collapse

* Recent Posts

Re: "Christ Is King" by Yei
[Today at 04:35:34 pm]


Re: "Christ Is King" by Sophia C
[Today at 03:14:58 pm]


Re: "Christ Is King" by Jack
[Today at 02:41:40 pm]


Re: "Christ Is King" by Altair
[Today at 02:06:38 pm]


Re: "Christ Is King" by Sophia C
[Today at 12:02:24 pm]

Author Topic: Materialism as praxis & personal power items  (Read 3155 times)

Eastling

  • Sr. Master Member
  • *******
  • Join Date: Feb 2016
  • Location: Seattle
  • *
  • *
  • Posts: 698
  • Country: us
  • Total likes: 609
  • Love and be free.
    • View Profile
    • Mystermercury
  • Religion: Modern Dionysian hero cultus and heretical Judaism
  • Preferred Pronouns: He/him/his
Materialism as praxis & personal power items
« on: December 18, 2020, 01:22:15 am »
Throughout my life I have found that I attach strongly to certain physical objects. I invest them with personal significance and draw meaning and comfort from their presence. I've heard that this is a common autistic trait. Regardless, my ascent into mysticism and spirituality has only intensified this inclination of mine. This has led me to ponder its spiritual significance.

For me, some objects simply have deep emotional significance to me, or are especially pleasing to and appreciated by my gods. Others have a specific magical or ritual use (and often I only learn it after I have been led to purchase the item). Still others actually function as physical homes for my Powers both primary and peripheral--or at least, they are sometimes so inhabited.

Does anyone else have similar experiences with physical objects, or thoughts on what it might mean on a spiritual level? If so, what are some of your precious and mystical items?
"The peacock can show its whole tail at once, but I can only tell you a story."
--JAMES ALAN GARDNER

Ashmire

  • Staff
  • *
  • Join Date: May 2017
  • Posts: 448
  • Country: us
  • Total likes: 223
    • View Profile
  • Religion: Eclectic, featuring mainly East Asian and Egyptian plus pop-cultural influences
Re: Materialism as praxis & personal power items
« Reply #1 on: December 18, 2020, 02:04:22 pm »
Throughout my life I have found that I attach strongly to certain physical objects. I invest them with personal significance and draw meaning and comfort from their presence. I've heard that this is a common autistic trait. Regardless, my ascent into mysticism and spirituality has only intensified this inclination of mine. This has led me to ponder its spiritual significance.

For me, some objects simply have deep emotional significance to me, or are especially pleasing to and appreciated by my gods. Others have a specific magical or ritual use (and often I only learn it after I have been led to purchase the item). Still others actually function as physical homes for my Powers both primary and peripheral--or at least, they are sometimes so inhabited.

Does anyone else have similar experiences with physical objects, or thoughts on what it might mean on a spiritual level? If so, what are some of your precious and mystical items?

Definitely some similar experiences to what you describe.  It didn't really occur to me that this might be unusual, actually.  I have a few pieces of jewelry( always have had, they seem to change every so often with various life circumstances), and I'm pretty sure you've heard me mention my plushie dragon that is a bit more than that( and which I frequently worry about the potential need to replace due to physical wear).   Also various figurines, framed pictures, and a vial of gold flakes.  I figure they at least serve a function similar to a special VIP chair with a god's name on it( maybe not absolutely necessary for contact but makes it easier for both of us to focus by having a specified location and more comfortable for them), and may sometimes hold a bit of additional charge/residual power beyond that.

PerditaPickle

  • Staff
  • *
  • Join Date: Aug 2015
  • Location: UK
  • Posts: 2104
  • Country: england
  • Total likes: 641
  • It's all metta - at least, I believe it should be
    • View Profile
    • Portrait of Perpetual Perplexity
  • Religion: Druid-ish
  • Preferred Pronouns: She/her/hers
Re: Materialism as praxis & personal power items
« Reply #2 on: December 18, 2020, 07:12:54 pm »
Does anyone else have similar experiences with physical objects, or thoughts on what it might mean on a spiritual level? If so, what are some of your precious and mystical items?

I don't know how relevant this will be to yourself, but I actually stalled in exploring my path for a number of years because of something in this area.

Something I'd read early on (I think What is Druidry by Emma Retail Orr) stated that you should go out to the middle of nowhere and leave behind your most prized possession before continuing on a Druidic path.

When I contemplated what that item would be I realised it was one which had really significant spiritual importance to me, so I couldn't do it.  (The item being, a fist-sized lump of quartz which my Dad and I found in a dried up river bed in Wales when I was a child).

I later discovered that that passage of that piece of writing had come under some criticism from many and subsequently been rewritten to reflect that the sacrifice needn't be a physical one, but could just be theoretical as it were.

By that time, I'd missed out on several years I could have been progressing on my path.  Perhaps that was my sacrifice,  in hindsight.

Anyway, only tangentially relevant, at best (sorry) -- but it's what leapt straight into my mind when I read your OP.
“Radiate boundless love towards the entire world — above, below, and across — unhindered, without ill will, without enmity.” – The Buddha
(From the Metta Sutta)

My Portrait of Perpetual Perplexity blog

Sefiru

  • Senior Staff
  • *
  • Join Date: Nov 2013
  • Location: In the walls
  • Posts: 2570
  • Country: ca
  • Total likes: 894
    • View Profile
Re: Materialism as praxis & personal power items
« Reply #3 on: December 21, 2020, 06:56:26 pm »
It didn't really occur to me that this might be unusual, actually. 

