Rant and Discussions
Rants, raves and discussions of all kinds.
I am a Pagan Heretic
Feb 27th
Or, more to the point, I guess I’m a Wiccan Heretic…or really a Neo-Wiccan Heretic…or a Hippie Pagan Heretic…maybe more a New Age “love and light” Pagan Heretic.
I love working with those in the general Pagan community because I greatly enjoy sharing my experiences and knowledge and I enjoy helping those that are looking to either start their path or enhance and grow it. What I often dislike is the increasing amount of people that I encounter, especially on the Internet, who are either “McWiccans” (those of the “I just read two books on Wicca and did an initiation and therefore I’m a High Priest/Priestess” variety), “Love and Light Pagans/Wiccans” (“But the Goddess is all about love and the Gods just want to love us and us them and for everyone to love everyone else.”), and “Fluffy Bunnies” (often they can fall into the same place as the “Love and Light Pagans/Wiccans” but the big difference here is that these people, unlike the former, just don’t want to educate themselves because it might be too hard or it might seem unnecessary; the former are often educated about the other views but opt to ignore them).
I would have to say that my views on the issue of “Fluffy Bunnies” are pretty well mirrored in this article on the website Wicca: For the Rest of Us. But just to be sure that my thoughts specifically are expressed, no, I don’t think I’m better than one of these individuals, nor do I think someone is a “Fluffy Bunny” because they disagree with me or are new to the Craft. But when someone essentially decides that they have come to a point in their path, at anytime, but especially only a handful of years into their practice, and tell me they have learned all the need to, I have to wonder what their issue is. How anyone can be on this path and at any point in their life essentially declare they “know it all” is just a mystery to me (little “m”, not bit “M”, though I’m starting to wonder if all this should be one of the modern day Mysteries).
There are just fundamental things I don’t believe in and don’t agree with from both the perspective of personal experience and training, both formal and of my own doing. I don’t believe in self-initiation, I don’t believe the Gods are our help-mates, I don’t believe that faeries are cute little winged creatures hanging out in my garden, I don’t believe that one can be a Witch and yet never actually practice magick, I don’t believe that Wicca is a “DIY” religion, and I don’t believe that the Craft is meant for everyone.
I had a really great “Ask A Witch” question that I didn’t answer on the blog and actually addressed with the individual privately because it was obvious to me that this person was very upset about an encounter they had with a group of individuals online who gave her a lot of trouble for calling herself Wiccan when she wasn’t part of a coven, wasn’t part of a Tradition and was a newly practicing solitaire. After I had explained to the questioner about why these individuals said the things they did this person, who’d only been practicing for less than a year and was in what I often call the “honeymoon phase” of the Craft was enraged. She said she was now sold on never joining a coven because she didn’t want someone to tell her what to do or believe and that she would become a High Priestess on her own and these people who told her she can’t be Wiccan could be damned. The conversation between us continued for a little while as I tried to explain that, in a traditional sense what she’s doing isn’t considered Wicca by some, but either neo-Wicca or neo-Paganism. Does the label really matter? Yes and no. In my opinion I don’t think you should call yourself something that you clearly aren’t just for the sake of using a term you find familiar or that you think will make you more inclusive somewhere. So that’s the “yes” part, because the Gods know that walking into a group of Gardnerians and telling them you’re Wiccan and you’ve only ever been a self-taught solitary could prove of a very, well, interesting discussion. On the other hand, no, it doesn’t really matter what you call yourself if you are following your path honestly and you’re following your heart and soul. I guess it boils down to knowing that certain people might not agree and might even become disgruntled at your claims and your practices when you share then makes you aware and prepared. After a while our discussion ended, she understood what I was talking about and she somewhat understood that other side of it but, being new and never having spoken to traditional practitioners before, nor knowing really anything about British Traditional Wicca, she was already a little bit at a disadvantage in a sense going in. Hopefully her experiences from here on will be better.
I guess in the end, for me, it comes down to a few things. If you don’t practice magick, you’re not a Witch, because that’s what a Witch is and what a Witch does. If you don’t follow the Wiccan Rede, believe in the God and Goddess as each other’s consorts and as the source of all creation, you’re not Wiccan. If you don’t take an active part in working with your path, connecting with and honoring the Gods, then I don’t understand why you came to the dance in the first place. I do believe that we need to build relationships with deity and with the specific Gods that we partner with. I don’t believe that it is respectful to just ask them to come and do something for us with nothing in return and no time spent getting to know them. Why this is a concept that baffles and even upsets some people, I haven’t a clue. Why there is this idea that the Gods are laying in wait for us to call on them for something just confuses the hell out of me.
I guess the only other thing there is to say is that when I write, whether it’s here, in one of the other blogs, in lessons I create, or in books I work on, I am always writing from a place of personal experience and knowledge. I’m not regurgitating the almost dogmatic crap that has come to be known as “Wicca” these days. I write and teach about what I know, what I have experienced, what I have studied and put to the test and found to be true. Does that win me fans? Not all the time. Some people don’t want to have their “happy place” put to the test by someone else’s beliefs and opinions. So in the same way that some authors incite frustartion in me, I get to do the same to others. It’s never on purpose, and it’s never my goal, and when it happens I often have to pull myself back, realize this isn’t my issue, and not own the anger, confusion or frustration of someone else.
