Do you know about mitochondria?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrial_Eve

Mitochondria are strange, in that they have their own DNA, which is not related to or affected by the host cell (yours). They are only passed on by the mother. Men cannot pass their mitochondria. MtDNA can be traced back to "Mitochondrial Eve", the farthest and oldest possible trace--the mother of the mother of the mother of the mothers.
Indeed, that begs the question. If mitochondria is ONLY passed down through mothers, if ONLY women can pass it and ONLY daughters can pass it forward... where did it come from in the first place?
The only conclusion is it came from a woman or was passed to a woman.
In Christian thought, that would make God a woman.

Please do some research into ancient religions that predate Christianity. You will find an amazing number of parallels between the Christian myths and original ancient ones. In a huge percentage of these religions, the main creator God was female. After all, as you pointed out, males do not give life. The female body is sacred, even animals understand this, so it is worshipped.

Do not feel confused about feeling the presence of a Great Mother. She has never been forgotten even through thousands of years--we still call her Mother Nature in a culture that has begun to worship male power.

The second point I'd like to make is, the Bible was composed in several ancient Middle Eastern societies during a time of very very strong male rule, where women were (and still are) very repressed. Their societies were ones of war, fighting for their lives in an inhospitable desert with enemies on all sides. They were not peaceful or tolerant peoples, and their Bible reflects it. Women had NO POWER. They were struck from the myths and replaced with male gods that the people could respect and believe in. It made the difference between Christianity being a minor cult (and a carbon copy of Mesopotamian and Egyptian myths), to being a large religion accepted by a number of converts. Nobody would believe in a female God or a gentle Mother when all around them is war, fear, starvation. They wanted a God of War and Power, and that's what they got.

Look to many religions to find the truth--Buddhism states, "like many facets of a diamond, all religions contain one face of the truth, but by staring only at one part we cannot see the blinding beauty of the entire Truth".

Wicca is completely about personal power. That power can come from anywhere you trust. Many Wiccans draw that power from the eternity of the earth, but you could feel powerful because of beauty, a dream, the sight of something amazing, or the desire to be someone powerful. Wicca will never let you down. It is a tool, one that can help you grow and change and lose your fear. People will become attracted to you--not because you magically become beautiful, but because you lose your fear of death or pain or loneliness and you walk with your head high.

Talk to as many Wiccans as you can, ask them serious questions, join discussion forums and listen while they discuss. Talk to adult Wiccans as much as possible. Ask them how it was in the beginning. I just marked my 10-year anniversary as a Pagan and I am so incredibly glad I found it. It got me through the hardest years of my life and I feel so inspired and loved because of it.

Magic is not a fake trick, magic is using your own unbendable will to create effects in the energy fields that make up everything. Thought is an energy, it uses electricity in the brain. It is measurable and visible. If that thought is focused into will, that measurable force can affect the energy around it, or far away. It's "magic", but it isn't imaginary. Animals can communicate and feel things humans have long forgotten--when humans do it we call them "psychic". It's the same thing. There's nothing mysterious about it. :)
Listen to the answers at the bottom of this page, they are very honestly written and helpful. Good luck. If you are brave enough to take the plunge, you'll find it very rewarding.

The delicate balance of Buddhism, and why you must carefully reconcile many teachings and not just pick & choose, is that you can:
1. ignore all emotions and be purely happy from within, not being affected by outside events
or, 2. be sensitive and compassionate to others and try to alleviate suffering by feeling and responding to it.

I have always followed the second belief, because only someone who is very well trained, who is very wise, or who is enlightened, could be purely happy from their own Knowledgeable Truth and be unaffected by suffering while still curing suffering. I'm not a monk, I'm just a layman. I would rather be sensitive to others and feel a human connection in their joy and sadness.

You worry about the words of others hurting you. The actuality is, it's their intent to cause harm, and the betrayal that is hurting you. When you don't have enough money to take care of your obligations, you feel powerless and fearful. The Buddha, unlike christ, taught that money and wealth is a Virtue. With money, people can help others and give donations to the temples. You aren't wrong to want or need it.

With the law of attraction, you may find it is at strange angles with basic Buddhism, which overall states we are reliant upon karma, we must try to escape samsara. I believe the "law of attraction" talks about just waiting for the things you need to come to you by wanting it, because the universe loves you and wants to feed you. That's a very gentle and self-serving principle, but studying Buddhism you must know that gaining wealth and prosperity without doing good acts and earning it is impossible. Living gently, being generous to others, being peaceful even to our enemies, practicing patience, avoiding the company of fools and dangerous people--all these lead to prosperity and good opportunities arise when they are followed.

