Cultural Influence On Rituals, How does your culture effect your rituals and their results? Options

Greetings All,

I've been wondering for a while how the culture one was exposed to from birth, influence his/her rituals in later period of life. As I have seen in my studies so far (not even a fraction of what's out there, i admit (IMG:style_emoticons/default/face08.gif)), most of western CM rituals are based on jewish mysticism with a flavor of christian flavor and occasional comparison with eastern traditions.

I was born in a muslim family and found my previous beliefs very difficult to mix with even the basic rituals like LBRP or MP ( I still do ). On occasions i found some striking similarities in philosophy but most of the time just contradictory. It's been a struggle to form a set of beliefs that seemed true to my self .. ... for now (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sport_boxing.gif) .

So, all out there, will you please share your own experience or opinion on the matter?

PS: I wasn't sure where to post this or if there are any similar topic. If so, my apologies.

[quote name='Seth'sCall' date='Aug 27 2007, 12:41 AM' post='33190']
Greetings All,


So, all out there, will you please share your own experience or opinion on the matter?



Magick is a journey and you will find that you will change/evolve on the journey. Just let it happen naturally. On one hand it's good to challenge dogma, because ultimately most magick pathways are about self development and growth, rather than religious belief and dogma. A few major religions -- such as Buddhism -- embrace self development growth, but not always without dogma. Although Tibetan Buddhism comes close, basically embracing everything! But in the end, it should be about your journey, your comfort, your results and no one can tell you what to feel. And feelings will translate into results. Being a self-journey, I can't advise, other than to say, do what feels natural and right. I think this is the essence of Thelema, "Do what they wilt." That priceless and powerful phrase was as much about "let the self grow by finding your own way" as it was about anything else. (It's no coincidence that Crowley, early on, extensively studied Tibetan belief systems). I am a Chaotic, so I embrace everything that works for me, but I didn't start there, and I probably couldn't have started there. Results matter. If you're fighting years of belief, going too radical could hamper results because doubt creeps in. For others, going radical is just the ticket for results... it was for me. I was raised western, but I've entirely embraced the East and creative Chaos, about as far from "western" culture as you can go. Best,

Greetings All,

I've been wondering for a while how the culture one was exposed to from birth, influence his/her rituals in later period of life. As I have seen in my studies so far (not even a fraction of what's out there, i admit (IMG:style_emoticons/default/face08.gif)), most of western CM rituals are based on jewish mysticism with a flavor of christian flavor and occasional comparison with eastern traditions.

I think I disagree: in so far as CM relies on a semitically inspired monotheistic world view, ritual work does owe a lot to Jewish mysticism. But the transformation it underwent, with the Hellenic influence of Neo-Platonism, Renaissance Paganism, Rosicrucianism, European alchemy and Christian/Gnostic Kabbalism make it an indisputably Western hybrid. The Christian 'flavour' is integral and what gives the system its radical shift, from an exclusive and transcendent God to the immanent God-Man we are called to embody.

I was born in a muslim family and found my previous beliefs very difficult to mix with even the basic rituals like LBRP or MP ( I still do ). On occasions i found some striking similarities in philosophy but most of the time just contradictory. It's been a struggle to form a set of beliefs that seemed true to my self .. ... for now (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sport_boxing.gif) .

I certainly think that finding a way of practicing faith that works for you is the most important part of realising the higher self. I'm not sure that synthesising variant doctrines and philosophies is the best way to go about it, though: personally, I think Truth is something we all partake in and while its revelation and expression is unique, the source is One. It might all come down to what we each 'know' to be (and equally, know 'not to be') the reality we inhabit.

I think that the way we were raised has a big part to play in that, but not exclusively. Think of all the converts from Christianity to Islam, from Buddhism to Taoism, from atheists to Wiccans: the permutations our personalities permit are endless. I don't think we are at the mercy of our pasts: we are self-determining and creators, to a large extent, of our own experience. But they do provide a scope in which to express (and explore) ourselves.

Pratice Chaos magick! Because of the paradigm shift you can use what ever belief system you want without any contradiction with Allah
Unless you start with santeria (IMG:style_emoticons/default/whistling.gif)

(yes I know this is an old post)

I think theres always abit of influence from one's culture and background to one's magickal workings (to a degree of course).
If I'm not mistaken studies of language has shown that people who speak different languages (or multiple languages) have different areas of the brain effected. People who speak several languages tend have a harder time deciding which language to think it as well..