Over the last ten to twelve years I have been exposed to many types of people in the Pagan-ish community.  I say Pagan-ish because the term Pagan is often time up for dispute as to what actually is and is not Pagan.  When I use the word Pagan, I am referring to any person who has a spiritual (or magical) path outside the three major religions.  Judaism, Christianity or Islam.   To me this encompasses with Witch or Warlock as well as those following Wicca or Heathenry.  In today's instant comment world and with the anonymity of the computer screen we are able to say whatever we want with pretty much little or no regard for the person on the other side.  Be it inside or outside this community at times it is blatantly obvious that people have lost the art of debate, discussion and rebuttal.

The real problems that people have are the same that happen in face to face debate however they escalate so much more quickly online.  As a person who has been on the interest since its creation, I can say that I have see the pendulum swing widely left and right on this issue and how has centered itself in the middle of a constant state of outrage. There's usually only one emotion in online disagreements and that is complete disdain for others.  We have loss the art of debate.

The main issue I see with online debate today is that the parties to the debate fail to debate the issue or topic at hand.  Instead, they resort to the typical school yard bullying tactics of name calling. Nearly ever encounter I witness inevitably one party calls the other a troll or attacks their family or background. This is not something that Pagans don't jump on the bandwagon for either.  One person calls another a fluff bunny or attacks their path directly resulting in the No True Scotsman fallacy which spirals out of control into an assortment of cherry picking, false analogies and other faulty generalizations. 

When strong personalities come into play online discourse quickly turns into real life attacks. A simple disagreement or difference of opinion can jump directly into parties making threats to the livelihood, business or reputation of the other. A quick search on Google reveals that all too often we have plummeted to the bottom of the barrel in our need to be right, our desire to silence the opinions of others on a social media platform.

With the changes in our current political climate in the United States, there is so much to be passionate about.  Many are commenting on things that they simply just do not understand. The fail to understand what things like Religious Protection laws and will actually do to the families of  United States Citizens. Illegal immigration is a serious situation for both the individuals fleeing their own country but also to the infrastructure of the United States. We do need a strong immigration policy. We do need to allow people to believe in the deity or the option to have no deity as they see fit. We do not however need to allow people to persecute others based on their faith.  We do not need to allow illegal immigrants to be abused by employees or those who may push them into the sex trade with out the ability to reach out to us, the United States for help. There should be, and can be balance in what we say and what we do.

We have a choice to make as this year rolls on and we begin life under this new era of government. We need to have a strong look at ourselves and our values. What do we stand for?  What can we do to make the world a better place? How can we get our message our into the world without falling victim to the online hostility and rhetoric that is so prevalent today?

For the most part Pagans are pretty forgiving types of people.  Yes, that is a generalization. We want others to be happy.  We want to live and let live. We don't care what deity you follow or what magic you practice.  We are for the most part very caring loving, caring and we will fiercely defend those we feel have been wronged.  We just need to find a better way to deliver our message to the masses to ease the possibility of misunderstanding, distrust and anger.

What do you think?  What can we do to ease this season of discourse in our community today?  Is this a new thing?  Do you think people take things too seriously?  What would you do if presented with a personal attack on your livelihood after an online disagreement?

Rude or attacking comments will be deleted.

<3

It was a pretty challenging week last week.  From the infighting among other Pagans and Witches about the election and immigration to trying to deal with the forced estrangement that my child has put on me to some pretty significant changes at work I feel like my head will explode.  When hubby sees me getting to this level of stress he usually comes up with something to break up my day and help me get my mind back into a level place. For me home and family has always been really important. Unfortunately at this time I don't really have anyone in my family of birth that I can confide in. As this election weighs heavy on my heart, I have found that I can't really talk to any of them. It is so sad, and yet pretty typical.  Frankly we really didn't share a great deal of closeness before. This election just sort of codified the whole thing.  I even thought I would have a closer relationship with one of my siblings after a two years of isolation but yet, that didn't happen either.

Yesterday was a huge fight within the Pagan community which further demonstrated to me that there are just some people out there that no matter what you do, they will always be out to attack. There's nothing you can do about it. The choice is either to make yourself available for that attack or sever those ties and move on.  When I get to this point usually I end up needing a release. So today we took a walk around Cliffs of the Neuse State Park.  I took some photos and decide to queue them up for this weeks Witchy Wednesday.  I hope you enjoy this walk in the woods.

