On Giant Pentacles, Black Capes, and the Appearance of Normalcy
Thursday May 3, 2007
Recently I got an email from someone I had met at a local event. She was curious about the fact that when we met, I was hanging out with a whole bunch of Pagans. Her email made it fairly clear that she didn't think I was one of "those" people. After all, I'd been dressed in a pair of jeans, an Old Navy t-shirt and a pair of sneakers. I'm a PTO mom, a community volunteer, and an all-around nice person.
I'm almost what you'd consider normal.
A lot of people know me locally. I'm involved in my childrens' schools, I help out in the neighborhood whenever I get a chance, I worked on a recent campaign... everyone knows me. Some people know I'm Pagan, some don't. It's not something that has ever really come up.
I understand that for many people, I may be the only Pagan they've ever met. Particularly if you live in a politcally conservative state, like I do, you probably will encounter people who don't even know what the word "Pagan" means. There are probably a lot of folks whose only perception of what "Pagan" or "Wiccan" is consists of those odd people the news channels drag out at Halloween. You know the ones I'm talking about -- lots of makeup, flowing robes, and a pentacle the size of a cocker spaniel hanging around their neck. The ones who appear on the screen with the phrase "self-proclaimed witch" beneath their names.
I don't do any of those things. I dress like everyone else in the suburbs, and while I do have a fondness for sterling silver jewelry, it's all pretty understated. I don't run around shrieking "Blessed beeeeeeeeeee!" everytime I meet my friends, and I don't act offended if I sneeze and someone responds with "God bless you."
I raise my children to be honest and honorable people. I help those who can't help themselves, because if I don't, who will? I work to make sure that the earth remains a decent place for generations to come. I do the best I can to be a good person, because it's the right thing to do.
I just happen to be Pagan. I've been Pagan since I was about nineteen years old, and I know that I've changed at least one person's misconceptions about what a Wiccan or Pagan actually is.
For more thoughts on this, check out my FAQ page: Do Pagans and Wiccans have to dress funny?
I'm almost what you'd consider normal.
A lot of people know me locally. I'm involved in my childrens' schools, I help out in the neighborhood whenever I get a chance, I worked on a recent campaign... everyone knows me. Some people know I'm Pagan, some don't. It's not something that has ever really come up.
I understand that for many people, I may be the only Pagan they've ever met. Particularly if you live in a politcally conservative state, like I do, you probably will encounter people who don't even know what the word "Pagan" means. There are probably a lot of folks whose only perception of what "Pagan" or "Wiccan" is consists of those odd people the news channels drag out at Halloween. You know the ones I'm talking about -- lots of makeup, flowing robes, and a pentacle the size of a cocker spaniel hanging around their neck. The ones who appear on the screen with the phrase "self-proclaimed witch" beneath their names.
I don't do any of those things. I dress like everyone else in the suburbs, and while I do have a fondness for sterling silver jewelry, it's all pretty understated. I don't run around shrieking "Blessed beeeeeeeeeee!" everytime I meet my friends, and I don't act offended if I sneeze and someone responds with "God bless you."
I raise my children to be honest and honorable people. I help those who can't help themselves, because if I don't, who will? I work to make sure that the earth remains a decent place for generations to come. I do the best I can to be a good person, because it's the right thing to do.
I just happen to be Pagan. I've been Pagan since I was about nineteen years old, and I know that I've changed at least one person's misconceptions about what a Wiccan or Pagan actually is.
For more thoughts on this, check out my FAQ page: Do Pagans and Wiccans have to dress funny?
I’ve seen that argument go down over and over at conventions, and I’m still of two minds about it. Personally, I’d feel silly dressing up for anything outside of halloween, but I also dig the ladies with the wicker hats and the boys in the antlers..I guess it’s just a matter of when that’s appropriate.
I recently had to deal with my own conceptions of this issue. We were having a pta meeting at my house last year and our (seemingly) very straight-laced president was thumbing my bookshelf. I was all ready with the speech about “my work” when he pulls down Levi’s transcendental magic, and says, “I have this one!” So I guess you really can never tell. I think that’s why so many Pagans feel a need for outward expression?
In any case, I wanted to say welcome aboard, i’ve been wandering around and you’ve put together a very nice site so far…
Hello my name is Cheriece. Although i’m 14 years old and seem a bit young and naive i take much interest in this type of religion. I know for a fact that i won’t be able to practice this religion in the household i live in currently but i still take much interest in it and i want to learn more about it. I’ve been on other websites on paganism and wiccan and i found them interesting but a bit misleading on information. One of the websites i went to previously stated that paganism has a link to Christianity (which is the religion practiced in my household) and i really wanted to know if it was true. I have a couple of friends who are pagan and/or wiccan and my older brother has practiced wiccan before but I have never gathered enough courage to ask them about their religion and practices in paganism and wicca. I will continue to research and learn about paganism until I am old enough to make a choice on the religion I want to practice and i hope to find out more about it personally from you.
Jennifer — thanks for your comments. The site is still new, so bear with me as I add more content. I hope you’ll check back with me as more information gets posted!
Cheriece — Welcome! As far as Paganism being “linked” to Christianity, keep in mind that Paganism was around long before Christianity swept through Europe and the rest of the world. Some modern holidays do have roots in Pagan tradition, and we’ll be discussing those at some point.
I hope you’ll stick around and join us!
Of course I will..after all, you are just around the corner!
While I respect your decision and understand your reasons as to why to dress like the “average” person, personally I am bored to tears of dressing and looking like the majority and seeming “normal” in my tee shirts and jeans (being “normal” in this society means abused from birth and being driven insane in our patriarchal Western civilization society – read “Endgame, Vol. 1” by Derrick Jensen to understand what I mean – do you really want to be considered normal?).
Granted, I have educated a lot of people about Paganism as a result of dressing like any Mom and now as a middle age woman, but I feel no need to do so any longer (The Goddess is rising! there is no way to stop Her within us or within our society now no matter what the monotheists do). Neither do I feel threaten any longer when some Christian lunatic shouts at me in public. I have become so secure in my own spiritual path of (and am still learning new things from this path) being a Shamanistic Witch by the age of 56 (I have been a Pagan since I was 16 years old) that I feel nothing but pity for such people who are so insecure in their own religion, or bored, that they feel the need to push it onto someone else in such a rude and nasty manner. In addition, people who are really interested in witchcraft, and not in just obtaining some pathologically sick entertainment by trying to humiliate a stranger (I can now easily spot these socially considered “normal” people), will still ask no matter what I look like.
After being diagnosed with Parkinson disease, I have come to realize how short my time on earth may be, so why in Hades should I care what people think of me? I cannot cover the shaking of my hand, so why should I cover up what I feel like inside as an individual? I am going to dress up or down based upon how I feel on any given day in two fashion styles, either as a Romantic Goth in black and red flowing gowns or as a colorful Hippy (I miss those days of comfortable long cool dresses and bare feet).
While I respect each individual’s decisions on how they should dress within any given society according to fulfilling their needs and wants in their own life, just remember that each of us, nice or nasty, are unique in this world – there is no one like you in on this earth right now. So I ask, WHY NOT SHINE?
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves,
who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of the Earth Mother and of the Spirit Father*.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of
the Earth Mother and the Spirit Father* that is within us.
It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.”
——
Our Deepest Fear
by Marianne Williamson
*substituted her word “God” with “the Earth Mother and the Spirit Father”