There are a lot of gross and shitty things on my dash today. While I’m usually pleased to have a backlog of interesting posts to read, these were mostly very bad.
Blanket statements, the spewing of incorrect “facts,” tone policing and gender shaming (not sure if that’s the official term, but I know you know what I mean) are not the sort of thing I want to see. Ever.
I am so disappointed and disgusted by what I just read.
(Why am I putting this in the #pagan tag? Because it’s relevant.)
(misgendering is the word I think you are looking for)
Agreed. Today was totally disgusting. Yesterday wasn’t much better. I’m not sure why all of the sudden these hateful people have decided to start sharing their bile with the rest of the world, but I’d really like them to crawl back into their holes.
Yes! Misgendering. Thank you. (I tend to get words and phrases mixed up, which can be extremely embarrassing at times.)
Sometimes I wonder if people are saying these outrageous things just to get a rise out of everyone else, especially when they do so under the cover of being anonymous. I’ve had friends who get a kick out of starting fights, and the sort of mindless mud-slinging that’s been happening reminds me of that. People who will grasp at whatever they can to start a fight, either because they can or because they enjoy hurting others.
5th July 2012
Reblogged From thebookoftides
Notes: 7
It’s taken a lot to actually come out and say this but… I’m a terribly lazy witch.
As my fellow pagans may know, July the 3rd was the night of the full moon - a time where She is the Mother and we all come together and perform some kind of ritual to celebrate this time. But, being the unmotivated fool I am, I totally got distracted by the internet and soon fell asleep at my laptop.
Now I awoke around 2.30 in the morning, which would have been a fab time to perform my ritual had my mum not been asleep and if I had the right candles and incense and so forth. Instead I ended up looking out of my window at the moon (which was unfortunately covered by rainclouds, Mother was probably in a huff with me) and apolgised for my laziness and “sang” a lullaby.
My laziness is getting beyond control! I buy all of these fabulous new incense and candles for spellwork and rituals and never get round to doing them. I honestly need someone to yell in my face before I actually drag myself out of bed and do something.
Being Pagan and a witch involves quite a bit of time dedicated to the craft and the worship of deities and so forth. I mean I set up an altar for Isis a few days ago and I think she’s a bit miffed with the fact I have only burned a small candle and some Egyptian incense in her honour. And to say I’m trying to get myself in her good books for future spellwork and so forth, well, I’m not trying very hard at all!
What can I say, I turned 16 today and I am doing absolutely fuck all to help lift that lazy adolescent stereotype. My excuse is exactly that (Mum: Greta why can’t you stop being lazy and tidy your room/get out the house/wash up/JUST BLOODY DO SOMETHING?! Me: I’m a teenager, that’s what teenagers do all day - nothing), but I’m afraid I’m becoming too lazy for my own good. I’ve decided to do a banishing spell around the time of the new moon (if I remember), but that seems so far away and I want to get motivated asap before I become a complete hermit. So, if anyone knows any good motivational spells, potions, incense or oils that will help me, please let me know!
I know something that can help, but it’s not a spell…it’s an attitude adjustment. Parents do a fuckton of shit to raise their children, and it is not easy. I’m not going to assume you don’t do chores, but when you say you’re lazy, that’s the first thing that I think of. If you want to get a better handle on yourself, try volunteering to help around the house. Vacuum, sweep, or mop the floors. Do the dishes. Do the laundry (if you have a washer and dryer, which I know a lot of families don’t). If you have siblings, help take care of them. If you know how to cook, ask if you can make dinner a few nights a week. It should go without saying, since I did say “volunteer,” but do this without being asked. If you see dirty dishes on the counter or table, wash them and put them away, rather than let them be someone else’s responsibility. Ask your parents how else you can help.
As for witchery, it’s always been my understanding that you don’t need things. If the most you can manage is a few minutes of meditation or perhaps prayer, the Pagan Police aren’t going to show up and haul you off to Irreverant Witch Jail - especially if you’re only sixteen. My opinion (and I am in no way going to force this down your throat, because what works for one person doesn’t work for everyone) is that, at your age, you should be spending more time researching than doing spellwork. If you’ve chosen to honor Isis, make sure you approach all aspects of your worship respectfully, which includes thorough research - and I don’t mean just reading a few things on the internet or skimming a Wikipedia article. Go to your local library, see if they have any books…preferably ones that were written by people from the culture you’re looking into, rather than white people looking for a quick buck.
As a last resort, if you can’t manage to drum up any sort of motivation, just think of how your laziness might land you in a shitty life. If you don’t get used to working now, getting out of bed and developing a good work ethic, it’ll be that much harder when you have no choice.
There are a lot of gross and shitty things on my dash today. While I’m usually pleased to have a backlog of interesting posts to read, these were mostly very bad.
Blanket statements, the spewing of incorrect “facts,” tone policing and gender shaming (not sure if that’s the official term, but I know you know what I mean) are not the sort of thing I want to see. Ever.
I am so disappointed and disgusted by what I just read.
(Why am I putting this in the #pagan tag? Because it’s relevant.)
tinypagan replied to your post: I’ve been looking, but apparently I’m kinda dumb,…
If you’re talking about the full moon, you can just go outside and look at it. Not sure what your religion is, so maybe you could meditate or make a small prayer if the moon is important in your practice.
I might just sit outside for a while and meditate. I’ve been having some weird issues lately, so hopefully that will calm me down.
On the other hand, I might get eaten by mosquitoes and wild animals. Either way, problem solved!