I don't think it *is* that unusual. It's not discussed much, because a lot of discourse that I've seen about possessions is not so much materialism as consumerism vs anti-consumerism, where both sides tend to assume that objects don't have any spiritual or emotional value. Underneath that is that thread of Greek/Christian philosophy that holds the material world inferior to the spiritual world.

From what I can tell from observation, though, human beings don't actually work that way, and many people have emotional bonds of some kind with their possessions. Other cultures around the world have more recognition of this (see also: the works of Marie Kondo, based in Shinto animism).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Me on AO3 & Deviantart

Altair

  • Staff
  • *
  • Join Date: Jul 2011
  • Location: New York, New York
  • *
  • Posts: 3754
  • Country: us
  • Total likes: 937
  • Fly high and make the world follow
    • View Profile
    • Songs of the Metamythos
  • Religion: tree-hugging pagan
  • Preferred Pronouns: he/him/his
Re: Materialism as praxis & personal power items
« Reply #4 on: December 22, 2020, 03:03:48 am »
I don't think it *is* that unusual.

It's not for me. I had a ring made with the symbols of my gods inscribed on it, and invested a lot of spiritual significance into it. It symbolized my connection and devotion to them, and was meant to help me shift my perceptions/perspective. I had it for more than 20 years before I lost it a year ago, which was heartbreaking. I hope to have a new one made, eventually.

I had a pair of swords made that are personal expressions, reflecting who I consider myself to be at my best. They too are meant to facilitate a perceptual shift, but where the ring was intended to open doors, the swords were more like lenses, each to promote a particular focus.

Finally, I have a black leather motorcycle jacket that I had customized on the back with a map of the night sky that was overhead at the time and place I was born. (It has a single rhinestone on it, right where the star Altair is.) I can't say that I had this forged with the same level of intent as the ring and the swords; and yet pulling it on has a similar perceptual shift effect. It was something I'd carried in my head for a long, long time and wanted someday to have in reality, so I think my subconscious motivating me to make it happen signals that that part of my brain has worked out the spiritual significance of it, even if I can't pinpoint what that is.

Not surprising, I guess, that all the things to which I ascribe a spiritual or perhaps even magical meaning are somehow customized.
The first song sets the wheel in motion / The second is a song of love / The third song tells of Her devotion / The fourth cries joy from the sky above
The fifth song binds our fate to silence / and bids us live each moment well / The sixth unleashes rage and violence / The seventh song has truth to tell
The last song echoes through the ages / to ask its question all night long / And close the circle on these pages / These, the metamythos songs

Pendle Girl

  • Sr. Newbie
  • **
  • Join Date: Feb 2021
  • Location: UK
  • Posts: 17
  • Country: gb
  • Total likes: 6
    • View Profile
  • Religion: Pagan with strong Kemetic leanings, also witch
  • Preferred Pronouns: she/her
Re: Materialism as praxis & personal power items
« Reply #5 on: February 22, 2021, 05:24:32 pm »
Throughout my life I have found that I attach strongly to certain physical objects. I invest them with personal significance and draw meaning and comfort from their presence. I've heard that this is a common autistic trait.

Does anyone else have similar experiences with physical objects, or thoughts on what it might mean on a spiritual level? If so, what are some of your precious and mystical items?

Yes. All my life, objects have played a huge role whether that be spiritually, emotionally or aesthetically. I am also autistic. Whether or not those two things are linked, I don't know.

Some of my most precious objects are.....nope! Almost everything! There are too many things to mention. I don't keep anything in the house that isn't aesthetically pleasing, sentimentally significant, or completely necessary.

That doesn't mean my space is minimalistic (I have a TON of stuff), it just means that there's nothing in the house that I don't care for greatly, or need.

I'm also an animist so "inanimate" objects to me, seem "alive". Of course, I know that they are not actually alive, but they come across to me as if they have a clear personality and a life of their own.


Tags:
 

Related Topics

  Subject / Started by Replies Last post
29 Replies
6339 Views
Last post September 21, 2012, 02:13:22 pm
by Sharysa
5 Replies
1242 Views
Last post June 30, 2013, 05:34:17 pm
by elijah3291
23 Replies
3993 Views
Last post October 16, 2013, 01:30:13 pm
by Jake57
13 Replies
3678 Views
Last post July 25, 2018, 05:29:27 pm
by RandallS
13 Replies
5735 Views
Last post October 13, 2023, 06:38:38 pm
by Sefiru

* Who's Online

  • Dot Guests: 45
  • Dot Hidden: 0
  • Dot Users: 0

There aren't any users online.

* Please Donate!

The Cauldron's server is expensive and requires monthly payments. Please become a Bronze, Silver or Gold Donor if you can. Donations are needed every month. Without member support, we can't afford the server.

* Shop & Support TC

The links below are affiliate links. When you click on one of these links you will go to the listed shopping site with The Cauldron's affiliate code. Any purchases you make during your visit will earn TC a tiny percentage of your purchase price at no extra cost to you.

* In Memoriam

Chavi (2006)
Elspeth (2010)
Marilyn (2013)

* Cauldron Staff

Host:
Sunflower

Message Board Staff
Board Coordinator:
Darkhawk

Assistant Board Coordinator:
Aster Breo

Senior Staff:
Aisling, Allaya, Jenett, Sefiru

Staff:
Ashmire, EclecticWheel, HarpingHawke, Kylara, PerditaPickle, rocquelaire

Discord Chat Staff
Chat Coordinator:
Morag

'Up All Night' Coordinator:
Altair

Cauldron Council:
Bob, Catja, Chatelaine, Emma-Eldritch, Fausta, Jubes, Kelly, LyricFox, Phouka, Sperran, Star, Steve, Tana

Site Administrator:
Randall

SimplePortal 2.3.6 © 2008-2014, SimplePortal