Join My Church!

[John Wick]

(from my LJ, last month or so)

I'm starting my own church. This is what we believe.

We believe in a reality that is very close to our own, a reality that sometimes touches our own, and sometimes even crosses over. This reality has been called many things by many people. It has been called the Astral Plane, the Dreaming, the Tellurian, and Ideaspace.

We feed this place with our dreams, our ideas, our inspirations and aspirations. We visit this place when we dream. When our minds are set at the right speed. Shamen used peyote to reach this place. Tibetan monks used meditation. If we refuse to sleep, sometimes the dreams fight their way through. This is the place where dreams and dreamers meet. We call to them and they answer back.

Heroes are born here, live here, and die here. All our legends, all our faiths are born in this place. It is the home of Robin Hood and Beowulf. Buddha and the Christ are here, breaking bread and drinking wine. Just over there, Jacque de Molay and the Old Man on the Mountain play an endless game of chess. Odin and Loki argue with Zeus and Prometheus. All our dreams, all our legends, all our myths. They come from this place. This holy, sacred place.

We believe this place can be reached through various means. We use ritual and ordeal. We use the ritual of enacting the stories of heroes. We do not simply tell the stories of heroes, we walk in their footsteps. To summon the energy of heroes, we tell their tales. We wrap ourselves in their symbols and invoke the hero. We do not simply tell the myth, we become the myth. We are the heroes of the stories we tell.

We are shamen, summoning the spirits of heroes.

We are magicians, making magic with rituals and ordeals.



We are gamers.

* * *

If you'd like to join my church, let me know. More details later.

[Andy Kitkowski]

If I join your church, can I buy a Toyota Echo and a decent HDTV and get them tax-free?

If so, I'm in.

-Andy

[Brennan Taylor]

If you'd like to join my church, let me know. More details later.

Preaching to the converted, my friend.

[TonyLB]

Is it too early for me to foment a schism and a bloody crusade?

[Lxndr]

Is it too early for me to foment a schism and a bloody crusade?

Too early.  Try back next week.

[John Wick]

Is it too early for me to foment a schism and a bloody crusade?

A little too early. Wait till I write the Sacred Book... then we can disagree about interpretation. ;)

[John Wick]

If I join your church, can I buy a Toyota Echo and a decent HDTV and get them tax-free?

If so, I'm in.

-Andy

No. But all your game books are tax deductable. :)

[Brennan Taylor]

No. But all your game books are tax deductable. :)

Excellent! That's worth it right there.

[Keith Senkowski]

Hmm...

Do we have to wear funny hats?  I'm not big on the funny hat rules some churches have.

Also, if there is any sort of mutilation ritual I am not interested.  That shit just scares the pants off me (which I suppose makes it easier for the ritual to happen).

Keith

[Ben Lehman]

What does your church have to say about being a good person?  Doing right?

[Andy Kitkowski]

No. But all your game books are tax deductable. :)

Ahhh, too bad.  Because of the nature of my job, computer parts, PS2 games, manga and anime, and (some: PDF, foreign language) game books all count as business expenses, and thus tax deductible. But any way I squint, a new car nor a high-quality TV count for these purposes. :-(

Because I bought Cat this year, I'm one step closer to a tax bracket drop next year. Yay!

-Andy

[greyorm]

What does your church have to say about being a good person?  Doing right?

Not all religions have a moral focus. Many of them do, but it isn't a prerequisite.

[Ben Lehman]

What does your church have to say about being a good person?  Doing right?

Not all religions have a moral focus. Many of them do, but it isn't a prerequisite.

'kay.

I have no time for things that aren't helping me become a better person.

So I guess that's a big fat "no."

yrs--
--Ben

[John Wick]

What does your church have to say about being a good person?  Doing right?

The First International Church of the Imagination teaches you how to find your own myths and symbols. You define their importance and meaning.

Through secret rituals and initiations, you learn the True Meanings of good and evil.

The final step toward Enlightenment is when you become a Grand Accepted Master of Esoteric Ritual.

[Ben Lehman]

Can't you just tell me about good and evil right now?

yrs--
--Ben