So I guess I’m a bit of a neo-Witchy-Lovey-Wiccan-Heretic because the definition of “heretic” as “one who dissents from an accepted belief or doctrine”, especially in this circumstance, is most certainly me.
Bringing out the Christmas Crazies
Nov 20th
Lately I’ve been dealing with another battle with the “Insomnia Monster” but unlike my usually productive insomnia this one has had me doing little more than playing lots of Bejeweled and tinkering with my laptop. However at about 3am when I finally got out of bed after not being able to fall back asleep after what was nothing more than a two hour nap, I went to check my news alerts and found an interesting one about a boycott against Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic by the conservative Christian group the American Family Association (AFA). So I wrote a piece about it over at Examiner.com and would like you to check that out first before going on here…go ahead, it’s not long. I’ll wait.
Welcome back! So the reason I wanted you to check that story out first is because that will be the whole basis for this slightly ranty post that I’m going to toss at you all here. When I write at Examiner.com I write from a more journalistic point of view. It’s not a blog, it’s a new site. So I write in a different way. Here it’s a whole other game. I try and keep my ranting down to a low roar when I can and I try not to let it get out of hand but this is a topic that, quite frankly, pisses me off every year.
Most retail companies acknowledge and understand that this is a big world. There are lots of people that believe lots of things. Most of those people don’t believe in the same thing. When the winter holiday season comes around there are many different holidays taking place. I know that there are people still living under the delusion that this is a Christian nation, but it’s not. Christianity is not the “state religion”. So why on earth would it be expected that at this time of year the only religious holiday that should be publicly acknowledged is that of the Christian faith? Why is it that when retailers are trying to make all their customers of all different walks of life and spiritual persuasions feel included in the holiday does a section of one religion have to come up and have what often boils down to a temper tantrum about their not being the exclusive holiday of choice, or at least being head of the pack?
Now, I know not all Christians feel this way. I know there are plenty of open and accepting Christians out there that are find with those of other faiths openly practicing and acknowledging their faith at this time of year. But I have to ask one question; where are they all!?!? Why is at that they aren’t standing up and opposing these right-wing conservative Christians and saying “No! We don’t all feel this way! We say Happy Solstice, Happy Hanukkah and Happy Kwanzaa to all!” Maybe it’s just that it all again boils down to the issue of those that are talk the loudest know the least.
I’d like to tell them all to remember us evil Witchcraft practicing Pagans when they’re handing out presents from under their tree this year.
So I say no more being quiet during the holidays! If you don’t celebrate Christmas because you’re not a Christian then stand up and tell people you celebrate Yule or Modranect or Festivus if that’s what you honor! Don’t lie down and fall in line with everyone else because it’s easy! This path isn’t about “easy”; if you want to just toe the line there are lots of other places and faiths to do that in. Most of us have no problem standing up and being “proud Witches” during the month of October to set the record straight about Samhain and Halloween but then we hide back under our proverbial rocks and let Christmas often overshadow the fact that we celebrate something different. Don’t let the winter holiday season be a time for sitting down. Stand up like you do at Samhain. Celebrate Christmas with your family if that’s what you do, but at the same time acknowledge your Pagan path and don’t let the craziness and commerce of the season cause you to miss out on honoring one of the most spiritual times of the year in our tradition.
For those that are in the broom closet, I know this can be a tough time of year. But do what you can to acknowledge and accept your different belief and honor that holiday as well. Being in the closet with your beliefs is no excuse for doing nothing to honor your path this time of year.
If you are truly a Witch and a Pagan then you are one 365 days a year, not just the 31 days of October.
Mood: pissed off
Harry Potter turns the iPhone into a Wand
Nov 17th
It was probably only a matter of time before something like this was going to come our way, but Warner Brothers has developed and iPhone and iPod Touch application that allows you to turn your device into a magic wand (the “k” is missing for a reason). This new app will allow you to go to Olivander’s Wand Shop, pick your wand, then learn to wave it around with the cries of “Lumos” and “Stupefy” and battle your friends. There is a total of 14 different spells to master and the whole thing comes complete with a ranking system that allows you to see how you measure up to friends and other “witches and wizards” across the virtual halls of Hogwarts. There will also be a Facebook integration with the app so you can let all your “muggle” friends know what you’re up to with your newfound magical skills.
Warner Brothers has also released a trailer for the “Harry Potter Spells” app to give you absolutely no clue as to how this will really look or play out on the devices but just to give you a little enticing Harry Potter visual.
So now the big questions arise; will there be people protesting the promoting of witchcraft through device applications? And, on the tech side, will the introduction of corporate apps like this one and others of late begin to push out the independent application developers that create for the iPhone? All the more reason that I love my Android HTC Hero.
Mood: still tired 
Want to help end Extreme Paranormal?
Nov 11th
It’s been a few weeks now since Extreme Paranormal annoyed us with it’s presences, but it fear not, it’ll be back to bother us again. However it was great to see that Javier Ortega over at GhostTheory.com is trying to help rally other paranormal fans and investigators together to write to A&E expressing dislike for the show. If you missed my two posts about my take on the show, you can see my post on episode one here and episode two here. If you feel the same way I do and you think this crosses the line in more ways than one, check out the article over at GhostTheory.com and use the link for the petition that has been posted or create your own personal letter and let A&E know that as a fan of the paranormal you will not support this show.
Let the paranormal insanity begin!
