people talk about them as if they are nothing but dusty old myths and are not still "living" and being worshipped today.))

"Angels and Demons" strife

2009-05-04T17:44:00.002+08:00

Even over hear you can't escape Christianity. Today I have a gripe. First I will say that I have nothing against the Christian religion in general, nor against Jesus and their Idea of God.

The new movie "Angels and Demons" is coming out. I thought the first movie, "The Da Vinci Code" was pretty good. There was way too much hype to it, but that is normal. But to hear that the Vatican and other Christians were activly opposing this films creation was rediculous. They complained that the movie (and book) did not show their religion in a good light and made it all look like joke. So let's get this straight, they seem to be complaining that someone did what they constantly do to everyone else, ever since they decided that if you were not a Christian and you did not have the same Idea of God as them, then you just have to be worshipping the devil.

Some of the things in the movie are not new ideas. People have thought of them before and will again. Like Jesus and Mary Magdelin being married. He may or may not have. Was Jesus the son of God? Well I think he was, in the same way that I am a son of God. We are all the children of God. To me he was a teacher and like any teacher, you should learn from him, but he is not the law.

Now they are going after the second movie and complaining again. An Italian Bishop said that the movie was "highly denigrating, defamitory and offensive."

This makes me want to explode with rage sometimes. Christians attack and belittle every other religion (well Jews are tolerated nowadays and Muslims are sometimes tolerated,) especially the pagan ones, but the moment anyone says anything about their religion they jump up and try to bite you on the rump. I am surprised that they didn't try to sue, like the Scientologists did. All I have to say is GROW UP. Stop acting like babies and just grow up.

So I urge people to go and watch these movies. See something that The Church does not want you to see and make up your own mind. I know Christians like to think of themselves as flocks, but don't be a sheep. Think for yourself!

I must also complain about a book I just saw while looking for good Wiccan and Pagan parenting books. This book is called :Wicca: Satan's little white lie" by William Schnoebelen. This book says that Wiccans actively recruit members and that it looks nice at first but then you find out it is really Satan worship!!!! Can you say attack on another religion? First, why was it on a recomended booklist from Amazon when I am a Wiccan? First off, there is no devil in Wicca. There is a God and a Goddess, whom together comprise all of creation. Any God or Goddess in history are masks of these two. Second, when have we ever actively recruited anyone. No one recruted me. I made the choice of my own free will without actually even talking to anyone. Also, while I am teaching my son my religion, I have already told him it is up to him to choose waht he wans in the future, so I also teach him about other religions so he can make up his mind (but I told him no Mormonism, to Islam and no Evangelist as these are all intolerant.) That is how our religion is different, we give the choice. You should write the author of this book and complain about his spreading of wrong information and for spreading hatemongering. We have had enough Torquemadas to last us for all eternity.

Pagans and toys

2009-05-01T12:40:00.006+08:00

Living in Asia you get to see what the west may have been like if it was not forcefully converted to Chritianity. In Taiwan and Japan there are temples around every corner. They still do their traditional festivals, and those festivals were not covered up Christian names and ideas to appease the church. It is a great feeling of release to not have to worry about Christians constantly trying to convert you (like they used to do to us in Korea,) or harassing you just for being non-Christian.

I like to see and experience the panganism here. My son and I visit many temples. We like to collect the charms they offer and make prayers to the gods and buddhas for their blessings. My son collects toys here (I will admit that I do as well.) The toys are of the gods, lucky animals and mythic creatures. It is easy to find them and a great way to teach your children about the gods and mythic creatures. It reminds me of how the Navajo, Zuni, Hopi and other Pueblo indians used to give their daughters Kachina dolls as a way to help teach them about the spirits and gods.

Kachina dolls

Here you see a set of my sons toys from Taiwan. In the front are the mythic beasts of the Lung: the dragon, Ki-lin: the dragon unicorn, and Xuanwu: the dragon Turtle. In the middle are lucky animals, the leopard, a 3 legged toad, a mouse from the year of the mouse and a golden cow from the year of the cow. In the back are Buddha and the god of fortune.

