Things my community does that irritates me.

[Jeremy Westenn]

The following is a list of things in the Pagan community that, quite frankly, bother the living piss out of me.

1. A wise woman once said that every girl with a henna tattoo and a spice rack thinks she's a sister to the dark ones. I can't stand the posers and children not knowing what their talking about or that this is a serious religious practice.

2. People who make up lineage and traditions, and claim that they are High Priestess's or Priests or whatever non sense. If your 22 years old and living in your little college dorm I don't think your altar box turns you into a High Priestess. It takes a certain form of dedication and whatnot to give yourself that label, and truth be told the vast majority of people declaring that they are in fact something like that above are generally so clearly full of it. Not all of them mind you, and I say this because another thing that bothers me is peoples tendency to nit pick certain useless irrelevant stuff, I got a friend that does consider herself a Priestess to her patron Goddess's and I know this woman is in fact what she says.

3. Read above. I despise people who nitpick at something you said, taking time to make a well detailed post over something completely irrelevant to the subject. Watch, there will be one in this thread. I'm talking about describing how it's silly to do something in certain situations then someone responding and saying, " Look at this situation where it'd be super dangerous in real life HA I GOT YOU, " Contain yourself people.

4. This is the one that tends to irritate me the most...

You are not related to faery's. There is no magical elven blood in you that makes you more special then other people. You are human. Homo-sapien. You are not related to the Sidhee. Grow. Up.

5. So many people claim to be a psychic. We don't all speak to the dead.

6. A great majority of people posting about magic and witchcraft, and spending so much of their spare time chatting away about it with friends yet practice little of it. I admit, I don't do much spell craft, but I don't make it a part of my life that I claim or could do such practices.

7. People that make the serious ones, us, look like goons. You know who you are.

Feel free to add. I find it nice to vent out our frustrations on our own community periodically. ^_^ It's a form of therapy really, and I think sometimes we need to call people(Without saying who they are) out on some things.

- Jeremy

[Tanya]

Nubes who want to know the quick way to get people to like them or gain money....


they get so grouchy when I say "get a personality and a job"


sigh........

[Solya]

People who think they have all the wisdom in the world already and aren't open to anyone else's opinion. It ticks me off when people say "I'm right and you're wrong" without being able to provide proper arguments other than "but I'm so special". It gets even better when they're proven wrong and yet hold on to the opinion that they might be right after all.

(And there are a lot of these in pagan communities... :2G:)

[LadyWillow]

You cannot forget those that want to cast every love spell possibly to get (insert name here) to fall in love with them because they'll just die if they don't.

[Zephyrstorm]

what about those who don't take no for an answer - doesn't matter if its a love spell, a tarot reading, teaching them, whatever - they just keep asking.

[SilverClaw]

Well all the things I wanted to add were already stated.


what about those who don't take no for an answer - doesn't matter if its a love spell, a tarot reading, teaching them, whatever - they just keep asking. yep and those type of people cause me to want to go hide under a rock for awhile .. :)

[Brigid Rowan]

Those that post "LIFE OR DEATH!!!" and post about a stalker/death threat/abuser/whatever and want a SPELL but refuse to do anything mundane like, say, call the friggin cops..

[Chaos Hawk]

The "more Pagan than thou" attitude that I run into makes me a bit mental. They have the bigger pentagram around their neck, they own (but not truly read and comprehend) all these books, they only do thus and such exact rituals, and if you've been Pagan for 10 years, well they've been Pagan for 10 and 1/2, and were investigating it way before then.

[aranarose]

You cannot forget those that want to cast every love spell possibly to get (insert name here) to fall in love with them because they'll just die if they don't.

I say give them the spells :) Let them do them. And let them learn, the hard way, why we advise not to do such spells. Because IF they work, they backfire.


what about those who don't take no for an answer - doesn't matter if its a love spell, a tarot reading, teaching them, whatever - they just keep asking.

