Return to Phae

 My post for the letter F is done and scheduled to auto-post on Friday, along with two weeks worth of book reviews.  My blog is finally starting to look somewhat professional.  Yay.

I also have a post in mind for the letter G, but I'll need to refresh my memory a bit before I start writing that one.  Plus, I'm not sure which direction I want the article to go.

I'm thinking about pulling back a bit again in terms of the online Pagan community.  I don't think I have the stamina for it.  I miss being able to help folks, and I really wish I could put TeenWitch back up again.  I do still have the WP domain.  I might start compiling useful articles, but that will probably be a back burner project.  I don't even have a design for that blog yet.

All in one!

So, my minor epiphany after my much cranky post of a couple of days ago, came as I was lying in bed trying to go to sleep. It was kind of one of those *poof* "Oooohhhh, I get it" kind of moments.

But first, a little background - there are a lot of parts of Wiccan theology that I don't tend to agree with. Much of it, in fact, I have really just discarded over the years because it didn't fit at all in my world view. Over the years, I have heard people describe what writings such as the Wiccan Rede mean to them, and I have always felt mildly envious that I just didn't see what they saw in it.

What I saw was really just a big PITA waiting to happen. The majority of people don't really understand it and try to invoke it as some sort of High Law for Witches. Academically, I can see the value of how 'An it harm none, do what ye will' can be very freeing for people who have lived good portions of their lives under the yoke of a god who tends to take offense at a lot of rather trivial things.

I grew up in a very liberal family, and the ones who were more hardcore were people I just generally avoided because they were a serious buzz-kill for a young and flighty Aquarian.

In the end, I wrote off the Rede as more trouble than it was worth. Until the moment that I realized that it can work both ways. I am sure that most of you have noticed that I tend to be more forgiving of newbies than I was in previous years (I credit this attitude to spending more time working on my own path, and less time caring whether someone else looks silly in front of a TV camera). My feelings these days can be summed up in eight little words:

"If they aren't hurting anyone, leave it alone."

The fact that someone may have a silly or even stupid idea does not obligate me to set them straight. Let them think that the world is made of fluffy kittens and unicorns. Let them believe that they are the reincarnation of a fictional character or that they are actually aliens in disguise.

If I can live in a world of Jedis, Trekkies, Plushies, conspiracy nuts, Crystal children, Otakukin and any number of other weird personality quirks, then I can live in a world with Fluffy Bunnies in it, too. In the grand scheme of things, their offenses are really rather mild.

Not to say that I mean to keep my opinions to myself when asked, but if no one is asking, I can just as easily roll my eyes and go on about my business. And in the last four years, one thing I have learned is that no amount of denouncing them is going to change how the mainstream public views Pagans and Witches. Apparently, that takes pizza.

Now, on to the discovery part of this post. I have recently been feeling poked and otherwise prodded to get my altar finished and to get some statuary for it. I have been looking for a nice modern interpretation of Aphrodite (more on that later), when I found a couple of the most gorgeous new sculptures I have seen in a long time.

Neil Sims is an up and coming artist and sculptor from the UK.  His busts of the Horned God and the Earth Goddess have been hitting some online shops in recent months (Others can be found HERE).  They are really gorgeous, but obviously quite pricey as well (and then shipping from the UK - ouch!)

Some random surfing over the weekend showed me that he draws and paints too.  My only sadness is that he doesn't have a website of his own where you can order prints and see his whole collection.

Some good news on the pricing front of the busts is that the fantasy modelling community got a hold of him before we did.  You can order the busts and paint them yourself for about half the cost of buying them bronzed. *as the artist in me squeals with delight*  About the only part of those silly fantasy war games that WD used to play that I actually liked, was the modelling.  I love painting and  altering models!

Now if I can just find something suitable for Aphrodite, then I'll be set - though, I have an inkling that I may end up having to make something for her as well.

That's all from me for now.

--Phae

I have been reading a couple of threads in the wiccan  comm about Christian imports, and  in the second thread, someone asked a very specific question that I don't really think many took a very deep look. Do Pagans need mainstream acceptance?

Those who replied to that part said no. Now, if the question had been soley 'do Pagans need mainstream acceptance to have a fulfilling spiritual practise?', then I would agree, but ' why do Pagans need mainstream acceptance at all?'  Well, there are plenty of reasons.  And the conclusion I come to is, that in the US, they absolutely do need some sort of acceptance.

Over the past year and a half I have seen more than I care to of this sort of story: Parent loses custody of their child because they are Pagan of some flavour. We also have stories about teenagers being abused by the faculty of their school and by other students for no other reason than that they are Pagan. People still lose their jobs over this. People still have their homes vandalized and their property destroyed and their pets killed over this.

These days it seems fairly unlikely that there are too many people who don't know what a Pagan or Wiccan is (in the sense of recognizing the word, not in the sense of actually having factual information). That is mainstream recognition. It is big. But not every Pagan was cut out to be one of the Hidden Children. It is for them that I believe we do need to work toward mainstream acceptance ... or at least tolerance.

There have been many who have crossed my path screaming persecution and how there need to be new laws.  Almost every time I have told them that the laws that protect you are already there.  You just have to fight to have them enforced.  I realize that that is not a fight that everyone can win.  I think it is a fight that they shouldn't have to fight alone.

The law is there.  The protection is there.  But so long as those who enforce it believe that any sort of Pagan belief is a fad or a phase, those laws aren't going to be doing what they were intended to do.

If you don't live in the states (and I don't either), then I think the dynamics are different.  Canada's government runs differently than the US's does.  I believe that the States are in a time of upheaval.  It would be really easy to just fall back into the shadows and not deal with it.  But I think that would only serve to make things worse in the long run.  There is still very much the sentiment that if you hide something, it is because you know it is wrong.

It's a catch 22 that needs to be stomped out.

--Phae

I found an interesting article the other day through Chas Clifton's blog about Pagans and rosary-style prayer beads.  It seems that the practise of prayer and use of prayer tools is becoming larger in the general Pagan community.  I am passing this on to anyone who hasn't seen it yet, and also because I want to be able to refer back to it later (it might be useful for an article on the 'growing up' of the Pagan community that has been churning in my mind).

Picking up her Catholic rosary, Meg, a 24-year-old from Maine, begins her prayers like this:

"Hail Persephone, full of strength and beauty. ... Blessed are you and blessed is the cycle of your life. Holy Persephone, queen of life and death, pray for your children now, and in the hour of our need. Blessed be."

Full Article Here

--Phae

I have finished reading yezida's three part discussion on the Growth of Paganism and the lack of Pagan Elders.  I have learned two things.  1 - I have had enough heavy thinking to last me for the next few days at least.  2 - Thelema, CM and Kabbalah still go zooming right over my head (or, their adherants just like to talk as if it does ... which from what I have seen, may very well be the case ... egos the size of small stadiums there).

Good food for thought, though.  If anyone hasn't already read them, I do really recommend it (and the comments too, that is why it takes so long to wade through).

--Phae