This is a group of god toys. They were give to me by one of my students parents. They are part of a collection offered from a minimart here last summer. I recognize 4 of them, but I don't know who the other 2 are.

Here is the add for the toys

This is a wrathful buddha statue made for a child to use for devotion.

When I return to America and get my own place again, I want to help my son set up and altar and he can use some of these toys for it. It is a kids altar and shouldn't be so serious, so having toys of the gods is a great way for him to learn about altars and devotion. That is what they do here and it is a good lesson learned. I haven't seen any pagan parents mention this, though it doesn't mean they don't do this. Most set up nature altars and let the kids put whatever they want on it, and this is a great way too, but I want my son to grow up with the gods and know them as he would any member of the family, as kids did in the ancient days. Also, as toys, the kids can play with them and carry them around and the gods will be with them always.

I wish there were more toys like this in America, but all I have seen were some Greek and Egyptian ones, and only of the well known gods and goddesses. I actually got some Egyptian ones before I moved overseas, when being a father was just in the back of my mind, and am happy that they will be used as my son likes the Egyptian god Horus. There is also the comic book version of gods, like Thor. Though he doesn't "look like" the original god, it could still be used for and altar and devotion. (a god can look like whatever it wants and are often pictured with a variety of appearences, while most people imagine the god Thor being a burly redhead with a beard, there is nothing wrong with him looking like a handsome, blond, cleanshaven Nordic man. Think of it as his modern updated appearance.) I can't find a whole lot of others though. It may be hard to find what you are looking for. If all else fails, you can make your own (just remodel an action figure.) Final Fantasy has some gods and mythic creatures to use. Also there other games, like Warcraft, where some of the figures can be used. The Night Elf druid could be used as an image of the horned god, as an example. Japan makes many god toys, you have to hunt for them though. Good job Japan, stepping up to supply other pagan peoples with toys and minitures of their gods and mythic creatures. I was lucky enough to go to Japan several times, and I always checked out the toy stores, whether new or used, looking for things like this, and luckily found several.

Horus, from a group of educational toys, which is what I bought(see above)

Ares, from DC comics

Mjolnir, the hammer of Thor, as a toy or model

Odin and Sleipnir, from Final Fantasy

Cthulhu, which I would use as an image of the undefinable elder gods, rather than the horror story cult figure.

If you have a baby or young child, then maybe you could get a plushy, so that they can truly grow up with the gods and if you can't find the god(s) that you are looking for, then learn how to sew and make your own.

Anubis plushy

Marvel Comics Thor plushy

Ganesh plushy

Cthulhu plushy, for all the cultists out there

Our Shrine

2009-04-25T13:11:00.000+08:00

I have had an interest in Buddhim for quite a while. So, now that I am in a country where people worship and pray to Buddha and the boddhisatvas, I feel content. With my fusing of traditional Asian religions and spiritualities, with my Wiccan ones we have brought the Buddha into it.

Here is a shrine we have in my home in Taiwan. I got the two Buddhas (one is on top of the shrine and has the historical Buddha, Kwan Yin and another Boddhisatva sitting together) in Korea, though I don't know if they were from there originally as they have Chinese writing on the bottom (but Koreans did, and still do a little, use Chinese writing.) The shrine itself is from here in Taiwan. We found it in an old ruined house. I think it was destroyed in an earthquake. My son and I cleansed, both physically and spiritually, and set it up for us. The charms are all from Taiwan. To get the benefit of the charm, we should wear them, but I prefer to keep their energies at the shrine until I am in great need of them. We have our athames in front of the shrine to get its energies. The athames are miniature reproductions of Chinese and Japanese warrior swords. The flowers came from some trees in the park. They had fallen off, so we did not even pick them. We set up the flowers for the Spring Equinox festival.

My son next to the shrine.

New Direction

2009-04-20T17:21:00.001+08:00

I have decided to change this blog. Originally I used it to talk about my personal spiritual quest, as well as my sons. But with us moving around Asia right now, and my son having never met another Wiccan or pagan before, I decided to use this as a compare and contrast opinion board for some Oriental(1) and wiccan(2) religious ideas. That will include Chinese folk religion, Shintoism, Taoism, Buddhism and other religious and spiritual ideas that I find.

