A topic poped up, recently, on one of my groups: Urban (or not!) Pagans. Orenda asked, "What does being a Pagan mean to you? If you would consider yourself a witch, what does that mean to you? In addition, how do you practice on this Path, if at all? If you do not practice, or only intermittently, why do you have the same 'label' as those who do?" I decided that I'd like to answer that in my blog, as opposed to the thread that she created for the question.

Being a Pagan, to me, is to follow a more spiritually liberal religious path. I would consdier anything under the heading of new age to be "Pagan". Hell, I'd consdier anyone that doesn't follow the popular, more conservative religions, to be a Pagan of sorts. Yet, I would not go so far as to outright label them Pagans.

The dictionary labels a Pagan as a heathen. Which, I suppose, anyone that isn't a priest (and even still...) could be considered a heathen. Even the most religous of the fanatics are hypocrites, as we all well know. And those same hypocrites are the ones spouting out misconceptions of Pagans and Minorities. I find it hilarious that they claim that we are evil, and yet they are the ones condemming and judging those that need not deserve it.

Wow, that got off course, haha. Back to the question.

I do consider myself a Pagan, but if we're going to pick labels here, I'll go with Wiccan. I follow the path of the Kitchen witch, yet I don't like being labeled as a witch. I also, am not too fond of the terms like "casting spells" or "performing magick". I've been looked at funny when using terminology like that. People thinking that I am sitting infront of a cauldron, throwing my frog eyes in there and a bit of a baby's tounge. It's just not happening people.

What people don't realize, is that Magick is just like any other form of comuning with a deitie. No matter if you call it prayer, spells or wishing. It is all the same thing, when you get down to it. And, as most of you know, Christians and ourselves, share the same ritualistic form of "prayer". They just don't like to admit it (just like they don't like to admit where they got it from).

When I practice, it always varies. Sometimes, I go all out and get the nessesary tools and supplies and do it at the right time and everything! But, other times, it is as simple as me conentrating my will toward that specific intent.

It's been my experience that thoughts hold alot of power, which is why they tell you not to wish ill on other persons. More than likely, that malicious thought will manifest itself in some form or another, and you may not realise that you did it. But, still, you'll suffer the karmatic reprocusions.

We all can't just stop our bad thoughts all together. We are human, we are not infallable. But, we can stop focusing on them, and clear our mind of them, when they haunt us. Perhaps some meditating or a refreshing activity can be substituted. Just a little bit at a time. It takes practice, but, in my opinion, well worth it.

Everything under the heading of new age is far too much of a grey area to nail it down to one thing. Which is shown through the central religion in that area, Wicca. Think about it, what two Wiccans hold the same belief about any two things. If you ask one about their views on the afterlife or how karma is carried through, I can guarantee they won't say the same thing as the next Wiccan you ask. I have yet to find anyone with my views, yet I still consider myself one under that faith.

That is why I am interested to see how other people answer this question. I have already read one responce, and mine is nothing like theirs. It's a beautiful thing that so many people with so many different beliefs can unite under one banner, and commune as brother and sister. Why can't the rest of the world follow by example?

I have noticed quite the trend over the past 4 years, or so: Every coven that I have joined up with has disbanded. Now, don't go thinking that I have been "coven hopping". In reality, every coven that I have been in, has consisted of the same people, usually. So, perhaps saying that I have been in different covens is the wrong way to phrase that.

A better way of putting that, is that a few people and myself, have joined together to form a coven many, many times. It has almost always consisted of myself, my best friend, and usually 2 other people (which change each time).

I can't quite place my finger on it, but the group usually ceases to be after about a month or two. It's actually starting to piss me off. I don't know wether to blame it on people's busy schedules or people in my age group being too immature to actually stick with something they devote themselves to. I tend to stick with the later explanation, which then makes me want to rant.

It is things like that, that build up this image about younger practitioners being flaky and only dabbling in the occult because of things they see in the media like The Craft or Charmed. Which, in my opinion, are very good. But poor representionations of what magick is in reality, obviously.

I am sure you have all been there, or had that misconception, at one point. Hell, that is how I precieve most younger practiontioners. Which makes me a hypocrite, haha. I see it all the time, too. Even though I am 19 years old, I still get looked at in that light, outside of my community. I hate going into new New Age shops, because as soon as I walk through that door, I will get the same glare from the clerk. That is, until they actually talk with me, or see what I am shopping for.

I guess that even though Wicca is one of the most non-discriminatory religions on this planet, there still is that underlying Age Discrimination that our nation is plauged with. No matter if you are 15 or 65, you will face discrimination somewhere and for something. As we age, we expect to be given more respect and authority. But, we really are just exchanging one thing for another. Eventually, we may no longer be thought of as immature and naive, instead we will be viewed as bad drivers and slow individuals as we go through our daily tasks.

Perhaps our community, as a whole, could do better to set aside these issues and be as inclusive as we claim to be. Otherwise, that doesn't make us better than anyone else. Some of the smartest practitioners I have met are in their twenties. Which goes to show that you don't have to be aged to be experienced. And, perhaps, more youth could be guided and taught better if they felt and knew there was a place for them within our ranks.

I would love the experience to tutor someone a few years younger than I. I wouldn't want them to learn purley from error. That is the way that I learned all I know, and albeit not a bad way of learning, it is not the most plesant way of learning. I didn't have anyone but my equally inexperienced peers to discuss things with. Thus, I could only learn what they had also learned, which wasn't much more than I. It was nice to have friends to travel the road with, but not everyone will have friends. And not everyone will be the wiser to avoid certain magicks.

So, next time you see a younger member of the Craft, stop for a second and consider talking to them or offer some advice. The human resources I have, now, are invaluable and I know that if i had them when I was younger, It would have made my path alot easier. We can end this overlooked case of discrimination, just a little bit at a time.

Merry Part