I say so called, because to my lexicon there is no such thing, there is magick
where the sender intends good and magick where the sender intends ill. Period !

Given the Karma of the second act, only a fool would want to try it to my way of thinking,
but to each their own risk.

This is not about those of the Left hand paths, or those that follow the ways of the Dark Mother,
or anyone else who follows a " dark " magick path as a semantic definition,
with conviction and good intent. All Magick is just a tool, it's how it's used that matters.
Dark and Light are two sides of the same thing and any good walker of the way knows this.

This is not even about all the traditions and aspects of " Pagan " that I may or may not personally agree with.
I'm not trying to start a Witch War ... or show prejudice to other groups of Pagans because
the people I will be talking about here, to me, are NOT any kind of Pagan.
But who use its name because we let them, to our detriment.

This is about those who are playing Dungeons and Dragons with our religion
who call themselves or are called Pagan, who wouldn't know the Goddess or the God
if they set up house in their living room ! But by their actions cause others to hate and fear us
and take us less seriously, as they the feed stereotypes about us.
Stereotypes we have been trying to correct for years.

I am honestly sorry if this offends anyone, but I cannot stand by and be silent while people defame the very Name of my religion.

And its not because they
have taken on some fiction writers philosophy, that can be very useful,
but because they want to escape reality perhaps ?

I read works of fiction that often hold a great deal of meaning for me.
Mother put them there for me to see and understand whatever it is she needs me to see,
many things can be learned this way, as fiction writers can be a hand of the divine, just like anything else.
Its not the source that is the problem, its what you do with it.

Like the real Knights of the Jedi, who are neither Dark, nor escapist ,
nor even really Pagan by their own rights but are often considered so,
I happen to know some of them and they are a completely different thing entirely, eminently worthy folk, :)
who follow a light path that just happens to follow a very well thought out plan of values,
who happens to be a fiction writer.

The Mother can get the word out in any way she wants, even Star Wars. It's the 21th century !
It does not need to come from some moldy old tome
to have validity. But they don't think they can do what they see on the Movies, this is no game they play,
they just happen to think the moral philosophy is a good one, that is worthy of following
I agree with them.

This is not about them.

But calling oneself a Dark Pagan Wizard as a game VS trying to behave as if one really is an evil wizard
with power based on some role play, is quite another matter. This is someone who has no clue
what being any sort of Pagan really means but calls themselves one, to our detriment.
And we all know about them and have seen them, so I am not talking anything out on the end of the yarn ball here
, or trying to slander anyone these people are out there, and in some very large numbers.

So given this, it any surprise some don't people take our Religion seriously,
while these folk are considered " real " Pagans by the uninformed,
just because they say they are and ape some of our outward forms ? It's something to consider.

Who call themselves Pagan.

To consider the philosophy and history behind what created the stories of vampires and werewolves is a fascinating,
if very sad part of human history. To study it is one thing, to learn from the stories and from history ,
but to really think you ARE one of these blood thirsty beings is the sign of a person with
perhaps some un resolved issues to put it mildly.

This deliberate association with Evil, has nothing to do with being a Pagan.
With people like this running around calling themselves Pagan,
it is any wonder when you tell someone your Pagan who does not know any better than this for an example,
that they look at you like your dangerous ?

We are not talking the Gothic faiths and other such folk who have their own ways of looking at things, Have many friends who are goths :)
I'm talking the downright, near psychopathic people who revel in evil and call it Pagandom

Demonology is a fascinating study from a historical point of view, but unless one has, say the power of Solomon ,
calling on them is the act of a fool, that no Pagan in their right mind would do.

The only thing a Pagan needs to know about " Demons " for lack of a better word,
is how to defend yourself from beings that mean you ill. Most Demons of the old world, where not beings at all.
They where the demons of lust, of vanity, of drunkenness. Meaning if you were one who indulged in such things,
a " demon " of a bad mind set must have a hold on you.