I find it appropriate to do this considering that my family is now a fusion of Eastern and Western and so my religious life should reflect that. I don't like the idea of simply making my new son part of my religion, but of exploring both of ours together and see what we can make of it.

*Notes*
1(I realize that some Asians hate this term, but it just means Eastern. I don't get upset if I am called an Occidental person)

2(here I use wiccan in a much broader sense of many European pagan ideologies)

Seed mantra of the medicine buddha, a buddha I have taken a liking to.

My sons gods

2008-08-21T22:23:00.000+08:00

My son has been doing a lot of soul searching lately and has decided that he likes having a lot of gods, more than he likes just one God. He has thought long and hard and chosen 3 gods that he wants right now. He actually first started by trying to find the most powerful gods, or gods that grant power, but I told him that if you have power, you have to take it from someone, and then there will always be someone that will try to take it from you. So, properly discourages, he choose gods that fit better with who he is and what he wants to achieve in life.

First, he choose the Great Spirit, like me. It is what he is comfortable with and knows from Church.

Next he choose the Chinese Monkey King, Sun Wukong. Since he is so irreverent, like my son, I thought he was a perfect match to my sons personality. I think he will be a good god for my son.

Modern versions of the Monkey King

Last, my son choose the goddess Nike. He plays a lot of games and wants to be victorious, so he chose a god that helps you gain victories. I think this will be a good goddess for him, whom will help his as he grows into a man.

Overall, I think my son made good choices for his gods and I am proud of him. We will continue to work on things and set up an altar for him.

Altar

2008-08-12T19:10:00.001+08:00

I started setting up proper altars when I lived in New Orleans, about 11 years ago. I laid out everything like I was told in the books I read, and it just didn't fit right. So, I started tinkering with it and made it my own. It continued to evolve over the years. As I moved and changed. I had a buddhist altar set up for a while, with just a statue of buddha, a phurba and a thangka over it. Then I started to go back to my pagan ways and set up Horus, Apsu and Tiamat on my altar. Then, I moved to Korea and haven't done anything for 4 years. With my son wanting to start exploring spirituality, I decided it was time to bring it back. But, what altar to use. I have seen some great altars here in Asia and want to bring some of that back with me. I decided to make and altar cabinet, like the ones I saw in Japan. I thought they were beautiful and they really spoke to me. Also, all I have to do is close the doors when people are over and keep my private life private.

Japanese Altar Cabinets

Traditional wiccan altar like I originally had

Tibetan altar pop-up book

(I really like this as it is great for traveling and want to get it for my son)

My Pantheon

2008-08-05T18:23:00.000+08:00

Over the years I have collected my own pantheon of gods. Pantheons are usually grouped together by cultures, like the Olympic gods of Greece, the Asgardians of the Norse, the Jade Emperors Court of China and similar groupings. But, my pantheon just came together as I was either drawn to a god or I have a need for them. I have also included one Archangel in the grouping, as they are just as powerfull and divine as gods. I call upon many other gods, when I need them, and sometimes just when I notice them, but these are the main ones for me.

So what is a god to me? I do believe in the great and unknowable supreme deity that created everything and IS everything, the grandfather spirit. So I think of gods as it's children, the embodiments of what they represent, given form and much (but not all) personality by people. They are pure divine spirit and their physical forms are their elements. So Zues is the sky and lightning of the Mediterranean, Thor is the might of thunder in northern Europe, Quetzalcoatl is the gentle fertile rains of Central America, Venus is the morning and evening star and is in the attraction and love you feel for other things, Amaterasu is the divine sun over Japan and mother of Emperors, etc..

Grandfather spirit

Sekhmet: way back when I was looking for a patron goddess, I kept seeing lioness images and then I got this toy that I was going to resculpt and I decided that the toy looked a lot like a lion woman. That led me to Sekhmet, whom has since been my patron goddess.

Mut: she is more recent to my pantheon. When I prayed that my sons adoption would go well and that I was hoping to get my other foster sons, I had a dream one night and in the dream was a white vulture woman, whom offered me comfort and encouragement. I decided to add her to my pantheon after that. She made the effort to contact me, so I should honor her for her interest.