Photo Credit Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit Renee Sosanna Olson

I have spent over 25 years trying to figure out exactly what is my path.  When most people are asked about a religious path most of the time they say they are on the path they are on because they were raised that way.  I was raised as a Christian, Southern Baptist specifically.  When I was in my late 20s I was introduced to Paganism.  To me it fit me better than what I saw going on in the world of Christianity.  Up until this last year, I classified myself as a "Goddess Worshiper".  Over the last few months I have found myself less a "believer" if you will.



To me religion was created by man for two reasons.  First it was to explain things that we did not understand.  So the sun rising in the morning and the moon rising at night was obviously a race between the planets to our ancestors.  As we learned more about the world around us with new discoveries in science religion would have died off but for the power it allowed some to have over others.  This is where the mainstay of religion has roots.  Around the world those in power used things like religion to control the masses. From Kings taking the lands to Popes demanding submission religion has been the key to controlling the world.

Odin - Saga's Cottage Artist - Loren Morris

To me, religion was intended to help us find those qualities and personify them so that we could be better people.  We could take the strength of Thor or the wisdom of Odin to help us through out days. Creating sagas about these people helped us identify with them in order to reach an ideal.  For example, for many years I followed Hecate, reaching out to her to embody her knowledge of magic and the dead.  Calling on her for justice and protection.  Pulling into myself these attributes that make her who she is so that I could become just as strong as she.  As I continued to read and grow I began to see that what my mind was telling me was exactly what I had known all along.  These gods no more walked the earth than Jesus did.  We can ask for the wisdom of Odin or the wisdom of our grandmother who raised 10 children after her husband died at 49.  We have the ability within ourselves without relying on the fears of the ancestors from our past.

One of the things that we can be sure of us the energy that we have on the planet.  From the animals that are here to the plants and waters.  Everything has energy. To me as a witch, I need to have a connection with those thing and not to some over arching being that controls everything. Just look around us. No one is in control.  We are what we are.  And we can look to use our energy to change the physical world around us.  How does that look?  How does it work?  That will be my goal over this next year.  I want to focus on improving my magic and taking control of my destiny.

There are many witches I identify with, enough though we may not share a direct path.  Some witches follow deities while others done.  Some follow the rule of three and some don't.  I will try to share videos from all different paths to show a diversity in the craft.

I'll start with this intro video from Laurie Cabot.



One of the things that directed my path was the Cosmic Skeptic on YouTube.  Here's one of his videos.  I recommend checking him out.

As part of 2017 I have decided to change my Wednesday posts.  I'll still be sharing my wire work but under a different format.  For Wednesday I've decide to focus on my Witchy nature for the next year.  Exploring what it means to be a witch, what is witchcraft and how does it fit into this modern world.  These posts, while meant to be informative, are not intended to instruct anyone on how to be or not be a witch.  These are simply my observations on the subject.  I'll start by providing an introduction to who I am and where I am coming from.

The Star - Female Mystique Tarot Photo Credit - Elijah Olson

I was introduced to general paganism by a girlfriend when I was in my early 20's.  She told me she was a druid and liked to dance naked in the rain.  That piqued my interest for obvious reasons. But slowly I began to read more about it.  A friend of mine was taking a course at Old Dominion University which included a text called "Drawing Down the Moon" by Margot Adler.  He suggested that I read the book.  Coming from the south, I was always taught that women were less than.  They did not hold power, they were subservient and they were not to speak.  Yet, there this book opened a world of power to me, a world of confidence and magic. This was the world I wanted to live in.

Fast forward my life 25 years and I still have no real direction of a deity or of any direct link to where my magic originates.  I have a plethora of books on numerous shelves all saying the answers are within their pages yet, the message escapes me.  Discussing my path with a friend he recommends I seek out the Covenant of Hekate (Coh); a world wide organization of devotees to the Goddess Hekate.  Ironically I was reading a book at the same time called "The Witches' Book of the Dead" by Christian Day that referenced working with Hecate as part of ancestor work, which I was deeply committed to. This opened me up to the writings of many great authors on Hekate. Individuals like Sorita d'Este, Tara Sanchez and Sarah Iles Johnston to name just a very few.  I devoured everything I could find regarding Hecate and over the next 3 years committed myself to the CoH, first as a Devotee, then a Torchbearer and finally as a member of their administration team and editor of Noumenia News, the official Newsletter for the organization.

