Author Topic: Your pagan 'Mecca'? (Read 3384 times)

AineLlewellyn · « **Reply #30 on:** September 01, 2014, 08:32:03 pm »

Quote from: carillion;157778

If you follow a belief system that originated elsewhere in the world, have you been there? Do you plan to go someday or do you not feel it necessary or desirable to visit the place(s) in which your belief system originated and/or took form?

I've been to Seattle (one of the sacred cities in my faith), and I've also visited New York, so those two are covered. I plan to go to each again, and to live in Seattle for at least part of my life. I don't plan to travel to Germany or France, at least not for religious reasons, even though one of my gods claims to originate from around there.

carillion · « **Reply #31 on:** September 02, 2014, 02:03:46 am »

Quote from: PrincessAstrid;157810

I'm a Kemetic, and would love to go to Egypt someday soon. I am actively saving for the trip, albeit slowly. Hopefully by the time I've saved up enough, it'll be a lot calmer in the area.

I encourage anyone who wants to visit Egypt to GO!. The most expensive thing is the air fare. Once a person is there, everything is so incredibly inexpensive. Dinner for 20 Cents ( that roast meat and saffron rice-ummmm). Even if you lost your wallet, you can eat free at any mosque. The food there is like nothing I've ever had - suffice to say I never really knew what a fruit or vegetable could taste like until I went there. I still long for the food there.
The most dangerous things there are the high-ways. No speed signs, just speed bumps. Be prepared to find yourself in an over stuffed micro bus or a clapped out taxi driven by a 12 year old who can barely reach the pedal, both doing 110 and getting lots of air time:p
It's very safe. Mind, one must respect the culture. I dressed like other women did there. The people are the friendliest I've ever met and because people from outside Egypt are rare (especially these days) , if you show respect and smile, well. I would pick up a months worth of dinner invitations just going to the supermarket.
Egyptians do not hate 'westerners' At most, if you declared you were a pagan they would find you 'quaint'. There is a sizable Coptic christian population there and in general they are extremely tolerant (though they have a deep distrust of people from Israel).
I was there through the thick of the revolution. While other people were bailing, I was just living there peacefully. It's a very drifty, dreamy sort of place. If you *looked* for trouble you could find it, same as any other city, but it didn't come looking for you. The T.V. gave completely distorted versions of what was happening there. Seriously. Even the B.B.C. misrepresented things to an unforgivable degree.
This picture was taken on an average night in Tahrir Square. Demonstrations were usually kept to Fridays ( the muslim holy day) . But on other nights you would see sights like this because, to paraphrase 'V', "What's a revolution without ice-cream?" But notice the warding sign against the evil eye.

http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2013/03/31/the-evil-eye-in-egypt/

The old ways are all around you there, at every turn.

Altair · « **Reply #32 on:** September 02, 2014, 07:40:44 am »

Quote from: ainellewellyn;157932

I've been to Seattle (one of the sacred cities in my faith), and I've also visited New York, so those two are covered.

What are your beliefs, and what aspect of them brought you to New York?

AineLlewellyn · « **Reply #33 on:** September 02, 2014, 07:57:06 am »

Quote from: Altair;157959

What are your beliefs, and what aspect of them brought you to New York?

I practice a modern/self created religion. New York (well, New York City) is sacred because it's a big city, and two of my gods are connected to it. One of my gods is tied to skyscrapers and the foundation of large cities, and the other is tied to the nightlife in those cities, as well as the crush and crowds in them.

Altair · « **Reply #34 on:** September 02, 2014, 03:19:57 pm »

Quote from: ainellewellyn;157960

I practice a modern/self created religion. New York (well, New York City) is sacred because it's a big city, and two of my gods are connected to it. One of my gods is tied to skyscrapers and the foundation of large cities, and the other is tied to the nightlife in those cities, as well as the crush and crowds in them.

Coolness! Who are these two gods? Are they of your own creation/discovery? Are there myths associated with them? As someone who also follows his own religion, I'm intensely curious.

Sefiru · « **Reply #35 on:** September 02, 2014, 06:56:12 pm »

Quote from: carillion;157952

I encourage anyone who wants to visit Egypt to GO!.

I've thought about visiting Egypt but not very seriously due to various circumstances.

Not a religious pilgrimage but more a scientific one: I would like someday to visit Mistaken Point, Newfoundland, to see fossils of some of the earliest multicellular life on Earth.

Micheál · « **Reply #36 on:** September 04, 2014, 04:32:18 pm »

Quote from: carillion;157778

If you follow a belief system that originated elsewhere in the world, have you been there? Do you plan to go someday or do you not feel it necessary or desirable to visit the place(s) in which your belief system originated and/or took form?

Eamhain Mhacha, that gives its name to Armagh here in Ireland, is a place relevent to me, and fortunately about a half hour drive

Autumn_Bard · « **Reply #37 on:** September 24, 2014, 08:46:45 am »

Quote from: carillion;157778

If you follow a belief system that originated elsewhere in the world, have you been there? Do you plan to go someday or do you not feel it necessary or desirable to visit the place(s) in which your belief system originated and/or took form?

Stonehenge
NewGrange

The highlands of Scotland
Callanish Stones
The Gower Peninsular