I want to first say that I am completely opposed to Donald Trump, I did not vote for him or agree with his personality. So the man that led the republican three ring circus has been elected to be the next President of the United States. With that, there was an immediate response by society. There are protests going on everywhere, reports of protesters attacking each other, and now legal action to dismantle the electoral college.
But there is more to this madness, what I have seen and read on Facebook and YouTube has brought me much disappointment. I have been adamant about my views of eclectic wicca for years. There are weaknesses to eclectic wicca and I tried to tell people about them, and not many understood what I was referring to, but with the election of Trump they came true.
1. Eclectic wicca is the mixing of different religions and philosophies to create a personal belief system that fits your lifestyle. There are many wiccans that have combined Hinduism, Buddhism, Zen, Native American beliefs , with several different parts of Pre-Christian religions. Many of these people have little knowledge of these beliefs and are picking these tidbits with little study on the subject. Massive amounts of backstory and information are skipped over so that they can use a single aspect of a belief. Then these are assembled in a patchwork quilt and paraded as a art project by many youtube pagans. All these religions are represented by different types of fabric and strengths. These quilts work great in calm weather, there is nothing testing them. With the election of Trump the winds are blowing for the storm that is coming. Some of these fabrics are starting to tear. And as each square starts to tear it adds stress on the surrounding squares and the quilt falls apart.
Our Pagan beliefs are supposed to give us strength to get through the rough times and guide us through the good times as well. If these beliefs are tattering , that means that a strong foundation is missing. Some of those pieces that were overlooked could have added to the strength of their personal beliefs. Thus saving them a lot of pain and torment.
2. Some of those very pagans that I am referring to claimed to be light workers that preached shunning negativity and 'harm none'. And with the torment of Trump coming soon, some have talked about getting a gun. Which is hypocritical when some of these people have judged me as a negative person that doesn't understand paganism because I have a 'warrior witch" belief system.
There is such a difference in having a sword and shield as spiritual tools and owning a firearm. My sword and shield can be used in defensive manners working with energies to protect what I hold sacred, harder to do that with a Smith and Wesson. As a warrior aspect I reflect that life and nature can be brutal and one must fight at times to survive. Thus I can handle the Trump presidency better because I am better prepared for these situations. And if you look at the Pagans from 2000 years ago, they were warriors with a strong code of ethics.
3.There is no way to Shun President Trump, and so the whole shunning any negativity can't work. This New age concept of shunning negative energy is unhealthy. We gain strength from over coming our fears and threats. People that refuse to deal with negativity have no idea how to handle it when it is avoidable, like it is now with Donald Trump. SO many of these young pagans are collapsing because they don't know how to handle this.
4.It really is a shame to see so many young pagans out there confused and scared. But they lack the experiences to handle life still. I have grown tired of all the young pagans that have read a few books and think they are able to teach and lead other pagans. If you are a pagan under 25, you were safe in your parent home during the last Republican president. All this information has no form without experiences. It is these experiences that shape us into who we are. I have experienced a couple republican presidents and the crap they claim. I know what I have to fight. Obama wasn't perfect, but he was a good president. Eight years of stable leadership have spoiled many young people.
So there is wisdom in my words, I am not perfect and not saying everyone should listen to me. What I am saying is that if your are stressed and confused with Donald Trump being the next president, and your spiritual beliefs are not helping you, then reevaluate your beliefs and what you have been taught by others. This is one of those experiences that you will learn from. Real life begins now.
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
Thursday, October 6, 2016
Modern Tarot decks, Proof of the downfall in Paganism.
I have been blown away by the pop culture and "do whatever" mentality in Paganism. I have been talking for years about how Paganism will lose all creditability as long as people show no restrictions in what is considered pagan. I have seen in the last couple of days tarot decks that have a pop culture theme that has nothing to do with earth based beliefs. Yesterday I saw a "DC Justice League" tarot deck video. The first card revealed was the fool with "Harley Quinn" So they are having villain play roles in the deck as well.
