Faith Not Religion

I believe faith is more important than religion.

Religion is like a business or a company, it's ruled by an owner or leader, and the followers are like employees, that have to do and say and believe all the same things the leader/boss believes otherwise they get booted out.

There are 15,000 religions in the world, with new ones being started every day, and each religion has it's own set of beliefs which members are required to have/believe, and if you don't have/believe them than you can't go to that religion. Religion is only concerned with ideas and rules and theologies and little rituals (like prayer, communion, etc.) which have supposedly been given to the religion's leader by some invisible God/source, which only the leader can see and hear.

Religion commands that you obey it or else. Religion is cold and rigid and requires that you bend out of shape in order to fit it's mold. Religion allows no room for personal spiritual growth.

Religion demands you have faith, meaning that even religion admits that faith is more important.




Faith is different. Faith or spirituality, is what you believe in. Faith is that which will determine which religion you end up choosing to join, or if you choose to join none at all.

Faith is you seeking out a higher understanding or deeper knowledge about the unknown. Faith is flexible, and it grows and expands with you as you gain more knowledge and understanding.

Without faith there could not be religion in the first place, so that alone makes faith more important than religion.

I believe there is a "God", but I'm not certain that the "God of Abraham" is entirely correct with the "Real God". I mean just look at the teachings of the God of Abraham, I mean, he may have taught the 10 Commandment but he sure as hell did not practice what he preached: promotes murder, death and violence. Hates women, thinks nothing of children, esp if they are female, glorifies in the slaughter of animals! WTH? THAT God, the God of the Old Testament IS NOT the God I believe in!

I believe that God (the Real God, not the Bible's fairy tale version) is a kind and loving Great Spirit or Creator, the way many Native American religions teach.

But yes, I do believe there is a God.

The difference is, you can actually touch, taste, feel and see milk.
You don't see, touch, taste and feel God

wow! What does god *TASTE* like?!?! What a weird question! Though certainly one I find intregeing. I don't know why, but for some odd reason the first thing I thought of was pink cotton candy! LOL!

Were the Bible the word of God it would have no mistakes in it. There would be no contradictions. If it was the word of God uncorrupted, than God would not say "Thou shalt not kill" in one chapter, and than command: "Kill that guy" in the the next chapter. If it was fact not fiction, that Jesus would not have died in four very different ways, and the chapters about the resurrection would not have been added in 300AD after the Roman invasion of the Picts (Wiccas), they would have been written at the same time as the rest of the New Testament.

Was it inspired by God? Yes, I think it was to some extent inspired by a Heavenly Being. However, because it was written down by the hands of man, and not the hands of God himself, I also believe that it is full of huge mistakes and inaccuracies due to the personal interpretations made by the men who wrote it.

I believe the Bible to be not a history of God, but rather a history of one culture's interpretation of who God is.

I do think it is important that everyone read it, however, I think it should be read with a grain of salt and looked upon as a book written to record the history of a race of highly superstitious people, rather than a book which quotes God's word.

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The world has more than 15,000 religions, with new ones being created every day. That's an odd thought when you stop and think about, it really. I mean, 15,000! And think about this: the top religions on that list, have church buildings in nearly every city, in every state, in the USA. Now that's a lot of churches! I just opened the phone book and looked up Biddeford, Maine, and do you know what I found? There are well over 350 church buildings in this one town alone! WOW! Where are they all? I don't remember seeing that many. Well, I can see 5 steeples from my bedroom window, so I guess, maybe there could be over 350 churches in Biddeford.

It does make you stop and think about it though: Why ARE there so many churches out there? And why, so many different religions? If there were not so many religions there would not be so many churches, right?

I think that it is a sign that the general population is not happy. They feel a need, and thus they seek a cure for that need. Some seek out the bottle, others seek out drugs, but a lot of people seek out religion. They seek out religion because they feel that religion has *the answers*. They problem comes when they feel they have learned everything that they can learn from that religion, so they move on to the next religion, and than the next one and the next one, and than suddenly it hits them: NONE of the religions have *the answer* so they start their own religion as a means to seek *the answer*. Today so many people have done this, that now their are 15,000+ religions in the world all seeking *the answer* and none of them giving any *answers* so more people will continue to start more religions. It's a never ending circle.