Venus, the embodiment of love, attraction and beauty. I prayed to her a lot when I was a horny teen, hoping that she would find me someone whom would love me. Well, that didn't work out, but maybe one day. I keep praying though, for the day that she hears me and finally sends me my love.

Thor: I actually got to know Thor mostly through comic books. While the comics are not correct on many things, it did get me to read about him and I came to like him as a very humane god.

Damballah: the first god that I had real contact with. I met him through my kooky friend. While I do not call upon him much anymore, I include him out of respect for being the first.

Apsu: I read his story a long time go. In the legend, he is killed by Ea, but in ancient Mesopotamia they had sacred pools to Apsu. So, he must not have really died. He was the sweet waters under the earth and father of the gods. In a special ceremony I drank the sacred waters of this elder god, becoming one of his children. I usually represented him as a dragon on my altar, before I stored it away to move.

Tiamat, the queen of Chaos. Here is how she was pictured by the ancient Mesopotamians. She is the ocean, the earth, the mother of gods, dragons and monsters. In a special ceremony I drank her sacred waters, becoming one of her children.

Here is a modern idea of Tiamat, as the mother of dragons in RPG lore.

This is an amulet worn by her priests in the RPG. I actually think it is really cool and would like to commision someone to make one for me to wear as a dedication to the real Tiamat.

Ganesh is the remover of obstacles. I found him in college and he has been one of my gods since.

Gaea, the earth, mother of all. In a sacred ceremony, similar to the ones ancient kings used to do, I wed the earth mother. Though, I don't plan on being sacrificed for a good harvest.

Abaddon, keeper of the key, the destroyer, angel of death, lord of the demon locusts, guardian of the abyss and the angel whom will lock up the devil for a thousand years at the end of the apocalypse. Many Christians have turned him into a demon, but he is just a lonely darkangel. During my dark days in high school, I found this darkangel and latched onto him. I even wrote him poetry and since I was involved in a couple of accidents that should have taken my life, I think this angel of death heard me and protected me.

I had this great book that I got when I started university, Ancient Ways: Reclaiming Pagan Traditions, and that book was what actually got me into Anthropolgy. In the book it described how in Borneo (or Sumatra), when boys came of age, they were given a tattoo of their green man/horned lord. So, I decided that I needed to get a tattoo of a horned lord/green man figure to mark my coming of age. I decided on Dionysus, because I knew him better than the other ones. Then I found this great painting of Dionysus and the tattoo artist did about half for me for a great price. I love the tattoo, though I wish it covered my whole back instead of a quarter of it. So, Dionysus Greenman has been with me ever since.

Chang Xian (also Zhang Xian). When I was desperate to get my sons adoption approved I prayed to just about any god that would listen. I looked for a god that would help with this specifically. The cloesest I found was this Chinese god. He helps give male children to families, and while he usually does it through birth, I asked him to help me in adopting my son. I said I would put him on my altar if the adoption went through, and it did, so I will keep my promise and put him on my altar when I return home. Besides, I will be adopting agian next year and so I will need him to help me again.

Horus, the sun, the eye, the falcon, the lord. I was really drawn to him and the story of how he had to fight his uncle for vengeance against his father, and how in other older stories he and Set were brothers not nephew and uncle. I also like how the statues of Isis with baby Horus look just like baby Jesus and Mary, and so I am very comfortable with that. In an old ritual I found, I summoned the spirit of Horus into me, like the ancient pharoahs did.

Kuan Yin, she who hears the cries of the world. The childless mother. I could identify with her very easily. I saw this Japanese movie about these orphaned kids and the brother was sent away to live in the Buddhist shrine, but then winter came and the monk got trapped in the town and the boy was left alone. He found the old rundown shrine to Kuan Yin and fixed it up the best he could. He then started having visions of her and then he died from the cold and hunger. She took him to her realm, as she is the mother of all orphans. Since I have become like a father for many orphans, you can see how much I identify with her. So, I hope she hears my cries and grants me the other children that need me and that I want.