As normal, I got the 'no pagan is going to tell me what I can believe' spew. I am not telling others what they can and can't belief. But there comes a time when it stops being pagan. Nobody can tell me what I believe because I never tell them what I believe. I talk in general terms about things that fall under the Pagan umbrella and things that don't or shouldn't.
But the situation gets worse, today I saw a "Twin Peaks" tarot deck. A tarot deck themed after a short lived TV series. Both of these themes have nothing to do with Paganism. I looked at Amazon.com to see what other silly tarot decks they were selling. And I seen a Gravity Falls tarot deck. This is based off of a cartoon that deals with fictional super natural events. Pop culture has fully infested this new age/ Pagan concept and made it a full fledged joke.
These are not pagan concepts, we can't call this pagan and accept it. When we do that Paganism loses a level of seriousness. I ask you to answer one question. Would you accept a tarot card reading if the reader was using either deck for your reading? The few that I have ask all gave a solid "No", for an answer.
I have stood against this thing for a long time. I believe that people that want to lead or teach need to start giving limits to what is Pagan. In a chat that I had with others I called these types of decks the "Noah's ark and animals" playset. It is cute and can be used to teach something about there related story, but when it comes to serious discussions it is put away. There are many wonder decks out there that have a pagan feel to them, I have the "Druid craft" tarot deck. It have wonderful Celtic themed artwork. It can be used to teach and give readings to anyone with out worry of appearance.
I was involved in a discussion about the "War on Christmas" and should there be a war of 'Halloween'. This goes toward the blurred lines created by pop culture and "Do whatever" influences. Here is my initial response.
"Nope, because Halloween is a catholic holiday, Samhain is a Pagan holiday. Why should any self respecting Pagan wanna celebrate a catholic holiday? This is the biggest issue with Paganism at this time of the year, too many so-called pagans celebrating Halloween, when they should be celebrating Samhain.
This speaks volumes to the leadership and teachers of Paganism when they do not try to tell and enforce the differences between the two different events. Halloween was a catholic event to force the Pagans from celebrating Samhain. Because it forced the installed catholic people to be in church and set-up for all saints day.
I am so sick of supposed Pagans talking about Halloween, if they are going to embrace Halloween, they might as well not call themselves Pagans. I know that some people are forced to say Halloween because of family. But I can scroll down my YouTube subscriptions and count 6 "Halloween" videos made by "out of the closet" Pagans. Heck I have 2 Facebook accounts so that I can openly talk about Samhain and other Pagan issues with one, and handle family and Christian friends with the other."
This speaks volumes to the leadership and teachers of Paganism when they do not try to tell and enforce the differences between the two different events. Halloween was a catholic event to force the Pagans from celebrating Samhain. Because it forced the installed catholic people to be in church and set-up for all saints day.
I am so sick of supposed Pagans talking about Halloween, if they are going to embrace Halloween, they might as well not call themselves Pagans. I know that some people are forced to say Halloween because of family. But I can scroll down my YouTube subscriptions and count 6 "Halloween" videos made by "out of the closet" Pagans. Heck I have 2 Facebook accounts so that I can openly talk about Samhain and other Pagan issues with one, and handle family and Christian friends with the other."
I disagree with you on that anything goes mentality. There has to be a line where something stops being one thing and becomes another. SO lets say your beliefs are 20% Celtic pagan, 30% Christian, 40% Native American Mysticism, and 10% Buddhist, Is it still Pagan? Not in my eyes, it is something different completely and should be classified as that something else.
So lets use food as an example now. Lets make a Mexican Lasagna . Instead of the noodle s we use soft tortilla shells. We use shredded Colby/jack instead of mozzarella cheese. We use ground beef instead of any Italian sausage, We substitute a medium picante sauce for marinara sauce. Now we layer this like you would a normal lasagna and place jalapeƱo pepper slices on top. Is this a traditional Italian or Mexican meal? It is neither and an insult to either culture.
