School Club Problem

[Antoninus]

Ok, some brave individuals at our school have formed the Occult Study Club. Its basically a place where people can go to learn about some of the things we do here. Tarot, Astrology, Basics of Paganism etc etc. This is all well and good, but we've run into the age old problem. People are spreading the old rumors "They worship Satan in there" "They hate Christians" "They sacrafice people and spill blood". Normally, we wouldnt care about this sort of stuff. Any religious club has a few hecklers. But of late the talk has gotten rather vicious. Plus membership has REALLY dropped off. Ither because new people BELIEVE some of the talk, or dedicated members dont want to be in a club where theres going to be trouble.

I think part of the trouble is our club NAME. I think it creates a negative immage in people's minds.

So I was wondering if anyone had any ideas about a new name or ideas or ways we could calm the talk down?

We have limited options, we cant do an assembly, its too complex and we'd NEVER get it past the school. Announcements dont work, no one listens.

Any ideas?

[HDS]

Do a public session wit free drinks where you point out how most of christianity sprang out from pagan beliefs....

[Antoninus]

We thought of that, but the school probably wouldnt be hip to that. Plus we'd look REALLY desperate.

[HDS]

Depends how you would go about doing it, if you would do it in a prestigious yet bashing & interesting fashion that would make ppl think.....

[Faeawyn]

What about Earth Religions Club?

[semi]

Metaphysical Studies Group?

[FlyingBear]

You're still in high school. People are stupid. Spare yourself further headache and change the name asap.

[Antoninus]

You're still in high school. People are stupid. Spare yourself further headache and change the name asap. We're trying, but unfortuneately, most of the names we come up with still make bad immages in people's minds.


Metaphysical Studies Group? Most of our classmates would think thats some kind of new science class. I cant speak highly for thier...reasoning abilities


Depends how you would go about doing it, if you would do it in a prestigious yet bashing & interesting fashion that would make ppl think..... Money is rather tight, plus, the school probably wouldnt swing for it

[SamTheBlob]

is there any christian/wiccan in your group?

[Antoninus]

is there any christian/wiccan in your group?
No, we had a few in the beginning, but they all stopped comming

[DracoJesi]

well im shure you have a couple good members :) dont give up, its a great idea, unfortunatly either way your going to have ignorant people and you dont need a bunch of people to have a successful study group, a few members will be fine, if they say anything like "Wiccans worship the devil" tell them its not like that, and be nice and understanding and try to talk things out and try and show that people can
get along no matter what religion they are, I know this dosnt sound easy, and its not and its not garunteed to work but "You never Acomplish anything, if you do not do anything" so dont give up, its a great dream :)

[Jeleia]

Supernatural Studies?

[Isis Diana]

well im shure you have a couple good memers :) dont give up, its a great idea, unfortunatly either way your going to have ignorant people and you dont need a bunch of people to have a successful study group, a few members will be fine, if they say anything like "Wiccans worship the devil" tell them its not like that, and be nice and understanding and try to talk things out and try and show that people can
get along no matter what religion they are, I know this dosnt sound easy, and its not and its not garunteed to work but "You never Acomplish anything, if you do not do anything" so dont give up, its a great dream :)

Draco, you are just so amazing. You are also correct in your thinking. The best things aren't always the easiest to get.

Blessings,
Isis

[Verthandi]

Just name it Religions Study Club or something to that effect.

[DracoJesi]

Draco, you are just so amazing. You are also correct in your thinking. The best things aren't always the easiest to get.

Blessings,
Isis

Thank you :)

[Chibi-Fallon]

Just name it Religions Study Club or something to that effect.

I think that would probably be the best way to go about it. Although you may have screwed yourself over to the point where a name change won't really work anymore. In which case, I'd disband for a while, at least officially, and then come back under the other name.

[happyprincessfairy69]

Ok it's defiitely a name problem. I can't think of another one right now because I don't really know what sort of people you want to attract, but a name with absolutely nothing to do with religion would probably be best. And try not to publicise the club too much to people who aren't known to be Pagan. Just like when you first become interested in anything Pagan, I think it's important to try to not look like you're forcing your ideas on others. Just wait for people to come to you, things have a funny way of working out like that. And also, try not to make everything the club does to do with Occulty stuff, have some general gatherings where you can just get to know each other and hang out. That will help make people feel more comfortable in it :)

[Aidron]

For starters, don't point out that Christianity has some Pagan DNA for lack of a better word. That will only offend people and cause you further problems.

Secondly, seperation of church and state, kiddo. Creating any sort of religious club at school has its problems, especially if it generally considered taboo.

As for names, depending on the overall focus...

Metaphysics & The Occult
Earth Studies
Pagan Friends
Whacky Witches (I think it's cute, though perhaps not entirely appropriate)
Open Minds, Open Hearts
Neo-Paganism & Ancient Practices
Occult Curiosities

[Aowyn]

Why not just have the club meet outside of the school? This would avoid the issue altogether, or as an alternative to that have your meetings in the library after school, thats what we did at mine since the library was open after school hours for a good 3 hours we even had a sympathetic librarian Sister Rita (man what a sweet nun) who would keep it open later sometimes for us and ended up getting some books for us as well(note I went to a catholic school so I am not sure how public schools run).

[Valnorran]

New names... how about Elucidated Brethren of the Ebon Night? Or maybe something with impossible-to-pronounce letter combinations with lots of apostrophes.

[mol]

How about None-of-your-damn-business Study Group?

[silverstard]

How about None-of-your-damn-business Study Group?

*grinz*

[mol]

*grinz*
:) I guess what I am really trying to say is...

