Idols or icons?
Websters Dictionary, circa 1970
Idol: an image of a God, used as an object of worship.
Icon: an image, figure. A sacred image of Jesus, Mary, et cetera
Exodus 20: 4,5 Holy Bible----King James Version
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in the heaven above,
or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting
the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the fourth and fifth generations of them that hate me;
The Wiccan Book of the Law, # 48
by Lady Galadriel, 1992
It is right to study and to understand the sigils,
and stories of the Gods (and/or Goddesses), for they shall guide your thoughts to Them, and They shall hear you. Yet you must
ever remember that you worship not the sign or the statue, but the Gods (and/or Goddesses) which inspire them.
Muslims traveling during the Haaj or praying
in the direction of Mecca, Jews and Christians traveling to Jerusalem, Druids traveling to Stonehenge, New Agers traveling
to Sedona, Az, etc. Christians wearing or praying to a cross, statues of saints in a Catholic Church, voodoo altars with statues
and candles, Wiccan pentagrams, Satanic Baphomets, et cetera.
These are all external artifacts that mankind
has used in order to find spiritual guidance. And in the modern world, they seem to have overtaken that which is spiritual
innately in the species. In fact, they have become little more than material icons for marketers. What do they have to do
with following The White Path? No belief system is immune
to this material transformation of spirituality.
Granted, not all belief systems adorn their worshippers
with jeweled icons like Islam does. However, the belief in the martyrdom of the individual to attain ascendance to Allah clearly
fits the mold of iconoclasm. If one is to become a martyr in his pursuit of spirituality, then that person has denied the
belief system in favor of merely transcending to Allah.
At-onement is that circumcision of the material in favor of the spiritual. At-onement, is
that portion of the person seeking the means of spirituality in all deeds, designs, and beliefs. This is the beginning of the travel on The White Path. In feigning to iconoclasm, the person never truly
circumcises itself from the mundane. Rather, the person merely continues to follow the pursuits associated within that iconoclastic
nature and mollifies the self into believing it has attained a spiritual nature.
People really are as Jesus said, like sheep.
Given a particular belief system, the individual will choose to follow the teachings of the system to a point. Clergy become
revered and considered wholly because they have purportedly learned the belief system. However, ritual reigns.
Spirituality, in spite of a belief system is
an individually based concept. Any avenue allowing the individual to attain it is sacred only to the individual. This means,
if truth is found in the Satanic Verses, the Koran, the Talmud, philosophy, history, et cetera, it cannot be considered blasphemous,
heretical, or a derogation of any other belief.
I have a statue of the Dancing Shiva on my altar
to remind me that Shiva is the Lord of the Dance. He is always the Lord of the Dance, whether I am thinking purely in spiritual
terms or not. It is a reminder that spirituality and balance are important and not to be ignored or forgotten. I do not revere
this personification of Shiva as such, but I do understand the aspect of its embodiment. People dont come to my house and
bow down before this little statue as they do in front of various other religious symbols. I imagine they could but I would
think they were being silly if they thought that this was the only way to worship. Worship can occur any time and at any place.
The only requirement is that a worshipper be present.
© M. Green
& C. Rhodes, 2002