Ignore is such a friendly feature. Too bad it doesn't exist in real life :rollingla


The "more Pagan than thou" attitude that I run into makes me a bit mental. They have the bigger pentagram around their neck, they own (but not truly read and comprehend) all these books, they only do thus and such exact rituals, and if you've been Pagan for 10 years, well they've been Pagan for 10 and 1/2, and were investigating it way before then.

I've been pagan for.... uh... 16 years now. Over half my life. And I still have so much to learn, learn new things everyday. Got into a conversation the other day with someone who asked how long I'd been practicing. I told them, and they responded, "That's cool. I've been practicing for almost 18 years now." She was 19. I walked away from the conversation.

[Merrilyn]

I say:
Eh, no worries. Live your own life as you see fit and leave the same choice for others. Their own choices will set their lives down their own paths, in time. Walk yours and be merry.

[Lunacie]

I say:
Eh, no worries. Live your own life as you see fit and leave the same choice for others. Their own choices will set their lives down their own paths, in time. Walk yours and be merry.

Indeed. Other people's idiocacy and bad manners rarely impinge on my life. They are the ones who must cope with the consequences of bad decisions and not being liked or respected.

And while I'm certainly serious about following my (eclectic) path, I joke about it at times - doesn't mean I'm not serious eh?

[skilly-nilly]

The following is a list of things in the Pagan community that, quite frankly, bother the living piss out of me.

1. A wise woman [Willow, a fictional character in a tv serial] once said that every girl with a henna tattoo and a spice rack thinks she's a sister to the dark ones. I can't stand the posers and children not knowing what their [they're] talking about or that this [the only practice referred to so far is having a henna tattoo and a spice rack] is a serious religious practice.

2. People who make up lineage and traditions, and claim that they are High Priestess's [Priestesses] or Priests or whatever non sense [nonsense]. If your [you're] 22 years old [older than I] and living in your little college dorm I don't think your altar box turns you into a High Priestess. It takes a certain form of dedication and whatnot [the 2 most important components of religion] to give yourself that label, and truth be told the [I]vast majority of people declaring that they are in fact something like that above [!] are generally so clearly full of it. Not all of them mind you, and I say this because another thing that bothers me is peoples [people's] tendency to nit pick certain useless irrelevant stuff, I got [have] a friend that does consider herself a Priestess to her patron Goddess's [Goddess or perhaps Goddesses] and I know this woman is in fact what she says.

3. Read above. I despise people who nitpick at something you said, taking time to make a well detailed post over something completely irrelevant to the subject. Watch, there will be one in this thread. I'm talking about describing how it's silly to do something in certain situations then someone responding and saying, " Look at this situation where it'd be super dangerous in real life HA I GOT YOU, " Contain yourself people.

4. This is the one that tends to irritate me the most...

You are not related to faery's [fairies, Gods between us and harm]. There is no magical elven blood in you that makes you more special then other people. You are human. Homo-sapien. You are not related to the Sidhee [Shee]. Grow. Up.

5. So many people claim to be a psychic. We don't all speak to the dead.

6. A great majority of people posting about magic and witchcraft, and spending so much of their spare time chatting away about it with friends yet practice little of it. I admit, I don't do much spell craft, but I don't make it a part of my life that I [I]claim or could do such practices.

7. People that make the serious ones, us, look like goons. You know who you are.

Feel free to add. I find it nice to vent out our frustrations on our own community periodically. ^_^ It's a form of therapy really, and I think sometimes we need to call people(Without saying who they are) out on some things.

- Jeremy

I think that someone who referentially is in college and self-describes as a 'book-worm' should understand English grammar and usage and be able to use spell-check. Generally I just roll my eyes and mutter under my breath but this post is soooooooooo chock-full of errors that it drove me to respond. Besides, I wanted to be one of those "people who nitpick at something" because it sounds more attractive than the other option, "the serious ones, us".