I’ve been looking, but apparently I’m kinda dumb, so - does anyone know where I can find something to do tonight? Not a full-blown ritual, because I live with people who wouldn’t be comfortable with that; I’d prefer something small that I can do indoors without setting off the smoke alarms.
Life is hard when you don’t have any books or witchy friends, haha.
This story may be offensive to Christians but to us Wiccans and Pagans you might fall out of your chair laughing.
On Easter Sunday 2001 my Friends Jessica and Nicole knowing that I was Wiccan and that my daughter had passed away back that past January asked me to please come to their church as a guest and that I may find some comfort and relief in my life. So I went out of pure amusement. So we get to this church and soon find out it was going to be a bad idea as this church was Weird they made all the males sit on one side of the church and females on the other so I couldn’t even sit with my friends and husbands couldn’t sit with their wives. So I sit down in third row from the front. So the preacher comes in looks around the room and see’s me and says :
I see we have a new member of the congregation will you please stand up and introduce yourself to the rest of the congregation!
So I stand up tell them my name and that I’m not a new member I was asked to come as a guest by 2 female friends and that I’m Wiccan.
So the preacher is like you’re a Wiccan Isn’t that one of those devil worshiping witch cults!
And I was like no sir we don’t believe in the devil and we are certainly not a cult.
And he says well from what I understand about Wicca is that they are a Satanic Cult of witches that uses magick.
So again I was like you are so misunderstood sir and do you by chance have a dictionary up there at the pulpit with you.
The preacher says yes I do may I ask why?
And I was like can you please look up the definition of the word cult and read it to me please
So the preacher looks up the definition and reads out loud: the Definition of the word cult says it’s a group of people who gather in one place and worship one thing.
So I blurt out so then Christianity is a cult then too right and the whole church gasped like they were shocked and the preachers face turns red and he asked me to please leave
So as I’m walking to the door of the church to leave I turn around and was like sir maybe you would like to read Ezekiel 4 verses 12 through 15 and explain why their all loving god says to eat shit!
The preacher gets really mad and shouts leave this place of god now you spawn of Satan.
Now just so you know it does state to eat shit in the bible here is my proof of that:
Ezekiel 4 (King James Version):
12 And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight.
13 And the Lord said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them.
14 Then said I, Ah Lord God! behold, my soul hath not been polluted: for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth.
15 Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given thee cow’s dung for man’s dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith.
Because of course it’s hilarious to disrespect and antagonize people based on their religion, and this doesn’t perpetuate the bad image Wiccans have, doesn’t make you seem extremely immature or suggest that you may not be the best person to be teaching anyone anything, except perhaps how not to act.
I have a hard time understanding people who want “real life” pagan friends, or a coven, or whatever else. I see a lot of people who complain about not having these things, and it makes no sense to me. Maybe I shouldn’t say I don’t understand it, because I understand why they want friends who are into the same things as them, someone to talk to who’ll get it, etc. I just don’t…empathize.
I don’t like to talk about my beliefs, spiritually or when it comes to witchcraft and paganism. Those are very private things, and I’m still exploring how I feel about them. Trying to explain that to someone else, trying to connect with someone based on that…makes no sense to me. It would be like trying to make friends with people based on how long they like to keep their nails.
I was looking through a thesaurus a few nights ago and came across the word “unchristian.” Never having heard of this word before, I read the list of associated words.
- irreligious
- pagan
- evil
with a notation “see impious 1, wicked 1.”
Now, I just tried to look “unchristian” up on thesaurus.com, but that came up with no results, so perhaps this word has been…removed from circulation? However, I find the notion that the thesaurus, a heavily-used reference book similar to the dictionary, would imply that the opposite of being Christian is being irreligious (last time I checked, Christianity was far from being the only religion in the world), pagan, and evil, more than slightly unsettling. Evil. The opposite of being Christian is evil?
Perhaps I am misunderstanding, and this is a very specific word used in very specific circumstances, but this is extremely disturbing to me.
Yes. And this is why you always, always do your research before ingesting anything. Doesn’t matter who recommends it, doesn’t matter how “official” the source, always do your own research, because you cannot count on other people to do it for you.
I’ve been distracted by books and other pretty things, but here I am to make a post about something that I’m not sure how to deal with: appropriation. It seems like everyone is talking about it, and everyone has a different opinion on it.
I understand that it’s an issue. I understand why it’s an issue.
What I don’t understand is what I’m supposed to do. I’ve seen posts saying that if something speaks to you, you’re not allowed to research it (they didn’t explain why, so I can only assume because it would be condescending or insulting?). If I’m not allowed to learn about anything that speaks to me, what am I left with?
On another note, it makes me wonder where the line is drawn between acceptable appropriation (ie, anime from Japanese culture), and non-acceptable appropriation (ie bindis, feather headdresses, etc).
This picture was recently making the rounds (it still might be, for all I know):
and it made me think. II (going by traditional BINGO locations) also made me a bit upset, because what I took that to mean is, if you happen to be white living in a PoC country, you are not allowed to do what everyone around you does. A specific example would be a white child growing up in Hawaii. Growing up, this child see Hawaiian culture: Hawaiian traditions, Hawaiian food, clothes, and values. He plays with Hawaiian children, and from them picks up yet more things: the language, or the various meanings of different hula movements. Would you tell that child he’s appropriating someone else’s culture, simply because his skin isn’t the same color as his friends’? If you took away everything he learned as he was growing up, what would he be left with? And how would you explain it to him?
Where is the line drawn?
Found the “Cultural Appropriation BINGO” here.
