15th February 2009, 09:07 PM
To the various 'druid' posters. . .
Will you be pressing for the reburial of the Barbary ape skull found at Navan in Ireland? The leg bone of heidelbergensis at Boxgrove? The possible neanderthalensis remains at Pontnewydd?
Or can I assume that by 'ancestor' you refer only to sapiens sapiens, and not to the wider ape family?
When you speak of beliefs being respected are you talking about mine or yours? I'm afraid they're incompatable, so one of us is going to have to be disrespected.
I don't believe in reincarnation or the spirit - I believe in recycling of materials and energy - what use would a second hand human consciousness be to a tree or a nematode? Nature doesn't work like that.
Re-incarnation is, like most mainstream religion, merely a mechanism for elevating mankind above the system of things - dungeons and dragons by any other name. My first stop to see if any philosophy merits further consideration is to look at the chaps at the top - if the main one is wearing a silly hat, then it's just another gang.
And before anyone accuses me of living in a barren, dry universe of my own making, I think this is a wonderful place, full of magic, without having to invoke some special position for myself. If you want to see something mysterious and wonderful,look to yeast. It can change sugar into alcohol. Now that's magic.
As for re-burial, how about laying off the Neolithic/Bronze age for a moment, and inquiring after the Alder Hay remains - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1136723.stm
You stand a much better chance of locating remains and finding out the spiritual beliefs of the deceased here. Once you've built up a bit of credibility perhaps then you can start working back?
Will you be pressing for the reburial of the Barbary ape skull found at Navan in Ireland? The leg bone of heidelbergensis at Boxgrove? The possible neanderthalensis remains at Pontnewydd?
Or can I assume that by 'ancestor' you refer only to sapiens sapiens, and not to the wider ape family?
When you speak of beliefs being respected are you talking about mine or yours? I'm afraid they're incompatable, so one of us is going to have to be disrespected.
I don't believe in reincarnation or the spirit - I believe in recycling of materials and energy - what use would a second hand human consciousness be to a tree or a nematode? Nature doesn't work like that.
Re-incarnation is, like most mainstream religion, merely a mechanism for elevating mankind above the system of things - dungeons and dragons by any other name. My first stop to see if any philosophy merits further consideration is to look at the chaps at the top - if the main one is wearing a silly hat, then it's just another gang.
And before anyone accuses me of living in a barren, dry universe of my own making, I think this is a wonderful place, full of magic, without having to invoke some special position for myself. If you want to see something mysterious and wonderful,look to yeast. It can change sugar into alcohol. Now that's magic.
As for re-burial, how about laying off the Neolithic/Bronze age for a moment, and inquiring after the Alder Hay remains - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1136723.stm
You stand a much better chance of locating remains and finding out the spiritual beliefs of the deceased here. Once you've built up a bit of credibility perhaps then you can start working back?