I also am peeved by people with spinning animated GIF's, but that's just me.

[Lunacie]

I think that someone who referentially is in college and self-describes as a 'book-worm' should understand English grammar and usage and be able to use spell-check. Generally I just roll my eyes and mutter under my breath but this post is soooooooooo chock-full of errors that it drove me to respond. Besides, I wanted to be one of those "people who nitpick at something" because it sounds more attractive than the other option, "the serious ones, us".

I also am peeved by people with spinning animated GIF's, but that's just me.

:lol:

But... it really is sidhee or sidhi, it's just pronounced shee.

Oh... a trick for dealing with animated GIFs (not GIF's) is to hit the ESC button. Doesn't work for all of them, but at least 75% (I have ADHD - distractions make me crazy).

[Jeremy Westenn]

I think that someone who referentially is in college and self-describes as a 'book-worm' should understand English grammar and usage and be able to use spell-check. Generally I just roll my eyes and mutter under my breath but this post is soooooooooo chock-full of errors that it drove me to respond. Besides, I wanted to be one of those "people who nitpick at something" because it sounds more attractive than the other option, "the serious ones, us".

I also am peeved by people with spinning animated GIF's, but that's just me.

<3

On another note, I saw 2 pages of replies here and I thought, " Oh no, flame war incoming, " O_O.

I'm happy to see people can take my little list in good humor and fun. Ours is a great path, but it's chalked full of idiots and freaks, lets be honest.

- Jeremy

[RainInanna]

"That's cool. I've been practicing for almost 18 years now." She was 19.

Bahahaha. Yeah, gotta love the "I've been Pagan all my life because I liked animals and being outside and looking at the moon!" types.

[Myzterio]

The "more Pagan than thou" attitude that I run into makes me a bit mental. They have the bigger pentagram around their neck, they own (but not truly read and comprehend) all these books, they only do thus and such exact rituals, and if you've been Pagan for 10 years, well they've been Pagan for 10 and 1/2, and were investigating it way before then.

I'm less Pagan than thou, is that okay? I don't consider myself Pagan at all, actually. In fact, I sort of think 'Pagan' is a silly term, because it identifies the religions as 'non-Abrahmic religions'. Surely they have something to set themselves apart other than that?
It's pretty much like calling yourself a heathen... Which would be paradoxal.


I've been pagan for.... uh... 16 years now. Over half my life. And I still have so much to learn, learn new things everyday. Got into a conversation the other day with someone who asked how long I'd been practicing. I told them, and they responded, "That's cool. I've been practicing for almost 18 years now." She was 19. I walked away from the conversation.
*chuckle* Nice!

[LostSheep]

People who draw up lists of things other people do that irritate them.


(joking.)

[mystic_zoe]

The following is a list of things in the Pagan community that, quite frankly, bother the living piss out of me.

1. A wise woman once said that every girl with a henna tattoo and a spice rack thinks she's a sister to the dark ones. I can't stand the posers and children not knowing what their talking about or that this is a serious religious practice.


well im going to nit-pick, which means i might just irritate you.
what makes you any better.
how do i know you aren't a poser or whatever? whose to say you even know what you're talking about.



4. This is the one that tends to irritate me the most...

You are not related to faery's. There is no magical elven blood in you that makes you more special then other people. You are human. Homo-sapien. You are not related to the Sidhee. Grow. Up.


im not in any way saying that we are related to faery's but in my opinion anything is possible, i mean you/others believe in magic and that people can cast spells which actually work, then why is it beyond all possibilities? im not saying that there are 'special' people with elven blood in them, but how is something like that so ridiculous? some people may believe it, i mean people believe in magic don't they?


6. A great majority of people posting about magic and witchcraft, and spending so much of their spare time chatting away about it with friends yet practice little of it. I admit, I don't do much spell craft, but I don't make it a part of my life that I claim or could do such practices.

why does this bother you? so what if people are all talk and little practice?



