Painting by the author<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>If you\u2019ve spent even a hot minute in any of the P-word communities, you\u2019ve probably heard any or all of the following (and feel free to switch \u201cwitch\u201d out for your hot button word)<\/em>:
\n\u201cYou\u2019re not a real witch if you hex.\u201d
\n\u201cYou\u2019re not a real witch if you don\u2019t hex.\u201d
\n\u201cYou can\u2019t be a witch and believe in gods.\u201d
\n\u201cYou can\u2019t be a witch and NOT believe in gods.\u201d
\n\u201cIf you don\u2019t practice or believe this, then you\u2019re not a real _____\u201d
\n\u201cYou can only be a witch if you have this initiation process.\u201d
\n\u201cYou can only be a witch if it\u2019s documented in your blood for centuries.\u201d
\n\u201c_____ aren\u2019t real witches.\u201d
\n\u201cOnly real witches do _____.\u201d
\n\u201cYou can\u2019t call yourself a witch because you\u2019re not the right gender\/color\/age\/religion.\u201d
\n\u201cNobody should call themselves a witch because _____\u201d
\n\u201cUnless you live in the woods\/are in direct contact with nature all the time, you\u2019re not a real witch.\u201d<\/p>\nWe can credit memes with minting a new combination of limited sentiment mixed with image, but the sharing of limited sentiments is nothing new. \u00a0You can change out the word \u201cwitch\u201d for any number of sensitive labels and combine it with a similar limited statement (Pagan, Polytheist, Christian, gender, practitioner, etc) and pretty much plop it down anywhere on the human timeline.<\/p>\n
There was a time in my late teens and early 20\u2019s when I was very adamant about the difference between being a Witch and being a Wiccan. \u00a0I wasn\u2019t Wiccan and I bristled at the suggestion, even if it was a generally well-meaning person trying to show their understanding: \u201cOh you\u2019re a Witch? My daughter is a Wiccan too!\u201d If you try to explain why you believe a Wiccan and a Traditional Witch are very different to that nice older lady, you\u2019re going to get a blank stare. They don\u2019t care, they were just trying to be nice\/make a connection\/relate to you. \u00a0It\u2019s just like trying to explain the difference between a Catholic, a Methodist, and a Lutheran to someone who doesn\u2019t really care.<\/p>\n
In the 20 or so years since then I\u2019ve learned a few\u00a0things:
\n\u2013 It is not my concern or issue to worry about how other people choose to label themselves, I can\u2019t control what others do, only\u00a0be responsible for what I do and the resulting reactions.
\n\u2013 The only person to whom the label truly matters to is myself
\n\u2013 What I do<\/strong><\/em> is far more important than what I call myself or what others may call me, and the same goes for everyone else. \u00a0People\u2019s actions are more important than their labels.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s one thing to be concerned with what\u00a0someone calls themselves is seen by the general public \u2013 we still see unfortunate, misinformed news headlines \u201cRitual Murder\u201d, \u201cWiccan Sacrifice\u201d, \u201cSo-Called Druid is found guilty of\u2026\u201d But I think most of the current unrest is really in-community bickering about semantics.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d venture that the reason that it\u2019s a thing is because we\u2019re relatively young as a \u201ccommunity\u201d, but I also know from personal experience that other groups do it too \u2013 whether it\u2019s Jews, Christians, Gamers, or Bellydancers. \u00a0I think\u00a0that maybe the root of it is insecurity \u2013 impostor syndrome if you will \u2013 worrying about if we\u2019re doing it right and what will others think of us? If that person is really what being an X is all about, what does that make me?<\/em> Perhaps another part is the desire to get involved in other people\u2019s business and prove oneself more superior in some way.<\/p>\nAlso, I think we all do enjoy a visit to the catty corner at some point, myself included. \u00a0It\u2019s a relief to roll our eyes and poke fun at something that doesn\u2019t fit our spectrum. My particular pokey spot is people espousing damaging practices. The problem is finding the thin line between comic relief and being a complete asshole (which again, I feel sometimes I myself also have a problem distinguishing \u2013 but as my friend Michael wisely noted to me, \u201cWe all have our flaws.\u201d). \u00a0The best way to combat the whole thing is to respectfully suggest\u00a0resources that may have better information (people, books, links, etc) and\/or put your own work out there. \u00a0(We can bitch about it, or we can actually do something productive about it.)<\/p>\n
So here are a few more sentiments that may bring you some peace (or make you want to send me hate mail). \u00a0<\/em>Alas, most of them are too long for a meme or animated gif (but if you\u2019re inspired and up for the challenge, go ahead and put them in the comments!)<\/em>:
\n\u2013 How you see and interact with the divine is important only to you and the divine \u2013 and the people you might directly work with.
\n\u2013 The age or origin of any path or tradition is meaningless and not up for comparison for validity points. Everything started somewhere, and most (if not all) have sketchy origins littered with truth. Church of England<\/a> anyone? If it works, it works \u2013 and don\u2019t assume that a practitioner isn\u2019t aware of their path\u2019s origins. \u00a0It\u2019s their path, it works for them. It doesn\u2019t have to work for you.
\n\u2013 Everyone starts somewhere, we\u2019re all newbies at some point. Only Athena and a few others were born fully-formed and that was not a guarantee they had their shit together either.
\n\u2013 Do the work \u2013 in particular do YOUR work.
\n<\/strong>\u2013 When you\u2019re interacting with someone and they use a label to describe themselves, a great way to actually interact with them is to ask \u201cWhat does that word mean to you<\/strong><\/em>?\u201d \u00a0It can be a great way to start a really interesting and healthy discussion.
\n\u2013 Lastly, and most importantly, don\u2019t be a dick<\/strong>. Unless of course, all you are is a sentient organ for reproductive purposes only \u2013 then you probably don\u2019t have eyes either, so you wouldn\u2019t be reading my blog.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
What I do is far more important than what I call myself or what others may call me, and the same goes for everyone else. People\u2019s actions are more important than their labels.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2676,"featured_media":47,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,13,14],"tags":[24,25,26,27,28,7],"class_list":["post-46","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-modernpractice","category-myth-and-folklore","category-tradition","tag-community","tag-labels","tag-pagan","tag-polytheist","tag-wiccan","tag-witch"],"yoast_head":"\n
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