Weather you are talking about this kind of demon or the very real beings of ill intent,
It's not something anyone with any sanity even attempts to summon no matter what you call it.
Blood and Death are not something to be reveled in, they are a fact of life, nothing more.

And again, because these folk are out there, and ape our ways,
should we really be suprised when we tell someone we are Pagan
They run from us in Fear ?

I am not talking the rites of Voden, or the ways of the Necromancer, and others who are serious people
who practice their rites of the divine in their own way as they have for centuries who are often
considered " dark " Magick. Their ways may not be my way, but their intentions are much the same ,
to worship and make connection with the divine. Even in the rites of Voden, where animals are often still sacrificed
it is done with respect and the animal is cooked and eaten
as part of the rites. Which I respect,

This is not about them.

This is about the cruel people who kill some poor animal ,they can not even eat, in a perversion of a
" rite ", for no good reason than some sort of sick power trip, then even worse, leave this travesty for others to find making
a lot of people think some real Pagan did this, because they profane our symbols
while they are at it.

The recent passage of Samhain carried with it yet again the warning to the population at large to keep their cats close to home,
as every year poor pet felines are put to death in the fields , for nothing, other than some perverted groups cruelty,
who profanes our high holy day with such " rites "

And the worst pity of it is, it's completely meaningless.

These people are not Pagans. And while their so called " rites " are meaningless, in the real sense of the word,
they are extremely damaging. To a lot more than the poor cat they murder and their grieving owner.

As every year at, All Hollows this happens and the next day the newspapers carry the tales that condemn all " Pagans " yet again,
due to the so called " black rites " these sick people practice, on our highest of Holy Days, that we get the blame for.

Which is what prompted this page to be written, when I became sick of heart yet again over this
condemnation of me and mine, over something no self respecting Pagan would have anything to do with.
And it made me recall all the other so called " Pagans" who defame what we are to the world.

And yet the beliefs persist because there are people out there today
who go out of their way to foster this belief by their outlandish behavior that has no relationship
to the Great Mother or any God.  These are erroneously called Pagan, because their outward form
fits a common stereotype people believe about Pagans in general. Or they ape our dress, or profane our symbols.
So they outwardly at least, look like us, and or call themselves by our Name.

This is about people who are looking for kicks. A desire to be seen as Evil in my personal opinion.
Now why anyone would want such a thing is beyond any sense of reason. But, unfortunately it's quite common,
some people would rather be feared than appreciated , its more exciting I guess.
To do the forbidden gives them some kind of thrill and false sense of power, I suppose.

But it has nothing to do with being Pagan IMHO

Pagan is a lot of things, and the umbrella term covers a lot of people, as it should.
But I for one, am sick and tired of it " covering " people who are not in any real sense Pagans.

Tolerance is one thing, and letting people live life as they choose is fine and dandy, but our silence on these issues,
just allows our name and our religion to be sullied, by people who could care less about the Goddess or the God,
who call themselves Pagan to try to excuse unacceptable behavior.

We are not alone in this, other religions fight this battle too
of people calling themselves of their faiths, that are a major embarrassment or foster mis conceptions.
So it's not just Pagandom that has this problems, every religion on the planet has had this issue.

It's time we stop being so silent, and tell these people and everyone else,
that its not acceptable to profane the name Pagan this way

To really Be a Pagan in this world is hard enough given the prejudice we often must overcome,
that these kinds of things just foster and continue. It's time we Pagans put a stop to these people...
to correct these assumptions and to make them stop dragging the name Pagan thur mud, blood and fantasy
and stop giving people the wrong idea of what being a Pagan really means in the process.

Until we do, the belief that we are dangerous, evil , bloody handed demon summoners will continue.

And as long as all these so called " Pagans" who foster the stereotypes,
keep doing such outrageous things under the name Pagandom ,
it makes it that much easier for the hate and fear to continue.

Its time for that to end, without hate or malice to any liveing soul, but a firm understanding of reality
that these things are NOT Pagan.