Prayer seems to be a common theme to most religions and as such I think it could be thought about in terms of ITLAD. It appears to have a universality that demands we consider it.
My own experience of prayer when in a meditative state has elements that would suggest opening up to the daemon in some way. Typically, I have experienced an emptiness of the internal chatter that tends to be a constant way of responding to the world, followed by a sensation of light and then a deep acceptance of another consciousness. Afterwards I have noticed synchronicities and a sense of being guided. These themes are common across differing religious frameworks.
Could the process of prayer be construed as communication with one's daemon?
8 comments:
I have little doubt that what is termed "prayer" may be daemon-inspired and daemon -received. William James is on this track when he speaks of the "second self" which is actually receiving the prayers intended for the deity.
yes, prayer is the most precious offering to yourself!
woodsprite, I was taught to believe in the existence of God, and to pray to HIM...as I grew older I realised that more than God its your choices and your own self/consciousness that actually shapes you. In my family and community I was looked upon oddly whenever I tried to present my viewpoint..nobody had the guts to listen....I was sure then that they never wanted to come out of their comfort zone..its so easy to believe in a God up above doing all the judging...I hated to think of a judging god.... (though as I said earlier I belive that if u do good it will eventually come back to u)...thats when i started to read and think and speak to people who had similar thoughts...the first time I came upon this blog was when i was doing some research on`Macbeth`and its reference of OCD..( i had just googled `Macbeth` and out of ,millions of sites, my hand moved towards this blogsite, i was so touched after reading some of the posts that I immediately wrote to Tony about it and he so sweetly invited me to post on this blogsite, I love him for that!) synchronicities....I belive in it now absolutely!!!
its like an answer to my prayer...my promise to myself, my revealing to myself of my innermost thoughts...
Roshni: Those are very sweet, lovely and heart-felt remarks, and you are correct regarding Tony and his drawing people to him through synchronicities. I have always read a religious teleology into Cheat the Ferryman, and have never taken ITLAD purely at face-value. I think there is plenty of room on this blog for expression of spirituality and religious sentiment, if we are careful to hold fast to the basic premise and theories which are Tony's; and to honor the fastidious scientific vigor and philosophic conciseness of his greatest colleage, KLLM. I agree with your premise that prayer is an offering to the inward mind, and the Daemon stands ready to receive such, and to create form from its airy content. But very nicely said, Roshni; as was Woodsprite's post as well!
Lovely post. I think you are very correct that when we pray we may be communicating with our daemon. I also believe that we are all one consciousness experiencing ourselves subjectively, so we are also tapping into the source, the collective. Some people call this god, but I certainly can live without the paternalistic and jealous god. Meditation, to me, means pushing our silly egos aside and experiencing that oneness. Prayer may be more about asking for guidance and courage which the daemon can provide. Whatever we label, I think most people feel the need occasionally to ask for guidance. I would like to think that the synchronicities confirm that guidance is available if we pay attention and trust our intuition more or the daemonic voice.
Woodsprite: Hi, Di!!
Firstly, my apologies for the delay in commenting: Today has been ludicrously busy!!
I see "prayer" in a more Psychological fashion than would the Theological ones here.
Prayer is a method of self communication to a higher consciousness. This higher consciousness resides under many different labels across all cultures and belief systems, but the subjective effect is the same: it is about progression and development of oneself and the phaneron in which one lives.
Prayer is any personal, impersonal or transpersonal way to express communication with the objective consciousness through adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication.
Cognitive, Social and Relational benefits within the Psychology of Prayer have been widely referenced and Daemonic Communication is a new Paradigm of Prayer that can be what I term "Secular Prayer"
My ITLADic variation of Prayer:
"As I lay me down to sleep,
Pray the whole my soul to keep,
And if I die before I wake,
Pray my Daemon my soul to take"
Psychology of Prayer
Oh, that prayer is too beautiful; it makes you sound like a little boy! That is a nice essay, I used to read Hyslop on all these 19th century websites when I was first grieving my husband and was desperate. I downloaded so many old books. Your writing is wonderful, by the way.
Susan Marie: Thank You.
Us hypergraphics have our uses occasionally don't we?
*smile*
Karl: Beautifully put! My sentiments precisely!
*smile* (beatific smile perhaps)
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