Glossary - ExWitch Australia (formerly 'Born Again Pagan Ministries')

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IDEA

In occultism the term "idea" is thought to be feminine. Some designate it as the "Inner Goddess". It is said to have emanated from the Female soul of the World and has been known by many names including Shakti, Shekina, Psyche, and Sophia among others.

It was during the Medieval times that theologians, disliking the term's feminine connotations, discarded the ancient theory of the eide and took up the astral theory of Aristotle, that is, the astrological determination of thoughts. The feminine "idea" was replaced by the masculine "concept" which use to mean the same as conception, from Latin concipere semina, a gathering-up of semen.

Regardless of what passed theologians and scholars have attempted to do to the term "idea," there are still many, both men and women, who still maintain that it still has its feminine connotations. Some hold that it is as natural for the mind to produce ideas as it is for trees to bear leaves or for women to bear children. All such living things, given the right circumstances, are capable of reproducing themselves.

Many writers refer to their works as their brain child or brain children; meaning they, their ideas, gave birth to the works. Likewise, some website designers think of their sites as their children or their beautiful ladies. For many the desire or urge to create, and the act of creation itself, is only feminine; they think of it in no other terms.

This femininity of the term idea also was present in the teachings of the Gnostics (see GNOSTICISM). They regarded the Christian God, the Creator, as a mere

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. exWitch Ministries . . . . . . . Demiurge , the child of the Mother who created in his mind all the "ideas" of the things that he made in the material world. They considered that the

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All rights reserved. . exWitch Ministries . . . . . . . Demiurge sinned because he was ignorant of the Divine Mother and the fact that all his ideas had originated from her, and arrogantly claimed all of the ideas to be his own.

This conception that God is guilty of the sin of hubris against the Mother Goddess occurred repeatedly within the early Gnostic sects, until the Orthodox Church declared it heretical.

see also: EIDE

PLEASE NOTE:
One of the major problems with 'defining' Paganism and/or its beliefs and practices is that it is an 'organic' movement, in that it is undergoing constant change and re-evaluation from within, and as such any 'one-size-fits-all' approach to understanding Paganism will be found wanting.

Due to the very 'organic' nature of Paganism, and the many differing Paths and Traditions within it, in many cases no one definition may be universally accepted by all Pagans. Therefore, where such cases of possible conflicting and/or contradictory meanings of certain terms occur I have endevoured to give not only the generally accepted meaning, but also any major 'variations' in belief and/or practice.

Christians who believe this difference in meaning of certain key terms, beliefs and practices to be unique to Paganism need to remember that such conflicts also arise within the Body of Christ - the Church. Take for instance the differing practices amongst Christians concerning Baptism and the different attitudes towards women in the clergy.

- Jean-Luc

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