Oct 20th
Ah…Halloween must be in the air! Monday night a new paranormal show premiered on A&E called “Extreme Paranormal”. Now, I wasn’t holding out MUCH hope but at least a LITTLE hope. I always do when there is a new paranormal show on but I’m starting to think that I need to count my blessings that “Ghost Hunters” keeps spinning off new shows and just stick with that. In case you haven’t heard in November Sci-Fi (which, as a refresher, I refuse to call SyFy), has a new spin off from “Ghost Hunters” coming called “Ghost Hunters Academy”. This show will be featuring groups of college students and would be ghost hunters working with Steve and Tango from the popular Ghost Hunters franchise as they learn the ropes with paranormal investigations. I have hope there. “Extreme Paranormal”…no.
“Extreme Paranormal” appears as though it will be the latest in the A&E psychic and paranormal shows, something that the channel is getting quite deeply involved in. The cable channel is airing the two part pilot on the two Mondays leading up to Halloween (naturally). On October 19th the first of the two shows aired and it was quite a scene. This show is very similar in style to “Ghost Adventures” (which you can see how I feel about that here). Basically three guys with equipment that go running around provoking spirits only to later run away. And they seem to have no purpose for doing what they do other than to freak each other out and “catch evidence” of a spirit.
The best, or really worst, part of the show is the “occult expert” Nathan, AKA “The Demon Hunter”. I can’t even being to tell you the number of eye roll/giggles that this guy gave me in the hour of this show. In this episode Nathan, along with Shaun, AKA “Ghostman” and Jason, who has no cool “Top Gun” call sign, went to visit the New Mexico State Penitentiary which saw some of the most brutal inmate deaths during The New Mexico Penitentiary Riot during two days of February 1980. One of the brilliant ideas that these guys come up with is to visit the cell of a victim that was pulled out and burned alive and use fire and blood to try and draw his spirit out to make an appearance for them. They get one guy to lie on the floor in the exact spot where the inmate died (there are burn marks on the floor showing how he was positioned at the time of his death), they outline the body in chalk, use a flammable gel to outline that, Nathan cuts his hand and draws out blood to draw “The Tree of Death Rune” inside the outline and then lights it all on fire to get the inmates spirit riled up all while basically verbally taunting him as well. Seriously!?! As for “The Tree of Death Rune” I honestly don’t know what he was talking about. The rune he drew looked somewhat like Algiz upside down which was interesting since that’s not so much a rune of death but protection. If anyone could shed some light on this I would love to hear it because I’m seriously wondering if this guy maybe spends too much of his time playing World Of Warcraft when he’s not being “The Demon Hunter”. Which, by the way, they have the nicknames because they have a site and podcast called “Ghostman and The Demon Hunter”.
But after going nuts cutting bars off cell doors, lighting fires, screaming like little girls and generally acting like idiots they just leave. No discussion, no assessment of evidence, no real purpose to their visit. “Hi, we just want to come in and light shit on fire and maybe use a power saw to bust up some cell doors. Mind if we spend the night next week?”
And then they went to a lake to hunt down a serial killer which was even more ridiculous. They constructed a large circle with pentacles and a triangle attached to it out of foam with bit clear plastic party cups glued to the top to act as makeshift candle holders for tea lights and then they send it off afloat into the lake where this spirit apparently resides. Nathan tells Shaun to go in the water but to stay in the circle because he’ll be “protected by God” as long as he says in it…because meanwhile Nathan and Jason will be, you guessed it, lighting a circle on fire on the beach and summoning the spirit of the serial killer out of the water. Yes, a fiery ring of invocation, complete with skulls and all, on a beach at a lake while some guy is floating around with a flashlight in the water inside some rejected NERO prop. Really!?! And naturally they piss off the ghost which comes up from the water and grabs Shaun by the back and tries to pull him under, however Nathan will be sure to point out to him that it happened because he left the circle! OH NOS!!!
Honestly, this is just getting to be too much! There are enough of these paranormal shows on and a few of them, mainly the “Ghost Hunters” shows, seem to serve a purpose in trying to help the living and the dead cope with and understand their unique situations. Things like this and “Ghost Adventures” are just silly and pointless. At the beginning of “Extreme Paranormal” there is a disclaimer stating that portions of the rituals have been cut and that you shouldn’t try this at home. I can only assume that the reason for “cutting out parts of rituals” is so that they don’t encourage people to light their living room floors on fire or anything like that in order to call on spirits that might be in the house.
On a somewhat brighter note, after that monstrosity ended a show I hadn’t seen before came on called “Medium/P.I.” This show stars one of my favorite magickal people and psychics, Jackie Barrett as she works with her friend Sean Crowley who is the Captain of the cold case homicide division of the NYPD to try and solve cases. This was an interesting show and I enjoyed it since it showed people with the gift of sight working to HELP people, not just piss off ghosts for the hell of it. Besides, it was nice to see Jackie Barrett back on TV. She was the runner up of Lifetime’s show “America’s Psychic Challenge” back in 2007. Sadly this didn’t seem to list any upcoming episodes beyond the one that I saw. However another episode of “Extreme Paranormal” will air next Monday what the paranormal triple threat visit an insane asylum and put Jason in a straight jacket in an effort to “draw out ghosts”! Good times.
One more thought…
Oct 10th
I realised while talking to a friend after my last post that some of my ideas got a little away from me so I wanted to just make a few additional comments. 