I believe that for some people religion is very important and they need it in order to survive in this world. They need something not of this world to look up to, to hope for, and to be inspired by. Religion can be a good thing.

I also believe that religion is not for everyone. While some people need the comfort of the embracing arms of a religion, other are quickly crowed and choked to death by religion's strangling grasp. For these people religion may have been good once, but it has become a burden that prevents them from moving forward in life. For these people it is better to break free of religion and stand on their own for a while.

I see religion not as and end, but rather as a means to an end. It's like when you break your leg, and you need a crutch to lean on. The crutch does nothing to cure or heal your leg, but it stands straight and allows you to use it until you can walk on your own again. Religion is that crutch. Religion is the thing that you lean on until you can go through life free from the crutch.

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I actually have considered starting my own religion, because after years of searching I have yet to find on that believes as I believe. I know there are more than 15,000 religions out there already, and I have not been able to research all of them, but still, I've researched a hundred or so and nothing "clicked" with me.

About 2 years ago, I started writing a book on my religious beliefs and why they did or did not fit with various religions. I wrote over 900 pages over the course of the next 6 months! When I got done I realized that I should start my own religion using this as a guidebook, because that's what it had become, my personal guidebook as to what I did and did not believe in!

I do plan to have my book published in 4 volumes, I'm working on editing and rearranging it as we speak. Would I go so far as to start my own religion based on it? Don't know, I could see myself doing that, but I don't think I'm that motivated.

Here is a copy of the email I sent back to him:

And you would know WHO attends WHAT, WHEN.... how exactly?

Santa Claus's crystal ball? or maybe Tinker Bell sprinkled fairy dust in your all seeing eyes?

I know, the Easter Bunny told you which meeting people attend because he was there Easter Sunday, right?

I'm of the belief that people who believe in invisible beings are border line insane and should be institutionalized... medical science can prove that people who hear *God's voice* are raving lunatics. And that is my opinion of (NAME OF RELIGIOUS LEADER REMOVED FOR THIS LENS) and every other so called *Christian* like him.

Let me know next time you see or hear God so I can call your local asylum and tell them to get the straight jacket ready.

Was my answer to his email harsh? Yes, but the man is a raving lunatic and I believe it got the point across, which was that in his ravings, he was doing nothing but making a complete fool of himself, and there for to give him a reasonable answer would have been nothing but a waste of my time.

Why would it have been a waste of my time? Because no matter what I had said, his response would have been the same: more hysterical nonsense. So why should I waste my time and energy on a well thought out and logical answer when, he does nothing but shriek hysterics? It is pointless to try to reason with the unreasonable, and so I say: Let them rave on that men may know them mad.

I don't know, this really is getting out of hand now. If he expects me to give him a civil answer than he better start calming down, thinking rationally, and actually make an attempt at asking me a civil question.

There is something to be said about religious fanitics, and believe me, it is not good and can not be said here on this G rated lens either. And why is it that these *super Christians* all speak in one language: hysterical shrieking?

That said, I don't care what religion a person chooses to follow. Religion is a personal choice. To follow one faith over another or to follow no faith at all, is something that only the individual is able to decide. No one has the right to tell any one else what to believe in, which church to attend, what day to attend church, which faith to follow, or if they should even follow any faith at all. To tell someone to follow *the one true religion* is to practice communism, which is illegal in the United States and could get you a life sentence in prison. Do these religious fanatics ever stop to think about THAT?

In saying that your faith are wrong and their faith is right, they are no different from Hitler in his actions against the Jewish faith. Now there's a bite to chew on.

I keep hearing how Pagan religions are bad. I look at the folks who are saying this and ask: Why? On what grounds do they base their prejudice?

By translation the word Pagan means country folk, and actually has nothing to do with religion at all! What people are calling Pagan religions, usually means Wicca. Most of the folks putting down Wicca are basing their prejudice on such TV shows as Charmed. Now I ask you, how many practicing Pagans do you see shooting fire from their finger tips at scaly green demons? None. Do these people not know that Charmed is pure fantasy? And that Charmed's version of Wicca is nothing like the real thing? Weird. Scary even, how people confuse fiction with reality.

