11 posts tagged “pagans”

I was pointed to this website by a post to an online community that specifically snarks items of Pagan topic.  There's a ton of really fraking cool stuff on the site that I really, really want!!!  But (as was pointed out at the online community) most of that which is labeled "Celtic," ain't.

But I still want half the stuff in their "Wheel of the Year" section.  And enough of the other stuff on the site that I bookmarked it under my special folder labeled "Stuff I Want."  *huge grin*

Or, as my dear best friend and co-conspirator says, "Beltane is so very passe these days -- we should rename it Bel-chicka-bow-bow."  (You have to say it as if it were a naughty movie...you know, the XXX-rated ones. *grin*)  Because we all know what Beltane is about....(NSFW!)

First of May

Jonathan Coulton

3 comments

It's about freaking time!  Now military veterans of the Pagan and/or Wiccan persuasion can have pentacles inscribed on government-issued memorial markers for their graves.

Every time I start relaxing around so-called "alternative lifestyle" people of one flavor or another, and thinking that they'll be more welcoming & less judgmental than the general public, and thinking they're largely more intelligent & open-minded than the general public, I hear one of them say something like this:

It's my belief that all humans are bisexual, and only the enlightened ones know this.

Everyone would be polyamorous if they would only let go of their insecurities and jealousies.

Only Pagans can be true environmentalists, because Christians don't believe the earth is sacred like we do.

Oh reeeaally?  Hang on just a minute while I place my order with the universe:

Yes, I'd like a large order of common sense, delivered to every human being on the planet.  And if that's not possible, I'll just take a small order of snark with extra misanthropy for myself.

I've been working on the archives of the Witches Weekly for some time now, and I've noticed that many of the subjects/questions tend to repeat after a while.  It's tempting me to start my own meme for Pagans... I used to run a music meme at my original blog, and there were some weeks that thinking up questions was a major chore, and after a year (which I thought was a fair accomplishment) I stopped doing it.

If I start a Pagan-themed meme, I don't want it to be just questions & answers -- the "Vox Hunt" feature here asks for images, music, video, and other media rather than just text, and I tend to like that (even if I don't actually participate in it very often).  I also wouldn't want the material to be too restrictive and therefore discourage participants -- while I'm Wiccan, a great many terrific Pagans aren't, and I wouldn't want them to be excluded.

Since Vox has the Groups option now, I'm thinking it would be a good idea to run a meme within the Group framework.  It would be a lot tidier & more organized than just putting the posts in my personal Vox!  Now I just have to think of a name, how often I'm going to add new material, and get a handful of initial posts prepared (at least mentally) so I'm not caught empty-handed a week or two down the road.

Suggestions are welcome!  (Comments are open to everyone, not just my neighborhood.)

Still working through the Witches Weekly archives!  I'm sick with the nastiest cold I've had in years, so hopefully the cold medicine doesn't mess up my coherence too much. *wry grin*  This one's on Influence...

1. Which book has influenced your path the most and why?

Trying to choose one book that has influenced me spiritually the most is like trying to choose which of my children I love the most...it simply can't be done, in that different ones have affected me in different ways.  So instead of choosing the one that influenced me the most (necessarily), I'll go with the earliest influence. 

When I was 8 years old, my grandparents bought me a gorgeous hardcover edition of Francis Hodges Burnett's The Secret Garden.  It's a lovely story about a young English girl (10 years old, if I remember correctly) who has been raised by native nannies in India, ignored by her parents as they are too enchanted with each other to bother dealing with their child.  When they die of an epidemic, Mary is sent to live with her reclusive, wealthy uncle in England -- who is no more interested in her than her parents were, but for very different reasons (at least her uncle cares if she is happy).  She is incredibly spoiled, lonely, and has no attachments to anyone or anything.  Through the course of the story, she discovers natural magic -- the magic of gardening, and discovering the truth behind secrets, and developing caring relationships with others.  There are minor references to pagan magic, in the sense that she invents childish spells to help her friends believe in themselves the way she believes in them, but overall the book is about love, and truth, and connecting with others -- and those, I believe, are the best magics of all.

