[solomatic]

jujusis, you used a bad word. 'fools'.

ni kweli, relatives are something else.

so jujusis, what kind of life do you lead? excuse my sceptism, but i find it hard to digest that your family 'supports' you. and are all your friends like you, i.e. are they all soothsayers/necromancers? do you do regular stuff?

i envy (read: not jealous) the fact that you seem so assured. aren't you afraid that some "saved" nutcases will try to destroy you? you know, i imagine you (the way i think you must look and be) in nairobi with a bunch of fat bible-wielding saved women chasing you. and you know those 'saved' ones can't process something different. manze, in fact my mom's one of them...

anyway, what say you?

[supajack]

The name of the professor is GILBERT OGUTU (Religious Studies, University of Nairobi)

[solomatic]

so miss juju? not answering the question? i, and i think many of us would like to more about you.

[wordapeople]

my humble opinion since this seems to be one of those deep soul searching threads.

there will never be a perfect relationship however there is such a thing as working towards perfecting your relationships. women will not always be understanding just as well men will not always be tolerant the fact that we misunderstand this always leads to non fulfilling relationships. i have read some tests some of you have for your "potential" significant others and i don't think that it is a very smart way to go about things. we must be of the understanding that we are all human and can be at our best and worst anytime it is all part of being who we are. therefore if we know that we are human what is up with expecting your potential partner to be like this or like that ? why not just learn to be tolerant with someone when they have their shortcomings and embrace the goodness in them. you can't have guidelines on how to run relationships they are like adventurous journeys you trust love never knowing where it will lead but holding on to the miracles or lessons of whatever love finds along the way. in short be open for anything when it comes for love.

[Remedios_the_Beauty]

supajack,
thank you. i dont know how soon i'll be able to see him but i look forward to it. im sure he is an excellent resource.

i know more about other religions from other parts of the world than i do my own cultural one. i believe we had a very valid one- everyone elses was/is still valid. look at the various beliefs in the world, look at the people and then look at what they believe. in order to feel comfortable with the way i choose to go, i have to know more...i dont want to get caught up in religion and miss the point yet i feel there are certain things i must understand about the past...

in the meantime i'm working through some challenges that have been placed in my life/path. maybe im being FORCED to grow, being tested to see if i've learnt anything...i dont know.

anyway thanks again supaj.

[Mi$$ Thang]

...........TRUE!

[Muramati]

It's often said that it's better to be late than to miss the occassion altogether.

Firstly, my take on religion is that it is a personal choice. Someone i know says that Going to church does not make you a Christian anymore than going to a garage makes you a mechanic.

That said, i have consciously chosen to be a Christian after an analysis of one traditional religion; Gikuyu monotheism. I've read lots on the religion and I find it conceptually similar to Christianity but the superstitious angles seem to be a bit wild. Now one may say that I am biased in my critique but many other aspects influence my choices. The major one being my personal relationship with God.

I do not dispute things like possession in many African belief systems for they occur. However, wouldn't it be similar to argue that when Christ dwells in a persons heart, that person is possessed? I think the term possession is all to often read with a different connotation.

I also accept that it is difficult to convince people to change from one belief system to another. Religion is not founded solely on logic for it all boils down to that leap of faith that we take of our own volition. Personally, i do not believe in the co-existence of gods and neither in the co-existence of religions. As such, I may be labelled a fanatic in terms of refuting the ecumenical fervour that is gripping belief systems globally. At the same time, I do not have ready answers to every question for as I've said, it depends on what you believe.

This is one of those honest threads where we expose our fallibility. The candid nature of the discussion is evidence of this.

