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Post by robur on Dec 17, 2010 9:10:22 GMT
May I ask a couple of questions?
These are not a 'test', and I'm not trying to catch anyone out. I'd genuinely like to know your views about two particular questions, which have been on my mind...
1) What do you think about 'coincidences'?
This is my view: I do think that coincidences are significant. I have heard some pagans say that this is the voice of the Goddess, or things along those lines. Jung wrote some books specifically on this subject. To get away from being branded as superstitious, he used the term 'synchroncity'. It sounds more scientific. But what do you think?
2) What do you think is the 'spiritual significance', if I can put it like that, of 'Rugby'?
I've been wondering why this group has been set up in Rugby. Why not Coventry, or Kenilworth, or Leamington? Is there something special about the place, or about any of you? I know there's the mundane explanation - you live there. But is there a 'spiritual' or occult significance to Rugby? I don't want anyone to try to find forced explanations through Google. I've already Googled for 'Rugby Pagans'! I'd like to know what it means to YOU, in a spiritual sense or an occult sense, if anything at all?
I'd be really interested if 2 or 3 people could offer some opinions about either of those points...
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Post by Scruffy Brooky on Dec 17, 2010 9:20:59 GMT
1. There is no such thing as "coincidence" or "random" in my opinion. Just patterns that are too big to comprehend. 2. Prima facie because I moved back to Rugby having been part of a group like this in Birmingham. Not Coventry, or Leamington as they both have their own, had I moved there I would have joined these not started my own. Whether there is any bigger reason connected to point 1 I guess time will tell! Nice post!
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Post by Scruffy Brooky on Dec 17, 2010 9:36:51 GMT
I am very intrigued to find out where this is going, and what you think, but I guess I will have to wait for few more replies yet!
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Post by robur on Dec 17, 2010 13:13:19 GMT
Yes, let's get some more opinions.
The way that a person develops spiritually is by following a path, one step at a time. And I guess it's the same for a group of people. You do not know what is ahead, unless some clever woman has some sense of clairvoyance.
It is almost an act of faith that there is a path, and that the path leads somewhere, and that something is directing it.
You just have to follow it.
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Post by Scruffy Brooky on Dec 17, 2010 13:20:03 GMT
Very well put. I look forward to the detailed version.
I hope you get more opinions on this soon, because I want to know what you're thinking is. Come on people post so I can be put out of my misery on this one!
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Post by robur on Dec 17, 2010 13:40:45 GMT
You can't rush these things. Fate has its own mind, and things have to develop at their own pace.
We'll look at some more books on the books thread too, and look at some other topics, and gradually get some feedback from everyone.
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Post by moongoddess on Dec 18, 2010 0:26:40 GMT
I'll chime in 1) I strongly believe synchronicities are some sort of communication/message/nudge from maybe either the higher subconscious manifesting certain 'coincidences' in order to lead you down the right path, or a higher power at work that we are unaware of. Whatever they are, I have had three or four major life changing synchronicities, and many smaller synchronicites that leave me in no doubt of divine intervention. 2) Not too sure about this one, I'd probably have to have think about it for a while... Rugby doesn't really hold any spiritual significance for me personally, but the very fact that I am living in Rugby was the result of some major divine intervention, so clearly this is where I am meant to be right now in my life! On the occult side of it, I have noticed occult symbolism in Rugby at quite a few places, such as Caldecott Park and Rugby School... And there's quite a bit of history here and the surrounding areas, there's actually a very old stone circle close by, I can't remember where but I'll dig up the info. Interesting thread!
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Post by robur on Dec 18, 2010 8:08:46 GMT
Hi Cheryl,
1) Your word 'unaware' is interesting.
In a sense we are 'aware' - of the existence of the coincidence. The coincidence is an effect.
It is as though something, that we had been unaware of and unconscious of, has come into consciousness, and we are made consciously aware of it.
Some people believe that you can also become aware of those unconscious things, and have intuitions about the future, through dreams. And there is the experience of having a hunch, or an undefinable feeling about something. It has a real effect, on the person who experiences it.
I like to draw a parallel with gravity. We can't see gravity, or sense it with any of our normal senses. It seems as though nothing is there. We are unaware of it. But if you step off a ladder, you'll soon become aware of its effects.
2) Ryton-on-Dunsmore, not too far away, has some traditions associated the Dun Cow. And Dunchurch has a weak connection with Guy Fawkes.
There are traditions of witchcraft associated with the village of Long Compton, which is near the Rollwright Stones, and also Meon Hill, both in South Warwickshire.
I didn't know anything about Rugby school, or stone circles near Rugby (do you possibly mean Rollright). They sound interesting.
But don't go out of your way. The manner in which 'stuff works' is that it just falls into your lap. If something seems like work, then that's not the right thing. It's exactly like pulling the Sword out of the Stone. If things are right, it will be dead easy, if not, that's not the right path.
