Here's my beef. I look at Pagans and Wiccans and observe that many (but not all) are as deluded and backward minded as the most extreme religious fundamentalist wacko. There are scads of books, sayings, axioms and prayers about embracing Nature as our warm, fuzzy 'mommy' and how much we L-O-V-E Her. That is all good and well. I love nature too. Without nature where would we be? NOWHERE, that's where! We are not merely a product of nature, ie. the goddess, we ARE nature. That is to say, we are an inseparable part of the whole. This is one reason why we must preserve and protect her at all cost.
So what's the problem here? Well, in true extremist fashion, many of us choose what facets of Her that fit our own personal biases but do not care to accept the totality of this particular goddess. For example, to listen to some Pagans or to some health nuts, for that matter, all that is 'natural' is good, right and far superior to anything man-made. For instance, Apples= good, healthy, keeps the doctor away, right? Granted, apples are great, but you know what else is natural? Snake venom. Not so healthy. How about anthrax or some of those exotic flesh eating organisms? Ever see a pride of lions rip Bamby into bloody shreds and taters? Ever hear of a little town called Pompeii? The entire population was incinerated and/or suffocated when the volcano erupted. And let's not forget those exhilarating 100 foot tall tsunami waves that snuff out hundreds of thousands of lives in the blink of an eye. Yep, all natural. Mother nature has many faces but some people only want to see the smiling, benevolent one! To me that looks a lot like disrespect for the goddess, not the contrary.
Then there are what I call the 'white light' fanatics. Hey, I'm a huge fan of white light. In fact, let's all give a collective thumbs up for the entire spectrum of colors white light divides into! Having said that, these 'white light addicts are not unlike people who imagine that white equals good, black equals evil, night and darkness is for Devil worshipers while daytime is the domain of the righteous. Thoughts are subjectively categorized as either "positive" or "negative" - once again, positive being equated with goodness and negative, badness. The arbitrary "rule of three" or harsher "rule of ten" is sometimes tossed into the mix by people who love to fish a handy rule out of their witch's magick pouch and - woah! - its enough to scare you into giving up thinking all together!
To the 'white lighters' anything that isn't good, soft, kindly, loving, merciful and angelic is beneath them and surely evidence of an immature spirituality. For anyone who is enamored of the fluffy-white-winged angels a la Biblical tales, I suggest you run a tally of angel stories. You will make an interesting discovery. The angels were pretty bad-ass and very often used as spirit HIT MEN! Who was it that killed the first-born of the Egyptians in the time of Moses? An angel. Who was it that killed 185,00 soldiers of king Sennacherib's army- while they were sleeping? An angel. Who was it that suggested to God that he become "a deceptive spirit" and go down to earth on a secret mission? (wrong, it wasn't Satan or a demon) It was an angel in good standing. (btw, God approved his mission of deceit.) And let us not forget the most famous case of angel gone bad - the Devil himself! Kind of puts a new light on your fluffy-bunny angel oracle cards, eh?
To those white light loving folks who look down their noses at the rest of us, I respectful say; despite your pretensions, you are no better than anyone else. Not even a little bit. Get over yourselves.
Here's a thought: Why not see a wider, more complete version of reality? One that isn't drawn in stark black and white, good and bad lines. Why not embrace nature as She is and not how you would make Her? Why not refrain from standing in judgment of your fellowman and, instead, accept the fact that we ALL have a part to play in this extravaganza called life?
And that concludes this Public Service Announcement! :)
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