The Mystic of Cups - Female Mystique Tarot Photo Credit - Elijah Olson

As the world around me changed, so did my experience with this magical world. I found myself embracing, not a religion but more so a practice. I began to learn that the stories told to us by the oracles were myths to help keep us on a path of goodness and not so much godliness.  More of a story about how we need to be, not about beings who actually were, if you will.  This began to resonate with me. At the same time I was developing a gift of divination through aura or photo readings. I knew that I could see what people really were, not just that exterior they put on.  I could see them in person and through photography.  As my path drifted away from the divine, my strength of self increased and I decided now was the time to control my own destiny by again, changing my direction.

The The 3 of Blades - Female Mystique Tarot Photo Credit - Elijah Olson

I have decided to up the blade and take that next step, leaving behind the trappings of deity worship and fully embracing the power of the Witch. As I take this step I understand that there are many who will not understand this step away from the Goddess.  They will not understand my desire to remove all references to religion from my daily life.  I do believe that for the most part organized religion has caused and is causing more death and destruction on our planet than any other force.  It is a path paved by blood through patriarchy. I choose to embrace my feminine strength by walking the path of magic and opening my life up to the mysteries of the ancient ones.

I hope you will join me on this journey by providing feedback, comments and your own life experiences.  Feel free to challenge me, add your comments, link to your own blog.  I welcome what I hope will be come an enlightened discussion on life, love and magic.

Wishing you a magical 2017,
Sosanna



Note:  The images contained on this blog post are part of the Female Mystique Tarot, a project designed to represent the diverse female body is all her embodiment. This project started as a Kickstarter and more information can be found here.

We did a quick pit stop at the NC Zoo the weekend of Piedmont Pagan Pride.  I'll be sharing some photos from that visit over the next few posts.

Today we'll start with the Elephants and the Giraffes.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

A few photos from Piedmont Pagan Pride

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Here are some photos that I took on the weekend of Pagan Pride Raleigh.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Elijah Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Hubby and I just got back from Pagan Pride Raleigh. We had a wonderful time. This is our biggest festival of the year.  We took the Vardo down and stayed the weekend.  We went to Whole Foods in Raleigh and found some fantastic things.  Because we're eating vegan now we have to find new foods to eat.  We tried a couple of new things the first of course was pizza. Pizza is one of my favorite things.  Needless to say it was only a matter of time before we had to try some.  We picked a mushroom, tomato and spinach as our first try.  First I have to say that I have always hated mushrooms.  But I'm finding they are not so bad now.  It was a pretty good slice.  Sunday night we were going to hit up Chipolte for some Soffritas but the parking was horrid so we went back to Whole Foods and this time they had a Mock BBQ Chicken Pizza (also vegan) --  it was freaking amazing.  It did have red onions on it which I pulled off but yeah, hell yeah.  :)

Me and Hubby at Pagan Pride Raleigh

We got up at about 5 am and walked around the fair grounds to make sure we got our steps in for the day and made sure to drink lots of water and eat fresh fruit.  I'm excited for my weigh in tomorrow. I'm really hoping I made my goal loss finally.

So I guess I'll get on with the update.

I started out at the following measurements

August 27

Bust - 44 3/4
Waist - 42.5
Hips - 51
Pants - 20

September 16
Bust - 43
Waist - 38.5
Hips - 47
Pants - 16

A before and after photo -  the kitty in the photo was rolling around in the grass. He's fine.

I'm really excited about how quickly my body is changing.  I'm looking forward to getting down and staying down this time!  Go Vegan!

Today I found a share in my news feed on Facebook related to a project that is looking to raise money. At first glance it appears to be a group of female goddess worshipers looking to increase the rights of women.  Then I dug a little deeper.  First I checked out their fundraiser page which you can find here.

Then I began to investigate what exactly they stood for.  What is female erasure? According to the site, it is where women are being erased due to misogyny and apparently trans equality.

