Britain recognizes Druidry as a religion

[Lady Cop]

from CNN
an ancient belief system, very interesting it took so long~~



Britain recognized Druidry, a neo-pagan belief system that believes nature is its supreme being, as a religion for the first time and gave it charitable status on Saturday.

"There is a sufficient belief in a supreme being or entity to constitute a religion for the purposes of charity law," declared the Charity Commission for England and Wales in response to the Druid Network's application.

The decision will give the religion, known for its worship at Stonehenge and other sites, tax advantages and is expected to lead to broader acceptance.


"This has been a long hard struggle taking over five years to complete," said the Druid Network, which is based in England, in a statement on its website.

The British commission noted that Druidry "is animistic and based on a belief that everything has a spiritual dimension." It also noted that the religion recognizes deities within nature and conducts worship ceremonies.

The Druid Network, which has about 350 members, sought charitable status for "the advancement of religion for public benefit and no other purpose," the commission said in its ruling.

The Druid Network says there are public misconceptions about some of its practices.

"While sacrifice is a core notion within most spiritual traditions, within Druidry it is confused by historical accounts of the killing of both human and animal victims," the network said in its application to the British commission. "No such practice is deemed acceptable within modern Druidry."

"What is sacrificed within the tradition today," the application says, "is that which we value most highly in life and hold to with most passion: time, security, certainty, comfort, convenience, ignorance and the like."

Druidry has no asserted dogma, the network said in its application. It added that members associate their gods with the moon, fertility, rain, love and other forces.

[Duchess]

They look like a bunch of old hippies...just an observation.

[Lady Cop]

they ARE a bunch of old hippies!
smokin' some dope and dancing around Stonehenge.
witches are next! whooo hoooo!

[Maggot]

Do you have to wear underwear under them things?

[Lady Cop]

Do you have to wear underwear under them things?

well YOU do.

[Maggot]

I would, believe me ..........look at the snow it looks.......ch-ch-chilly.

[Maggot]

Why does.....that idiot.........put stupid dots............after everything?

[Duchess]

I see someone somewhere put these things in his posts {randomly}...^^...^^ and I always think WTF but, never say anything because I have some posting quirks too.

[Lady Cop]

well if those sheets were pointy-headed and they were burning a cross instead of a wicker man...nevermind.

:O

[Duchess]

Yup and they are chanting a name. I'd say it but, it may have the power to wake the sleeping beast. It rhymes with coolie.

[Middle Finger]

I'd replace all the popular religions today for Druidry!

[Maggot]

If they do that shit in America I may start a church and claim my house as a gathering spot that worships Thor, I have enough comics to do it ya know. And I could be tax free. :B

[Middle Finger]

That was one of your best ideas ever, actually.

[Lady Cop]

Stonehenge will be the place to be Tuesday the 21^st. which is also MF's birthday. coincidence? i don't think so.


This year's winter solstice — an event that will occur next Tuesday — will coincide with a full lunar eclipse in a union that hasn't been seen in 456 years.

The celestial eccentricity holds special significance for spiritualities that tap into the energy of the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year and a time that is associated with the rebirth of the sun.

"It's a ritual of transformation from darkness into light," says Nicole Cooper, a high priestess at Toronto's Wiccan Church of Canada. "It's the idea that when things seem really bleak, (it) is often our biggest opportunity for personal transformation.

"The idea that the sun and the moon are almost at their darkest at this point in time really only further goes to hammer that home."

Cooper said Wiccans also see great significance in the unique coupling of the masculine energy of the sun and the feminine energy of the moon — transformative energies that she plans to incorporate into the church's winter-solstice rituals.

Since the last time an eclipse and the winter solstice happened simultaneously was just under five centuries years ago, Cooper said she wasn't familiar with any superstitions or mythologies associated with it.

Instead, she said, they can only be interpreted personally.

"Wiccans don't think of things as being good or evil — they just are. Our experience of them makes them positive or negative for us."

The winter solstice also played an important role in Greco-Roman rituals.

"It's seen as a time of rebirth or renewal because, astrologically, it's a time where the light comes back," said Shane Hawkins, a professor of Greek and Roman studies at Carleton University in Ottawa.

For the ancient Romans, it was also a time of great feasting and debauchery.

"If (the eclipse) happened on the 21^st, they might well have been drunk," he said.

A lunar eclipse taking place during the solstice is not an event Hawkins has seen in research, but he said it would have been viewed as something special.

"Eclipses could be taken either way," he said. "Certainly it would have been an omen, but it would have been up to the interpretation of specialists of whether it was good or bad."

And that interpretation would likely be based on whatever was happening at the time.

The last time the two celestial events happened at the same time was in AD 1554, according to NASA.







MF celebrates his birthday------>

[Lady Cop]

cool!

Tens of thousands of revelers gathered at Stonehenge for an all-night party to celebrate the longest day of the year this morning - despite grey clouds that obscured the sunrise.

English Heritage say 18,000 revelers descended on the site that is usually roped off to the public to witness dawn at exactly 4.43am.

The event is significant for druids, who were joined by hippies, pagans and tourists as well as hordes of younger visitors in search of a good party.

[ZEROSPHERES]

Makes as much sense as Christianity

In the Future who knows what will be accepted as religion

[attachment=11687]

Dear Jesus!! Zsa Zsa Can't wait to meet You.