Pagan religions however, get their name from the word Pagan. As I said the word Pagan, when translated into English, means country folk (farmers). The term Pagan Religions means indigenous religions of the country folk. What does that mean? That means that Pagan religions include not only the Picts (Wicca), but also Native American belief systems, African tribal belief systems, Haitian Voodoo, Asian ancestor worship, Papua New Guinea's headhunter tribal beliefs, Australian aboriginal Dream-time, Aztec and Inca mythology, Egyptian mythology, and the gods of ancient Greece, Rome, and Norse, as well as every other small religion practiced by tribal units, wandering nomads, country farmers, forest woodsmen, and every other small group who practices some form of non-Christian religion. In fact, Pagan religions make up 75% of all the world's religions! Christianity is the minority among religions and is only wide spread in America and a few of the bigger countries in Europe.

Are Pagans evil workers for Satan? Most certainly not! They are people on a spiritual path, just like you!

Are religious/spiritual people healthier than non-religious or non-spiritual people? I say yes, however, I do not feel that religion has anything to do with it per say. Rather I believe that being religious effects how one lives their life, being religious effects lifestyle decisions, which in turn effects their health. I'll explain:

Very, very religious/spiritual people are more likely to live in the country, on a farm, in the mountains, in the forest, or in some other such region where they can *live off the land*. The most common reason why a person choses to live off the land, is because they are following a religious conviction of some sort. Now granted that's not the only reason and not every one who lives off the land has this reason at all, but it is however the most common reason.

In other words, a religious person is more likely to be living in a place where they can grow a garden, eat more fresh food, and sweat off all the extra weight via the act of gardening. One hour in the garden pulling weeds, hoeing rows, planting seeds, or harvesting fruits will do far more good than 3 hours in the gym. All in all this makes for a healthier individual.

Another thing to note, is that living in the country also means that you live 30 or 40 miles from the nearest McDonald's, meaning this person is highly unlikely to be eating very much *fast food*. And another thing, if you live off the grid, the nearest WalMart could be a 2 or 3 hours drive from your home, while the nearest mall could be 7 or 8 towns away. More factors that make for a healthier person.

If you are like myself, than not only have you started growing a garden, but you raise livestock as well. A country living person, who is bother a gardener and a farmer, is not only healthier, but also a hellova lot stronger as well.

Take me, for example, people who do not know me and see me for the first time, see only a petite little woman, whom they assume to be every bit a weak and frail as any other woman my size. Nothing could be farther from the truth however, because fact is, I'm not only stronger than other women my size, I am stronger than men who are bigger than me.

What the people see in public is far different than what they see of me at home. Were they to follow me home they would see a woman who carries 50lb bags of grain one at a time from the feed store across the parking lot and into the car. Once home, I than toss each of those 50lbs over my should and now carry them one handed 200 yards across the rocky ledge terrain that separates our drive way from our barn. It takes a good half hour to do, and I do this multiple times each and every single week.

A friend of mine, a man who stand a good 4" taller than me, is unable to make the trip just once, and has to stop and set the grain bag down half way there. Others have tried this feat, and none have succeeded, all eventually resorted to using a wheelbarrow instead. Interesting.

A few years back I had a 68lb dog (Bisquit) who needed to go to the vet, I simply picked her up and carried her.

As a result of my being a farmer, I can lift a 75lb weight over my head. (My brother lifts weights.) So far 75lbs is my limit.

How big am I? 5'6" and 138lbs. I can lift more than half my own weight with no problem, and that is something that the average person can not do.

Do I attribute this to religion? Yes. I do. And I will explain this to you. You see, I grew up in the Mormon church in the 1970's when, if you were a Mormon you lived on a farm and was 100% self sufficient, otherwise you had no right to call yourself a Mormon. Granted the Mormon church has changed a lot in the since the 1970's and today it's barely a shadow of what it was than. Today it's not unusual to find city folks, public school children, and people who have never heard the words *self sufficient* before, but when I was growing up, these kind of things were not allowed in the Mormon church. The church today no longer preaches *self sufficiency or else*, so people today do not realize how strict the church was just a few years ago.

