My last post was heavily geared towards pointing out the hypocrisy of the people we call Christians. They themselves tend to use the classic derailment techniques of pointing out that the church is for Sinners and so on. This is of course nonsense. On no greater authority than my own opinion I am going to express the view that it is reasonable to expect people to be in fact what they claim to be.
I thought it was in their holy scriptures but I find it is actually in the first Latin Christian writer, Tertullian, that we find the classic picture of the pagans of the time commenting on how the Christians love each other. Do the Christians love each other (or anyone else)? Do they f*ck.
This has caused me to reflect on how we would know that the principles of Witchcraft are embodied in a community, or even an individual.
I don't think for an instant that it would be a very harmonious community, since the sort of people who are drawn to witchcraft are usually as willing to collaborate with anyone else as a bear with a sore paw.
It would be made further quarrelsome by the fact that witches tends to be quite assertive. Oh alright since you ask we are usually downright rude.
I think the fact of the assertiveness and possibly rudeness is one of the things which would indicate that the community embodies the Spirit of Witchcraft.
Another think would probably be a Frank attitude to sex. Now you must understand that I am not talking about the strange creepy men who attend pagan festivals. I am talking about an environment in which people are truly free to be sexually themselves without any fear of intimidation or force. This is really the exact opposite of a christian Community.
Nor would the members of a community which embodies the values of Witchcraft work out their will in isolation from each other, since a real magical community would recognise the interdependence of all things. If my perceived will clashes with yours, then one of us is wrong. Of course it's most likely to be you, but you might just have to learn that the hard way.
That would be another hallmark of the witchcraft community, that people would actively expect to receive the consequences of their actions and not try to avoid them.
I would expect the members of the community to call out somebody who is a creep or a charlatan or harasses people... In fact in the pagan community as it is, the informal gatherings that we have to often involves bitching about each other and we will usually no other groups reputation very well.
This is not actually a blueprint for what a witchcraft community should look like of course, since I myself would rather have my fingernails pulled out then join one, it is just a few reflections prompted by my last post.
You may wonder the connection between the illustration and these few thoughts. Natural body hair, that is the connection. And nipples of course. But you knew that.
Do you see the cobbles on the streets? Everywhere you look, stone & rock. Can you imagine what it feels like to reach down with your bones & feel the living stones? The city is built on itself, all the cities that came before. Can you imagine how it feels to lie down on an ancient flagstone & feel the power of the rock buoying you up against the tug of the world? And that's where witchcraft begins. The stones have life, & I'm part of it. - adapted from Terry Pratchett
I have to agree. A harmonious community (of Christians, or anyone else) can only be built on lies and repression. People aren't sheep (despite evidence to the contrary), so the appearance of harmony will have a bitter, resentful, contrary foundation churning underneath that will find all sorts of ways to come to the surface and seep/explode out.
ReplyDeleteAt least with a community of witches, the assertiveness, rudeness, opinions etc will be dealt with straight away resulting in two or three minutes of peace and harmony before it all starts again. And as you point out, every 'one' is right, and everyone else is wrong.
I wouldn't join one either. I'd rather be pushed into my own oven.
I'm very relieved to see you're right!
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