As far as how taking responsibility impacts magick, I think it’s quite simple. When we cast a spell to rid ourselves of something, such as a bad habit, we aren’t going to see a lot of results if we don’t take responsibility for how we either perpetuate our bad habits or how we allow the triggers for them to be in our lives then we will never get to the steps that bring us to the roots of our problem and help to clear the way for them to be removed. If we keep denying our own doing in a situation then we’re just enabling ourselves to still follow these bad habits. Therefore, in a sense, our intentions at the start of our magickal work was never truly clear and therefore the chances are our results won’t be what we may have wanted. We need to do the things in the mundane to really open the magickal doors and sometimes that may mean owning up to our actions and responsibilities in the past, present AND future!
The two examples I gave before are only a few of the people that I’ve been dealing with that have this issue. I’ve been seeing it not only with clients but people in my personal life too. It’s like there’s something in the water! I just think that looking to use magick as a way to almost ESCAPE responsibility is a bit insane and more than a little counter productive.
Taking Responsibility…a mini rant
Oct 9th
Lately I’ve found myself dealing with a lot of people that aren’t interested in taking responsibility for themselves and their situations. I find myself navigating emails and chat sessions with both existing and new clients that seem to be seeking the “magic cure”. But I’ve got news for everyone out there that is looking for this cure, the spell that will cure everything; the spell you need isn’t what you’re thinking of. What you need is to take responsibility for your problems and own it.
Now, this doesn’t mean that all your life’s ills are your own doing, however our actions or, in many cases, inactions, when we hit a rough patch in life is often what leads us to eventually being in a place of feeling completely overwhelmed and as though only something like a miracle or a spell is going to make it all better. The problem here is that when we don’t acknowledge ALL the things that go us to where we are we aren’t able to effectively move forward, and a spell isn’t always going to be the answer to your problems and it isn’t always the thing that is going to make things better, hell sometimes it can make things worse!
So the first spell that you need to cast is the one on yourself. The one that makes you open your eyes and see clearly and that allows your ego to step aside a bit so that you are able to accept responsibility for your place in life.
One person I talked to was upset that her ex wont take her back. They’ve been apart for a year, they are both single again and she wanted another chance. When he said no she wanted a spell that would make him love her and want to be with her. When I asked why the relationship ended the first time she tells me that she “technically” cheated on him; she said she was spending time with a co-worker and they “fooled around” a few times and she got caught. The boyfriend leaves because he can no longer trust her. She feels he’s not giving a chance to prove herself to him and that she needs to be given the opportunity. She feels he’s unfair and that she’s paid her penance by being dumped a year ago and being without him all this time. Yet in all these conversations she never actually says she was wrong or that she did anything wrong, but HE’S wrong from not being willing to give her another chance to possibly hurt him again. Take responsibility! If you haven’t cheated on him in the first place you wouldn’t be here now. Sure, maybe the relationship wouldn’t have lasted, but you wouldn’t be here now begging to get him back by using magick.
I had another woman who is in her 60’s and doesn’t have the means to financially care for herself. Her parents died not too long ago and they were her only means of financial support for some time. She then had a slip and fall accident that left her injured for some time as well. Now she has no money, no job, a lease that is going to run out, and no one to care for her. Her only sibling was placed in the role of executor of her parents estate and he isn’t giving her anything from it. She feels this is unfair and that he should be taking care of her since her parents did. She feels that since he has a job where he makes a healthy income and because he has a home, cars, and material things she doesn’t that he should be providing for her and caring for her. When I talked to her about getting a job she has one excuse after another about why there is nothing for her; companies don’t use people anymore since everything is automated, she’s too old, she can’t work the kinds of hours people ask for, she can’t physically do a lot of things, she doesn’t want to drive in the winter weather. Take responsibility! It’s not her brother’s responsibility to take care of her no matter how much she might think he should. She’s a grown adult that should make her own way, yet she emphatically feels that since he has and she has not that it’s his job to care for her. She doesn’t indicate having any disabilities of any kind that prevent her from working, she just sites her age and the “debilitating effects” of her parents deaths as the problem. She seems to have a reason to say no to jobs, she refuses to get on any public assistance and she’s clearly got a computer and internet access yet I’m guess she’s not about to cut back on those expenses. When she asked me for a “millionaire spell” that’s when I knew nothing would get through. Do I even need to point out the specifics here that need attention? I didn’t think so.
So I’ll say it again…
TAKE RESPONSIBILITY!
Casting spells isn’t a way to get things without working for them. It’s also not a way of escaping responsibility. Even when you have a spell cast for you or you do it yourself your need to act on that is still going to be there. Your need to be responsible is still going to be there. I always try and walk into my consultations with the mind set that these people don’t know anything about magick, how it works or what it’s really all about. I always end up giving a VERY brief crash course in “what is magick and how does it work”. But sometimes it doesn’t sink in and people still think this is Hollywood and that I’m going to wiggle my nose and their problems will go *POOF*. If it worked that way I wouldn’t need a millionaire spell because my nose would make me millions.
How much is too much?
Sep 17th
If you’re on my Facebook page then you may have seen the shock and horror expressed in a status update I made yesterday when I went looking at information on some workshops at The Chopra Center here in north country San Diego, CA. I actually didn’t know that this was where The Chopra Center was. I actually used to live right down the street from there when I lived in the La Costa part of Carlsbad a few years ago. So being in La Jolla now I’m only about 20 minutes or so away so I thought that if there was something interesting going on there I would be more than willing to go up there and check it out.
