Author Topic: What are your prohibitions? (Read 7632 times)

veggiewolf · « **on:** October 17, 2013, 11:50:49 am »

On my long and twisted religious path, there are a number of things that I am prohibited to do...usually on request from one of the deities I follow:

I am not to actively participate in ritual that does not fall in line with my own path. This means that almost all public rituals are right out for me - I have to opt out of them, as they contain elements that do not apply.
If I speak about the work I do, it has to be in part only. I am proscribed against talking about the whole, the goal, or the outcome until it is finished.
I am prohibited from sharing information with certain people, or at certain times, or in certain places.
Perversely, I am prohibited from not speaking up or sharing information in certain instances.

There are others, of course, but the four above are the ones that come into play most often since my religious community includes TC's forums and chat. And, in reading a series of blog posts defining piety in ways that are, for me, prohibited to do, I wondered how many others also have proscriptions against things that are seen as "typically pagan".

So, what are your prohibitions? If you have them, how much impact do they have on your daily life? If you don't have them, what might you do if given one (or more)?

Breeze · « **Reply #1 on:** October 17, 2013, 12:04:41 pm »

Quote from: veggiewolf;125781

So, what are your prohibitions? If you have them, how much impact do they have on your daily life? If you don't have them, what might you do if given one (or more)?

Honestly I've never received any prohibitions. I have asked before if there are certain things that I shouldn't do so I've thought about it, but I'm still working things out on the deity-front so that may have something to do with it.

If I were told by a deity I was working with not to do something, I would more than likely follow them. I would probably question it, not out of defiance, but out of wanting to know why/what purpose it serves.

On the other hand, I've received lots of "you really should..." and have listened to the advice given with good results. With that in mind I don't see why there'd be any harm in my following any advice that did the opposite.

Liadine (dragonflyeyes) · « **Reply #2 on:** October 17, 2013, 12:34:40 pm »

Quote from: veggiewolf;125781

There are others, of course, but the four above are the ones that come into play most often since my religious community includes TC's forums and chat. And, in reading a series of blog posts defining piety in ways that are, for me, prohibited to do, I wondered how many others also have proscriptions against things that are seen as "typically pagan".

So, what are your prohibitions? If you have them, how much impact do they have on your daily life? If you don't have them, what might you do if given one (or more)?

Thank you for bringing this topic up - I've been thinking about it a lot lately, and I'll be interested in reading what other people say.

For me, my major prohibition is not eating pomegranate for set periods of the year. It's not something that comes up very often - pomegranate usually only hides in the kind of hoity-toity gummy sweets I can't afford, and other uses of it are usually clear - but the mental side of it can blindside me a little. I just feel strange about Not Eating Something For Religious Reasons. Even though I know (most) of the people around me will go "oh, okay, that makes sense" if I mention it, I still get shy and nervous about it. Like it's okay for established religions to have rules about food, but I'll get laughed out of the ballpark if I say that for UPG reasons I have to avoid eating something. It's a strange thing my brain does.

Other than that, I mostly have things I have to do, rather than not do. The only other prohibitions I can think of fall under the category of morality/how I'm supposed to live my life, which is its own thing. If one of my gods gave me another prohibition I'd probably accept it whether or not I knew their reasoning immediately, unless it directly threatened myself or my own or otherwise broke certain rules laid down on me by my other deities. In that case, it would be bargaining time.

Jack · « **Reply #3 on:** October 17, 2013, 12:56:17 pm »

Quote from: veggiewolf;125781

So, what are your prohibitions? If you have them, how much impact do they have on your daily life? If you don't have them, what might you do if given one (or more)?

There are specific places Mara doesn't want me to shop, and others where she has asked me to limit my shopping there to things I can't find elsewhere.

There are a few prohibitions I'm not able to describe in detail, but they're largely about talking about certain things.

Catherine · « **Reply #4 on:** October 17, 2013, 01:28:39 pm »

Quote from: veggiewolf;125781

I am prohibited from sharing information with certain people, or at certain times, or in certain places.
Perversely, I am prohibited from not speaking up or sharing information in certain instances.

Both of these.

Also, no gambling if real money is involved. I'm not to take pictures of my altar, shrines or ritual space. Working with Venus or Aphrodite is off limits.

stephyjh · « **Reply #5 on:** October 17, 2013, 02:27:55 pm »

Quote from: Catherine;125792

Both of these.

Also, no gambling if real money is involved. I'm not to take pictures of my altar, shrines or ritual space. Working with Venus or Aphrodite is off limits.

I absolutely cannot work with Poseidon, at any time, for any reason. Also, the circumstances in which I'm allowed to refuse help to another person are very tightly restricted.

