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Author Topic: Protection from natural disasters  (Read 2078 times)

Sefiru

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Protection from natural disasters
« on: August 16, 2018, 06:37:15 pm »
It's a rough summer weather-wise; massive heat waves, it seems like the whole West Coast is on fire, and hurricane season is getting started. We've had threads before on the practical side of disaster prep, batteries and bottled water and all that.

But what about the magical side? Back in the day, people were even more vulnerable to natural disasters than we are today. What kinds of magical protections were there against natural forces? Do any of you employ any of them today?
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Hariti

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Re: Protection from natural disasters
« Reply #1 on: August 17, 2018, 10:11:10 pm »
But what about the magical side? Back in the day, people were even more vulnerable to natural disasters than we are today. What kinds of magical protections were there against natural forces? Do any of you employ any of them today?

I always beseech the deities whom I hold responsible for natural disasters, if one seems likely to be imminent, and ask them stay their wroth. If we're talking weather, then the culprit is Indra, and I find that stroking his ego and supplicating myself has worked quite well for me in the past. For fire, the one responsible is Agni, and I've not had enough encounters to really know if he responds or not to prayer.

Of course, I also pray to benevolent and protective deities, just in case the more capricious source deities aren't in the mood to listen to me. Vishnu has stopped Indra from sending violent storms before, so why shouldn't I ask him to do so once again?

I realize that the answer of "I pray" is rather basic, and not different from what a mainstream Chrisitan might tell you, but It's nonetheless the method I find to be most effective. I do believe in magic of the mortal variety, but it's not a skill I personally utilize. I find that things work best for me when I let the gods handle the supernatural instead of trying to tackle it myself through sorcery.
"The worshippers of the gods go to them; to the manes go the ancestor-worshippers; to the Deities who preside over the elements go their worshippers; My devotees come to Me." ... "Whichever devotee desires to adore whatever such Deity with faith, in all such votaries I make that particular faith unshakable. Endowed with that faith, a votary performs the worship of that particular deity and obtains the fruits thereof, these being granted by Me alone." - Sri Krishna

Sefiru

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Re: Protection from natural disasters
« Reply #2 on: September 13, 2018, 06:43:38 pm »
Of course, I also pray to benevolent and protective deities, just in case the more capricious source deities aren't in the mood to listen to me. Vishnu has stopped Indra from sending violent storms before, so why shouldn't I ask him to do so once again?

It completely slipped my mind to respond to this -- sorry about that! It's interesting that you mention two different approaches - protection and appeasement.

This topic has been on my mind again with Hurricane Florence set to hammer the East Coast. I guess my broader question is, how do people cope with living in the path of these kinds of forces? How does it affect their spiritual lives?

I can't really grasp it myself, where I live the only natural disasters we get involve 'too much snow'. What is it like, knowing that evacuation is a possibility?
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Hariti

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Re: Protection from natural disasters
« Reply #3 on: September 13, 2018, 07:44:57 pm »
I can't really grasp it myself, where I live the only natural disasters we get involve 'too much snow'. What is it like, knowing that evacuation is a possibility?

In Kentucky, where I live, we don't get the sort of disasters that require evacuation. We do, however, get the kind that can destroy entire towns; tornadoes are bad here, not as bad as out west, but still bad. To make matters worse, they are unpredictable and can happen any time of year, even in the winter, and they just drop out of the sky without warning.

We also get earthquakes and forest fires. Mercifully, nothing like that has happened in living memory, but that doesn't change the fact that it's a possibility. Luck is the only thing that kept New Madrid quiet, and that could change any day, at any hour. Unlike places where quakes are common, we have no plans and we don't build with quakes in mind. It's a very frightening thought; a quake here could easily cause devastation like the ones seen in Haiti or Nepal. Kentucky was the epicenter of the biggest quake in North America in recorded history, after all, and nothing's really changed about the tectonics in this area.

I personally also happen to live within a few miles of a chemical weapons stockpile, which is nerve-racking. I fret about that *constantly* because nerve gas is no laughing matter.

Frankly, I wish that "too much snow" was the only thing I had to worry about. (We do get that as well!)
"The worshippers of the gods go to them; to the manes go the ancestor-worshippers; to the Deities who preside over the elements go their worshippers; My devotees come to Me." ... "Whichever devotee desires to adore whatever such Deity with faith, in all such votaries I make that particular faith unshakable. Endowed with that faith, a votary performs the worship of that particular deity and obtains the fruits thereof, these being granted by Me alone." - Sri Krishna

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Re: Protection from natural disasters
« Reply #4 on: September 15, 2018, 04:49:02 pm »
This topic has been on my mind again with Hurricane Florence set to hammer the East Coast. I guess my broader question is, how do people cope with living in the path of these kinds of forces? How does it affect their spiritual lives?

I can't really grasp it myself, where I live the only natural disasters we get involve 'too much snow'. What is it like, knowing that evacuation is a possibility?