I still have that copy of the book, with the handwritten dedication from my grandmother, tucked away in my cedar chest.  I read it again every few years...it's well-written, not at all what you might consider "juvenile" literature, and the kind of story that you discover new joys in at different ages/stages of life.

2. What person has influenced your path the most and why?

This might sound crazy, but after thinking about it for a while, I would have to say that a Catholic nun did.  I was put in the TAG (Talented & Gifted) program in school when I was 10, and my teacher for those classes was Ruth Schmerber.  She was tiny (and I was always a tall child), and incredibly intelligent without being intimidating, and she greatly encouraged me to push beyond where I believed my limits were.  She also taught me to question what I believed and what I took for granted as "truth."  Those lessons, I believe, were what nudged me in the direction of becoming Pagan, because every time I tried to question the tenets of Christianity, I was shot down -- and often, even yelled at! -- by the people who theoretically should have aided me in exploring those beliefs.  I didn't know that Miss Schmerber was a nun until after she'd been my teacher for at least a couple of years.  At one point I asked her something about herself (I can't recall if it was about whether she'd ever been married or had kids, but it was something like that) and she explained that she was a nun.  I was extremely stunned about it, but then I didn't know anything about Catholicism (despite having a grandmother who'd converted as an adult -- which was never discussed around me in childhood).  The more I thought about Miss Schmerber being a nun, the more I figured that God must be okay, for her to have devoted her life to serving God.  And while Christianity seemed to me (in the little I was exposed to it as a child & teenager) to be vastly negative -- all those "shalt not's" and the "wrath of God" being so regularly emphasized -- I did want to connect with God.  Before I learned anything about Wicca or Paganism as practiced modernly, I already had an affinity for the Wheel of the Year (in that I celebrated the soltices & equinoxes with personal ritual), and the concepts of the elements of Earth, Air, Fire, & Water.  So when I stumbled over information about Wicca, it actually did feel like I was "coming home" -- which is a phrase I've heard many Pagans use to describe their introduction to Wicca or Paganism.  If Miss Schmerber hadn't taught me to question, and to delight in my natural curiosity, and to explore off the beaten path, I may never have developed any kind of spirituality beyond the superficial.

3. Why are you pagan?
I guess I could say I felt a "calling."  If it weren't for Wicca, I'd almost certainly be agnostic -- most of the basic concepts of Christianity (inherent sinfulness of humans, and requirement to give your life over to God completely, and the idea that all your sins can be wiped away if you ask for God's forgiveness) are just anathema to me.  My understanding of God is that s/he doesn't believe I am inherently bad or sinful, that I am responsible for my choices and living up to the tests I encounter in life (with the help of the gods but not by relying upon them wholly), and that I am required to atone for my mistakes as well as I am able to, and not to repeat the same mistakes again when I understand they are wrong -- not because they are "sinful" but because the bad choices I make hurt me and others, and that is wrong.  I can't reconcile most of the secular humanist or atheist beliefs, because I do believe there is something bigger and grander than human intelligence & power...I do believe in a divine Creator.  Wicca is the only faith I know of that doesn't say I am somehow unworthy (sinful) in the eyes of God -- and one of the very few I know of that doesn't insist I'm a second-class citizen or somehow unclean just because I don't have any Y chromosomes!

Because I am such a fangirl, I went looking for cool Battlestar Galactica stuff...and I found some!

Check out this hilarious spoof -- Battlestar Emasculata!

And the Season 3 Blooper Reel (love the bit where Lucy Lawless blurts, "Wrong accent!")...and the New Crew In Town music video...and the World of Warcraft crossover...and a funny British spoof (the audio's a bit quiet, but worth turning up)

And I watched about a zillion fan-created music videos of various music set to Battlestar Galactica scenes, and the only ones I thought were any good were this one, set to the cover of Land of Confusion by Disturbed, and this really excellent one, set to Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day.  (Although I must admit, the video with the theme from Smoky and the Bandit was damned amusing...who would have thought country music would go so well with science fiction?!)