So why should we do the same thing to spirituality? There has to be a point where we have to say that this isn't pagan it is something else. Could I take the Christian bible and replace the name of 'god' with " Cernunnos" and still call it Christianity or Paganism?
So Pagan teachers and leaders should be required to call somethings outside of pagan beliefs. And if we restrict those willing to teach and lead in placing some form of restrictions into what Paganism is, then you will end up with a toxic mess that will make the water in flint look safe to drink.
So lets use food as an example now. Lets make a Mexican Lasagna . Instead of the noodle s we use soft tortilla shells. We use shredded Colby/jack instead of mozzarella cheese. We use ground beef instead of any Italian sausage, We substitute a medium picante sauce for marinara sauce. Now we layer this like you would a normal lasagna and place jalapeƱo pepper slices on top. Is this a traditional Italian or Mexican meal? It is neither and an insult to either culture.
So why should we do the same thing to spirituality? There has to be a point where we have to say that this isn't pagan it is something else. Could I take the Christian bible and replace the name of 'god' with " Cernunnos" and still call it Christianity or Paganism?
So Pagan teachers and leaders should be required to call somethings outside of pagan beliefs. And if we restrict those willing to teach and lead in placing some form of restrictions into what Paganism is, then you will end up with a toxic mess that will make the water in flint look safe to drink.
So what has the Pagan community done to help fix this issue or to minimize it? Nothing, most Pagan Leaders are to afraid to make a stand against anything because they want/need to be popular. This is an issue that needs to be resolved and handled quickly and properly . Will you let Paganism continue to slide down the hole of pop culture mentality doing whatever they want? Does a religion/beliefs need to evolve with modern thinking to survive? Yes it does, and that is not a bad thing. What the bad thing is here is that false and fake influences are distorting and contaminating what Paganism is. It is like claiming a hypothesis as factual without testing it and applying it to the universe around you. Facts build-up the reality that we live in. When you use fake and false information, large gaps will appear and everything resting on this concept will come crashing down.
Monday, July 25, 2016
Pagan and politics.. breaking the two party system.
So you are deciding who you are voting for by party size and power. What about ethics? Shouldn't you base your decision on the values of the candidate that best match yours? I find it silly that people want to vote for the "winning side" instead of best candidate to represent themselves. As a pagan , and bound by karma, 3-fold law, the laws of retribution, or whatever you want to call it, if you are voting to win, instead of by ethics, don't you deserve to lose. I might not like losing an election, but as long as I did what was honest and ethical , I can sleep at night.
If too many people like you are afraid to follow their heart and vote for the ethically best candidate even if it is a third party candidate, then you are forced into voting for the lesser of two evils. Either way you are voting for evil. As a pagan we have to learn to stand strong and sometimes alone for what we believe in, you are going against everything that pagans do in following their beliefs in a minority. You are letting fear control your life and actions. You are following what others tell you and letting them have power over you. Inner strength is required to lead your own life and do what you think is right, even if it is unpopular.
Facts are that registered independent voters now outnumber the republican and democrat parties combined. All it takes to win is for people to be strong enough to walk away from the two-party system. Are you strong enough? All it takes to lose to the lesser of two evils is to stay in the shadows of the two party system. I am tired of pagans hiding and trying to fit into social norms.
My path honors the warriors that stood against impossible odds and fought for what they believed in. They knew that honor was earned when they stood their ground and defended what was important. Are you going to stand your ground, or convert to the ranks of the oppressors.
The two party system is just like the Christian church. both will impose their will on you and require you to fill their needs. They are no longer the friends of a free society. They are no longer hiding their intent , you will have to fight for your freedoms sooner or later. This is just like Churchill's speak of appeasement. Are you going to feed the alligator hoping that by the time that it gets to you, it will no longer be hungry.
You may not like what I said or how I said, but it none-the-less needed to be said.