From - http://www.femaleerasure.com/

I started doing a bit of google searching and found some interesting information from Circle Sanctuary back in 2012 related to Trans-women at Pagan events.

Here are a couple of the discussions.







Some years back there was a big issue at an event in California related to Trans-women not being allowed to attend ritual held by Z Budapest.  This site outlines some of the issues with Z and directly discuses her Trans-phobia.





In my hours of research and reading some of the writings of Z, I found a term called TERF.  TERF stands for Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist.  Yeah, you read that right. How is Trans-phobia a feminist issue? According to Sable Aradia, it isn't.  And I agree with her.  However there is something that threatens womanhood by allowing women who were born as men to become who they are.  And apparently so much so that there are actually groups out there who are doing what they can to "expose" them.  One such site is called Gender Identity Watch.

From their site:

https://genderidentitywatch.com/

So here's my question.  Why do these women feel the need to take some measures to exclude Trans-women from their events?  I'm not really sure I get it.  To this day I do not understand how my life is impacted by the way another person identifies.  When I get up in the morning, I'm me.  No matter if a gay person is up, a trans person is up, I am still me.  If two men get married, my marriage is still mine.  If a biracial couple have babies, it doesn't impact me.  Why do so many people spend so much of their time hating on other people?  What's with all the name calling and being ugly to each other? I just don't get it. Maybe some out there feel threatened by a transition.  Not sure how.  It is pretty sad if you feel your life is threatened because someone had surgery to become who they are inside.  I mean shouldn't we support and celebrate those who are finally able to live out of the closet? To be who they are and support their right not to be beaten over it.  While I do not believe that being Trans is the same as being lesbian or gay, as these are related to sex, Transgender is not.  It is gender.  Gender and sex are different.

Until each of us calls out those who would seek to hurt others by using derogatory speech, creating events that are exclusive, or making people believe that Paganism is a group set on the basic male/female gender roles we will always be faced with these problems.  When you hear someone using slurs or calling names, dehumanizing others, take a moment to speak up.  Take a moment to say, hey, that's not right.  Work for inclusive events that will allow for all of us, each and every one of us to be able to join together in intelligent discussion and debate.

From Jennifer Finney Boylan's Article - The T-Word.

The use of the word is made more complicated by the fact that some people in the transgender community use the word themselves, in a manner reminiscent, perhaps, of the way the “N” word is used by some African Americans. Younger people, in my experience, as well as people in the drag community, are more comfortable using it than transsexuals. For some trans folks, it’s an attempt to reclaim a slur and redefine it with pride and ownership. RuPaul, America’s most famous drag queen, uses it with abandon; so does Kate Bornstein, our most respected genderqueer activist.

What we have to remember is that we need to remember how we are using the word. How are we treating others.  If our intent is to slur and to dehumanize, then you're using a slur.  Plain and simple. Some have taken to using slurs as a way to take the power back.  Using words such as Fag and Dyke. However I don't believe that one can take back the power of an oppressor by using their language.

I watched an interview with Dr. Maya Angelou regarding the reclamation of the N word. I found her theory resonated with me and I embraced this take on it.



I follow another free thinker on YouTube called the1janitor.  He gives a very eloquent editorial on the use of the N word. I highly recommend subscribing to his channel and checking out his other videos.





So to wrap this up, I guess my main point was to just get it out there that we can nip this crazy in the bud by just being the open honest people that we are.  Let those who want to be trans-phobic be alone over to the side and those who can welcome others into their community do so.  Those who can be caring and loving, do so. Those who can see the struggles of others and can honor that energy within them that gets them to the next day, do so.  The Trans Community has so much going against them already, do they really need this too?

By the way, if you're in NC ....  #illgowithyou




Get the button - Link
Facebook Page - Link
Twitter Page - Link


Recommended Reading:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alexandra-billings/in-a-word-tranny_b_5523090.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/delia-melody/casual-transphobia-in-my-_b_8462272.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dana-beyer/anti-trans-slurs-drag_b_5022301.html

Here are some shots I took at a recent Pagan festival called "Mayfaire".