Summoning

2008-08-04T18:59:00.001+08:00

Prospero and Ariel

So after I found that wizardry was not giving me the power I desired, I was tempted to start summoning through ceremonial magic. I thought that maybe I could summon an elemental or spirit or if all else failed, summon a demon. I did try to summon and elemental, of which it failed. Then again, I don't think I would have come if some kid called me as well. But as for demons, while I did (and still do) have the books with the information on how to summon them, I was always terrified about something happening to my immortal soul. That did, and still does, terrify me. So, I never messed with them. Life can be hard enough without inviting evil into it. Even if you manage to summon a demon and bind it to your will, it will have its revenge one day. I did want to be a summoner, but I just don't have the will or the true desire for power that it takes. The fantasy was nice though.

Fantasy Summoners

Elementalist

Sigils of the Goetic spirits

The Seals of Solomon

Demon from India, he actually looks like a nicer one

Modern Christian idea of what a demon is, and it is something that does indeed inspire horror

How would you like it if you were imprisoned? Then add that you are an immortal with all the time in the world to exact revenge and you have the power to do it. Not a good future for the jailer is it?

Summoning seems to be the in thing for kids shows now. In Pokemon they get summoned out of balls. In digimon they are summoned out of the computer. But Yugioh was the best at summoning. You even had to sacrifice monsters to get more powerful ones. Then there is also Shaman King, where you must find a spirit to be the focus of your power. I find it very interesting that they use magic in so many kids shows and teach them about it, but that should be expected coming from a country of mostly pagans (Shintoism.)

Magic

2008-08-03T14:55:00.001+08:00

When I first started paganism, I hadn't settled on any one faith. I just started experimenting with different things. But I think that I always had this idea in the back of my head about magic. I hated the town my mother raised me in. I still do. My mother tries to get me to move back all the time, but she does not understand how much I hate that town. They are a very small minded redneck town. My mom doesn't think it is a redneck town, but my mother is a conservative republican with their same bigoted views and their same oppressive ideas. When I thought of magic, I thought of escape. I thought that I could use magic to open the door to another universe, a universe of wonder, and escape through it. But, sadly, magic doesn't work that way. I got brainwashed into believing Hollywood magic was real. I wanted to be like Captain Marvel, where I would call upon the powers of the gods and be a superhero. Or I wanted to be Promethea, calling upon not only the powers of the gods (Thoth and Hermes) but also all the realms of imagination. Yes, I know Promethea is a girl, but to quote the male Promethea in the story, "I never wanted to be a woman, but I always wanted to be a goddess," (or something similar to that.) Both characters use the powers of the gods. I was so in love with mythology in those days. The most powerful image burned into my mind from those days was actually the Phoenix. I so wished to have that awesome cosmic power. It would allow me to go anywhere and do anything. But, nothing ever came to pass. I am still just me, no divine powers and no cosmic powers.

Captain Marvel

Promethea

Phoenix

So then I thought maybe if I study enough and try to find that inner power enough, I could be a wizard or sorcerer, like Dr. Strange, and with that I could get out of the town and have grande adventures. Or be like a Ley Line Walker like in the Rifts RPG, travelling to other dimensions and meeting alien beings. But, I found the rules of wizardry too constricting and so after a while, I lost interest in it.

Dr. Strange

Ley Line Walker

In the end I got out of the town on my own, without the use of magic and so maybe I didn't find the magic I wanted because in the end I never really needed it. I still wish movie and fantasy magic would happen to me, but I have to live my life without it.

Do I still believe in magic? Yes, I actually do. Why? Well there are still so many strange things that happen in the world for me not to. Also, people have believed in magic for thousands of years, it is stupid to just stop believing and call all our ancestors morons. Magic is real, and so are the creatures that live within it. I do believe in science as well, but I don't think we should pit the two against each other. Magic is faith and wonder and emotion and the life of the universe. Science is the orderly way of explaining and changing the universe.

