I've been reading about this on several message boards and am a bit puzzled. Yes, there are people who purport to be witches and can't really back up the claim, but what, I wonder, is the truest definition of what it means to be a witch and what it doesn't mean? I was a bit surprised to see how much animosity there is and how many people say "No, my definition is the right one and all you other people who have your own definition are wrong".
Other religious groups have divisions like this and it leads to squabbles, name-calling, and all manner of other unpleasantness. The above argument reads an awful lot like the same kind of nonsense; it also reminds me a bit of the division between U and non-U, which can get pretty hairy, too. The ones who are legitimately U know they are, and their associates of the same background know they are, and that's all that matters. The ones who aren't and aspire to be--i.e. nouveau riche and moneyed bourgeoisie--do as much as they can to prove they're really U, and the true-blue U's who know look down on them for being crass and vulgar and being pretentious.
I hate labels and pigeonholes, and I dislike the idea that people look at me and make silly assumptions; I have a feeling everyone else secretly feels that way, too. I prefer to be an individual, just like everyone else, and if that puts me in a fluffy little pigeonhole, that's just too darned bad.
Gasp! A turtle-less post.. what is the world coming to?
4 comments:
That really surprises me about divisions in the pagan community, although I don't know why because these kinds of disagreements seem to happen among practitioners of every religion on the planet. I would have thought that it would have been the consensus view would have been "what works for me, works for me, and what works for you, works for you and that's all okay."
Yeah. I was kind of surprised when the discussion started on one of the Ravelry groups. My feeling is exactly that: my system is my system. It may not be the accepted one, but it works for me and that's fine with me.
It just seems so divisive and not necessarily productive.
Yeah, exactly!
I really don't understand why people get so worked up over stuff. Everybody practice their own beliefs and quit chastizing anybody else's. Plain and simple. doesn't matter what you call yourself. The important thing is that whatever you call yourself, you BELIEVE in your heart that that is the path for you.
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