callistra | General Chatting and Thoughts (Reply)

A friend was telling me the other day that her daughter has got a bit of an interest in Wicca, and I was amused to see how this surprised me. I've been thinking about it since, turning it over in my head, and the end result is that I realised why it threw me - because when I looked back, I realised I had also gone through a bit of a religious phase, when I was this girls' age, and I went Christian.

I believed in my children's bible like nothing on earth, would read bits of it to myself and pray every night. I loved the strange little books my Nanna would give me, the ones involving kids around my age where one of them would do something naughty and God would arrange things so they got their punishments. Strangely coloured little books, I think, now I look back on it. I can't remember them clearly, but I remember the strange thrills I would get as I spotted the wrong-doers and the satisfaction as they got their come-uppance. I also remember how bad the English was. Or rather, how stilted the language was. I think these books were English in origin, maybe I should chat to Nanna and see if she still has them. I remember the absolute HORROR and BLASPHEMY that I felt when I marked the page of Genesis with a yellow highlighter; and how terrified I was to open to that page again, although it was one of the prettiest pages with pics of Adam and Eve and the creation theory. Perhaps it was there that I stopped the Christian thing; I was so upset I couldn't bear to open the now defaced bible. Only a few years ago I opened the bible and had a look, and it seems to yellow highlighter has disappeared. Yellow highlighters do that though. I used to arrange things on this bible (It's pretty hefty) as though it were an altar, sure that the Holiness of the bible would seep into the items and they would remain as holy and magical as this bible. I think it was about then that Dad had a little chat to me about "not messing with witchcraft and stuff." (Obviously, I was listening. *grin*) I look back, and think ....you know, arranging things on the bible to try and spread the holiness is not .... quite .... an christian thing to do. Before I even began my Christian thing, I had drawn eyes on my windows for protection.

There's a lot of teenagers out there experimenting in this Wicca thing. Wicca seems to be the most instantly accessible of any of the Pagan religions or traditions, and one of the most easily ...understandable? Absorbable? As an experiential religion, I'm not quite sure what these kids will get out of it. I'm not quite sure what I got out of my Christian thing. I have read essays describing the current wave of interest into earth based religions as a hankering from a jaded populace to rediscover their roots and cycles of nature, and to leave a distant and masculine god. I think with any religion, you make it what you want. I also think comments like that are traced back to people thinking more of adults over 20. I think to a degree what I learnt in my Christian phase is my own morality. I liked the rules. But I think to a degree, I took them a step further, and just never quite left those rules alone. I kept worrying at them, defining them, comparing them to new situations I manage to get myself into and out of, learning about how the rules I have for myself are not the same rules other people have, and how to negotiate that without pain and without angst. The Ten Commandments are for the most part a good set of guidelines for people to live together with as little friction and pain as possible; something very needed in a desert stricken tightly knit community. These days there are so many communities within communities, I have no idea who the people are who live within 20 metres, and I confer better with people who live 20 ks, 2000ks, and other countries away. We're not exactly tight-knit any more. We're not exactly a community anymore; geographical location is no longer enough in common for idle chit chat.

There are literally millions of teens out there looking at this Wicca thing. Witchvox has a section of teenage essays to their topics dating back to 1997! I would never have had enough brains or thoughts to write an essay about my religion at that age! I am amused, astounded and in awe. A number of the essays are very good. Young pagan essays at Witchvox. I have heard many people say children grow up earlier these days. Is this true? It kind of makes me sad if it is. I suppose the only real problem I have would be if children decided to "become active" and went out looking for people to show them the way. This is kind of dangerous, as children don't have the bullshit filters that adults develop. Adults still get duped and tricked and abused by people who are not what they seem. Reading is good, I like reading. *hugs her pc and book shelves all at once and makes a pile of badly stacked books fall on her head.*

I like teenage wicca books. They tend to have a lot of the basics, in simple words. :-) I have a couple of them. I tend to skip the spell section; I have my own thoughts there, that just happen to use some of the basics. :-) I also, however, like books like Starhawk's diatribes, and some of the older stuff, (Janet Farrar, Doreen Valiente, Starhawk) which is much more lifestyle and heavy going than the "stand in a circle and say this" type of thing. These books ask difficult questions, and show how your every day choices and your every day morality are often in constant conflict.

I guess to a degree, I'm just thinking about an argument that has been going on in Pagan circles since Gerard Gardener first tried to get published - should this religion be written down and published for people to just pick up a book and go? How easy is it supposed to be for people who are interested? How difficult should it be? Pagans don't proselytize. (Sorry about the spelling on that one!). If they do, run away!!! "I'd like to tell you about Deity" just doesn't quite cut it. I suppose also, with all the pagans I know, we are also all cognizant that the images we have, the tools we use, are all just ways of interpreting the Unknowable. How can you sell someone something you've created for your own use?

Anyway, I think I have covered some of what I was thinking, and now I shall going back to my "Story of V." Which is a very cool book. My research shelf is getting more and more full very quickly. It's not as big as some peoples, but I certainly like it. :-) I just felt like talking today. I could probably go and find more stuff to rant about if I'm not careful! Must be a ranty day!! :-)