7. People that make the serious ones, us, look like goons. You know who you are.


what makes you more serious about your path than those "goons"?

im nit-picking for the reason that i dont get why you let this sort of thing get to you so much. if people choose to lie and make false claims then IMO its going to catch up with them at some point.

[Jeremy Westenn]

People like you get irritated by that stuff because maybe you see a bit of yourself in it. Or maybe your friends and niches fall into that. I'll be frank, everything I said up there was legitimate. I'm talking about raving idiots who wear black and scream to the rafters that their witches, I'm talking about people that do claim they have Sidhee blood in them yet can't prove it to the slightest and scientifically can be disproven.

Everything I said was absolutely legitimate. Your either a person bothered by what you feel puts you in a bad category or your just one of those people always looking for a fight or argument over something, and this isn't worth arguing with you about because I'm not wrong and I'm being vicious by any means with what was a humor ladden yet honest list.

- Jeremy

[Jeremy Westenn]

I forgot to respond to something.

Why is it possible for me to believe in magic and witchcraft yet not Sidhee related people? Because I've done magic and ritual, so have you, I've seen the results first hand. I've proven it to myself. Do you understand what I mean by that? And magic itself is just the manipulation of energy in the universe to do a certain goal, it's not so far fetched, and less supernatural really then it is natural and normal.

- Jeremy

[phoenixrising]

couldn't agree more.. ever notice that all the people who are full of shit tend to be the ones screaming that they are somehow special or superior? If I ever hear anyone ever tell me they are the only X for some crazy reason.. I am going to scream.

[mystic_zoe]

People like you get irritated by that stuff because maybe you see a bit of yourself in it. Or maybe your friends and niches fall into that. I'll be frank, everything I said up there was legitimate.
[\quote]

1. i dont see any of that in me because i dont claim that im a witch with whatever powers or that i can cast spells or whatever
2. none of my friends are pagan or interested in it.

i never said that what you had posted wasnt legitimate.

[quote]
Your either a person bothered by what you feel puts you in a bad category or your just one of those people always looking for a fight or argument over something, and this isn't worth arguing with you about because I'm not wrong and I'm being vicious by any means with what was a humor ladden yet honest list.


im neither. im not looking to argue with you i was simply stating my views.


I forgot to respond to something.

Why is it possible for me to believe in magic and witchcraft yet not Sidhee related people? Because I've done magic and ritual, so have you, I've seen the results first hand. I've proven it to myself. Do you understand what I mean by that?
And magic itself is just the manipulation of energy in the universe to do a certain goal, it's not so far fetched, and less supernatural really then it is natural and normal.


yes i understand what you mean.

im not going to reply any further because i just stated my views and opinions.
you dont agree which im not bothered about but there is no need for you to assume im the sort of person who is either this or that.

[Jeremy Westenn]

I'd rather just not argue, I just think my being upset over the things I posted are legitimate.

Let's just be friendly. ^_^

- Jeremy

[mystic_zoe]

I'd rather just not argue, I just think my being upset over the things I posted are legitimate.

Let's just be friendly. ^_^

- Jeremy

agreed. :hahugh:

[Zephyrstorm]

Let's also be honest - these traits aren't strictly a Pagan or Heathen issue - its a people issue.

Everyone knows the guy or girl who always exagerrates their knowledge of whatever you know.
We've all met someone who doesn't deal well with constructive criticism.
We all know people who continue to pester you after you've refused to do what they want.
And we all know someone who believes something completely off-the-wall, or who constantly gripes about something without fixing it.

Its just a people thing. ;) and eventually consequences and cosmic 2x4s come flying in.

[aranarose]

I forgot to respond to something.

Why is it possible for me to believe in magic and witchcraft yet not Sidhee related people? Because I've done magic and ritual, so have you, I've seen the results first hand. I've proven it to myself. Do you understand what I mean by that? And magic itself is just the manipulation of energy in the universe to do a certain goal, it's not so far fetched, and less supernatural really then it is natural and normal.

