Return to Phae

As many of you know, PW is sinking again, and I am not entirely certain that I am going to make the effort to save it.  Most have jumped ship, and those who remain are infrequent posters at best (except of course for the ever verbous LadyK). 

And I am sure that most of  you have seen me complain about PC, which has become and will continue to become nothing at all like I wanted it to be (already it has failed to provide a place where Mysteries can be discussed without someone or other comparing those trads to dangerous and useless cults).  Honestly, and without any sour grapes, I just don't think that there is enough in common between the creators/maintainers' vision and mine to make it a place where I could feel at home.

This makes me long for TT.  I miss it.  I miss everyone who was there, and I miss the Witch-focussed conversations that we had.  I was thinking a bit about the idea that was tossed around the first time I was bucking at the core concepts of PC - creating my own forum.  I have some time on my hands, and I could create a place that could strive to fill the hole TT left in me.

I was even thinking of names (names help to cement concepts for me), and what sort of tribute I could make to TT.  I came up with Wickets.  Simple word smooshing.  I looked it up, just to make sure that there weren't any meanings that I didn't want associated with the site (I knew about wickets in cricket and croquet), and I found this: A small door or gate, especially one built into or near a larger one.

I think that is about the perfect image for what I am going for here (we all remember what the front page image of TT was ... Wickets made me think of This).  I will have to do some research on what I will need in the way of software and hosting, but I think that Wickets has already had the first breath of life breathed into it.  I am excited to see what this brainchild will become.

--Phae

We have a thread going at PW about a woman having problems with her husband recently converting to Christianity and wanting to drag her with him. A lot of people are posting their experiences with their SOs, and it seems to me that a lot of Pagans seem to be with Agnostic/Athiests rather than other Pagans or even Christians.

My own fiance, wintersdark, considers himself an atheist. Not in the 'I am sure there are no Gods' sort of a way ... more of a 'I really wish I could believe that there is something else out there, but I just don't think so' sort of a way. He has always been very open with me and my faith ... he is never condiscending and is always sticking up for me when people ask him how his wife can 'believe in something that isn't real' (I laughed when he told me that one - this was coming from a Christian co-worker).

My own experiences makes me wonder if it is just easier for Pagan folks to be with someone who either has no beliefs or has more open beliefs than someone who has a set of very different beliefs. I tend to think on some of the funny conversations that my Heathen brother has had with his Muslim girlfriend ... like her shock and mild disgust at him eating pork.

I can't remember the last time someone came in asking advice on how to deal with their athiest SO ... perhaps it is just a respect thing. If you respect your partner, then you won't belittle their faith ... but is respect enough when your SO honestly believes that you are going to burn for what you do/believe? Are Christian/Pagan relationships just doomed from the beginning? Is success based on whether or not your Christian partner is 'lapsed' in his/her faith?

I realise that in the end it isn't really my concern whether those sorts of relationships can work out ... but I think that just about every Pagan out there has at least one Christian family member (I know I have more than a few). So far, I think that 'keep it to yourself' is about the best policy you can hope for when dealing with harshly devout Christian family members. And I think we have all seen instances when that just wasn't an option.

((yeah, I guess I am thinking of my MIL again))

--Phae

I think I have about had it with P/W again. The snooty, 'I know more than you because I am an Nth generation whoever who worked for the president' type posters were amusing ... I even indulged the 'Hey! How dare you talk about something that isn't directly related to ME!' poster, and the 'I know just as much as all you trad folk because I am Correlian trad' poster ... but it has all gotten to be too much.

Now we have 'me, Me, ME' poster whining about how she is suicidal because people aren't willing to take her abuse (which, I don't believe, I think she is just grasping at attention again), and everyone seems quick to jump out of the shadows and apologize for their oversight (yeah, like anyone could miss all the 'ME ME ME' posts), and begging her to give the forum another chance. I am done with it now. ARGH!

Sorry, Fylgja, I am not going to be going back to P/W for a while, so I won't be continuing our conversation (which I think is just about done now anyway).

The sunshine beckons! No more wasted time in floofy-land!

--Phae