Also, for entertainment, I have a Tarot 'reading' for Rugby - I'll scan an image of some cards, and post it on the Tarot thread.
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Post by moongoddess on Dec 18, 2010 13:40:54 GMT
Good analogy Robur, and I agree... Yes, The Rollright Stones, that's the one! Have you ever been? I plan on going to take a look in the Summer. Fascinating info on Rugby, I had no idea there was a connection with Guy Fawkes.
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Post by sacredspiraldoula on Dec 18, 2010 21:16:22 GMT
Hello!! Hmm... well, I have no special connection with Rugby at all really.. I grew up in Kent, moved to London for 10years, then moved her (and have been here for 12yrs) but I will always feel rooted in Kent, specifically the area I grew up in... for various reasons I have been unable to move back there and have accepted that Rugby is where I am now meant to be. I find it very difficult to feel any specific spiritual connection here.. and when I dream anything significant I am always in Kent.. This is one of the reasons I have joined this group.. I have felt detached and no longer wish to be.. I believe in 'fate' in as much that I believe everything happens for a reason and our lives are a journey through the labyrinth.. backwards and forwards finding our way.. acceptance in the greater conciousness to take us where we need to go (like it or not! lol) seems to be the smoothest way to travel the road!
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Post by robur on Dec 19, 2010 11:20:07 GMT
MoonGoddess,
I've put some snaps of Rollright on a separate thread.
The Gunpowder Plotters stayed at 'Guy Fawkes House', in Dunchurch waiting news of Guy Fawkes's attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament. They had planned to kidnap the King's daughter from nearby Coombe Abbey, though Fawkes didn't turn up as he was caught. There was a catholic stringhold around the villages of Lapworth and Coughton, still in Warwickshire. Robert Gateby's tomb is in Lapworth churchyard.
Fay,
Being able to recall your dreams is useful, if you can make head or tail of them. You seem to have a thing about spirals and labyrinths. I guess a spiral is better than a labyrinth, as it gets ever closer to the centre.
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Post by sacredspiraldoula on Dec 19, 2010 18:35:28 GMT
Hi Robur,
I have a triskele as my 'business' logo as I feel drawn to the symbol representing both the triple aspect of the goddess Brighid and the different roles of women in asociation, and the flowing element of birth, death and rebirth together with the link to actual physical pregnancy and birth.. The labyrinth came a bit later when I attended a workshop titled 'the journey through the labyrinth' and was actually quite a difficult reflective journey through our lives (as women who support women) it also involed lots of art - which is not a medium I have felt entirely comfortable with in the past, but now, I will use quite often.. I have also had past clients handmake me lovely gifts, one of them was a beautiful glazed pottery labyrinth - the same one as on the tarot card you posted for me, and it can be a wonderful reminder that even at times when it feels like you have 'gone round in circles' and are getting nowhere..in fact that isn't the case.. :-)
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Post by Scruffy Brooky on Dec 20, 2010 10:25:26 GMT
even at times when it feels like you have 'gone round in circles' and are getting nowhere..in fact that isn't the case.. :-) I have no idea why yet, but this line of this post is really resonating with me.
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Post by robur on Dec 21, 2010 8:18:43 GMT
This is a coincidence which involves Rugby and some over-hyped newspaper reports. In my Intro thread I mentioned that, some time ago, I'd been to another pagan group in Coventry. There were only half-a-dozen people there. Three of them were together, and came from Coventry University. They had gone along because they were looking for 'something'. They didn't know exactly what they hoped to find. Their guide, who I never met, was a local historian. Anyway, the group didn't discover anything at the meetings, and the group soon disbanded. A few years later, the historian discovered what he believed to be the Holy Grail, in a house in Rugby. There were reports about this in several newpapers: That cup is NOT the Holy Grail. The British Museum have examined it. It's a Roman scent jar, and there never was any blood in it. That cup does NOT have miraculous healing properties. Those are just newspaper reports about something that isn't really true. For some reason, I kept the newspapers. That was before the days of the internet, when most correspondence was done by letters. I kept some letters too. When you first sent me an E-mail about the formation of Rugby Pagans, this is what came straight to mind. This is why I had the feeling that there is something in Rugby, or connected with Rugby, for which that cup is a symbol. There's a total lunar eclipse this morning, around 8am. This is the first total lunar eclipse to occur on the day of our Winter Solstice for 372 years. It's an auspicious time.
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Post by Scruffy Brooky on Dec 21, 2010 10:49:22 GMT
An auspicious time indeed, of which I was very much aware.
I was completely unaware of the rest. How fascinating! I have heard powerful cases made for the grail being the Divine feminine (by a historian, rather than by Dan Brown). Taken together with the reading for Rugby on the tarot thread, I am intrigued!
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