Sophia C · « **Reply #6 on:** October 17, 2013, 03:40:15 pm »

Quote from: veggiewolf;125781

So, what are your prohibitions? If you have them, how much impact do they have on your daily life? If you don't have them, what might you do if given one (or more)?

Well, I'm new, so mine are just being shown to me, and I'm sure I've got more to come. But, so far:

- In making offerings, as much as I need to be generous, I can't end up giving too much. I especially can't harm myself, others or the land. This is at least partly about personal history.
- There are gods I honour who don't want to be mentioned, except in the vaguest of ways, and others who don't mind so much.
- I'm not allowed to honour or even approach the Canaanite gods. This has been messing me up, as I approach lands I visit by honouring their gods. But it's what I was told, two visits (to Israel) ago. So.

I also believe I'm meant to be working solely with the gods of the British Isles, although I'm not sure entirely what that means, yet.

Riothamus12 · « **Reply #7 on:** October 17, 2013, 03:43:38 pm »

Quote from: veggiewolf;125781

On my long and twisted religious path, there are a number of things that I am prohibited to do...usually on request from one of the deities I follow:
I am not to actively participate in ritual that does not fall in line with my own path. This means that almost all public rituals are right out for me - I have to opt out of them, as they contain elements that do not apply.
If I speak about the work I do, it has to be in part only. I am proscribed against talking about the whole, the goal, or the outcome until it is finished.
I am prohibited from sharing information with certain people, or at certain times, or in certain places.
Perversely, I am prohibited from not speaking up or sharing information in certain instances.
There are others, of course, but the four above are the ones that come into play most often since my religious community includes TC's forums and chat. And, in reading a series of blog posts defining piety in ways that are, for me, prohibited to do, I wondered how many others also have proscriptions against things that are seen as "typically pagan".

So, what are your prohibitions? If you have them, how much impact do they have on your daily life? If you don't have them, what might you do if given one (or more)?

I shall defile, deface, or otherwise tarnish intentionally the altar or holy places of any deity.

I shall not call upon devils in prayer or in the use of the sacred art. To do so is to invite impurity and malice.

I shall not kill.

I shall not torture, or otherwise grievously harm another living being. I may only raise my fists in self defense or the defense of others I can immediately help. Even then I shall avoid killing if possible.

I shall not worship mortals.

I shall not seek to hinder the love of others even if I am jealous.

I shall not let bigotry go unchallenged. I must at least speak against it

I shall not make a sacrifice of blood or life. Blood involves anguish in the drawing, and one cannot own the soul of another living being.

My loyalty lover and family is second only to my loyalty to the divine.

I shall not hold mortal laws above the divine law. To do so is to invite cruelty and pointless malice. They are the devices of greed, malice, and discord. No nation shall have my loyalty.

I shall not level abuse against animals. They do nothing to me out of malice.

Sexual assault is an abhorrent act. I shall neither tolerate nor commit it. This is the most grievous transgression of the mundane and mortal law.

I shall not cease the pursuit of knowledge and understanding. Through this, harmony can be established, and one grows closer to the divine.

I shall not defile nature in the way that modern industry does as it negatively effects my relationship with all life and insults the deities.

I shall not take payment for any kind of spiritually related services. The action is it's own reward and to tarnish it with greed corrupts the relationship with the divine and mortal realms.

I must honor the wills of others and only intervene if they seek to do harm to someone else.

I shall not deface holy texts. This is an act of ignorance and disrespect to the holy ones.

I must place the common humanity of all people before anything else even if they are wicked or flawed.

As for my other prohibitions, I don't drink because my family has a really bad history with booze, not because I think it evil.

Jack · « **Reply #8 on:** October 17, 2013, 03:45:30 pm »

Quote from: Riothamus12;125810

I shall defile, deface, or otherwise tarnish intentionally the altar or holy places of any deity.

... I assume that was supposed to have a "not" in it?

Darkhawk · « **Reply #9 on:** October 17, 2013, 04:02:30 pm »

Quote from: veggiewolf;125781

So, what are your prohibitions? If you have them, how much impact do they have on your daily life? If you don't have them, what might you do if given one (or more)?

For large portions of my public work, I am forbidden from naming which Power or Powers, if any, are responsible for any given portion thereof, in public conversations. The work must stand and function on its own without name-dropping.

There is a particular procedure I must follow for offering certain kinds of assistance. If someone refuses that assistance, I may not offer it again. (This may be more flexible than I think; it's possible that the really cranky absolute had to do with the way it was turned down, not the simple fact that it was. But I suspect that even if there's a spectrum, it's pretty firm on the no takey-backy.)

