Close Encounters of the Christian Kind

[RoselynLibera]

That doesn't explain why one was left on your doorstep, but at least you can be fairly sure whoever did it has some type of good intentions.

Granted, it was a Friday night, so whoever left it might not even remember leaving it now. But my roommates and my neighbors down the hall have all denied being the mysterious benefactor. It seems that it shall remain a mystery, although I will continue to lock my door to be on the safe side.

[monsnoleedra]

.. But it got me wondering, have you ever had an incident like this? Was it good-willed folk or the "You're going to burn in Hell!" variety?

I was stationed in Scotland back in 1979 - 1980 time frame. One day my roommate came in talking about one of the Holy Roller groups that had established itself on base and how they cornered him and told him he needed to be saved. He was not much for it and told them he worshipped Satan and they needed to leave him alone. Granted he never worshipped Satan but it served to spin them up.

A couple of hours after this I got cornered by a bunch of them in the common area in our barracks room quad. They had left a sign on our door and told me I needed to move to another room as my room-mate was a devotee of Satan. Then went into detail about how he would burn in the fire's of God and such and such. After that it was group prayer to save his soul and that I should join in.

Needless to say I didn't help matters when I told them I was a Witch and Shamanic practitioner and didn't believe in their god. Even asked them if they wanted me to read the Tarot to see if they would be successful. After that they avoided both of us pretty much though we used to mess with them.

As a group I think they lasted about 6 months on base before the next fad moved in and their group sort of vanished.

That was the only in your face encounter I can think of.

[Shine]

I thought it was freaky and funny and the candle smells great (and the Holy Judge thing reminds me of Hades) so once I'm done showing everyone the candle and determine who left it for me, I'll probably rip off the label and use it. But it got me wondering, have you ever had an incident like this? Was it good-willed folk or the "You're going to burn in Hell!" variety?

Your story made me LOL.

Since the symbol of the Kemetic faith is an ankh, and I'm very quiet about my beliefs, most people assume I'm Christian and just like to wear this super-fancy cross.

[randomheathen]

Your story made me LOL.

Since the symbol of the Kemetic faith is an ankh, and I'm very quiet about my beliefs, most people assume I'm Christian and just like to wear this super-fancy cross.

Yeah, I'm lucky that way too. The only people who really frown on my religion aren't the type to do enough research to recognize a hammer. I wear it openly even at work and no one bats an eyelash.

I do still get waylaid by preachers a lot, but if I'm lucky and they're intelligent we might end up having an intelligent discussion. If not, we end up pissing each other off and having a shouting match.

[Chatelaine]

I personally would use it as an awesome and funny story to tell everyone and do exactly as you would; use the candle. Even if it was somebody doing something negative, you are doing the best thing you can by turning their energy into something positive. There's a few different groups who use those types of candles besides Christian-types, so, huh.


The only creepy/funny story of people leaving me anything is this: my partner's last roommate left on bad terms. He was really into Crowley, but he was kind of one of those guys who was into Crowley because he wanted to be dark and mysterious to impress girls. Seriously. So anyway, after he moved I was cleaning out the spare bedroom, and hidden behind the desk was a glass disk which sort of looked like an eye. I showed it to my partner and said, knowing how much this guy was into Magick and stuff, "I wonder if he left this thing to be an 'evil eye' to try to curse us?" So we threw it into the fireplace where it cracked with the heat and tossed it.

So like a year later I happened to be Googling, and this thing comes up: http://www.natashascafe.com/images/p...s/evileye3.jpg. Sure enough, it's an Evil Eye. Brother tried to curse us! We had a good laugh. Glad my instincts are on par.

Fancy that. Greeks use eyes like that for protection from the evil eye. The things are everywhere - on babies, on key rings, hanging from rearview mirrors, even jewelled versions.

The candle has writing on the back (in Spanish and translated) asking Jesus to protect us from harm. If it had said anything about nonbelievers burning in Hell, I think I'd be more bothered but I get nothing but honest protective vibes from it. And it's funny but nobody I know who has access to my door has owned up to leaving it there...a gift from above, perhaps? Spanish Jesus promising to protect his little pagan?

Very funny story though Trust your instincts!

Locate your nearest botanica, and you'll find more such candles, as well as information. It sounds like a novena candle (a Catholic devotion that lasts nine days, so there are candles big enough to burn throughout that time).

[RoselynLibera]

Locate your nearest botanica, and you'll find more such candles, as well as information. It sounds like a novena candle (a Catholic devotion that lasts nine days, so there are candles big enough to burn throughout that time).

Apparently, they are also sold at the local Wegmans, although I haven't verified that fact.

[mandrina]

In university, I used to eat lunch all the time with one of my classmates. One day as I was heading out to catch my taxi, she stopped me and just asked me to bible study right out of the blue! I was like: WTF no, I have to catch a cab!" She never ate lunch with me after that, I guess she was one of those Christians who are really only interested in converting people, not being friends.

Another time I was sitting outside a Chapters store waiting for my parents when these two girls came up to me and asked "Do you want to go to church with us?" (Seriously, no "hi, how are you" or anything, just the question.) And I was like "Um, no?" I don't think they were drunk or anything, but that's such an....odd....question to ask a complete stranger.

The only time someone left something for me was the time I was a little late to pick up my laundry in university and someone folded my clothes for me (my underwear, funnily enough). I triple checked to make sure none of it was stolen. It was very nice of them to fold my clothes, a little creepy, but still nice.

My daughter's first boyfriend dumped her after six months because she hadn't converted fast enough.