November 17, 2002

The article that you're about to read was one of the first things I ever wrote for the Shrine's homepage, literally predating the existence of the Almond Jar, and I suspect that this shows in the writing. Aside from the occasional strange characters that arise, probably because you're reading this in a graphical browser and I wrote this while in Lynx, what you are seeing here, in a way, is me talking myself through the process that lead me to Christo-Paganism. I worship Jesus; why, unlike Pauline Christians, did I not feel that this was enough. When this question was first put to me, I had a hard time answering, thinking on my feet like that. Not that I should have been stunned by my awkwardness at that point, because the philosophy here is driven by the experience, not the other way around; as Metaphysical Empiricists, what we are to seek is gnosis, informed by our reading, but not defined by it, and gnosis, to the extent that it is understood at all, is understood after the fact.

I hesitate to rewrite this article at all, now. Would you rewrite a journal entry? In some sense, that is what the Almond Jar has evolved into, over time - a journal of how my thoughts on this subject or that have evolved. (Thus the dating on some of the later articles). Were I to write this article today, it would probably look a lot different. Certainly, there would be no mention made of the Rede, which, on examination, didn't prove to be as helpful addition to the ethical theory here as it first appeared to be. (It has been superceded by a statement of freedom as one of our values). Its mention has caused a lot of misunderstandings, varying from a perception that purely utilitarian, situational ethics are being advocated here to a notion that Christo-Hellenism (nee Hellenic Demipaganism, after some evolution) grew out of Wicca. Even so, looking back, I regret the rewrites that I did. In an electronic medium, earlier drafts are lost forever, usually, and so I will leave this one as is, verbal missteps, now changed outlooks and all, because it is satisfying to see where we have been, and if we are seeking some measure of self-undrstanding, occasionally helpful as well.

Click here to continue. The article that follows dates back to 1998.