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Pagans are a creative bunch. Whether it's because artistic and creative thinkers tend to shy away from the mainstream and therefore tend to congregate in alternative religions, or because our up-close-and-personal relationship with Deity tends to inspire us so passionately we have to find some way of expressing our ecstasy, or both, or something else entirely, over the years I have seen some of the most fantastic art and craft from my people, ranging from Tarot to music to sculpture and all points West.



I’m something of an artist, and by that I mean I have artistic talent but not the drive to make use of it regularly. My creativity finds its outlet in the written word.



Even if you don’t think you have any talent, there are some forms of art that any enterprising Pagan can create. The most obvious, and perhaps most important, is of course the altar, where form and function unite, making a Michelangelo out of every Aradia WeaselFox. The second is that "ancient" form of magical recordkeeping, the Book of Shadows.



Grimoire, cookbook, journal, scrapbook--a BoS, or whatever your brand of Pagan calls a similar book, is an often-underutilized opportunity for creative expression. Even the modern-day equivalent, the My Documents Folder of Shadows, has its art; you can decorate your files with Witchy fonts, images, and even scary/annoying sound files that you still find on a few websites out there.



More often than not I find that people tend to be a bit scattershot in their recordkeeping, and end up rummaging desperately in the Stack of Crap of Shadows for that incense recipe they’re sure they wrote down, or clicking through the Firefox Bookmarks Menu of Shadows for a ritual idea they saw on a site somewhere last June. Or, the BoS becomes such a hefty tome that carting it from shelf to altar requires a wheelbarrow/hernia operation.



In my career as a Wiccan my BoS has undergone several incarnations. My favorites have been the scrapbook variation, in which each page was decorated with photographs, bits of Nature glued to the cardstock, and paint; and my current version, a bound book with handmade paper pages, evey page handwritten, illuminated with vines and other mystical doodles.



The problem is that by the time I’ve finished work on a BoS, or gotten it to where I like its content, it's obsolete. I find that the more experienced I get, the less I need a BoS at all. Most of my personal rituals are made up on the fly, and I know my herbs well enough that I don't usually have to consult a recipe to select the ingredients for a charm or incense. After thirteen years, it's all in my head, and anything that isn't, I would have to look up in an herbal encyclopedia anyway.



So my poor BoS sits beside my altar, gorgeous and full of my energy, but mostly unused--is art really art if it’s never enjoyed? I suspect this happens to a lot of Craft veterans. A computer file lacks romance, as does a binder, but a bound book is difficult to edit and doesn't evolve with you, unless you periodically start from scratch.



I do have a magical recipe binder of printed pages and dividers (also rarely used, although I keep formulas I’ve created myself and nifty blends I might want to use again someday but won’t remember in it). I also have a small book of prayers…or, I think I do. It’s lost somewhere in the chaos of my desk. Prayer, like ritual, tends to be spontaneous in my world. My BoS, however, is a sort of portrait of how I viewed my spirituality and how, ideally, I practiced it circa 2002.



Recently I had a moment of wacky inspiration handed down from the gods (or blown in my ear by a Faery as I slept, which amounts to the same thing really). I’ve been feeling the itch to redo my BoS, as in the last five years my worldview and practice have both experienced a slight tectonic shift, but the idea of putting hours and hours of work into another book to sit by my altar coated in incense dust (a Knickknack By Default of Shadows) seemed rather sad.



I was discussing spiritual reconnection with a friend over a divinatory reading, and suddenly I remembered The Red Book, or rather, the author’s original concept for it: a large red journal full of passages, prayers, and collages whose purpose was not to record the minute details of rituals or catalog recipes, but to inspire.



Now, that sounds like something I can get behind. At this point on my path I don’t need a cookbook, I need a touchstone, something to turn to on those days when the waking sleep of mundanity sounds more attractive--or at least easier--than the dreaming wakefulness of the sacred life. I envision a combination of scrapbook and oracle where all I have to do is open it to any page and find words or an image to elbow me out of my oh-so-hip and oh-so-dull postmodern ennui.



All I have to do now is find the right medium, materials…but that’s the fun part. Hooray for new projects!



Because, you know, I don’t already have enough to occupy my time. *laugh*

I think the term “fluffy bunny” is demeaning and derogatory. What is even more hurtful is that its use is reserved to within our very own community. People outside the neo-pagan community don’t use it. You’ll never hear a Catholic call a neo-pagan, witch or Wiccan a “fluffy bunny” unless they happen to be working for Hugh Hefner (do they still have Playboy bunnies and Playboy bunnie costumes?) or they’re dressed like an Easter rabbit.



Then there’s the whole problem area of “traditionalists” and the perception that traditionalists might think they are superior to “fluffy bunnies.” One problem with this issue is that once a witch establishes methods of practicing the Craft, that witch has created their own “tradition.” When the witch then hands that “tradition” down to a family member or just someone specifically chosen (as would have been done in the past), that body of information becomes “traditional.” However, no tradition, however old, is any more valid, important, serious or magical than any other practice.



