Like any other niche religious movement, paganism attracts cult personalities. Any leadership position is going to be appealing to these narcissists, and our community is not immune. Learning how to spot cult groups should be included in any basic 101 education for new Pagans.
The first lesson is coming to terms with the fact that intelligent, reasonable people get drawn into cults. It's not weak or gullible people that fall for it, it can happen to anyone. It can happen to you. Accepting that is the first step toward protecting yourself. Here's a link to a good list of red/green flags to look out for:
@noam Yeah, I've heard this from a lot of pagans, that they don't want to being electronics into circle. I get it, rote memorization or writing things down by hand gives more of a connection to the intention.
I try to memorize everything I can, but most of my rituals are late at night, with dim lights, and my eyes are tired, so I kinda need my screenreader if I want to take notes or something.
@pagan@paganism
from the blog- re: Baltic goddess Ragana:
"Of course ... authority based on intimidation and ignorance drove the old ways to the wilds, outside civilised village and city life. Of course they labelled these women as dangerous or deranged- for the simple truths they lived were indeed dangerous to the repressive patriarchy..."
Birch catkins- Birch is a tree associated with Ragana and many other European goddesses, suggesting the antiquity of the association. #witch#OldWays
@pagan@paganism
Here's a still view of the finished altar, plus another angle where it seems the Goddess manifested among the flowers and greenery (I say this kind of thing a bit jokingly, but also believe the [non-specific] divine energy is there for us to see and feel)
@Cat_LeFey
I've done it once, when my husband's superior in the Navy was actively being abusive to everyone under her, and tried very deliberately to get him and a couple of other male subordinates in serious trouble (ordering them to go into a female berthing without a female escort). He was coming home every evening feeling like absolute garbage, so I felt that on his and his shipmates' behalf, I would give it a shot. She ended up getting kicked out of leadership when HER superior started learning through the grapevine that she was abusing her sailors not long after that. It's a pretty rare occurrence, given how much leadership tends to protect itself, so it was unusual, to say the least. Was it due to the hex I did? Maybe it played a small role, but I felt it was a fair response to the harm she was doing my husband and his shipmates regardless.
Everyone decides for themselves if it's a thing they're willing to try or not. I personally have to be pushed pretty far to reach that point, and it also has to be continuous nasty behavior, which is why I've only done it once. If someone is just being somewhat of a dick to me or whatever, I don't waste the energy.
@MsHearthWitch Yes, same. I also consider cursing to be a magickal reprimand in the same way we have social reprimands, which are actually really important to a well-functioning, peaceful society. If someone is acting poorly, it's up to someone else to speak up and say, “hey, we don't act like that, it's not cool!” And so it also might fall on the witch to provide some counterbalance, energetically speaking.
My name is Amy, and I'm a writer and folklorist specialising in the interplay between history and folklore, with an emphasis on the Folklore and Ghosts of Shropshire.
QUESTION: Is there a gay pagan group on Mastodon that you can join, where you can find newbies and more experienced people in their crafts to chat with and learn from? If not, then there needs to be. #pagan#wiccan#witchcraft#Druid