- Jeremy

I have just as much proof that I'm of fae/Sidhe blood as you have that your magic is more than coincidence.

[Myzterio]

Eh, points made. I don't believe in magic, gods, karma, spirits, globes, or anything of the sort. Until you can convince me otherwise, I don't see the difference between that and Sidhe or Fae blood.

Entirely moot anyway. Jeremy was listing things he finds irritating. So let him be, it's his concerns to do so.

[LadyCelt]

There are different forms of "psychic" and I consider mediums to be the ones who deal more with the dead really. Just because a person doesn't deal with the dead doesn't mean they aren't psychic or don't have psychic abilities.

[The Amityville Ghost]

People who don't necessarily annoy me, but with whom I tend to strongly disagree:


(1) People who claim to have supernatural/psychic/spiritual powers or who practice "magic" (i.e., self-proclaimed "witches," "warlocks," "sorcerers," "magicians," etc.)

(2) People who claim to be descended from supernatural beings (i.e., self-described Sidhe or Fae, etc.)

(3) People who call themselves "High Priests" or "High Priestesses" - whether they have earned the title in a coven/tradition or not

(4) People who claim that all the people killed during "the Burning Times" were really Wiccans or some other kind of pagan religion

(5) People who spell the word "pagan" with a capital "P".

(6) People who claim that paganism is a single religion

(7) People who claim that Wicca and witchcraft are one and the same thing

(8) People who automatically assume you mean "Wiccan" when you say "pagan"

(9) People who claim to believe in every god/goddess BUT the Christian god or Satan

(10) Ultra-feminists who spell the word "women" as "womyn" and who spell "theology" as "thealogy"

(11) People who believe in the Three-fold Law, and/or who believe that the Three-fold Law is the same thing as KarmaNow some of the people I absolutely cannot stand or get along with are as follows:


(1) People who make sweeping overgeneralizations about Christians, Christianity, or any other Abrahamic faith

(2) People who make sweeping overgeneralizations about Satanists and who claim that Satanism is "for criminals"

(3) People who will tell you that you can't be pagan unless you believe in magic

(4) Self-described pagans who get uppity with you if you're a heterosexual man who worships a male God

(5) People who put far too much importance on labels, many of whom will try to tell others what they "can" or "cannot do" with their beliefs

(6) People who abuse the teachings of any religion to justify hating and persecuting others

(7) Neo-Nazis, no matter what religion(s) they identify with

(8) People who utterly refuse to agree to disagree, and who try to convert others to their own beliefs

[Jeremy Westenn]

Most of your points above I agree strongly with. I wish I had thought of them!

<- Jealous!!

- Jeremy

[LostSheep]

(10) Ultra-feminists who ... spell "theology" as "thealogy"

Really? :T

[Greybird]

I'm talking about people that do claim they have Sidhee blood in them yet can't prove it to the slightest and scientifically can be disproven.

I agree with you about people who make these claims. On the other hand, it can't be disproven scientifically, as there is no scientist in the world who has made any claims or provided any data whatsoever on the Sidhe. It is like god - it is something that science hasn't touched one way or the other.


People like you get irritated by that stuff because maybe you see a bit of yourself in it. Or maybe your friends and niches fall into that...


You made some good points, but you completely lost me with this post. There is nothing guaranteed to make someone lose credibility faster than:

'I describe this as a problem:

If you disagree with me, then it means you're part of the problem, and therefore your arguments are meaningless.'

It was the logic that drove the communist paranoia in the 1950s. If you disagree with a patriot, you must be anti-American. Why don't you love America?

