Birthing Hereditary Witchcraft: Pagan Parenting And The Orlando Mass Shooting

Mass shootings occur this is now a fact of life for most parents. On this blog for several years I have given parents suggestions around directed parenting in relationship to current news items. Today is no different — except that some of the directed questions might surprise you…

a family in the park during a beautiful sunrise, backlight — wong yu liang / shutterstock.com

What is a gay, lesbian and trans persons?

The first step to parenting in order to prevent the continued mass violence is to educate even children about what a gay, lesbian and trans person is. Your job is to present ideas. Using your Family Coven values, you can apply them to your discussion.

Gay – a person is gay when he identifies as a man and loves another person who identifies as a man.
Lesbian – a person is a lesbian when she identifies as a woman and loves another person who identifies as a woman.
Transgender or Trans – a person is transgender or “trans” when he, she, or they identify as a gender that is not the gender they were assigned at birth or when they identify as both genders (gender fluid) or no gender at all.
Bi-Sexual – a person who likes boys and girls equally.
LGBT – Lesbian Gay Bi-Sexual Transgender

What is a night club?

A night club is a place where people go to dance and get together and meet up. For the LGBT community their night clubs are very special. Lots of people in the world do not like them because they are different. So night clubs have become one place the LGBT community can go to feel accepted without judgement. Another place where the LGBT community should be able to go is places of worship.

Why would someone shoot up that club?

Unfortunately, not all religions believe that being LGBT is okay. Some religions teach that it is wrong to be LGBT. This means that when people get angry and need someone to blame or a group of people to hate, the LGBT community is often a community that is targeted. Other communities that are targeted include: Blacks, Hispanics, persons who look like they are from the Middle East, and people who hold beliefs that are different than what society has decided is acceptable. These groups, called minority groups, are often targeted for violence and discrimination.

Is being LGBT wrong?

Insert a conversation about your Family Coven Values here. It might go like this:

Our Family Coven Values include the value of “tolerance” and “respect.” When we talk about tolerance we should ask ourselves if what someone is doing is hurting ourselves or others. Do you think being LGBT hurts anyone? If not, then we need to be tolerant of their belief. Tolerance, however, it not always enough. Sometimes we need to exercise “respect” another of our Family Coven Values. Respect means that even if we don’t agree with someone we are respectful of their decisions in life if it isn’t hurting someone or breaking the law. It is not against the law to be LGBT. When people talk badly about someone who is LGBT by using slurs like “gay” and “faggot” and “trany,” they are feeding the energy of our society that hates LGBT. This increases the odds that someone else is going to get angry and do something like just happened in Orlando.

In magic we believe that everything is connected. If this is true then what we say, each and every individual in the nation says, is also an energy that feeds society. If we say things that are negative and hateful, we feed hateful and negative action.

How can we help prevent something like this in the future?

Use our words to feed love and tolerance. Don’t just let other say derogatory slurs like “gay” or “faggot” or “trany” without using our words to combat that hateful and negative speech. We could say, ‘That isn’t nice to use those words.’ Or ‘There is no law against being gay (lesbian, transgender).’

We can also use our words to demonstrate tolerance and acceptance. If we meet someone who we think is transgender, we can ask them what pronoun they prefer and then use that pronoun when addressing them. We can accept that their reality is different from our own, but not less important.

What can you do if someone is shooting at your school?

Sometimes shootings happen in schools. Has your school done a safety drill for a shooting? This would normally be some time when the teachers lock the doors and you must sit quietly. If something bad happens at your school, you should do whatever the teachers tell you to do. You can sit quietly like they will ask you to and silently say to yourself over and over:

“The Gods and Goddesses of light dark, protect me from the shadows of harm.
Unseen I am and unseen I will be. This magick connects (parenting partner) and me.”

I will be praying this same prayer if I think you are somewhere you aren’t safe. When the teachers tell you it is all clear you should call/text your family to let them know you’re okay.

What can you do if someone is shooting in a public place – like a night club?

If a shooting happens at a public place, you should try to find a way to get out of that place and as far away from it as you can. Restrooms are sometimes the worse places to be in public places because they offer no exits. When you go someplace new, you could make a game of looking for exits. This way if something happens you know how to get out. If you can’t get out and you are really scared, you should find a place to hide, preferably not in a restroom, and say this little prayer.

“The Gods and Goddesses of light dark, protect me from the shadows of harm.
Unseen I am and unseen I will be. This magick connects (parenting partner) and me.”

I will be praying this same prayer if I think you are somewhere you aren’t safe.

Where do you go when you die?

The best way to handle this question is to discuss where the child thinks they might go if they die. After that discuss options like Valhalla, The Summerlands, Heaven, reincarnation and any other options that you believe might exist. Then ask the child again what they believe. When the child chooses, then say, “Okay that is what will happen to you when you die.”