Now, in truth, as I looked a the list of possible classes and events, nothing really stood out to me as something I MUST go to. If you’ve ever read any of Deepak Chopra’s books you know it’s all very “new agey”, something I’m not at all opposed to, but not all of it appeals to me. In my opinion there is a good, healthy dose of bullshit in a lot of the New Age stuff out there. However having said that, I do often find that the stuff Deepak Chopra writes connects for me on some level which was why I was interested in checking out any classes that might be going on up there in Carlsbad.
On the site the events are broken out into three groups; physical healing, emotional wellbeing, and spiritual awakening. One thing that I noticed is that just about all of these events are full on retreats lasting 3-6 days. There is a daily meditation group that does 30 minute meditations twice a day, but it’s not a class, per se. There are also several events that are only open to those that have “graduated” from other events in the past. For example, the three day Secrets of Enlightenment course is only open to those that have taken and graduated from the SynchroDestiny class. The SynchroDestiny class is a four day self-empowerment workshop that costs $3,375 if you enroll six months in advance or $4,175 for “standard enrollment”, meaning you didn’t make any of the “early bird” dates. So if you’ve completed that and want to take the Secrets of Enlightenment course that’s going to be three days for another $4,575 6 months in advance or $4,775 any time you enroll thereafter.
Really?! I mean, I get it; these are classes taught by Deepak Chopra. So for close a little under $9,000 you will have taken two classes that will teach you how to harness creative power through coincidence and the world around you to achieve your goals and become more spiritually enlightened. Not that I’m trying to say this isn’t worthwhile, but I hope one of the things that you can learn is how to harness back that $9,000 in some way! Dear Gods! How much do we have to pay to feel “empowered”? Why do people pay these fees to take these classes to learn something that though personal meditation and journaling, and maybe spending $30 on a book by Deepak Chopra, you could learn on your own for far less money? I mean don’t get me wrong, their website alone offers many great free resources like meditations, some reading material etc, but for the most part if you wanted to really “learn”, apparently, it all boils down to these big ticket events.
I understand that some people don’t feel that they can study these things alone and that they feel they need to guidance of a teacher but that’s just insane! Now, if you don’t know the north country San Diego area, and especially if you don’t know the Carlsbad area, I can tell you, this makes a little bit of sense given where it’s located. There are a LOT of rich, bored housewives in that part of San Diego and I imagine this is a large part of the people that attend these things. I also imagine that many of these people are part of the “new age fluffy mid-life crisis” crowd. I also noticed that these prices just covered the classes.
But how much is too much? When it comes to classes and workshops or even retreats that are a week long, what are you willing to pay and what are you willing to pay for? What would it take to get you to spend thousands of dollars on a ritual retreat? How do you feel about paying for classes, training, etc? What is the price you can put on spiritual learning?
Mood: pensive 
How is your Pagan Pride Day received?
Sep 12th
I was really disheartened to read this article and see that Pagan discrimination is clearly alive and well, at least in this part of PA where a number of shop owners have chosen to close their stores for the day because they are not in favor of the Pagan Pride Day event taking place in their town.
Is it me, or does it seem even less civil to close up your store for a whole day because you don’t agree with the views of a group holding an event on public property that they rightly paid to rent within your town? Does it really look better for you, as the shop owner, to close up, even put somewhat nasty signs on your doors explaining why you’re closed, in a sense throwing a passive aggressive temper tantrum, than to just stay open and possibly make some money from those in town visiting for the PPD festival? I would think in this economy small independent shop owners, like the owner of The Soxy Lady (one who decided to close for the day) would welcome the chance to do business with the visitors in town. I couldn’t help but look to see if The Soxy Lady had a website and I wasn’t able to find much, but did find a Blogspot account that hasn’t had a post since 2006 where the owner, Jane, describes herself as a Christian who is married with three children. The woman sells yarn and related knitting supplies. She has NO IDEA the business she may have lost because so many of us Pagan types love our crafts and knitting! If you happen to live in the Reinholds, PA area or want to contact the shop owner to let her know what her ignorance is making her miss out on, you can find the shop info here on The Merchant Circle.
Today is the PPD here in San Diego but I’m not going to be able to make it because of other plans I have with my husband. But I’m curious to know, how is the PPD in your neck of the woods received by local business owners and residents? Do you attend PPD at all during the month of September?
Mood: annoyed 
Dear PETA, We’re breaking up…
Aug 21st
Dear PETA,
I’m sorry that this has to come in the form of a letter and that I can’t face you to tell you this in person, but I’m sorry. We’re breaking up.
A handful of years ago when I went vegan you were very instrumental to my decision and my course of action. Your books, your handouts, your websites, all of it. I joined peta2 and started handing out flyers and materials to people, sharing with friends and the like. It’s not just because I was feeling pretty strong about the ethics behind the whole thing, but because it made sense to me. And for those things, I’ll always be grateful. But even still, with the things that you have done that were great and all the things we’ve been on the same page with over the years, something you said recently just changed everything.