My growing up Mormon not only made me a self sufficient farmer, gardener, sewer, home preserver, cooker, and baker but it also did something else as well. Being a Mormon made me healthier than the average non-Mormon because I have never once drunk coffee, smoker cigarettes, used drugs (not even prescription ones), drank alcohol, or had sex. I attribute my extreme good health and unusual strength not only to farming, but also to be a direct result of my abstinence from these five things.

In addition to my being raised Mormon, I was also taught the ways of the Seventh Day Adventist. Though I never joined their church, I did follow their laws of abstinence which are the same as those of the Mormon church, plus abstinence from eating meat and abstinence from violence towards all creatures. The result of which I am also a vegetarian and animal right activist and anti-war peace activist. In addition to the things already mentioned I also attribute my health to my abstinence from meat and from any non-peaceful actions towards all life forms.

So, in my early years the Mormon lifestyle set me on the road to good health.

In my teen years the SDA lifestyle acted to farther enhance the Mormon lifestyle.

In my young adult years I left the Mormon church and set out to studying other religions. I doubt if there is a religion I missed. I studied them all, both Christian and non-Christian. And while, to this day I still belong to no religion, I did find four that stood out and acted to farther enhance my lifestyle even more. They were: Buddhism, Taoism, Voodun (Voodoo), and Pictish (Olde Style Wicca). (All considered by Christians to be *Pagan* religions.) From these four faiths I added the following to my lifestyle:

meditation (and yoga)
herbology
attuning myself to the life force of nature
the art of the (Japanese) tea ceremony
the Asian diet
doing only those things which make me happy
comfort over fashion

Of these things it was *comfort over fashion* that has stood out the most, and set me apart from others.

In 1997, the same year I joined the internet, I also got rid of my entire wardrobe. I did away with every piece of restrictive and uncomfortable clothen. This included: high heel shoes, bras, pants, mini skirts, straight skirts, tight shirts, and everything made out of stiff, scratchy, or otherwise uncomfortable material.

My new wardrobe now consisted of long lose fitting and flowing robes, mumus, capes, hakama, and kimono. Shoes are soft, and soleless and like walking on air... heaven is a comfortable shoe! All fabric now made of cotton, velvet, or silk... light weight breathable, warm in winter, cool in summer.

No longer do I worry about being in fashion, or in season, as my wardrobe can be worn year round and year after year. To this day, I wear nothing else. (Which also is a huge savings in terms of money, meaning less money woes and more money to spend elsewhere, thus a less stressful life.)

How does this promote a healthy life? Changing my wardrobe, freed me of a whole lot of stress, peer pressure, and competition, all of which are very unhealthy. The lose fitted wardrobe frees my body from confinement and frees my soul as well. All of this equals a happier lifestyle and a happier lifestyle equals a healthier life.

So my conclusion: are religious people healthier than non religious people?

Based on my own personal life: yes! Religious/spiritual people are healthier than the general public, because they have chosen to live a lifestyle that is markedly different from the general public. They chose to live healthier, eat healthier, and live in happier, less stressful environments, and thus become healthier in the long run.

Wither or not there are heaven and hell is debatable, as I said earlier, however, I do believe there is an afterlife of some sort and I do believe that animals go there.

I do not think that the next life, it is all very much different from life here and I believe we well be reunited or even reborn again into the same family circles in the next life as this one and that we have already done so in past lives as well.

I also believe that the animals who guided us on our journey through this life have been our spiritual guides in past lives and shall continue to be our guides in the next life. Animals are different than people, they have a stronger connection with nature, and thus a stronger connection with the spirit world. It is for this very reason, that people with strong spiritual connections often also have was is called Animal Magnetism. Animals are attracted to and less afraid of Humans with a high connection to the spirit world. Like wise, it is why animals naturally fear certain people. The less spiritual the person is, the more fearful animals are of them.

Animals are attracted to certain people. Animals seek out and find those whose spirits are most in need of their assistance. If an animal suddenly follows you home and tries to live with you, you should welcome it, because chance are good that you and he were once spirit companions in another plain of existence, and he sought you out in this one, to spend another life time with you once again.

