Yesterday as I left the office to head home it hit me; the smell in the air, the quality of the light…Autumn is here! With Autumn comes Samhain (Halloween) and our neighbor’s big Halloween party. So seeing as the party is actually on the 31st this year I’ve decided that I want to take a traditional Pagan/Witch Samhain dish to the party.
Now what to take? So I Googled “Samhain Recipes” as my search results came up I noticed something..umm interesting, shall we say. The names that some of these people take for themselves! They go from the pretentious, Silver RavenWolf (a fairly well known, albeit “fluffy bunny”)author, to the downright silly, Lady Walking Turtle (as opposed to Flying Turtle??), Starfire(Teen Titans anyone?) , Amethyst (that’s not a name it’s a stone), StormWing (??), Moon Mistress (Frank Frazetta much? Mistress, Maid, whatever…it still feels Frazettaesqe), Star Breeze (umm….sorry no atmosphere in space so no breeze, Star).
Why do these Neo-Pagans feel the need to take on such pretentious, ridiculous names? Ok, I suppose if you are a business person that owns a non pagan business that you might not want your business associates/customers to know your religious beliefs…but, Griffyn Elvyncraft? REALLY?!? SERIOULSY? Dude, step away from the D & D manual!
Even more puzzling to me is the fact that they take the “choosing of a Wiccan/Pagan” name so seriously. I’ve been a Witch (not Wiccan a Witch) all of my life (or at least for as long as I can remember) and while I will admit I am known by many names … Mistaya (Bear), Nyx, Lucifair, Strabo, and Violence (online on the “gothic side” of the web), Rhiannon M. Boyle (at Ren and Pirate Faire), Vi Suvius (in the Roller Derby World) and finally, Yvette, which is my real name. I have never felt the need to give myself a Witch name. Dear Goddess I cannot imagine adding yet another name to the list of ones I already have!
I have noticed that many that have felt the need for a Wiccan/Pagan name are what I call “short timers”. Those that have been part of the Craft for less than say 20 years OR that have come to Paganism from another religion (usually one of the Christian based factions). I suppose that they feel a need to break away from what they once were…or they just fall in and get advice from what I and others call the “Fluffy bunny” factions of Paganism. “Fluffy Bunnies” are followers of Wicca that will tell you that they are “White Witches” or that they are “Wiccan” NOT Witches. The ones that still believe you MUST HAVE special tools and special places to do any type of ritual or spell work Of course if they say that they are “Wiccan NOT Witches” then they probably don’t do any spell work to begin with.
I want to now address these things. First of all “fluffy bunnies” - “White” Witches; do not exist. A truly “White” Witch would be forbidden from doing anything to protect themselves from attack, whether psychic or physical. Magick is not black OR white it is both. What determines how it is used is the person using it. If they are doing it to help or hurt. It is all about focus and intent. But I digress, this is not meant to be a lesson (I suck as a teacher, regardless of what the Grandfathers think).
Now for the Wiccans that aren’t Witches. If you have chosen an alternative religion but are not fully utilizing the teachings of said alternative religion…..then why bother? Seems to me it’s a lot of work for nothing.
As for needing special tools and a special place for ritual or spell work. Well what can I say, I’ve been doing this all my life (about 49 years now) so I can pretty much use anything and be anywhere and still cast an effective spell (even when I’m not trying). Oh don’t get me wrong…I do have my “altar” but I will still use whatever knife I have handy for cutting herbs (most times I’ll just break them off by hand) and my mini-cauldron incense burner is pretty much an all purpose tool at this point. Perhaps this knowledge will only come with time for the Fluffy Bunnies and the “Non Witch” Wiccans.
So Happy Autumn everyone – get out there and enjoy this beautiful weather. And Happy Samhain/Halloween!
Now, I will sign this in the tradition of the short timers and fluffy bunnies of the world.
Merry Meet and Merry Part,
Lady Mistaya Nyx Lucifair Strabo Violence Rhiannon Vi M. Bear-Boyle-Suvius
(LOL) Thanks for reading my latest rant! ;D