Last week someone showed me this…
Now, when I caught up with you a few years ago after some time apart, I was coming off an almost all meat diet that I was on after hitting my heaviest weight ever. It’s certainly not something that I or anyone else can deny! I had lost 40lbs on the meaty diet, but felt terrible eating turkey and chicken 3 or 4 times a day and started to think I was doing more harm than good to myself after losing all that weight in two months. So we got acquainted again at that point and you helped me go vegan. Sadly, after 8 months of being vegan, stress and moving across country and just life caused me to slowly start falling into the dairy trap again. Even though I was eating dairy I never wavered on meat and stayed vegetarian. You know what happened though? I gained 30lbs back. Not just from eating dairy, I’m positive, though I’m not going to deny that going from vegan to vegetarian isn’t going raise the chance to pack on a few pounds.
I admit that I’m fat! It’s not something I or anyone else can deny and I don’t try to pretend that I’m not fat or that I couldn’t use to lose a good bit of weight. I admit I struggle with my weight and I’m always trying to find the next thing to do to fix my weight issues mainly out of the desire to feel more myself, feel comfortable in my own body and for my health (and a little to help how I feel about myself but that’s around the bottom of the list of reasons for losing weight). Yes I could make better food choices at times but I know that my biggest problem is that I’m lazy…lol. I know that my extreme sedentary lifestyle, either plopped in front of a computer or gaming system, reading a book or just sleeping, has caused me to stay fat no matter how much tofu, tempe, salads and fruit smoothies I eat.
So here’s why I’m breaking up with you. While you’re heart might be in the right place with your “save the whales” campaign is so misguided. It’s not just about being vegetarian. I’m a vegetarian and I’m fat. End of story. My weight hasn’t really changed at all in the last year with the exception of 10lbs here or there which I can gain and loose really easily (beyond that it’s a fight). But I’ll tell you, seeing this picture and reading these words, make me want to scream. Not everyone can suddenly fit the image of your “Lettuce Ladies” by going vegetarian. Not everyone is going to suddenly look like a swimsuit model by cutting out meat. There’s so much more to it. What are you doing to get that point across? Nothing, it seems. And instead you’re going to point fingers at people who are fat and say “If you’d stop eating meat you wouldn’t be a cow yourself anymore.” I’m sorry, but you’re wrong…and offensive.
It’s funny that it took something this close to home to make me really see how sexist and horrible you’ve really been all these years and I just wasn’t looking. Never did I think you’d have to sink this low but you have and I can’t be with you any more. So thanks for all that you’ve done for me in the past but from here on out I’ll be supporting animal rights and vegetarianism without your help.
Toodles! 
Mood: pissed 
You’ve Got (fundi) Mail!
Aug 17th
Like I often do, I was taking a nap this afternoon (because I can’t sleep at night so naps are my friend) and I normally turn the sound on my Blackberry to “off” when I sleep but for some reason today I said I’d leave it alone. Not only did my cousin call twice (well, technically she’s my husband’s cousin, but she’s like a cousin to me too) but I kept getting emails like crazy. I got pretty good at ignoring all the noise for the hour I managed to get some sleep but when I finally gave in I grabbed the phone to see what the hell was going on. I get all my email from Sacred Mists, the blog and my reading site to my phone so that if I’m not home or at the computer I’m not out of the loop of anything that might be going on. So I’m going through a bunch of emails for Sacred Mists, a handful of Twitter alerts and then I get to an interesting email from someone I don’t know. I was only half awake still but the title was “Good news for you!” so right away I’m thinking it’s going to be some sort of spam and then the I see the first few lines:
Hello,
Thank you for not deleting this email right away. While you and I may not know each other, what I want to tell you is important enough for me to want to contact you. But don’t worry, I obtained your email address off the internet and will not contact you again unless you reply.
Oh good, I wonder if I’m going to be asked to help deposit some money in a Swiss bank account or help someone with their overseas business transaction. Then I read on.
I assure you that this is not a solicitation or a scam of any kind. I do not want to sell you anything or sign you up for anything. My hope is that you will continue to read the email. My hope is that, in the end, you will see this letter as so much more than “spam.”
Ok, well you’re assuring me that this isn’t a scam or spam so I’m listening…
The reason for the email is so that you can hear about the good news of the Gospel.
DAMNIT! You said it wasn’t a scam or spam! *humph*
I’m not going to bore you with the whole email. It’s long and all of us have seen one of these “spreading the good word” posts/emails before. But I get curious when I get these. I somewhat expect them because of the blog and my other sites I run, but in all honesty they are extremely rare. When I get from the bed to the computer I look at the list of people that got the email and I’m not personally in there. The email came to me by way of the Sacred Mists Student Council email address which I thought was wicked interesting. I was also somewhat interested to see that I recognized some of the other names in the email. But they were all “s” names so my personal email isn’t a target I guess (last I checked Pagans and Christians alike that speak English put “r” before “s”). So I do a Google search on the email address and I get lots of fun info!
The email address was mel_kizadeck@bellsouth.net and the email came from a person using the name Mel Chizedek but signed the email Mel Kizadeck. Either way, the person seems to go by Melchizedek online and they call themselves a “self-titled Email Evangelist for My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!” And of course, if you’re an email evangelist you have to have a web site too! No self respecting email evangelist would be without one. Here, in an entry dated Friday, June 19, 2009 you’ll see the original email that was sent and was the one that I saw in my inbox today.
So part of me wanted to email this person back just to say thanks but no thanks, though when I saw I wasn’t personally emailed and it was just that I happened to be part of a group email that got it, I decided not to. Then I also saw that this person gets more than their share of rebuttal emails from people not too happy with this non-scamming, non-spamming, unsolicited email and these rebuttals all seem to get posted on the website for people to view. I realized I had no interest in being part of this person’s collection of “fan mail” so I didn’t write back. I also remembered my days of debating with Christians ended when I stopped hanging out in the Christian chat rooms on AOL for fun when I was 20. So for this reason I didn’t write back.