I'm getting ready to stare down Florence as it moves across the Carolinas, so dealing with those issues now. Evacuations here tend to be limited to low ground when hurricanes roll inland (forest fires are more likely scenario for evac most of the time). In either case, we stay prepared in the usual mundane ways - always having a bug-out bag packed and ready, keeping supply of bottled water and non-perishable food at all times, etc. 

Spiritually speaking, petitions for protection to deity and local land spirits usually start going up as soon as there's an indication that something is rolling our way.  I also try to stay far more aware of both the physical and metaphysical environments during these times, since I find those clues a better predictor of what's coming than the weather forecast. The rain isn't really due to hit us hard until late tomorrow -drizzling for now - but there hasn't been a single bit of bird-song today, not even a caw from the usually vocal neighborhood crows.  Neighboring dogs are barking and howling at nothing in particular, my cats are digging at their ears (air pressure changes), and the unseen beasties are stirring far more than usual.  Looks like it's going to be a long, wet few days here.

"The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you." -
Neil deGrasse Tyson

Sefiru

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Re: Protection from natural disasters
« Reply #5 on: September 17, 2018, 06:43:52 pm »
Frankly, I wish that "too much snow" was the only thing I had to worry about. (We do get that as well!)

That's a hair-raising compilation! Do you find that people's spiritual lives are affected by all that? Or do they seem to mostly ignore the dangers?
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Sefiru

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Re: Protection from natural disasters
« Reply #6 on: September 17, 2018, 06:52:15 pm »
Looks like it's going to be a long, wet few days here.

Wow! I hope you're doing OK!

I hadn't thought about the predictive/warning element, but it makes sense. I already ask my pendulum about upcoming weather.
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Hariti

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Re: Protection from natural disasters
« Reply #7 on: September 17, 2018, 07:02:05 pm »
That's a hair-raising compilation! Do you find that people's spiritual lives are affected by all that? Or do they seem to mostly ignore the dangers?

Oh, it most certainly affects spirituality. My great uncle is lifelong Pentecostal pastor, and I've been to his church many times in my life. Disaster is a large part of the spirituality of my community; when a tornado hits, God is asked to help the victims. If it misses your house, it's because God spared you. If it hits your house, you can blame the Devil, or you can attribute it to an "act of God." If there's a quake, even a minor one, you can bet that people will be attributing it to the Holy Spirit, and probably predicting the End of Days.

I remember there was a gas leak when I was young. It cause a huge explosion in the hills behind town. There were people in the street praying and speaking in tongues. They legitimately though it was "the Beast," or the Rapture; not a nuclear attack, not a terror attack, not a natural phenomena; their first thought was Divine, and mortal explanations came only second.

That generally characterizes how people think around here about *everything.* In the rural areas of Kentucky, even younger people (Millennial, and even Gen-Z) default to a supernatural explanation for their problems. If it exists, it can best be explained by ghosts, demons, witches, devils, angels, God, or prophecy. Science is seen as a markedly less useful and trustworthy explanation for day to day happenings.

I actually like that about this community, myself; I am fond of science, of course, but I enjoy living in a place where sincere religion is a frequent, accepted, activity, rather than an oddity, as it's seen in many other places.

My grandfather used to tell a story about a tornado heading toward his home, back in the 1940s; he watched it out the window, and he always liked to say that it "came to the end of the drive," before the hand of God lifted it up, over his house, and dropped it back down again on the other side. He meant that in the most literal sense possible.
"The worshippers of the gods go to them; to the manes go the ancestor-worshippers; to the Deities who preside over the elements go their worshippers; My devotees come to Me." ... "Whichever devotee desires to adore whatever such Deity with faith, in all such votaries I make that particular faith unshakable. Endowed with that faith, a votary performs the worship of that particular deity and obtains the fruits thereof, these being granted by Me alone." - Sri Krishna

Hariti

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Re: Protection from natural disasters
« Reply #8 on: September 17, 2018, 07:05:52 pm »

To put it more succinctly, people in my area take the Biblical adage that "none shall know the day or hour" and expand it to cover all forms of disaster, not just the apocalypse. It's a community that's always expecting divine intervention, (or diabolical tampering) of the destructive sort, to happen at any moment, and their spiritual lives are shaped by that expectation.
"The worshippers of the gods go to them; to the manes go the ancestor-worshippers; to the Deities who preside over the elements go their worshippers; My devotees come to Me." ... "Whichever devotee desires to adore whatever such Deity with faith, in all such votaries I make that particular faith unshakable. Endowed with that faith, a votary performs the worship of that particular deity and obtains the fruits thereof, these being granted by Me alone." - Sri Krishna

Aisling

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Re: Protection from natural disasters
« Reply #9 on: September 17, 2018, 09:22:18 pm »
Wow! I hope you're doing OK!

All is well in my corner of the world.  We ended up being buffered from the worst of it.  Thankfully, Florence picked up speed so we didn't get the buckets of rain that were originally predicted for this area. I only wish the coast and central Carolinas had been so lucky.

"The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you." -
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