Town bans pagan temple after finding out its not Christian

[Hestia]

57. He is trying to do both things - store & temple - and believe it or not, they are not mutually

exclusive. Hence - coffee shops, bookstores, etc. in mainstream churches. It's keeping the money at home and with the "proper people." The only difference with ST is that I don't think they will use the money for mission purposes. . Believe it or not, there is a group of us doing almost this same exact thing but have lawyers involved in the whole process about a church/temple and selling of wares. Seems you can pretty much get away with anything if you put 'church' in the title.

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I am not sure why you are nit-picking on the items for sale (tawdry as they are): Graveyard Dirt is a legitimate item in Hoodoo/Rootworker Practices and believe it or not, there is a history of Hoodoo up on that area. Very famous (within the Rootworking community) of a practitioner in that area in the 1930s. People came from all over the South to see her.

He/Temple may not need - and I certainly hope not - Graveyard Dirt but some people do for their practices. Along with Bat's Blood, Angel Water, Coon Dong, Lucky Hand Root, etc. Lots of info here - http://luckymojo.com - about what these items are used for. Yes, these are items that scare the bejubus out of people and gives Pagan's a bad name in general and makes us all to be demon practitioners.

Hopefully, in my lifetime, I shall never *need* Graveyard Dirt, but do I know how to use it? Yep, I do. I studied Hoodoo for awhile because it is indigenous to the US and the South. I wanted something a little closer to home, so to say. But Hoodoo is not for me. It is not for me to judge another's practice, but for me, it is too vindictive.

The Buddhist/Tibetan items - and? so? what? I have Buddha, a Kwan Yin and a Ganesha in my home but am I Hindu or Buddhist? No, but I like Them, their energies and goodness - their qualities. They are helpers on this plane of existence for humankind and have qualities that we should encourage in others.

Not every Goddess and God has such qualities/energies and have had many discussions about honoring (or worshiping) chthonic beings today because they are from another time that we will not and do not understand. I am of the mind, no we shouldn't, and honor only those that have had continual contact with humans, such as Isis, Thoth, Hecate, etc. They have always been honored in lodges and circles throughout our history and are generally considered "safe."

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ST has been open in another town in the same country for 5 years. Surely if he has been open this whole time that he has done the proper paperwork. He/They didn't get a bug up their butt and just open a store. I am "assuming" that since they moved just down the road that the same laws would apply in part of the county as another. Who knows, he hadn't even unpacked boxes yet before this all started and I think it started in February of this year. And a city can give you the run around for 6 months before you get pissed and start bring in the media.

I - and other - are posting on their FB about us coming up and I want him to sit down and explain to us all the particulars in person. Anther HP who has gone through the same thing in another town in Ark. and won will be there for guidance if he accepts it.