Vegetarian or Carnivore

[dragonictraveler]

This might be a question that has been asked a lot but I just want to know for myself. I have read differing opinions of whether or not its ok to be a wiccan and still eat meat or not and if this can affect you spiritually and it is in some way better to become a vegitarian. Thanks for the answers and Blessed Be.)0(

[Firebird]

I feel if you pray for the animal thank it and bless it for giving you nourshiment, you are working from the goodness of your heart, that is an honest aproach. You also can buy free range meats at certain markets so at least you know the animal wasn't confined like most.
Here are some more tnoughts on this
http://everythingunderthemoon.net/forum ... 29482.html
bb, Firebird

[SnowCat]

I thank the animals that gave their lives to provide me with food. Humans aren't biologically designed for a vegan diet, regardless of what staunch vegans say.

Snow

[azriel]

I agree with SnowCat. If you think about the whole of nature, everything has a role to play that can help provide for the nourishment of something else. The choice is up to you, but whatever you do decide, do so with respect for that which provides for you.

Azriel
^-^~

[Vesca]

Here's another thread on a similar topic, maybe it will point out a few more points.

http://everythingunderthemoon.net/forum ... etarianism

I am absolutely an omnivore. I like my bacon and steak.

[Blackthorn]

I'm personally a vegetarian. I haven't eaten meat for almost a decade. I explained some of my reasoning in the thread Vesca and firebirdflys posted. Personally, I don't find it necessarily spiritually significant. When I initially chose to be vegan at 16, it was with zero consideration towards my proto-spirituality. Now, I suppose it compliments my path but it still isn't a necessary or large aspect of it.

[dragonictraveler]

Thank you guys for your advice. I appreciate it so much.

[Katiara]

Personally I am an om nom nom omnivore. But I lean more towards vegetarianism (I find it is harder to eat chicken when you raise them lol). However as everyone has their own path, all that matters is you feel okay/right with your choices. In the end you don't want what you eat to eat at you inside ( as in a moral issue). Everyone has their own set of experiences and ethical values. I do try and maintain a healthy respect for that which nourishes me.

[Suhrt]

I have a very deep complex posture on this. This may be the freakish thing someone must have ever posted in this forum, but I'm a scientist, and aspire to be a really good one. Most people think science and religion don't go along. I guess this is due because for starters, Catholic Church held humanity back thousands of years from knowledge the burnt, disappeared, etc. But it doesn't have to be so, not really. It's not like I'm a charlatan scientist, even Michio Kaku, known for the string theory believes there's at least a God. And recently I read he found proof of it.

The thing is, as a scientist I'm skeptical. It doesn't mean I tend not to believe in things, it means I text everything out and check all possibilities for something. I don't take anything for granted just because someone told me to. Actually if I'm on a spiritual path, it's because science led me to it.

So, as I said it's complex. I'm convinced of how being omnivore affects spirituality negatively. It also depends on the path you're taking, on mine it does. If you need to perfect your meditation it is detrimental. Also it unbalances chakras.

Going back to the science, human beings are not omnivore. So this is why eating animals gets you sick. The entire digestive system is vegetarian and people are trying to make it carnivore, thus sicknesses arise. Something similar, but opposite, happens to Pandas. They're carnivore but insist on having an almost totally vegetarian diet, and thus it makes them so fragile because their bodies struggle to work properly with such a diet their bodies weren't made to digest.

So spirituality or not, I also have that scientific point of view.

Now on the other hand, there's a fine line, but a great difference between vegan and vegetarian. Milk is a substance vital for human beings. You can't live without it. There nutrients in it, that if you don't have a regular intake of them you can die.

I'm not really into animals, I respect them as sentient beings, as souls enclosed in the body of animals. And I will protect them as my little brothers and sisters. They don't have the wits we do to protect themselves from harm, specially the one caused my less advanced human beings. But, my survival has, and always will come before theirs. I cannot kill myself by being a vegan, to save animals. That is just being completely irrational. Besides, cows are not killed to get milk from them. If I ever am in an airplane crash and end up in Alaska I can't hope to survive on snow flakes either. It's as irrational as omnivore people who fight for animal rights. It just doesn't go together.

This one time I saw people protesting dressed in animal costumes in front of a circus because the poor animals get stressed or whatever, and they have rights and it shouldn't be done for the sake of entertainment. After that they went to a BBQ thing to eat. That's also entertainment, and animals bred for slaughter go through a deal lot more than circus animals (depending on the circus also) and just because they want to entertain the palate. It has no survival or nourishment real point in it, you can be well fed with a vegetarian (not vegan) diet.

So both extremes aren't very good. I also work with nature medicine. And there are some instances a person might need to eat certain non-vegetarian foods to help recovery. That's not bad either, your not doing for your personal pleasure, your human body is a very important gift from God and your most important duty is to take perfect care of it. Only if you do so, can you advance spiritually at all, and help other. But if you don't secure your own wellbeing there's nothing you'll be able to accomplish.

