Re: the goddess figure - yes, in early Christianity the Virgin was a goddess figure. But very different from mother maiden crone as she was both mother and maiden and ascended before old age and without dying.

My own personal beliefs are a bit diverse. I basically do not discount. So if i know someone who believes something or i have read something is believed to be true, i create space in my belief for it to be true. This takes mental acrobatics with conflicting beliefs but, believe it or not, can still be done. There is no reason for me to think what i believe is the only truth. There is a passage somewhere in an Irish Annal of a vision of heaven which came to an Irish monk. In it it was seen that every saint was placed around God so that each could look into the eyes of every other and all were full-face to all. Now the laws of physics wouldn't allow for that (we did various experiments in class) but what would God need physical laws for in Heaven? That's close to how i see religion. It is right to revere the beliefs of others even if you do not share their beliefs. It is right to treat other faiths as as important and holy as one's own. Jesus told us; as you do unto the least of my brothers, you do unto me.

As an aside i want to ask the group (we're a Group now!) about ritual. Do people believe ritual has importance outwith the individual? For instance, if a child is Christened, does that have spiritual significance for the child only, or the child and its parents, OR does it have significance for the moral state of the whole world? What power does ritual have? Cruemum has told us that in magic the intention is what matters, what directs if it is "good" or "bad". Does intention always change the meaning of ritual. If a man has his children Christened (dedicated/baptised/bar or bat mitsvah'd) even though he doesn't believe, in order to curry political favour within a diocese/temple/synagogue/community), does this change the positive impact of the Christening? Can lack of faith, lack of understanding, or lack of true intentions change the wider spiritual repercussions of a religious ritual?

Bec