At the risk of appearing narrow minded, although I don't have the ability to perceive such a wide band of knowledge anyway, I am more than about curious about
Creator. Whether it is religious/myth/legend independent, there is still some underlying philosophical tenets of course, and some framework of reference and discovery that should be identifiable. Seeing how two members (at least) on this site have referenced Creator, I would like more background info on how Creator came to be acknowedged by people. This is where the narrow mindedness comes in, some would say, in wanting to apply a label. But for me it is more a part of how I approach philosophical or religious beliefs. The historical portion of how so-and-so came to a culture and was venerated is crucial in my perspective, I guess. Although if I re-read Smallelk's post, she does mention Kabbalah. And so it is time to wiki:
[i]According to Kabbalistic tradition, Kabbalistic knowledge was known to, and transmitted orally by, the Jewish patriarchs, prophets, and sages (Avot in Hebrew), eventually to be “interwoven” into Jewish religious writings and culture. According to this tradition, Kabbalah was, in around the 10th century BCE, an open knowledge practiced by over a million people in ancient Israel [1], although there is little objective historical evidence to support this thesis.
Foreign conquests drove the Jewish spiritual leadership of the time (the Sanhedrin) to hide the knowledge and make it secret, fearing that it might be misused if it fell into the wrong hands [2]. The Sanhedrin leaders were also concerned that the practice of Kabbalah by Jews deported on conquest to other countries (the Diaspora), unsupervised and unguided by the masters, might lead them into wrong practice and forbidden ways. As a result, the Kabbalah became secretive, forbidden and esoteric to Judaism (“Torat Ha’Sod” Hebrew: תורת הסוד) for two and a half millennia.
In contemporary Orthodox Judaism, a person must be at least age 40, mature, and married to begin studying Kabbalah[citation needed] - a direct influence of the Sanhedrin decision to secrecy manifested over 2,500 years. Despite the above, Kabbalah became of interest to non-Jewish scholars and thinkers in medieval times, and in modern times its key texts and principles were gradually translated and published, and it has become of increasing interest to general culture.
Some scholars have proposed an Indian origin for this mystic system.[citation needed] They credit it to the Sage Kapila who founded the Indian system of Samkhya-Yoga[i]
from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KabbalahMy thoughts focus on the Sanhedrin and the need for secrecy and such. I understand that God, the gods, Creator, whomever, may need to trickle or whisper knowledge piecemeal to us. That is fine. The word rune (acording to some etyymological sources means secret) but when whole secret sopcietoes are formed, running in the background, unknown, unchecked and with their own (usually self-serving) agendas, well, I am less thn impressed at what may qualify as spiritual terrorism. Well, sort of turned into a rant, gotta get to the work and I am typing this blind as my monitr just gave out, lol...hook up anothermonitor, click send...