I've been studying Buddhism for about 3 years now and my life has made some really major changes, all for the good. I'm sure if you are persistent you'll also find the happiness and peace of mind you're looking for.

Bad words were invented to give anger and frustration an outlet. The emotions that fuel them are negative (generally). The reaction you feel when you say them is your own brain's reaction to feeling a negative emotion and then expressing it. Even if you didn't use a 'bad word' in particular, but said all sorts of cruel and violent things without saying "a bad word", you would feel the same way. That law (God's Law) was invented to help people understand their emotions and try to keep anger from hurting themselves and others. By saying it's "against God", it helps people cut it off before they start. Removing the angry feeling leads to more peace in the community.

This is one of the big, big reasons that I had to escape from the south (South Carolina, to be exact. I now live in Japan). Remember a few things, in addition to all the good advice people down there gave you:
She's young, and hasn't had a chance to think for herself yet. She's likely still repeating what she's been told, with the utter conviction of someone who really believes there's an army (of parents, God, etc.) at their back. As you've found out, as you get older you start to back off and look at things differently.

She might want to reconsider herself too, because last time I checked, there's a lot more involved in getting into "heaven" than eating Communion and being a hateful, mindless freak the other 6 days of the week.

DO NOT give in to her venom, let other people sway you, or become too depressed! Your views are peaceful and compassionate. That's a serious accomplishment at that age. You are ahead of the curve so dig in your heels as best you can. It's really really difficult to do so, but try to keep your composure. There is a lot of suffering in the world. If YOU are content with where you stand with God, Life, Fate, etc., then please just do what you can to ignore these people. You can never win in an argument involving the Bible, because it will ALWAYS become distilled down to "Well you're WRONG because I believe it because I have Faith because that's what I believe!" And that's a completely irrational and illogical argument.

My truly best advice is to talk to other people who have sympathetic beliefs on the internet, join some discussion groups, and use it to buoy you during these difficult times.

v.s. f/22

The most ancient religions were run by priestesses, worshipping female deities, because the earth is a womb from which all life comes. Men have no spiritual connection to God, because God is female. Therefore only women should be pastors.

God does not predetermine your fate--YOU do, by your actions in life, and then your choices in death. You choose the next life that will be of the most education for you. As you are in death, you have a great sense of clear vision and the desire to better yourself and become free from the cycles of life and death. You choose a new life that will give you the opportunity to move upward.

When you are incarnate once again, however, you make any choices you wish, because you no longer have the clarity of vision. You are clouded by desires of your body and your human mind. But deep inside you might remember what you wanted to do, and that is the feeling of Fate that we have. You are free to not do as you planned, just like you have the choice to NOT do homework. But when your life is over you reap the punishment and the reward of your own doing.

"Nothing that happens is ever forgotten, even if you can't remember it."
-Miyazaki's 'Chihiro's Adventure'

On Memory: "The past should not be followed after,
and the future not desired.
What is past is dead and gone,
And the future is yet to come.
But whoever gains insight into things
Presently arisen in the here and now,
Knowing them, unmoved, unshaken--
let him cultivate that insight."

On Humanity: "These two types of people are difficult to find in the world. What two? One who will do a favor fast, and one who is grateful for a favor done."

On Anger: "This anger which you embrace eats away at the very roots of all the virtues you strive to develop. Who would be such a fool?
Someone else does evil deeds and you get angry. Why? Do you wish to copy him and act as he does?
If you get angry then maybe he will suffer, maybe not. But by feeling anger yourself you certainly do suffer.
If a foe provokes you to hurt yourself by getting angry, let that anger subside. Do not harm yourself unnecessarily."

On the mind: "Whatever one thinks about and ponders over often, one's mind gets a leaning in that way."
--all from the words of the Buddha

and, of course,
"I've decided gelatin is, like, puberty for solids."
-my friend Crystal

Try http://www.buddhanet.net for more wonderful, short, concise quotes from the buddha and various great practitioners of buddhism. Even if you are not Buddhist, you will find a great well of peace and guidance in the words--I certainly did.

