An Interfaith order

I don't know too many spiritual orders that are eclectic in beliefs or practices. I thought of making something like this.

An order of different beliefs in an attempt to help people. A group of druids, priests, shamans, psychics, mystics, witches and so forth that go and help as well as protect people. Whether it's exorcism, banishing harmful spirits and energies, blessing people, protecting people from harmful hexes, teaching people certain techniques ect. They can consist of druids, Buddhists, Christians, Jedi, different eclectic beliefs and so forth. Many of them would consist of magic practicing pagans and also the mystical branches of other religions, such as Jewish Kabbalists, Orthodox Christians, Sufi Muslims, Mystical branches of Hinduism, Buddhism, and so forth. They can teach others how to help themselves through contact with good spirits, practicing herbalism, crystals, mediation, astral projection, ect. Many of them can practice different types of techniques such as psychokinesis or practicing types of magic, like tree magic, communion with dragons, tree spirits, angels, ect.

I feel like that even though these beliefs would be quite different, it doesn't mean they could not work together. People have different beliefs and different ways. That will always happen. Even Druids within their own group are not all going to act or do the same things. The end goal is to achieve peace, harmony and educate others. And in this order, perhaps they can learn from on another as well, as a druid can learn something from a Jew and vice versa. Due to the different techniques, they have a better chance of protecting one another and others from harm. This would also include of course Jedi with their attainment to the Force and can help others experience it. Some have even practiced psionics as well

This is of course of believers of this kind of thing. I was just wondering what you would think about something like this. Anyone can message me if anyone is interested. I'm not setting or advertising a site or anything. Just wondering if anyone was interested.

What do you mean by " to and help as well as protect people. Whether it's exorcism, banishing harmful spirits and energies, blessing people, protecting people from harmful hexes, teaching people certain techniques etc."? What exactly would people be doing? Because there are serious risks to things like exorcism and spirit banishing and I am not talking about spiritual or magical risks. I am talking risks legally, ethically, and risks to the lives of those involved.
In the case of exorcism far too many people have misclassified a "demon" when it was mental illness and without serious training you not only risk legal and ethical liability but you are delaying needed medical and psychological treatment which could lead to death or at least more harm then otherwise might have happened.
In the case of banishing "spirits" and the like from people's homes again, you risk confirming a bias when it could be that environmental factors are causing the "spiritual signs" and this could be things like pest issues or structural issues. Failing to notice these and delaying treatment due to thinking the issue was solved by your banishing could again lead to people or property being harmed because of ignoring the true cause. Which again leads to legal and ethical liability on your part.
So while I am not saying this should not happen or this group is a bad idea, I am saying there are serious legal and ethical concerns that you need to think about.

I understand. Those into mystic practices do have some remedies. Whether it's working with crystals, mediation, herbalism rituals ect. It's true not all mental illnesses are caused by supernatural means, but I know there are people that are mentally ill because they had an entity attached to them. I know this because I have personally witnessed it and dealt with it with other people for years. Believe it or not, there are drugs out there that can cause this, but some people do not notice. Even stuff like cannabis helps people with bi-polar and so forth. Again I know this because I have dealt with it my whole life with other people.

I know some won't believe in it and I don't expect them to. I didn't either until I experienced it myself and people who are into mystical practices, psionics, rituals and so forth know what I'm talking about.

It's basically an order of various faiths. Groups that help one another in terms of spirituality and bouncing ideas off of one another. There's also the matter of clearing bad energy or resolving issues with haunted houses and so forth. Even helping people with physical issues like cuts. I mean I've seen stuff that baffled doctors when others were healed through other means such as crystals and they couldn't believe how fast it'd be healed. Obviously it wasn't healed like Wolverine's regeneration or something like that. That involved my brother who was cut near the eye when he accidentally him himself with an object and my mother had healed him with a stone. It didn't heal instantly but it healed much faster than it normally would, especially since the doctor thought it'd be a week or two when it healing faster than that.