It just bothers me that people feel the need to do this. I understand that they are told that it’s their mission and I understand that many of them feel that if they don’t do things like this they are doing something wrong against their God, but I guess that for me it’s just so out of my nature and my heart to want to push people into feeling like they HAVE to believe this or that.
Ah well. The best thing these emails do is remind me to not pay any mind to the fundi Christians that randomly and without solicitation decide to send it to me. It makes me think back on my bad behavior as a chat room terror on AOL all those years ago and how I’d argue these people to death; nothing ever changes and the energy that these exchanges create is never helpful. But it does still make my blood simmer (not boil like it once did).
Mood: annoyed, just a little 
RANT: There should be a law…
Aug 15th
And that law should state “If you wish to write about something from a point of authority you need to not only be knowledgeable of the subject but you also need to be able to actually write with intelligence and cite information that supports your ideas.”
This morning in my half awake state as I was deciding whether or not I’d had enough sleep, I took a few moments to quickly check email and glance through what was going on in the Twittervirse while I was sleeping. While doing this I saw a retweet with a link to an article that suddenly woke me up; it was titled “Christianity: The Offspring of Pagan and Wiccan Religions“. Holy Hella, really? Well I guess I can spare a little sleep for some early weekend bat-shit crazy notions. Sadly I was disappointed that the article was very short and not well written; I was somewhat hoping for long and crazy armchair theories but, no.
So where to begin. The article is written by a 24 year old budding fantasy writer (and I mean fantasy in the traditional sense, not this article, which is somewhat fantastical) who, according to his Myspace page is a Wizard and Wiccan attending The Grey School of Wizardry online. He is also sure to let you know on his Myspace page that he’s cast successful spells as a Wicca and Wizard and that he dreams things that come true. Ah! A true authority on all things Wizardry I assume!
And, while I know this isn’t the most mature thing to say, I am forgiving myself because this is a rant after all, but the picture on his Myspace profile just screams “HELLO I am Super Wiccan…er…Wizard…rawr!” Not to mention that in light of his particular piece of writing that I’m about to talk about the pictures titled “Merry Wiccan Christmas” were just priceless.
Ok, shifting back into less catty mode, let’s talk about this article written by Prince Christopher Aldridge. Yup,
“Prince” Christopher (and, just because you can’t a Wiccan Wizard without using “Lord” somewhere his YouTube name is apparently PrinceLordChris where you can watch his videos he makes to “defend and protect Wiccans, Pagans” etc, as he puts it). And while I watched about 3 minutes of a video of his talking about Samhain as a rebuttal to a Christian propaganda style video about Halloween being evil, he was close on many points but it was also clear to me that he is one of these people that wants to deny anything “dark” or “negative” ever happened in connection with Pagans in antiquity. I’m sorry but human sacrifice was NOT out of the realm of practice of the ancients (and yes, while Caesar wrote most of the initial material on the Druids and their practices the observations of human sacrifice among the Druids and others weren’t made just by Caesar, so to say he made it up to discredit the Druids or something of that nature is a little naive, as is the idea that no Pagans ever practiced human sacrifice either with willing or unwilling participants).
Well Prince Christopher wrote this article, which was apparently published today, about Paganism and Wiccan being the parents, essentially, of Christianity. He talks about the Bible “dripping with Paganism and Witchcraft”, which I wouldn’t disagree with. We know that there was a lot of magick going on in the Bible between the Witch of Endor and Christ’s own miracle working, but I do believe there is a big difference between what was considered to be Witchcraft than and what is considered Witchcraft today. Things that were considered Witchcraft in the time of the Bible being written are considered to be quite different today; medicine is an example of this since someone being able to heal something thought to be incurable at that time would surely be a Witch but today we call them Doctor.
Yes, it’s true that the Pentagram was a symbol used by the early Christians as it was a symbol that represented protection to many and early Christians saw it as representing the five wounds of Christ. Early Christian warriors are said to have used it as a protection symbol on their armor. It was first know to be used in 3500 B.C. in Ancient Mesopotamia and was found there on a broken piece of pottery with writings and inscriptions on it show it as an imperial symbol of power extending out to “the four corners of the world”. However, one thing that the pentagram was not was the Seal of Solomon, or “Solomon’s seal” as pointed to in the article. The Seal of Solomon was a hexagram and while there are later sigils and seals attributed to Solomon that have a pentagram shape and design, they are not the original seal which is actually the Star of David. Also, I wouldn’t really say that King Solomon was a “wizard”, but more of an early Occultist of his time, since I personally see one calling themselves and others “wizards” reserved for “Harry Potter”, D&D and the target audience of the Grey School of Wizardry (which is typically pre-teen and teen boys it seems, somewhat cashing in on the Harry Potter thing).
One of things that also sort of gets me is the idea of aligning Paganism and Witchcraft with what the author calls “supernatural and powerful ways” of God (in the Christian context). Modern Witches typically don’t see their practices as supernatural, meaning “above nature”, but instead being aligned with the natural order of the Universe and nature. And Pan was not “simply a good nature deity”, he certainly had some darker elements to him as noted by tales in his myths where he orders the death of female spirits that are not interested in him sexually or romantically as well as being known for his sexual prowess (not that this is a dark thing, per se, but it seems that the author’s “good nature deity” depicts an image of a benevolent, pipe playing deity in a tree, which Pan can be but at his core isn’t).