The concept of a trinity of deity is one of the oldest of human literature and belief, dating much farther back than christianity, farther back than the gnostic teachings of the jewish fathers, farther back than the evolution of white skin from the pool of humanity. The idea that deity has different faces--long ago the god was the great Earth woman, and she was the beautiful maiden, the bountiful mother, and the aged wise-woman-- was adopted into every religion that sprang from the ancient ones. Egyptian gods and goddesses changed form, Mesopotamian gods were dragons and women of the sea, and Indian gods were literally depicted with multiple faces. The western religions, such as the ancient British ones, wrote the "modern" concept of the triple goddess (maiden, mother and wisewoman) that is still used today by those who follow their ancient wisdom. And, of course, Christianity, which formed from the teachings of the Jewish fathers, which formed from the ancient religions of that area, was ruled by men--so their triple goddess became a triple god, and the female part was made into a sexless "holy spirit" that did magical and unexplainable things.
If you would like more information about how religions developed, I'm not necessarily the person to ask, but I would be glad to do the research for you and tell you. There are college classes devoted to the subject, by the way--they are proven facts by the literatures and arts of the time.

There is a wonderfully popular site at the address http://www.witchvox.com that contains many articles about how to address the problem of explaining yourself to others. There is a whole section for teens and people new to the religion.
Read up on some of these ways to explain yourself--for example you can start by saying that you don't call yourself a witch, but a pagan who practices wicca. Then you'll probably have to explain that wicca is an earth-based religion that recognizes god in both a male and female aspect and the cycles of the earth. You could also throw in something about it being life-based, the study of life and spirituality from the earth, and the law of wicca is love. If she's still hanging around, I'd be surprised. Most people want to hear how you pull fire out of your palms and make pencils float.

No, you don't have to tell her to look it up online, because who knows what she'll read. But you can do the research and tell her what you want her to know. If she doesn't believe her, don't pursue it. There are many people who just won't accept any thought patterns other than their own. Believe me, I know.

Casting a circle is a rather advanced way to raise energy and protection, and when doing simple spells such as candle spells, which are really more of a prayer (vs. a focusing of a large amount of energy--see?) it's not necessary to have a whole circle.
if you still feel you need protection from other energies, ask your spirit guardian or patron god to extend their protection to you. You should feel this immediately and then proceed when you're comfortable. In cases of doing magick in public, it's not practical to walk out a 30-foot circle, of course, so a silent request for protection is just fine.

The most honorable thing to do would be to never, never deny what you believe. Of course. But I'm assuming you're a minor, and even though he is harassing you and your faith, there is little you can do about it. If he kicks you out of his house, do you have anywhere to go? If he is your sole guardian, or if you have no ability to live anywhere else, it's illegal to throw a minor out of your house.
I know that won't make things any easier.

In a practical way, it may be best to do the following:
Speak to your god and Goddess. Speak to or call them quietly, and explain your situation. They will understand. Ask them if they will be ok with you renouncing Them aloud, and tell Them that you will never deny them in your heart. It is likely that They know this already, but it'll feel good to hear it from Them.
You should do anything you can to live more or less peacefully with your uncle. Keep your faith a silent one. Hide your tools and books, if you have some, or make them look innocent: put a candle on the bookshelf, put flowers in your cauldron or bowl, etc. Tell him exactly what he wants to hear.
There is no shame in telling him that you don't believe what you do, so long as you feel the fire in your heart of your faith. Standing before him and saying "Of course I accept Jesus as my personal savior," and thinking, "I love the Goddess! I love the Ancient Path! I walk in the starlight and magick!" is perfectly acceptable.
If you have the strength, your life will change at some point and you will no longer have to hide your religion.

Er, ok.
I think I'll have a sandwich.

Christianity gives me a bit of a problem... actually, logistically, it gives me a lot of a problem. You know, the King James version (and it's a version, isn't it? You know good old James left out TONS of chapters that he didn't like, because he was King, because he was British? Stuff about women, and freedom, and such...) wasnt written until the tenth century or so, and you know fossils weren't discovered until the 1700's... so where's dinosaurs in the bible, huh?
Quote: "In the beginning, God created the earth, and animals, and then man, but before that, there were dinosaurs, but they sucked..."

