I'm in no position to make judgement whether or not there is indeed a divine or magic objectively "out there," skeptic that I am, but it is clear that the experience was real to you. And what's striking to me is that your experience on Jan. 22, 1994 is so similar to others who have had encounters with the divine before. Saul on the road to Damascus immediately comes to mind. So does Gautama under the tree. Experiences like yours are often are the founding sparks of philosophies and religions.
People also experience things like guardian angels, or ghosts of dead relatives protecting them in dark times.
Which suggests to me, either there *is* something divine, or there is something in the human mind that is able to have these experiences. It seems a fundamental part of the human experience, either way.
I don't pretend to know which, only that it is... and that it matters.
Sure, I could think of a thousand alternate fantasy and sci-fi explanations. Maybe, like Neil Gaiman postulates in American Gods, the act of worshipping a deity calls that deity into existence -- that your praying to Thideras actually called Thideras into existence. Maybe the being that (knowingly) smiled and said everything was going to be ok was something else, but answered to Thideras because that's how you saw him. Maybe it was something else looking out for you. Maybe it was you speaking back through time in order to get your through a breakdown. Maybe it was your ancestors taking on that identity, the continuum of life force that runs through time, of which you are a part of. Who knows?
I discount three explanations out of hand: that you were having a schizophrenic or disassociative personality experience (mostly because it happened only once), that you are intentionally lying (I don't think you are, though I wonder about Saul sometimes), or that you are being self-deceptive, trying to fit your experience into a framework that you undersood (possible, but not really relevant).
Whatever the objective truth is, the meaning the experience of encountering Thideras and the philosophy of draconity brings to your life, and how it shapes the way you conduct your day to day activities, those are what strikes me as most important.
Thanks for sharing your beliefs with me.
-Hagrid
P.S. -- Does the name "Ylsator" mean anthing to you?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-11-14 09:00 pm (UTC)I'm in no position to make judgement whether or not there is indeed a divine or magic objectively "out there," skeptic that I am, but it is clear that the experience was real to you. And what's striking to me is that your experience on Jan. 22, 1994 is so similar to others who have had encounters with the divine before. Saul on the road to Damascus immediately comes to mind. So does Gautama under the tree. Experiences like yours are often are the founding sparks of philosophies and religions.
People also experience things like guardian angels, or ghosts of dead relatives protecting them in dark times.
Which suggests to me, either there *is* something divine, or there is something in the human mind that is able to have these experiences. It seems a fundamental part of the human experience, either way.
I don't pretend to know which, only that it is... and that it matters.
Sure, I could think of a thousand alternate fantasy and sci-fi explanations. Maybe, like Neil Gaiman postulates in American Gods, the act of worshipping a deity calls that deity into existence -- that your praying to Thideras actually called Thideras into existence. Maybe the being that (knowingly) smiled and said everything was going to be ok was something else, but answered to Thideras because that's how you saw him. Maybe it was something else looking out for you. Maybe it was you speaking back through time in order to get your through a breakdown. Maybe it was your ancestors taking on that identity, the continuum of life force that runs through time, of which you are a part of. Who knows?
I discount three explanations out of hand: that you were having a schizophrenic or disassociative personality experience (mostly because it happened only once), that you are intentionally lying (I don't think you are, though I wonder about Saul sometimes), or that you are being self-deceptive, trying to fit your experience into a framework that you undersood (possible, but not really relevant).
Whatever the objective truth is, the meaning the experience of encountering Thideras and the philosophy of draconity brings to your life, and how it shapes the way you conduct your day to day activities, those are what strikes me as most important.
Thanks for sharing your beliefs with me.
-Hagrid
P.S. -- Does the name "Ylsator" mean anthing to you?