I believe that animals are much more innocent and spiritual than humans, which is why they can not and do not commit sin, and because of this I also believe that the same animals can continue to return to us in this life in many forms to help us on our path to the next life.

I currently have 12 cats and 40+ birds (I lost count of them). Right now I have the least amount of pets I've ever had in my life, there was one point when there were over 200 pets at one time. All together over the years I've had more than 500 pets.

I am for the first time in my life with out a dog. My Buddy died yesterday. He was 13 years old, which if he had been a Human would have made him 97 years old. I've had him since he was just 6 months old. I still had Junior back than.

A question I am constantly asked is "How can you have so many animals? Don't you just want to get rid of them?" My answer is always the same: "Would YOU get rid of YOUR babies? These pets are more than just animals to me; they are like children to me. I would never get rid of any of them. I dare you suggest such a thing!" Each and every one of them has a name and each has a unique personality. All of them are loved dearly. I wouldn't have my life any other way.

Are they my spirit guides? Maybe. Don't know. They are my friends and adopted members of my family, of that much I am certain. They certainly help me to learn countless lessons in life and in that respect I suppose you could call them spirit guides.

I did however, just tell you my thoughts on the matter, more or less, in the last question though. My answer to this one is pretty much the same.

I do believe that the animals guide us on our journey through life and have been our spiritual guides in past lives and shall continue to be our guides in the next life. Animals are different than people, they have a stronger connection with nature, and thus a stronger connection with the spirit world. It is for this very reason, that people with strong spiritual connections often also have was is called Animal Magnetism. Animals are attracted to and less afraid of Humans with a high connection to the spirit world. Like wise, it is why animals naturally fear certain people. The less spiritual the person is, the more fearful animals are of them.

I have Animal Magnetism to the extreme, Buddy is a perfect example of that. Buddy was a mean, aggressive dog, whom no one could get near. Three different vets, refused to take him as a patient and said the only thing they would do would be to put him to sleep. They called him an extremely dangerous animal, and he was a puppy, just 6 months old. That is how I ended up with him. No body else wanted him. No body else could touch him. No body else could even get close to him. With me, Buddy was as gentle as a new born lamb. Buddy as it turned out was a "bird dog". Not a hunting dog, but a dog who played mother hen to every bird he saw. He loved birds. This fierce growling monster, was the gentle adoptive mother hen, to 3 generations of baby chickens, and for many years had a pet rooster (Chup-Chup) who followed Buddy every where and often rode around on Buddy's back. Once I lost a hen, and since she was gone for many days, I assumed a fox had taken her. A month later, however she returned. The odd thing was, that Buddy now took to heading to my rose bushes and staying there all day long. Not too odd, as this was where Buddy stashed things away. If Buddy was in my roses, Buddy was likely burying a tennis ball or some magazine he'd taken out of the trash. Every once in a while I'd find missing books, chewed up and buried under my roses. What was odd, was that he was now spending all day, under the rose bush, so I checked to see why and I found: a loaf of bread, some chewed up newspapers, several paper back books he'd snuck off my book shelf and chewed to shreds, and 4 baby chickens, about 2 weeks old, whom Buddy was taking care of. This was the ferocious monster every one was scared of, this dog who was taking care of 4 baby roosters.

Like wise, Buddy loved cats. Nothing made Buddy happier than to tuck in at night with my army of cats all sleeping on top of him. Buddy never did get over his fierce aggressiveness, and no Human could dare even think about coming between Buddy and his roosters or Buddy and his cats.

Buddy is not a lone example. I raise feral cats. Wild cats who would tear your arm off and chew up your face. Fierce violent cats, raised in the wild, whom have never felt the touch of a human hand and never will because no one can get close to them. Cats, whom shelters put to sleep because it takes years to tame them and even than they never fully tame. And yet, not one of these cats acts like this towards me. They curl up on my lap and sing and purr. On two separate occasions, I gained an extra cat, because I woke up one day with a new feral cat asleep on my pillow (keeping in mind here that I'm homeless and sleep out doors). These cats, come and live with me. They do not fear me, as the fear others, nor do they show aggression towards me, like they do others. The strong spirit connection between me and not just my animals, but all animals in general, can not be over stated.