Jesus, I'm sure, wouldn't be Christian if he were alive today.
No, I'm serious! Come on! He lived under Roman rule--the most uptight, European, shaved-faces leather-skirted Republicans EVER at that time. What did Jesus come up with? "Hang out, drink some wine, be groovy with whores and liberals and artists and fishermen and people you government bastards HATE. It's great! Come on! Love thy neighbor: it's free love, baby!"
Jesus was a freakin' liberal, a heretic, hated by the government, hated by the religious right. Christians now would hate him too. Well, most of them anyway. Not the real Christians. The crazy right-wing Conservative Sunday-Christians. The ones that egg your car and shoot your cat.

Being serious for a moment... That, though, is the real reason that after 18 steady years of church with Christian parents and a pretty docile church community, I decided it was just wrong--it was the Sunday Christians. Nothing pisses me off more than someone who just never, never matches up with what they preach and bow their heads to every week. I saw a lot of hate in school and in public committed by people with crosses around their necks, and I didn't want to be in that mob any more.

Now, when you said religion, there's more to that than Christianity and Jesus and all that good stuff, man. There's Buddhism, which I'm reading because it's very sweet and calming. Even Buddhism, though, isn't without people who will twist it for gain and cruelty. No religion is safe. It's an invasion! A freaking take-over by the nasty people who haven't learned their karmic lessons! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES AND PURITY OF SPIRIT!!

As for myself, I'm a Wiccan priestess with some eclectic background (that is, reading and adding philosophies and practices from other religions as I choose, to make one conglomerate path toward truth). I find that most of the trouble with religions comes from associating with other people--letting other people make rules for you about abstract things like god and love and truth and hate, and having the mob mentality that "seventy thousand other people think so, and it's easy for me to think so too!". The path I've found is good for solitaries--I rely only on myself and my spirit to find happiness in deity.
Sorry, not all of that is entertaining, but there it is.

Animal guides won't come to you unless you capitalize your sentences.

It's true.

To have a spiritual guide, some say, you must be ready to undertake spiritual guidance. You have to have control over your emotions and body, and then the spirits will send an animal to you to guide your soul. The bardic and shamanic paths especially work with animal and spirit guides.

Everyone has a spirit guide, no matter whether they want to call them ancestor spirits, guardian angels, totems or animal guides. They will reveal themselves to you in various ways but you will always have a definite understanding of it when it happens. You won't wonder, "was that it?" You will have a strong feeling that it was important.

Sometimes a spirit animal is a real animal that may appear to you often, or in times of distress or high emotion, like seeing crows at strange times. It could be an animal companion, a pet that you connect with in a special way, though an animal Familiar is not always your animal guide.

It could be an animal you once knew that has died and remains with you in spirit, particularly if that animal had a strong power and connection to you.
Or it could be an animal that you once were in a past life. The memories and sensations of this animal would connect you strongly to others of its type, and seeing them in real life would be an omen to you.

In other words, a spirit animal is either a personal, exact being, or a generalized creature.
Meditation, thinking deeply about yourself, you can begin to create a list of what traits you possess--both positive and negative--and the traits you wish to possess. During this time an animal may come to you, or you may choose one that you want to be like. If something strange keeps coming to mind that you wouldn't pick, but you can't forget it, that may be a message from your animal guide.
For instance you may be thinking "I wonder if mine is the wolf? Wolf wolf wolf." but a weirdo little otter keeps coming to your mind and you can't make it leave, embrace the otter for its playfulness, peace of spirit, love, speed and ability to hide, and realize this might be your spirit animal.
Once you have settled on something, however unsure you are, look for its presence in your daily life. Where do you see images of this animal, or this animal itself? Where do you find its characteristics? Do you see it in patterns of speech, sounds or colors? If not, you should find a different animal. But if you really feel everything falling into place, you're in a good spot.

Once you have found your spirit animal, you think, let me know and I will give you some simple exercises to do to help strengthen the bond between you.

Catholics and Protestants all believe in Christ, whose name makes up the most part of CHRISTianity. They all have different beliefs because it's not possible for all people to feel the same way about everything.
Then there are those who say Catholics believe in the teachings of Cathol.
I suppose technically speaking, Catholics were there first, and Martin Luther got concerned, got activist, and got booted. Behold Protestantism.
Of course it may be prudent to point out that the Pagans were there before ANY of them, so longest-religion points don't go to any branch of Christianity.