[AlaunusFoxglove]

I have recently discovered this issue does have an effect on my sprituality.

About a year ago, I was in my Reiki 2 class and our teacher mentioned that she does not eat meat. She said we very well might lose our taste for meat as part of our spiritual progression. I laughed it off at the time, thinking I loved steak, bacon, etc. too much. I was eating "paleo style", lots of meats and veggies. I lift weights and have been indoctrinated to think I need to eat a ton of protein.

A few months ago, I started to notice it was becoming easier and easier to listen to my body at a cellular level. I could sense that I was less "in tune" with my higher self after eating meat, especially "heavier" meats like beef and pork. The food really did taste dead. I began craving only foods that benefit me greatly. I have since cut out most meat (the only piece I've had this week was a piece of salmon when eating out). I got some raw food recipe books and my diet is about 75% raw now. I really can feel the higher vibrations of my meals now. I'm having a lot of fun making new things in the kitchen. I do have eggs for breakfast because we have chickens, and the chickens have a pretty good life for birds, they're well cared for.

Not only have I seen spiritual benefits to the change in my diet, but somewhat surprising to me was my body fat percentage went down. My metcon workouts have gotten faster, but my lifts are still improving (so much for the 'not getting enough protein' myth). I have more energy because I'm not putting lower vibrational, dead food in my body.

That's my experience on this topic. I believe everyone's body needs different things at different times, and there is no "one size fits all" answer to diet or spirituality.

[YanaKhan]

I can agree with both points. I've been a carnivore for most of my life and now I'm a vegetarian. I don't see any difference in my work and spirituality.
I've tried becoming a vegetarian before and felt like I was depriving myself of something good, I even sometimes dreamt of eating meat, I missed eating it, so it didn't really work for me. In January 2014 I made the decision to become a vegetarian and haven't eaten any meat since. The only difference is, I don't feel I need to anymore. It sorta came as something natural, a development if you will. So basically, I think a person should listen to their body and mind and do what feels right. I'm not saying this decision came as a mental or spiritual development and is connected to my being a witch, but I'm not sure it isn't either.

[Flamewood]

I think it's all about the individual. I'm not a vegetarian, though most of my meals are, and the meat I do eat is either: raised at humane local farms, from local hunters, or on very, very rare occasion caught by me. I think it's all about a person's connection and how they feel about it. My only problem is those who do things like feed their dogs and cats vegan food, as that's been clinically shown to hurt them. I also take issue with those (on both sides of the issue) who instead of talking about the pros and cons of both paths, use personal attacks to get their way.
Anyhow, yeah. That's my (slightly rambling) take on it.

[valerian moon]

I'm an on and off vegetarian, and I honestly do feel better when I'm a vegetarian.

[valerian moon]

I have recently discovered this issue does have an effect on my sprituality.

About a year ago, I was in my Reiki 2 class and our teacher mentioned that she does not eat meat. She said we very well might lose our taste for meat as part of our spiritual progression. I laughed it off at the time, thinking I loved steak, bacon, etc. too much. I was eating "paleo style", lots of meats and veggies. I lift weights and have been indoctrinated to think I need to eat a ton of protein.

A few months ago, I started to notice it was becoming easier and easier to listen to my body at a cellular level. I could sense that I was less "in tune" with my higher self after eating meat, especially "heavier" meats like beef and pork. The food really did taste dead. I began craving only foods that benefit me greatly. I have since cut out most meat (the only piece I've had this week was a piece of salmon when eating out). I got some raw food recipe books and my diet is about 75% raw now. I really can feel the higher vibrations of my meals now. I'm having a lot of fun making new things in the kitchen. I do have eggs for breakfast because we have chickens, and the chickens have a pretty good life for birds, they're well cared for.

Not only have I seen spiritual benefits to the change in my diet, but somewhat surprising to me was my body fat percentage went down. My metcon workouts have gotten faster, but my lifts are still improving (so much for the 'not getting enough protein' myth). I have more energy because I'm not putting lower vibrational, dead food in my body.

That's my experience on this topic. I believe everyone's body needs different things at different times, and there is no "one size fits all" answer to diet or spirituality.

on the topic of protein, I read somewhere that Americans get way too much protein as it is, so going veg can't hurt.

[motherofcanines]

I've been a vegetarian for little over a year now. What made me change my eating habit was when I noticed how similiar my little dogs thigh felt to a chicken breast. I thought to myself, what makes this little dog differen from the chicken? They are both living creatures that share many of the same emotions we do. At that point I thought, who am I to determine what life is worth more than the other. I am not one to diss others for eating meat, I believe everyone can make their own life choices but it really is something to think about. I truly feel connected to nature knowing that I value every life the same.