There are distinct spheres of public-to-private discussion that I have to respect, such that while I might talk about something in a converstion with someone I would not put the same information in a board post.

For certain Mysteries, I cannot speak of certain portions to people who do not know the foundational stuff. Which is really annoying because I haven't finished building this crap and the debugging is a pain in the arse.

Erm. Off the top of my head for the moment. Please pardon my Sudafed.

HeartShadow · « **Reply #10 on:** October 17, 2013, 04:09:32 pm »

Quote from: veggiewolf;125781

On my long and twisted religious path, there are a number of things that I am prohibited to do...usually on request from one of the deities I follow:
I am not to actively participate in ritual that does not fall in line with my own path. This means that almost all public rituals are right out for me - I have to opt out of them, as they contain elements that do not apply.
If I speak about the work I do, it has to be in part only. I am proscribed against talking about the whole, the goal, or the outcome until it is finished.
I am prohibited from sharing information with certain people, or at certain times, or in certain places.
Perversely, I am prohibited from not speaking up or sharing information in certain instances.
There are others, of course, but the four above are the ones that come into play most often since my religious community includes TC's forums and chat. And, in reading a series of blog posts defining piety in ways that are, for me, prohibited to do, I wondered how many others also have proscriptions against things that are seen as "typically pagan".

So, what are your prohibitions? If you have them, how much impact do they have on your daily life? If you don't have them, what might you do if given one (or more)?

The only thing that I know is a hard line is that I cannot do ritual. I'd say except for my religion, but FlameKeeping doesn't really do ritual. I have a soft exception for things like weddings and other such occasions, but even then there is a cost to me to make that choice.

I often feel approval at my refusal to accept stupidity and that I speak up, but I don't know if that's a geas or just recognition of my big mouth.

There are rules about what I can and cannot include in FlameKeeping, but I'm not sure that's the same thing.

Riothamus12 · « **Reply #11 on:** October 17, 2013, 04:47:44 pm »

Quote from: Jack;125811

... I assume that was supposed to have a "not" in it?

Yes it was. X_X

Liadine (dragonflyeyes) · « **Reply #12 on:** October 17, 2013, 05:06:18 pm »

Quote from: Riothamus12;125810

Sexual assault is an abhorrent act. I shall neither tolerate nor commit it. This is the most grievous transgression of the mundane and mortal law.

One thing I'm noticing about the thread as a whole is that there are some prohibitions I find myself nodding along with, except that for me they're in the form of have to rather than can't, or they fall under my personal subheading of 'morality'.

F'ex, some of what Riothamus12 said is obligatory for me, but I'd categorize it as 'how to live my life' rather than prohibitions placed on me by my gods - I'm just curious if other people make that distinction as well? For me, it's an 'nobody should do this thing' vs 'I can't do this thing' line, but I don't know how it works for other people.

I know this is a bit off-topic, but I was just curious.

Viv · « **Reply #13 on:** October 17, 2013, 05:08:24 pm »

Quote from: veggiewolf;125781

On my long and twisted religious path, there are a number of things that I am prohibited to do...usually on request from one of the deities
So, what are your prohibitions? If you have them, how much impact do they have on your daily life? If you don't have them, what might you do if given one (or more)?

I'm not prohibited by the deity I work with but I have two self imposed prohibitions:

I don't discuss any long term or current witchy workings.

I don't go into detail about my personal day-to-day relationship with my deity. I feel that info is just too intimate to share.

Fier · « **Reply #14 on:** October 17, 2013, 09:20:11 pm »

Quote from: veggiewolf;125781

If I speak about the work I do, it has to be in part only. I am proscribed against talking about the whole, the goal, or the outcome until it is finished.

Not being able to talk in whole about one's work or practice or gods seems to be a common one here. For those of you who have such a geis, have you been told WHY you are to keep silent? Or do you have any guesses?

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Author Topic: What are your prohibitions? (Read 7632 times)

veggiewolf

What are your prohibitions?

Breeze

Re: What are your prohibitions?

Liadine (dragonflyeyes)

Re: What are your prohibitions?

Jack

Re: What are your prohibitions?

Catherine

Re: What are your prohibitions?

stephyjh

What are your prohibitions?

Sophia C

What are your prohibitions?

Riothamus12

Re: What are your prohibitions?

Jack

Re: What are your prohibitions?

Darkhawk

Re: What are your prohibitions?

HeartShadow

What are your prohibitions?

Riothamus12

Re: What are your prohibitions?

Liadine (dragonflyeyes)

Re: What are your prohibitions?

Viv

Re: What are your prohibitions?

Fier

Re: What are your prohibitions?

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