Faith and Silence.

[SatSekhem]

...And more normal in Vodou circles than I'd care to admit.

 

Just to clarify... this person was invited into my friend's house and tried to steal hair from her hairbrush to work negative magic against her, for whatever reason. My mind boggles at the thought.

[The Grumble]

Do you think it is wise to keep your faith/practices quiet?

I think it's always a good idea to filter what certain people should know about you. I'm not going to tell total strangers on the street about my sex life, so why would I randomly spout spirituality at them?  It takes judgement on your part who should know what, keeping in mind the consequences that could arise.  Different rules for different relationships.

When I worked for a tax collector, I had small reminders of my beliefs at my desk (things *I* knew what they meant, but looked like every day objects to others - shells, small figurines, etc).  Did I tell my coworkers what they were?  No.  I didn't work with people that would understand.  My spirituality was none of their business, and could have caused problems for myself if made public.  

Now a days I work from home, and my house is decorated to suit my likes and beliefs.  My friends know I am pagan, but don't know many details.  The majority of them are Christian, but religion doesn't seem important to them, so it never even comes up.  If they asked ANYTHING about my altar, or WHY I have various animal bones, or about WHY I have a cauldron, I would answer their questions because they're my friends and I trust them.  Right now they just think I'm weird and know I like "witchy poo" stuff.

Even online in communities devoted to the topic, I think the same filters should be in place.  Having a conversation is one thing, but writing your entire biography as an answer to a forum post is another.  You might end up putting yourself in a bad light by being "preachy."

Do you think it is wise to keep the names of your patron(s) quiet?

I'm not sure why that would be a problem, unless the person you're telling them to just assumes anything that isn't THEIR god/goddess is wrong.  I have a friend who recently told me a story about how her father discovered the statue of the Minoan Snake Goddess in her bedroom and was yelling about how it was "the demon Asteroth!"  She did try to tell him what she was, but he wouldn't have any of it.  But that's the only example I can think of.

Assuming that you would be having this conversation (deciding to have a talk about your own spiritual beliefs with someone who is genuinely curious) I *wouldn't think* that would happen.

[dionysiandame]

I've been talking with people a lot lately about my practice and how I go about it. However, someone recently mentioned that they keep quiet about whom they serve for good reason: in effect, in knowing the entity that you serve, they are more likely to be able to work bad magic with the aid of said patron. This really has gotten me thinking a lot lately about silence and faith.

Do you think it is wise to keep your faith/practices quiet?

I do tend to remain pretty quiet about my faith and practices unless I'm in company where it wouldn't raise any eyebrows. I work and live in a very liberal community, but mentioning that you mention gods many think are "just myths" can lead to interesting, and downright disrespectful, commentary from people who think you'll be "cool" with it.

Further more, I tend to see my religious practices and interactions with the divine as something of a mystery tradition. The worship within the inner sanctum of my home comes from years of trying this or that and coming to conclusions sometimes on my own, sometimes with aid I can't explain.


Do you think it is wise to keep the names of your patron(s) quiet?


Yes, even with other pagans. Nothing makes me wince more than naming a deity I feel particularly close to (and to whom I've supplicated) and hearing "Oh! I know them! I used them for this [blank] and it didn't work." *insert butt-hurt expression as if the gods owed it to them*

Not to mention our society is so heavily steeped in monotheism that attempting to explain hard polytheism to a monotheist, or even a soft polytheist, can be an exercise in frustration.

"No, I do not think my patron deity just "collapses" into all other gods to form one "great god" like some kind of archetype nesting doll and I would thank you to not try to coerce me to think otherwise."

[Altair]

As a general rule, I think it tacky to talk overmuch about religion in spaces in which that is not on point

Are you listening, Tim Tebow?

this is how I was raised, to treat religion as a private, personal matter.  This means that I find overwhelming chunks of public discourse to be tacky.  This is not wisdom; this is the standard of civility and privacy I was taught by my environment as a child.

Ditto.

[Waldhexe]

Do you think it is wise to keep your faith/practices quiet?
Do you think it is wise to keep the names of your patron(s) quiet?
Why or why not?

I've noticed over the years that I'm much more open on TC than on smaller German boards where there's a bigger chance people who know me and who I don't like could read too much personal stuff than here.

This isn't so much about patrons though, but about personal stuff generally. Say, if I'd feel depressed, it would be easier for me to talk about it on TC where I know nobody would give a tactless comment and even if somebody did I know I don't have to see the person on the next moot.

For me it's often like a gain/risk approximation. I need deep talks about personal stuff and with some subjects I get them on pagan forums (I have pagan friends, but they are not into the same stuff as I am) so I often have to think about how important it is for me to talk to somebody about this subject and how big my fear is that somebody would hurt me on a weak spot. (I'm not saying many people are intentionally mean, I just have some pretty weak spots which are easy to hurt even if people don't intent to.)

[ccardinot]

For me it's often like a gain/risk approximation.

 
Everything in this life has 50% of chances to be a good or to be a bad move.

 My grandmother usually says that nature is perfect, but we don't pay attention to it, because:

you have:

a pair of eyes - to see twice as better
a pair of ears - to listen twice as better
a pair of nostrils - to breathe twice as better

and to keep you attentive, leverage your chances of survival and triumph over possible obstacles. But you only have a mouth, so you talk once, listen, see and breathe twice.

In the Christian Bible, somewhere, says these words that I gather to be universal: 'if (your) god(ess) accepts you as you are, what else do you need?'

If you don't need to talk about your faith and deities to strangers, why do so? I don't talk about it even within my own family, for instance. And it's not because of the huge number of Christians in my neighbourhood ( there are more churches than bakershops here), it's just because it's none of their business, and I couldn't be happier.

Cheers!

[outlaw393]

Do you think it is wise to keep your faith/practices quiet?
Do you think it is wise to keep the names of your patron(s) quiet?
Why or why not?

I don't talk about my religious practices. I will however talk about my beliefs with someone with an open mind. However with any sign of someone with a closed mind or an opposing view, I shut down and will not talk about it.

I talk about my Patron. He doesn't mind. There's nothing secretive about Him, and why keep it secret? It's not like he's got the nuclear silo codes or something. lol :