Now imagine that, but a group of people helping those in need. Doing stuff that doctors and scientists could not do through ordinary means. That's not to say doctors do not have their own uses. They are skilled in a lot things, but being a doctor does mean they have all the answers.

It is early (not really, but it feels early, because it is dark and cold)
and I am only a few sips into coffee...


However, mostly the image that came to mind when I read this was a superhero team.

(Or your cartoon of choice - Captain Planet springs to mind, but I suppose it could work with Pokemon.)

Pocket Priests!

Old Man of the Forest, I choose you!

There's also room in here somewhere to a reference to 8-bit theatre and the whole white-mage party...

So while I am not saying this should not happen or this group is a bad idea, I am saying there are serious legal and ethical concerns that you need to think about.

Hehe, A link! (Like all good Crazy, it is made the USA)

http://childrenshealthcare.org/?page_id=132

(I make no claims as to the accuracy of the site.)

I fail to see how this differs from the Jedi Path. But understand, the Jedi Federation and FA have a joint program called "Jedi Mystic". Gabriel Calderon and I saw an opportunity to create this tradition (of which only 3 have graduated) based on our own vision of what a Jedi clergy would look like (and when Jedi Fed gets around to the 502(c)3 status, we plan to use it as a training for ordination).

We cover topics like mystical defense, and shamanic journeys. We even developed a funeral ceremony, and have a program (of which no one has qualified for yet) for what we believe to be a responsible exorcism training. The system pulls from a variety of spiritual backgrounds, and for a "masters" program, requires you to specialize in a particular religion and tie it back to the Jedi Path.

So how does this interfaith group differ from something you can do right here at ToTJO, which actually has a fantastic setup to jump directly into a similar setup as a "specialized" core of the Jedi Clergy (provided you can present a responsible program to the council)?

For all my snark, I'm curious to see where this thought goes.

As far as it goes for a word no one can reliably define - I'm a witch (I'm not often invited to Witch parties because I look more like Dr Evil in a greaser jacket than I do, say a baked festival junkie. So, even with my fist full of crystals and my home grown herbs, I rather spoil their aesthetic)

As Alethea (hold on to your hats kids, I'm about to side with AT) more or less mentioned: What's the difference between what you propose and TotJO with its (and I never really use this word in conversation) syncretism of all the non-rubbish bits of religion and philosophical thought?

It's not meant to be that different, outside of helping others..Not just through astral projection, shamanic journeys, teaching others and doing rituals that involve protection but among other things, like psionics, magic users tend to be with their own group as so others who use other forms of kinesis like Pyro, cryokinesis, and so forth, but rarely do I see them working together or are knowledgeable of both fields

I know there are groups out there and it isn't the first, but whether the group is a single religion or eclectic. I don't usually see them actually go out very often to help others, like clearing out haunted houses, haunted forests, casting blessings on others besides members of their own group. Obviously I know many religious folks including monk, help the poor and innocent, but I don't usually see a religious spiritual magical orders going out to help people in a spiritual way. I mostly see groups hang around their own kin, and occasional go out to help others, but not like a school of people traveling and meeting those in need who are haunted, need divination, luck, protection ect.

But even there's always many ways of doing things. Just because there is a Jedi group out there doesn't mean I couldn't create my own. Just like if there's already a Druid group, it doesn't mean I can't create my own either.

This is a very dangerous topic, and I believe we should focus our energies elsewhere as soon as possible.

Based on what? How is it dangerous?

Look it's just an idea. People can take it or leave it. I don't know why when someone presents something, that someone needs to be put down. I'd be fine if people respectfully disagree.

There have been several attempts at this already UUC is one, What I notice is that each attempt has a dominant bend (correct me if I am wrong) even if the bend is not explicit, based on the dominant voices in the group. Further, because there are drastic differences in doctrine, attempting to synchronize them into something useful generally leaves them watered down and a bit cherry picked. At least that has been my experience