Muramati's take on love? I won't bare my soul on this issue seeing that others are working through satisfactorily.;-)

M

[Felicity]

REMEDIOS and SUPAJACK..Thanks for the invite.. and as for my thoughts on why relationships don’t work.. You have all covered them. But to add my 2 cents let me say this.
In my opinion, they don’t work because first of all, the partners involved are looking for different things in the relationship. Where in fact they shouldn’t be “looking” for anything at all. Relationships to me are the bonding of 2 souls, selves.. That is, having more than just a physical relationship. this way, you do not look to another human to fill that emptiness you have inside. Now since many of us women have been programmed to go out there and according to our mothers and society marry a successful man, We end up falling in love with success instead of the man. Then comes the good-looking part. Some of us go chasing after roses forgetting that once a flower is plucked, it looses its luster. Then there is the idea of he will cheat on me and when he does I will surely kick him out. Anticipating negative energy before it has even knocked on your doorstep. Then when all is lost and we are now over the so called “hill”.. we begin *****ing about all men and relationships in general. Never ever stepping back from the fray to ask ourselves what we contributed to the demise of the relationship. It is always the other persons fault.
So the way I see it, unless one is mature and honest enough to step up to the plate and declare to his/her inner self that he/she has a problem, and let the inner self guide you through the process of individuation.. that is the harmonising of mind, body and spirit and allow yourself to become a full human and not go chasing after the material aspects of things that are so highly valued in this world today.. The end result whatever you do will always be dissatisfaction and disaster, and that includes relationships.

JUJUSIS… I wanted to ask you something, what happens when one calls on to the spirits and you don’t get an answer? I do not worship the African gods, but I always give them my respect. I personally have chosen a way of life that calls onto the parental spirits in general to guide one through this life. My belief is, no harm and no hurt to anyone including myself. But I must confess that sometimes I feel as if I am just not connecting.. What is it? Too much anxiety, negativity or what? Whenever I feel this way, I sit back, meditate and call on to my guides for help and try to get my anger in check..(I am one of those who has a blasting temper and its taken a great deal to get where I am;i.e much less violent and peaceful) but sometimes.. It is hard. What do you do if you ever get into that situation? A reply would be greatly appreciated.

[Gathoni]

Remedios, I like the way you reason.

This is one thread that has had me thinking,..re-evaluating!That whole 'love/relp' thing continues to baffle me. Just when you think you have it figured out, life goes ahead and throws you a curve ball. I've just decided to work on me right now..and oh, there's so much that needs to be done!I have to say, there's nothing like past rel/ps to teach you about yourself.My last one forced me to look hard and look deep at the real me. More and more, I appreciate life's challenges. I like the analogy that I'm a pot, that needs to go through the kiln, through the fire..to not only refine but to make stronger!
I'd better stop here...
Solomatic..I had to ask,you want a woman who does NOT watch television, yet you want to watch your sports ..??I'm going to assume that was a typo.

[jujusister]

muramati
you say:
“…i do not dispute things like possession in many african belief systems for they occur. however, wouldn't it be similar to argue that when christ dwells in a persons heart, that person is possessed? i think the term possession is all to often read with a different connotation…”

i suppose you must have seen pictures or films of africans in trance/possession. have you seen the amazing feats they are able to accomplish? stick knives through their ears, drink molten metal and escape unscathed; walk into fire, have grown men pound branches on their bodies…? that is not the african at work. the god has taken over his/her body and performs these feats infront of our eyes. possession in this case is not ‘a state of mind’.

some born again christians i know were telling me once how they are high on christ. when i am high on my god, i am not even conscious of it. i awake from the trance absolutely re-born, without a clue as to what it is i underwent the last couple of hours. sometimes i see videos/ pictures of the things ‘i’ did while in trance, or hear others tell me of the acts ‘i’ performed. it is the god who has taken over. divai/jujusister was the tool.

that is why eveywhere in africa, however senior an atr priest/priestess may be, however much authority they may hold over followers, they have no power over one who is possessed by a god, even if that one is of the lowest social class. the possessed person IS the god.


solomatic:
i wonder if i’ll fit into your analysis on that other thread. i’m like everybody else, just have some equipment others don’t know they can possess.