Now, to the actual topic. What you say has some merit, so long as you remember one important thing: There are always exceptions. Lots of genuine witches have henna tattoos and spice racks, and some genuine clergy live in dorms with cardboard altars. Some goths really do know their stuff. (Before I get accused, I'm a jeans-and-teeshirt 34-year-old father of two with no henna tattoo and no delusions of clergy. I do have one heck of a spice rack, though.)

Now, what genuinely irritates me:

People who are in [Pagan Path] to be a victim. They're the ones who shout out offense at the most obscure, inoffensive issues. They apparently woke up one day and said, "Hmm. I'm straight, white, and male. There's nothing to be mad about. I know, I'll be pagan! Look at me! I'm being persecuted! Whee!"

To complement that, hyper-activists. They're the ones who try to start a war over every single pagan issue. The hippies failed. They failed because they protested so much over so many things, that when the genuinely important issues cropped up, nobody was listening to them anymore!

People who claim to believe in the legitimacy of all religions, stating that all deities are real, and then claim that the Christian God (and likewise, the Christian Devil) aren't real. Huh? Which is it? All religions, or all religions except that one? The other day on WitchVox, there was an article linked in which a Rabbi claimed that Wiccans were anti-Catholic. Sure enough, someone posted a comment taking offense at this, and objecting to the idea that we were anti-anything. They did so by making an anti-Christian comment (the kind you see a hundred times a day on pagan sites.) Tolerance goes both ways, and we can't get irritated and not receiving respectful treatment when we disrespect the people we expect it from.

People who make scientific claims about (paganism, religion, magic, etc) with no understanding of what they're talking about. This includes people who apply scientific terms to magic, and apply them incorrectly. Here's a hint: if what we work with was actually 'vibrations' or 'vibrational rates', science would have proven magic a century ago. Oh, and for the record: Humans use 100% of their brain, not 30%. Put that urban myth to rest, please.

People (reconstructionists exempt) who confuse modern pagan religions with historical reenactment. This isn't seventh century Europe - there is no need to dress in a seventh Century European costume. There is no need to write in fantasy middle-English (To perform ye olde magicke, take your enchanted herbes and bless them thusly...)

People who claim to have an understanding of nature, and then claim that, of all the animals on Earth, humans are somehow exempt to all of the rules, that a human's presence in nature makes nature somehow less pure, or that a home constructed with human hands and natural materials (all materials are natural) is somehow less natural than a beehive or a beaver dam.


People who say something controversial, then, when someone questions them, just responds by either insulting the questioner, or answering by insisting, "I'm not wrong" or "everything I said was absolutely true" rather than proving themselves by defending their points with legitimate debate.

People who make a list of things that irritate them, and then when they find someone who meets some item on that list, writes them off. Community, remember? Yes, some people are full of it. That doesn't mean they have to stay full of it, so long as you can do so while keeping your own ego in check. People who can't get their egos in check get a list all to themselves.

Finally, people who make lists who don't realize that they're on other peoples' lists as well. Nobody's perfect, nobody is right all the time about everything. Including the items on silly internet lists.

[Whitewolf]

The thing that pisses me off is when someone tells me that my beliefs are wrong. Yeah? Well f&^% you. Don't tell me what to believe, dammit. I don't shove my beliefs down their throat do I?

[RainInanna]

Here's one. The "darker than thou" types. As in look at me, I am so goth, I listen to heavy metal, I am so dark and dangerous, I'm not afraid to hex people, ooga booga fear me puny human.

I find people who try to seem intimidating are trying so hard because they aren't.

And also the "I'm so bitchy, I'm not afraid to speak my mind, ha ha ha" types. Why someone would be proud to be nasty and cruel is beyond me.

[Lunacie]

Here's one. The "darker than thou" types. As in look at me, I am so goth, I listen to heavy metal, I am so dark and dangerous, I'm not afraid to hex people, ooga booga fear me puny human.

I find people who try to seem intimidating are trying so hard because they aren't.

And also the "I'm so bitchy, I'm not afraid to speak my mind, ha ha ha" types. Why someone would be proud to be nasty and cruel is beyond me.