I suppose that's a very good possibility. Try moving things like pennies, and if you can't, try it again later, or with a clear mind and clear intent. If you can indeed move things toward you, try moving them away... push paper balls or small things... cultivate this talent, if you do indeed have it. It's very rare but does exist.

Don't be freaked out--be happy. You are probably either traveling an astral plane to a higher level of consciousness, or traveling backwards to your previous incarnations (lives). Don't close your mind to these possibilities right away. Obviously you are not like everyone else. Don't lose this gift! You were born in this life with the separation between your waking-consciousness and your over-soul very close. These dreams come from a great power, a goodness; you might even call it God if you want, but it's not from a spirit. It exists. Pay attention to your form and your speech, your body and your surroundings. You may be dreaming of how you look in the astral plane; you can think of that as "heaven" if you want. It is your true form, without the burden of an earthly body.
If it's a human form, it could be a past life that you haven't forgotten for some reason. Think about it with a peaceful mind. The foresight you receive, the clairvoyant visions, are another sign of this great gift. Not everyone has these powers, and they are NOT unnatural or fake--be calm and welcome them, and you will soon be able to control them.

Don't necessarily listen to the people down there. I too am pagan, and found it through my own research and my own thoughts after feeling incomplete most of my life, though I went, and still am forced to, go to Presbyterian church for my entire life.
My parents are Democrats and think they're "pretty liberal", but they are Christian and very set in the belief that only christianity exists. They don't even THINK about others beliefs, or possibilities. They are unbelieveably shallow and closed-minded.
When they found out that I had found my own truth and my own religion, all hell broke loose. They refused to let me explain myself or debate with them, and everything I told them about paganism, they replied "That's just what they WANT you to think! Then they drag you down!"

After five years they no longer really bring it up as a battle point, but they still say when I'm home on vacation time, "you are part of this family and this family goes to church. You are going."
I go, but I don't sing, I don't pray, and I don't participate. This is silly stubbornness on my part because my religion has taught me that all paths of love lead to Deity, and everything that is love is respectable.
I know what tests you're talking about--I wandered across them too, several years after choosing my path, and they only confirmed my beliefs. Nothing, I repeat nothing, about paganism has "dragged me down" or made me hateful, closed or unhappy. My faith lifts me constantly. I am aware of life, I trust enough to love, and I have much less fear in my life. Through this path I have developed philosophies that I feel in my soul are correct--if not for everyone, then at least, for me. Do NOT give up what makes you feel whole---that is how you know it's true.

As to your parents, I would approach the subject as absolutely gently as you can---perhaps some time, while on a drive somewhere beautiful, say somthing like "Aren't the trees beautiful today?... They look so alive... I can feel the spirits inside them happy that spring is coming, can't you?"
Watch their responses, and if that goes well, involve them in a discussion about the cycles of the earth and life and death and beauty and love and awakeness... see how far they will accompany you into philosophies. If it erupts into a debate, tell them what you believe, but don't discredit their beliefs--remember that everyone is responsible for feeling god in their own way, and if you choose to call god Her or Goddess or jesus or Kali or Artemis, it is all the same to god... tell them how you've felt the touch of Deity, and if they understand, you're on a good track.
Good luck to you, and be sure to come back to me if you need any further help, or companionship.

If your morality comes from your honest thought "What actions will best serve my purpose, and the purpose of others around me, in this situation?", then you are going to be moral without the fear of being smited by lightning or pits of hell.
If your choice to do "right" comes from the unbelieveably juvenile thought of "I have to be good, or else mommy will spank me", then it's just sad. Unfortunately most people need to be punished before they learn what to (and not to) do. Most people can't think in an abstract manner, and wonder "is this right for the people around me? Will I make a good impact or a bad one? Will this help me grow as a person or soul?". Most people are still of the four year old mentality.
Sad but true. People as a species are pretty stupid, like cows.
To work with this, the book religions (christianity, judaism, etc) have told people, "You be good or daddy will spank you!" and it is fear of the spanking that keeps them in line--like training a dog not to piddle on the carpet or else it gets whacked with a newspaper.
Pathetic, isn't it?

People have been coming to me for advice so long, I might as well do this all in one spot. I watch a lot of unfathomable Japanese TV and drink a lot of coffee. I'm a freshly-hatched Illustration major, formerly trapped & dying in the American South, now busily teaching phrases to all of Nagoya Japan. I'm always on the lookout for more video games and sushi.
I have lots of interesting pets. Wanna see my beetle?

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