Animals are on a spirit journey just like the rest of us. They come to this world from one before it, and they leave it to move on to the next one, and in each one they seek out those whom they've known and loved in the past. If an animal suddenly follows you home and tries to live with you, you should welcome it, because chance are good that you and he were once spirit companions in another plain of existence, and he sought you out in this one, to spend another life time with you once again. I believe that the more past lives you have had together, the stronger your connection becomes in each life forward.

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I put dunno, cause I have no idea what it would be like or even if there is such a place.... I've heard of a dozen or more different interpretations on what hell is or isn't, and no one really knows anything for certain anyways, I mean, how many people went to hell and came back to tell the tale?

If real demons were anything like fantasy demons (namely Lord Sesshomaru :-* ;D :) ) though, I'd love Hell! LOL! :D ;D

As I said earlier, wither or not there are heaven and hell is debatable, however, I do believe there is an afterlife of some sort.

I do not unnecessarily believe in either heaven or hell. I do not think life after death is all very much different from life here and I believe we well be reunited or even reborn again into the same family circles in the next life as this one and that we have already done so in past lives as well.

Heaven, the way I see it, would be spending eternity with those you love in a peaceful place free of heartache, sickness, and war. If there was a hell, I think it would be a place where we are separated from those we love: our friends, our families, and our pets.

Interesting question, but does the Bible ever use either the actual words "Hell" or "Satan"? Looking in 16 different translations, I only see these words used in the modern day versions (AMP and NKJ) but not in any of the older versions; also there is no historical record of there being a reference to Satan prior to 300 A.D.

Yes, after we die, our bodies decay, and nothing is left but mud; however, by that time our spirit bodies have already left our physical bodies. I believe that it the actual act of the spirit (or soul) leaving the body which causes one to die. I believe that it is the spirit or soul, which keeps the body alive.

What is the spirit? I believe that the words: spirit, soul, mind, and intellect are all interchangeable and that they are all basically the same things. I think that each is a bit different, but that all of them combine to make up the spiritual body which dwells within our physical body.

I believe that when we die, we die as a result of that spiritual body leaving the physical body.

As for ghosts, yes they most certainly are real. What are they? I think that they are the spirits of people who died. Why are they still here on Earth after death? Not sure about that one, but I think that there are multiple answers to that question and that there are several reasons why they are still here. I think some of them, simply desire to stay near their loved ones who are still alive. Others may not realize that they have died. Some may not be able to move on because they feel that there was something they did not do while they were alive so they are still trying to do it, but without a physical body they can not. Some may be trying to help someone who is still alive.

You see, lots of reasons. I think that the spiritual body stays where it is comfortable being: for example:

A serial killer, now dead, may be terrified that the people he killed will come after him, so he runs back to his house to hide in the closest, and thus you have the answer to a haunted house.

Likewise, someone who believes in the Rapture or the Second Coming of Christ, may do nothing but sit for centuries on their tombstone waiting for Jesus to blow his trumpet. Thus you have a haunted cemetery.

Another may have commit suicide by jumping off a bridge, but does not realize they died and so for centuries they do nothing but pace back and forth on the bridge, jumping off of it thousands of times. Thus you have a haunted bridge.

What about the spirits that did not become ghosts? I believe that they moved on to another plain of existence: not heaven or hell per say, but rather they either moved forward or backwards depending on how they lived their life on Earth.

If they learned what they needed to learn to move on, than they would have gone forward (or what one would say: they went to Heaven), so that now they can learn the next level of intellect.

However if we spent to much time goofing off and not learning, than I think we must be *reborn* into this Earth and live life all over again, possibly many times, until we finally learn what we need to learn to move forward.

Likewise I believe that if we were particularly bad and went around bullying instead of learning (this would include thieves, murderers, hate crimes, just plain mean people, etc. etc.) that instead of moving forward or being reborn, that these people go back a level (thus the term going to Hell). I think that these people have to go back and relive whatever the prior existence to the current one is, because they must learn all over again the things which we had learned before we could reach this level.