Ah, finally one that also bugs me, although just a bit different.

The ones who are so proud of being "blunt" and honest that they don't realize that they are just pissing people off. I try to be "tactful" and honest and don't have any problem merging those two things, and then the "blunt" people tell me I'm "pussyfooting around" and engaging in a "popularity contest."

The members of my Grove say they have learned more from me and we have grown closer as a group under my leadership in the last 6 months than they did in 5 years under the former leader who was blunt and didn't pussyfoot around. :smile:

[RainInanna]

I used to be the one who said things like "well I'm just honest, too bad if it hurts your feelings". Until someone pointed out to me that some people who do that are just using as an excuse not to try harder to be tactful. And I realized well imagine, people often don't see my point because I've offended them even if I was right, maybe if I make a better effort to be tactful it would work better.

Thing is, just as you say, the wording you associate with it reveals what you are working towards. Honesty vs "being a bitch". Being proud of the latter is revelling in being nasty, not just celebrating one's truthfulness, strength, and independence. And being honest yet tactful is a heck of a lot harder and more worthy of pride IMHO.

[RoseRhythm]

Sometimes I wonder if I'm too laid back to be a member of the pagan community. Sure, I raise my eyebrow and remain a skeptic to a lot of things, but at the same time I don't find myself fretting over the people who hold beliefs I find difficult to understand or find truth in.

If someone is truly helped by the belief that they have other-worldly blood, and they truly believe in it without a doubt, then let them believe it. Let them enjoy a world of fantasy and myth, let them feel that they are a part of something amazing. In some ways, I'm jealous of these people because I can't hold this belief - and perhaps I'm missing out on a feeling of connectiveness, or greatness, that I'll never have.

It's funny, in the end, I'm think I'm mostly grateful that they're talking to me, and sharing a part of their life with me other than to order me about in the shop. :D

[Lupabitch]

Beware of stereotypes and falling prey to the usual "Us vs. Them" B.S. It's as if people (not just pagans) *must* define themselves by pointing out what they are *not*, and then must proceed to point out People Who Aren't Like Us as being either wrong, or screwed up, or dangerous, or otherwise Not Like Us, We Who Are Right (TM).

Sure, there are things people believe that are potentially harmful--such as the idea that belladonna tea is good for your health. And there are things that are factually wrong, such as the existence of a paleolithic potato goddess in Ireland. I can understand pointing out these things. However, if, as someone who identifies as Otherkin, I believe that spiritually/psychologically/metaphorically part of me is more lupine than human, and if it is a constructive force in my life (including my spirituality)--what's it to ya?

I think RainInanna had it right. Maybe it's too difficult to think about *why* these people and their beliefs bother you, and perhaps find that the problem isn't with Them--maybe it's with you and your perceptions

[Thunder]

<3

On another note, I saw 2 pages of replies here and I thought, " Oh no, flame war incoming, " O_O.

I'm happy to see people can take my little list in good humor and fun. Ours is a great path, but it's chalked full of idiots and freaks, lets be honest.

- JeremyChange your setings to 40 posts/page and it will only seem half as bad.

BTW I am the most pagan here cuz I actually am a dad blamed owl.

[Tanya]

Change your setings to 40 posts/page and it will only seem half as bad.

BTW I am the most pagan here cuz I actually am a dad blamed owl.

must be the Sidhe blood.:yayah:

[elfmage]

Well, personally I'm pretty amused by people who feel the need to go out of their way to point out what all the "NON REAL PAGANS" do. Which is of course the absolute opposite of what they do.

Other than that... I take all opinions into initial consideration, then decide for myself whether they hold any value to me or my practices. If they don't, I effectively ignore them.

Re: OP - I used to be like you, and I still acknowledge that the people who misrepresent the NeoPagan community are annoying. However I've reached a point where I really don't care what other people say or do, that's their problem, not mine.