[orgaelin]

Originally posted by Technosoul, ...I still think the conducted burnt offerings of real animals at the temple as we have so much written about that and that is how the temple employee got his supper.

I don't dispute that for a minute. They did do that, of course, but it's unrelated to the idea of 'selling oxen, sheep and doves'.

Also, you would only need one secret name so selling them week after week would not seem practical.

I think I wasn't clear on that. It's a complicated story. They only received their stone with a name on it once. When they had done it, they were officially members. There was later a custom of making donations of the same amount as the members fee, but this was yearly.

But back to the stones and names. If you got a chance to look at the links for my Wicca messages you will find that older pagan Seers would cast stones on the ground,

I've done it myself. I experiemented with a number of different divination methods, from Tarot and tea-leaves to i-ching and Runes.

By far my favourite was the Runes, as I find them most effective. In one worrying incident I predicted my betrayal of a best friend by stealing a girl from him. Of course, I instantly assured him that, being forewarned, I would be able to prevent this from ever happening, so even if it was in the future, we could change it.

But still it happened. That was direct evidence, for me, of the unavoidability of fate... but I still don't believe the future is set in stone, or rune stones!