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

A giveaway for this book will begin now run for a week.  The winner will be shipped a free copy of this book by the publisher. (Blogger, Facebook & Twitter do not endorse this contest) One winner will be chosen at random via the rafflecopter tool.  The winner will be notified via email.  The winner will provide their shipping address for delivery.

Sometime I struggle with spirituality.  First let me put this out there for who those who may not know.  I was raised Southern Freewill Baptist.  I was forced to go to church by my parents.  Let's say they did not practice what they made me go hear bring preached. I had very little if any actual believe in Jesus or the Christian God by the time I was about 15 years old.  I spent the next 10 years without any real religious direction.  I then met someone who called herself a druid and I began a journey into Paganism.  Today some 30 years later, I am a Torchbearer for the Covenant of Hekate and consider myself a Devotee to the Goddess.  It wasn't a decision nor commitment I made lightly.  There was much discussion, research and contemplation.  I believe that deities were given specific traits to help a person feel protected or even championed in order to move forward in life.  Each deity had traits assigned such as the Goddess of the Hunt or the God of War to help humans fight daily battles both of the spiritual and the physical nature.

I wanted to put that primer in place so you know where I'm coming from when I say sometimes people, confuse me and herein lies the struggle. I am a moderator for several groups. I also participate in groups related to magic, witchcraft and sorcery. Recently I was taking part in a group where the discussion turned to questions around what happened when someone died, or the afterlife.  If you ask twenty people, (including Pagans) what is the afterlife, you'll get twenty different responses.  I was surprised however by the number of people who said they would spend all eternity with Hecate.  At first I was puzzled.  I am by no means a religious scholar.  I have read a great deal on Hecate (Hekate) from an assortment of sources.  At no point did I recall a story like the one being told in this group.  My understanding of Hecate as it relates to souls was a night-wandering goddess of the dead who led souls on their journey to their next space.

More and more in my chats with people online, I'm seeing mixing of what exactly the relationships are with gods and how we relate to them.  I'm seeing more people put a Christian spin on the afterlife. I'm seeing self-proclaimed Heathens hoping to die in a glorious battle so they can get access to Valhalla. I am seeing Christo-Pagans adding Jesus to their altars next to Bast and Shiva to be included in their monthly rites. It is pretty amazing to watch the doors in Pagansim swing in a wider path, yet in our public world Christianity seems to be taking a swing backwards to the point of denying rights to LGBT people in restaurants, bakeries and places that are clearly not religious institutions.

People who take stories that were intended to teach us something literally scare me.  We cannot look at these stories for anything other than what they really are.  I do not believe that a triple bodied deity walked the crossroads at night waiting for followers to leave food.  I do not believe the flood waters covered the earth killing every living thing because a deity got pissed off.

We are a people of imagination and inspiration.  We tell stories to teach lessons and to remind ourselves that we are not the only thing in the world that deserves respect.  We should honor out families when they deserve it.  We should honor our earth, because live here.  We should take care of our water because need it to survive.  We should help someone who is down on their luck because it is the right thing to do.  Right being human, not godly.

To be a spiritual person is so much more important than a religious person.  Dogma permeates our culture and our world from top to bottom. Where ever on this planet people gather, there are spirits and deities.  They are the wind that brings the seeds and the force that brings the thunder.  We know, with the modernization of studies and the advancement of science that it isn't a god that delivers our rain. But still, you've have someone blaming a hurricane or a tornado on god being pissed off because gay people can get married.

Learning that we do not need to do the right thing because some sky god may get made, but instead because it makes us feel good to help others seems to be extremely challenging for some people to accept.  I've been writing and rewriting this post for a while.  Each time I try to make a point and it seems it always comes back to one thing.   We can be wonderful spiritual beings who go out of our way to help each other or we can be religious hatemongers who use a book of stories written in antiquity to take the rights away from others.

I believe that for the most part we can be good to each other, but only if we lay down our religious dogma and pick up some true spirituality. Christians need to stop fighting with non-Christians, Muslim with non-Muslim, Jew with non-Jew.  We need to start taking care of the inhabitants of this planet while we still have Earthlings left.

Blessings
Sosanna

Source - Sosanna's Closet Facebook Page www.facebook.com/sosannascloset Photography by - Renee Sosanna Olson