If too many people like you are afraid to follow their heart and vote for the ethically best candidate even if it is a third party candidate, then you are forced into voting for the lesser of two evils. Either way you are voting for evil. As a pagan we have to learn to stand strong and sometimes alone for what we believe in, you are going against everything that pagans do in following their beliefs in a minority. You are letting fear control your life and actions. You are following what others tell you and letting them have power over you. Inner strength is required to lead your own life and do what you think is right, even if it is unpopular.
Facts are that registered independent voters now outnumber the republican and democrat parties combined. All it takes to win is for people to be strong enough to walk away from the two-party system. Are you strong enough? All it takes to lose to the lesser of two evils is to stay in the shadows of the two party system. I am tired of pagans hiding and trying to fit into social norms.
My path honors the warriors that stood against impossible odds and fought for what they believed in. They knew that honor was earned when they stood their ground and defended what was important. Are you going to stand your ground, or convert to the ranks of the oppressors.
The two party system is just like the Christian church. both will impose their will on you and require you to fill their needs. They are no longer the friends of a free society. They are no longer hiding their intent , you will have to fight for your freedoms sooner or later. This is just like Churchill's speak of appeasement. Are you going to feed the alligator hoping that by the time that it gets to you, it will no longer be hungry.
You may not like what I said or how I said, but it none-the-less needed to be said.
Substance in life, No more good time charlies please.
I want substance with the people I talk with on Facebook. We don't have to agree on most things either. But I am absolutely sick and tired of those pathetic little minds that only post "cute" memes. You know the ones I am talking about. "We are in the back of a police care, only say 4 words", and " Name something stupid that doesn't have the letter "g" in it, 90% of the people can't". Then you have the people that have to change their profile picture every ot...her fucking day, or add a new selfie a new selfie every other fucking day. I am bored with women that take selfies at high candle angles so people can see their breasts. Talk about fucking shallow.
Substance is talking about civil issues that are occurring around you. Maybe you want to chat about politics, religion, or building something. Substance is taking the time to write out a comment and explaining how you feel about something. If all you do is share memes 90% of the time, you lack substance. I know what I am asking for is a lot, but it is needed. People are losing their ability to think and communicate. Common sense is no longer common anymore. Critical thinking is fading away into obscure reasoning. Fro fuck sakes idiots are walking off cliff because they are playing Pokemon Go. which only shows the fact to what I am talking about, most people seem to be only able to handle one thing at a time.
If what I am asking of you is too much for you to bear, then please block me. Then I don't have to see your worthless posts. And speaking of worthless posts. Life is not twitter, Can you post more than one sentence at a time? I think it is severally stupid that people make 10 posts of one sentence each. Please spell out words, typos happen, and I can understand that, but things like "bcuz, R U OK, and ppl need 2 STFU" just shows the laziness in your ability to communicate with others. Slang and being cool don't mean shit if you are trying to discuss an important topic.
You can have fun in life and post something silly and joke with friends, however life requires us to be more and do more. People complain about the mess the world is in, but all you want to do is tell the world how much of a badass you are in the sheets. So if you can't talk about the real world, I don't have time for you, I would want your time killing spew of cuteness gone from my timeline. Yes I am a serious person, someone has to fight todo the right thing. And sad to say with most people on facebook, I have few people that are willing to fight for the greater good.
If what I am asking of you is too much for you to bear, then please block me. Then I don't have to see your worthless posts. And speaking of worthless posts. Life is not twitter, Can you post more than one sentence at a time? I think it is severally stupid that people make 10 posts of one sentence each. Please spell out words, typos happen, and I can understand that, but things like "bcuz, R U OK, and ppl need 2 STFU" just shows the laziness in your ability to communicate with others. Slang and being cool don't mean shit if you are trying to discuss an important topic.
You can have fun in life and post something silly and joke with friends, however life requires us to be more and do more. People complain about the mess the world is in, but all you want to do is tell the world how much of a badass you are in the sheets. So if you can't talk about the real world, I don't have time for you, I would want your time killing spew of cuteness gone from my timeline. Yes I am a serious person, someone has to fight todo the right thing. And sad to say with most people on facebook, I have few people that are willing to fight for the greater good.
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