So why is there such a sense of or need for superiority in the neo-pagan community? So much so that the term “fluffy bunny” came into being?



I believe it arises from the frustration of knowing there was so much information and heritage lost over the eons. Any whiff of ancient knowledge sends some witches groveling and salivating, but it shouldn’t.



Just because it’s old doesn’t mean it’s pertinent or useful in the modern world. Witches may have lost much, but they’ve also learned a great deal, and this, I fear, is something die-hard “ancient knowledge die-hards” tend to forget sometimes. Old isn’t always better. New isn’t always wrong. Being a witch requires flexibility and a willingness to be open-minded, a joyful curiosity about the world and careful observation of ALL its changing aspects. And the world has changed; oh my, how it has changed just in my lifetime!



The answer, in the end I think, is to just stop using broad labels completely. IMO,



“A witch is a witch,

No matter the niche,

No matter the twitch,

A witch is a witch.”



There is room for everyone…to follow their own path, find their own niche, and create their own spirituality. I think Nicole is exactly right when she says, “How do we know [their way] isn’t pleasing to the Goddess?” Indeed! I, for one, do not have the temerity or audacity to make such decisions for Her.



Identifying oneself by the type of practice is, I think, fine; i.e., Faery, Green, Kitchen, Hedge, Celtic, Gardnerian, Alexandrian, Dianic, etc. This provides information about oneself to other witches and helps them to find common ground. Since such identification isn’t applied to an individual from the outside (i.e., one assigns the term oneself), it cannot be derogatory or demeaning.



It’s time to move forward and make room in the Craft for all witches.

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Theban
14:37 Jun 03 2009

I find that the word Fluffy Bunny or fluff bunny is directed at people who say they are involved, but aren't. Because they watch Charmed or Supernatural they think they know it all, and that's how it all works!....Where as in truth, it is far different and nothing like the programmes.



There are many things that I do not agree with which Covens practice here in my country...they are open to outside influence and quite simply don't have a clue.



I dislike the misinterpretation by the media.

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Here are the things I don't care about:



I don't care what the name of your religion is.

I don't care what the names of your gods are.

I don't care how old your religion is.

I don't care if your great-great-whatever grandmother passed down your famtrad Book of Shadows under the watchful eye of the Inquisition.

I don't care if an entire civilization worshipped your Goddess for ten thousand years.

I don't care if you made Her up based on manga or Tolkien or a dream you had.

I don't care where you place your altar.

I don't care which direction you call Earth.

I don't care how psychic you are.

I don't care if you're smarter than me.

I don't care why you eat meat, or don't.

I don't care how many shields you think you need.

I don't care how your childhood trauma made you a powerful magickian.

I don't care if you spell "magic" with a k.

I don't care if you were an Atlantean Magus in your last life.

I don't care if you're brand-spanking new.

I don't care how much you hate Christians.

I don't care how many degrees you have.

I don't care if people call you "Lady" or "Lord."

I don't care if you're King of all Londinium and wear a shiny hat.

I don't care if you can read minds or light candles with your breath.

I don't care how the world owes you a living.

I don't care if you've been studying the Craft for thirty years or thirty minutes.

I don't care what your totem animal is, especially if it's a wolf, raven, or unicorn.

I don't care if you can trace your lineage back to Gardner.

I don't care if you think I'm a moron, fraud, or basket case.

I don't care how many books you've read.

I don't care how much or how little money you have.



What do I care about?



I care that your religion has made you a kinder, more compassionate person.

I care that you can hold down a job.

I care that you're growing past whatever happened to you as a child or last year.

I care that your gods help you become stronger without coddling you.

I care that you are willing and able to adapt and change as your life does.

I care that you care about the Earth.

I care that you care about someone and something outside yourself.

I care that you practice your religion with devotion and reverence.

I care that you respect others' paths.

I care that you never stop learning.

I care that you can conduct adult relationships with respect and understanding.

I care that you get how hilarious life is.

I care that you know when to ask for help.

I care that you realize that someone will always be smarter, more powerful, and more together than you.

I care that you realize it doesn't matter, because tomorrow you'll be smarter, more powerful, and more together than you were yesterday.

I care that you have reasons for everything you do, even if those reasons are purely intuitive.

I care that you can admit when you're wrong.

I care that you know you're both a tiny speck in a vast universe and a rare, precious jewel in the darkened sky.

I care that you're making a difference.

I care that you know when to speak and when to shut the hell up.

I care that you are seeking a relationship with Deity and with Nature.

I care that you are healthy.

I care that you're contributing to your family and community.

I care that your capacity for love and joy increase with every passing year.

I care that you believe in yourself.

I care that you're doing the best you can.

COMMENTS

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Theban
14:40 Jun 03 2009

I like this...umm I should care..reading the positives make for feeling a little better...lol

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