Here I stand

2008-08-02T13:35:00.000+08:00

So I am starting this new blog to help organize my thoughts on what I am. So what am I? I would like to think of myself as a work in progress. While my mother raised me in the Church of Christ, I really didn't agree with what they taught. When I was a teen, I had one of those strange and kooky friends that was into paganism, more specifically voodoo. Our talks, my disatisfaction with the church and my strong interest in mythology and other people in the world, led me into paganism. I was living with my father at the time and he encouraged me to find myself, even though he was really hoping that I would find the church. I read this one book, "By Oak, Ash, and Thorn,"

and it was what defined me for a while. I became a Druid in a grove I named the Silent Rose Grove. I also got into Shamanism and one night after I had taken too many herbal supplements ( it's a long story), I had a fevered dream about traveling through a hole in the ground that lead me to a world below full of the dead that "lived" as if they were still alive. I met with many spirits and was proclaimed to be shaman/druid now. For a while, this was my life.

Traditional Druids

Fantasy Druid

Then I graduated high school and moved from Orlando, to New Orleans. It changed me even more, with the strong pagan community, the voodoo and the Catholic mysticism. I really got into the way of magic there and felt that everything was a sign and everything had something to tell me. I still think of it as the most magical time of my life. But then several very bad things happened to me and I decided to leave New Orleans for my safety and sanity.

Decatur Street, where I used to Live

I moved to South Carolina where I attended Spartanburg Methodist College, and had to go underground. But I was still very different to the people there and it got so bad that I was getting spit on (and not in the wish you luck Greek way.) I moved to Charleston and my spiritual life was put on hold while I tried to fix my physical life, but then another crisis loomed and I decided to move back near my hometown in Florida. My mother got me an apartment next to Brevard Community College and I got a job and buckled down. I got my 2 year degree in a year and then moved back in with my mom for 9 months while I waited to go to the University of Central Florida. While I was with my mom, I started dating a pagan. It was not a good relationship and didn't last long, but I was taken to meet a Santero Priest and the Bishop of Florida (so he said) and he told me that he could see that I was and old soul and that I have been alive 3 times before. He said my first life was as an Atlantean and my last life was as an American Indian. This got me interested in spirituality again and even though he was Santero, it got me into Buddhism (to learn more about reincarnation.)

I studied more about Buddhism and Taoism while I was in University. I became a vegetarian, meditated and did yoga. I started dating a martial artist, whom wanted to teach me White Dragon Kung Fu, which I did want to learn, but not from someone I was sleeping with. We had a huge blow out fight later, when we were both graduating. I wanted to move out west, and that was unacceptable, so we broke up. I still think about that relationship as the one of the best I ever had. I joined the Americorp and moved to New Mexico. There I found a bit of peace in the land itself. It is known as the "Land of Enchantment" for a reason. I still miss the land and the sunsets and the spirituality I felt there. I got into Shamanism again and fell in love with Navajo and Pueblo religious lore. I also learned to merge my Christian upbringing with my new beliefs into something that made me feel almost whole after so many years of searching. But something was missing.

Sunface Kachina

I was still Buddhist and felt I needed to explore that part of myself and so I took a teaching job in Korea. I thought that if I journeyed to the far east I would find the true teachings of Buddhism and be fulfilled enough to take them home with me. Sadly, I found that Korea is in the midst of a spiritual war, as Christians have overtaken the capital city, Seoul, and the constant harrassment to convert has lead to spiritual numbing in me. It is also because they have taken the teachings of the man in strange ways. I witnessed a priest telling his congregation that Koreans automatically go to Heaven by virtue of being Korean and that if you are foriegn and marry a Korean, you will go to heaven as well. The obvious nationalism and bigotry there just disgusted me and made me fell disgusted with my own Christianity. Also, the Buddhism here is not spiritually fulfilling for me. But, there has been one thing here that has led me to being fulfilled. I am now a father and I feel great joy in that. I also feel an urgency to find myself, so that I can help lead my son to himself. I fear though that life in America will be hard, when we show up and are not Christian.

A famous Korean Buddhist monk

Since my son was adopted, and it was a private adoption, the only way to adopt many foreign children (and that no one seems to know about,) we have to wait 2 years before he can get a visa to America. We have actually finished our wait, but I would like to adopt again, and so we are moving to Mongolia. They are in the midst of a buddhist revival there, with many Tibetans having fled to their sisterland. I feel that it may offer me what I am really looking for, both spiritually and family wise.

Mongolian Buddhist Altar