But let’s get to the real glaring problem. Christianity does NOT have it’s roots in Wicca. It’s not historically possible. Paganism, yes. Wicca, no. Wicca, in that way that the good Prince is trying to present it (as opposed to wicce or wica) is a modern Neo-Pagan religion (“neo” meaning new) of the 1940s-1950s (depending on what end of the semantics debate you want to be on). To say that “the Bible would have absolutely NO foundation” with Paganism and Witchcraft is quite arrogant. To assume that all Christians are ignorant of the fact that many foundational elements of modern Christianity are Pagan is also wrong; there are whole groups of Christians out there that don’t honor the Christian holidays the way that we often see them in both modern Christian and secular society. For example, there are Christians that know the origins of many of the Easter traditions (the eggs, the bunnies, etc) and they do not accept, honor or use those symbols because of their Pagan origins; the same can be said of many Christmas related symbols such as Santa and the decorated tree. Believe it or not there are plenty of Christians that do not use these either because of their Pagan origins. So to say that all Christians are ignorant of these things is ignorance in and of itself. Like they say, the ones that preach the loudest know the least. The ones that don’t feel they have to prove anything to anyone stay home, quietly worship their God and celebrate their holidays quietly and without the Pagan elements.
So, these things aside, the other thing that killed me was how short and ranty this article was when it looked like it wanted to be a piece of informational and educational material. He provides nothing to back up his ideas, even the correct ones, in order to show proof to support his claims for those Christians that would possibly read this. Right there is one thing that will make most Ch
ristians who do read it look at this and say “Ah, another angry and misguided youth is needs to come back to Jesus.” And for someone that is a published writer (he does have one short fiction stories in print, good for him, really), it surprises me that he feels the need to use all caps to make a point (although he does make sure on his website to make a point of saying that “I would appreciate it if you would point out error or typos if you find them in my books, which I highly doubt you will. I am professional in my writings.” And yes, that was verbatim and was error not errors. 
You can also check out some of his “religious writings” which are sort of “meh” (The Sabbats he calls Sabbaths, Eostre is Eastra, and his overall writing of the subject is just glossed over and poor and nothing more than sound bites).
If you want to be a Wizard and speak out against the Pagan-hated Christians out there, great, I wish you luck. But at least do it with maturity and knowledge and come from a place of wanting to be part of the solution not part of the problem. When you mislead your readers and misrepresent fact and history you’re part of the problem. Now, believe me, I’m not trying to say I’m an authority here! I think trying to come across as an authority in this subject in this day is downright asking for trouble because there will always be be someone there trying to discredit you (yes I know, pot meet kettle) but if you really want to do it, at least do it well. I guess that if you want to try and sound like an authority you should put in the time, study and research first and then start your mission to change the world.
Mood: bitchy (not ashamed to admit it) 
Where Have The Pagan Podcasters Gone?
Aug 12th
Is it me or does it seem like the faces of Pagan Podcasting have changed quite a bit lately. Some of the best podcasts have fallen to the wayside; one of the biggest changes came early this year when Deo and Mandy from Deo’s Shadow announced that they would be stopping their highly popular show Deo’s Shadow because of both time constraints and because the two had decided that they were no longer going to be following a Pagan path and were turning more toward Atheism. Other popular shows have become scarce including The Crooked Path (who’s website no longer seems to work and there seems to be no trace of the show since early this year) and Lance and Graal (their website now takes you to a vitamins and supplements site). So what’s going on?
One place that you will find a lot of Wiccan and Pagan podcasts moving to is BlogTalkRadio (BTR). One of the reasons that BTR has become so popular is that it allows a level of interaction between the show hosts and the listeners that more traditional podcasts don’t have . With BTR a show host can have a show on the air, live and then laster available as a podcast on iTunes, for no money at all or they can purchase premium services for between $40 and $100 allowing a great deal of freedom with managing a program. BTR shows provide the host with a call in number and small switchboard system where they can call in to host their show via any phone (landlines, cell, or even Skype) and then a call in number for listeners to be able to call and be on the air as part of the show. Each show also gets it’s own chat room during the live show as well allowing listeners to interact with one another as well.
More and more budding Pagan Podcasters seem to be starting shows on BTR. I think that between the type of show that BTR allows someone to create and the fact that anyone can create and host a show without having the have any special equipment or any real knowledge of recording or even really any heavy computer skills, it seems that we’re seeing a new way of media coming in to get our messages and ideas out there while reaching Pagans all across the globe.
So who is out there? Here is a list of Pagan Podcasting shows that are still showing active sites and shows. Feel free to add others in the comments if you have some active favorites that aren’t here. And be sure to check out the Occult, Paranormal, Psychic, Wiccan and Pagan listings on the BTR site and find a show to listen to and participate in!
The Wigglian Way
Celtic Myth Podshow
The Dark Side of Fey
Druidcast
Edge of the Circle
Get Witchified
iPod Witch
Pagan Heart in Maine
Pagan Parents on the Edge
Ravencast
Secrets in Plain Sight
Spiral Dance
Geek Witch
PaganFM
Shadowdance
A Darker Shade of Pagan (a music only podcast)
A Witch’s Primer
Mood: dorky 
