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some facts, corrected it in this draft, and went on. No one got mad, no one got defensive, nor did anyone
get their feelings hurt. Had I been a fluffy, I would have retreated into "I'm right and you are wrong...."
and left a lot of sore feelings behind, perpetuated inaccurate info, and proved how immature I am.)
2) Blind faith in anything said by the "leader".
One of the most juvenile and lemming-like qualities in Wiclets is this one. Be it Silver RavenWolf,
Cunningham, Lady Stuffandnonsense, Lady Stuffandnonsense's teacher from 30 years ago, a website or
what have you, this is totally accepting whatever this person says as Gospel, the way it is, the TRUTH
and nothing but the TRUTH, even when faced with multiple refutations of that truth by other sites. Here's
an example:
Lady Stuffandnonsense has a website in which she posts the information that during the Burning Times,
9 million women were burned at the stake for being witches. She advertises this site to everyone she
knows, and to her list of Wiclets who don't know any better. Lady Stuffandnonsense ignores the bare fact
that 20 or 30 people, historians and scholars correct her "fact" and she never updates that site to reflect
the more accurate numbers.
Lady Stuffandnonsense's Wiclet followers go out and quote the 9 million number and get violently
offended when anyone tries to correct it, or use logic to point out that 9 million women couldn't have
possibly died because there would be no Europe left had that happened, or that men were killed too and
so on. Which leads us to Symptom...
3) Anger when a "Sacred Cow" is questioned.
Honestly, this one makes the least sense to me. Most mainstream western religions demand that you be
obedient and not question what is told to you by the authorities in the Church. You must surrender your
brain at the door. You are not allowed to ask "Why" thus and so is how we do things, nor are most
dogmatic thoughts discussed or explained other than in the gathering of clergy. To the lay person, the
worshiper, questions like "why do you use two hands to bless the bread" are not allowed, the answer is
invariably "because".
But one thing about Wicca is that it is not supposed to be mired in dogma or in pointless ritual.
Practitioners are encouraged to ask questions and define things for themselves. They are supposed to
think and ask and challenge and question. But it looks more and more Wiccabes are challenging the
wrong things.
Certainly challenge the statement "we do this ritual this way because" with "why do you do it that way,
why not this way?" But don't automatically assume that because scourging appears in a ritual, and you
think it's too kinky that it's wrong. Part of questioning the sacred cow is to accept that which you find
strange.
Please note, I DID NOT say that you had to practice it. I understand that there are those out there who are
horrified at the sight of blood, and therefore will never do a blood sacrifice or animal sacrifice. But just
because you find that particular practice repellant does not mean that it should be discarded completely.
There are good and strong reasons that one sacrifices blood or animals, and there are ways that it is done
which make the process and the magick stronger. It is not done casually or callously; it is done at times
of need. But you must be willing to say "Well, that's for them. I understand why they are doing it, but it's
not for me" and allow them to practice it.
Let's say for instance, you find out that a priestess in your community does hexes. This is contrary to
your set of ethics and the Rede. Do not go around bashing said priestess and saying how bad she is, that
she's a member of a "left-handed path" and so on, but find out why she is doing those hexes and allow
her to do them if they are her choice. After all, it's HER karmatic burden she is raising; it's HER that will
be kicked in the teeth by Threefold Return, not you. No one appointed you as the moral guardian of the
month, and because of that you have no right to say anything.
In fact, by taking it upon yourself to run around and correct everyone's behavior, you are linking your
karma to hers, and if SHE gets karmatcially kicked in the teeth, you will too. So the rule here is "live and
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