One of the reasons I love Battlestar is the blatant Paganism...lots of gods, occasional references to Pagan rituals & practices, and some serious ethical questions/philosophies which are not always aligned with traditional Judeo-Christian values.  (I ignore whatever allegories might have anything to do with here-and-now politics, though, thanks.)

For my birthday, I want this and this...and a Viper. *grin*

Another Witches Weekly on Pagan Community...I can't help but think of the root word "commune" whenever I see that word.  Then I have scary visuals about hairy people farming soybeans and calling each other things like "Moonbeam" and "Wolfsong."  Hrm, on second thought, maybe the word is really fitting for some Pagans...

1. What do you find most annoying about the Pagan Community?

Argument over whether a particular tradition or faith (Wicca, shamanism, Druidry, etc) is "ancient" or modern, and whether it's acceptable for certain people (of a particular ethnicity or heritage) to be practicing it.  Damn, people, have some common sense and consideration, and these won't be major topics of argument!  Who cares how old a religion is?!  If it works, it works, and it doesn't matter if it was invented six thousand years ago or six weeks ago!  As for whether whites should practice Native American religions, or blacks should practice Asatru, or Mexicans should practice Maori religion, the answer is, "Not unless you're invited to do so by the native practitioners of that religion or tradition."  Those who are adopted or otherwise unable to discover their ethnic ancestry have a bit more leeway, but basic consideration of others should still be the biggest factor in the decision.

2. Are there any specific symbols that are sacred to you or that you hold close to you?

"Sacred" has always been a tough concept for me.  I have reverence for a few symbols, notably the pentacle/pentagram and my personal bindrune, but I don't know that I actually consider them "sacred" in the context of inviolable.  If someone desecrates a pentacle, am I offended?  No -- I just feel pity for the person who was so pathetic that they couldn't express their anger & frustration in a more productive way.

3. What’s one thing that you think the Pagan Community needs?

To be smacked about a few times by a big ol' cluebat.  For a bunch of people who theoretically believe "there is no One True Way," there sure are a lot of arguments about the right way to do this, that, & the other thing.  And there actually IS one true way: the way that works!  If your circle is cast by sprinkling Skittles in a vaguely-circular shape, and then you toss Hershey's Kisses at the four quarter directions, and invoke the gods by slurping cake batter & frosting off a couple of KitchenAid mixer beaters -- but your spells actually work! -- then you go right ahead and keep holding your circles that way.  Hell, be original -- cast a square!  Just try to (and this works for everything in life, not just Pagan practices!) have good reasons for why you do what you do, and don't be an asshole.  (If it ain't broke, don't fix it.  And quit trying to help fix someone else's way of doing things that ain't broke, either!)

I'm tempted to skip this Witches Weekly because I'm not actively involved with a Pagan community (other than reading a few Pagan-related blogs)...but may as well do them all.

I'm not an "active" member of any community, other than by sheer dint of being part of a community because of who I am and the choices I've made (and continue to make) or various circumstances of my life.  Under that definition, I'm an active member of many communities: human beings in general, women, mothers, sisters, daughters, friends, lovers, divorcées (first marriage), widows (second marriage), polyamorous people, tattooed people, pierced people, science fiction fans, bibliophiles, cat lovers, ocean lovers, lovers of the color purple, Pacific Northwesterners, Oregonians, Portlanders, reptile aficianados, journal writers, novelists (ok, I just wrote one, and it'll never be published, but still), poets, former gymnasts, really bad ice skaters, infertile by choice people, former victims, Heartless Bitches, introverts (sometimes) and extroverts (other times), smokers, coffee lovers, people who used to dye their hair but now are starting to like the silver strands that show up, omnivores who really love red meat, and probably a hundred more "communities" if I felt like thinking about it for a few hours.

But if you're asking how long I've been actively and openly Pagan, that would be about 12 years.

I just couldn't resist...it was so cuuute!  (But I don't dress like that...)

                   

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