As you can see I do not believe in the theory of a spirit paradise (Heaven) or spirit prison (Hell). I do not think that there is such a thing as *an end*, I think we are continually moving onward and learning things forever. In other words, it's like we are in school, and each life is a different grade level, and we go ahead or fall behind based on what we learn and how quickly we learn it.

When it comes to celebrating holidays, the most common mistake everyone makes -- Christians and non-Christians alike -- is that few people seem to know what a holiday even is!

So, what is a holiday, anyways? Everyone looks forward to taking a Holiday, right? You do realize of course that while you can take a vacation, it is impossible to take a Holiday. I wonder how many people would look forward to a Holiday after they found out what it really meant. Most of today's unlearned, over-educated, and nonspiritual minds, will tell you that a Holiday is a time to take a vacation from your daily ways of life - a period of rest and relaxation - time away from work or school - a day to party - a type of festival - or other similar but just as wrong definitions. It would seem that the word Holiday has been misused for so long, that very few people today even know what the word means! If you want to take a vacation, than say what you really mean: you want to take a vacation, not a holiday.

The word holiday is the modern day combining of the two words: Holy Day. But what about Sabbath-isn't that the word that means Holy Day? The words Sabbet, Sabbath, and Saturday are all Hebrew words that translate into English to mean Holy Day.

So it would seem that all of these words, no matter what you call them, mean the same thing. Holiday, Sabbet, Sabbath, and Saturday all mean Holy Day. Now what is a Holy Day? A Holy Day is self explanatory: it is a day set aside as one that is to be respected as Holy. But do you know what Holy means?

Holy means: that which is sacred, reverenced, or revered.

So a Holy Day is a day set aside as a sacred day, a day to be reverent, a day to pray, a day to worship, a day to reflect on what it means to be Holy, a day to act as if you were a Holy being, a day to pay respect to the Creator. Now don't balk and say that this sounds too Christian for you: remember that it was the Christians who copied the ancient Celts/Witches. All Christian Holy Days are merely watered down versions of Pictish/Druid/Celtic/Witches Holy Days.

Keeping in mind here that Witches were/are very spiritual beings, usually much more spiritual than Christians. Holy Days were very special days, quiet days, restful days, prayerful days.

Another note here: Don't be fooled by the Hollywood movies that depict the ancient Witches Sabbaths as wild festivals at midnight around huge bonfires, because a festival or celebration is not a Sabbet or Holiday. If you want have a wild celebration, than you want to celebrate a festival, not a Holiday. These two things should never be confused one with the other.

While Holy Days, Holidays, Sabbaths, and Sabbaths and peaceful, quiet, prayerful days, festivals are times of dancing, partying, celebrating, singing, and making merry: one should never be confused with the other, but sadly they usually are.

I think that Doctor Franklin said it best:

`Tis not a Holiday that's not kept holy.


~ Benjamin Franklin

I can't write an over view of what each holiday means, it's history, etc, here, because this lens simply is not big enough for that, so I may write up a lens about Holidays vs Holy Days in the future.

As for which ones should you celebrate? You can celebrate which ever Holiday or Holy Day tickles your fancy. Me, personally I celebrate Halloween as my biggest Holiday of the year, Christmas coming in as a close second, and Easter coming in third. I basically ignore all other holidays as I have no interest in them what so ever and find them to be a waste of my time.

Freedom is an often used word, but how many truly know what it means? A better question probably is: *How many people tell you to let them have their freedom, while trying to control your every move, in effect robbing you of your own freedom?*.

Parents force their children to attend the college that they never got to go to.

Churches intimidate people into performing strict rituals and than farther rob them of their freedom by guilt-tripping them into giving the church money under the name of *love gifts* or *tithes*.

Friends threaten to never speak to you again, if you don't do this or that for them.

Aunts and uncles compare you to your cousins and try to convince you that you aren't as good.

Fathers become dictators, threatening to disown the son that doesn't join the family business.

Mothers become tyrants disguised as matchmakers, when they pick out husbands for their daughters.

The government forces a draft on the young people and sends them to jail if they refuse to *fight for their country*.

All of this is done in the name of freedom. It's all about freedom.

Freedom: it's what they want for themselves, but refuse to give to you.