Why the big dog and pony show?

If you want to meet and discuss pagan topics then do it. Why does it have to be publicized? Oh, because the Christian groups do it? The Muslim groups? Wah.

Sounds like you are interested more in the response than the actual *learning*.

[LisaT4P]

Secondly, seperation of church and state, kiddo. Creating any sort of religious club at school has its problems, especially if it generally considered taboo.Absolutely agree, religion has no place in the public school system.


Sounds like you are interested more in the response than the actual *learning*.I have to agree here too. By calling it "occult" you were setting yourself up from the get-go. I do not believe that you weren't expecting the reaction you got.

You wanna have a study group, great! Don't involve the school in it.

[zakzekezedd]

Occult is a loaded word, it doesn't always draw up a particularly savory image. You might as well have called yourselves "The Friends of Aliester Crowley" ....then again, since nobody probably would know who he was, you might have gotten away with that one. I would offer that calling your group The Metaphysical Studies Group or The New Age Studies Group might be a good move if you still want to have any sort of involvement at the school level. You can't refer to Pagan, Wicca or Occult in a group name without drawing unfriendly attention..accept that. Give people who are interested credit for knowing that Metaphysical studies aren't the new science club in school! If you want to have a group or organization that works within the narrow confines of the public school system you have to be pragmatic. Find a name that isn't going to push too many peoples' buttons and do it before you lose what little credibility you have with the school administration.

[MorningDove030202]

Esoteric Club or maybe Paranormal Research Club..... if you want to go secular......

Dove

[Antoninus]

:) I guess what I am really trying to say is...

Why the big dog and pony show?

If you want to meet and discuss pagan topics then do it. Why does it have to be publicized? Oh, because the Christian groups do it? The Muslim groups? Wah.

Sounds like you are interested more in the response than the actual *learning*.
**Sighs** You know what? Forget it, forget I even asked, everyone just ignore this thread.

[Jackiedanielz]

Why don't you shroud it under something Harry Potter-ish?

[banondraig]

Most of our classmates would think thats some kind of new science class. I cant speak highly for thier...reasoning abilities


well, that's a good thing, right? i mean. science geeks *are* slightly higher than suspected devil-worshippers in the highschool food chain, right? that way they will make geek jokes instead of harassing y'all about sacrificing goats or whatever.

[mol]

**Sighs** You know what? Forget it, forget I even asked, everyone just ignore this thread.
Dude, this is the reason I dont reply and offer advice to you very much. The 'forget it' attitude is quite repelling especially when folks are trying to help.

[MoonlightShadow]

Ok, some brave individuals at our school have formed the Occult Study Club. Its basically a place where people can go to learn about some of the things we do here. Tarot, Astrology, Basics of Paganism etc etc. This is all well and good, but we've run into the age old problem. People are spreading the old rumors "They worship Satan in there" "They hate Christians" "They sacrafice people and spill blood". Normally, we wouldnt care about this sort of stuff. Any religious club has a few hecklers. But of late the talk has gotten rather vicious. Plus membership has REALLY dropped off. Ither because new people BELIEVE some of the talk, or dedicated members dont want to be in a club where theres going to be trouble.

I think part of the trouble is our club NAME. I think it creates a negative immage in people's minds.

So I was wondering if anyone had any ideas about a new name or ideas or ways we could calm the talk down?

We have limited options, we cant do an assembly, its too complex and we'd NEVER get it past the school. Announcements dont work, no one listens.

Any ideas?
This is why I never pursued the idea of starting a club like this. I know it wouldn't be that bad as that where I live, but you'd still get a good number of dimwits who'd give the members a bad name. Most high school students just can't seem to respect anyone. :whatmewor

[Valnorran]

Cthulhu club. Lifetime membership to anyone who can poperly pronounce it.

[Carickah]

What about Earth Religions Club?
Hmmm, I really like this one. A couple of other ideas....

Alternative Religions Study Group

Comparitive Religions Study Group

Early Religions Group

Freedom of Religion Study Group


Just a few ideas. Good luck with your group.




k

[Antoninus]

Dude, this is the reason I dont reply and offer advice to you very much. The 'forget it' attitude is quite repelling especially when folks are trying to help.
Because you automatically assume that they started the club "Just for the reaction" and that we dont care about learning anything. There ARENT that many Pagans at this school, openly there are about 3 or 4, privately, I dont know. The clubs founders started it to help people, to teach them about this sort of thing.

It just makes me angry. Your post comes off as "**Rolls eyes** Stop whining". I came on here to honestly ask advice about an honest problem. Because, quite frankly, Im stuck. Im not part of the founding group of the club, but Ive been brought on as kind of an advisor.

And plus, if I replied to your post "Were not trying to get a shock out of people, were actually trying to figgure out how NOT to do that etc etc etc" then it would have led to a huge fight and honestly I am tired of fighting with people. I trust the people here, this is like my extended family.

Look..Im sorry for just..unloading all this on everyone. And mol, I have great respect for you I just...Gah..I cant even put it into words.

[Aidron]

:) I guess what I am really trying to say is...

Why the big dog and pony show?

If you want to meet and discuss pagan topics then do it. Why does it have to be publicized? Oh, because the Christian groups do it? The Muslim groups? Wah.

Sounds like you are interested more in the response than the actual *learning*.


While admittedly a lot of people do make a constant grab for the spotlight, it can be hard to determine. On one hand, in this case, a proper club title would help attract people who are interested in learning more-which is the goal if the original poster was sincere. I also dislike the automatic assumption that openly expressing or putting a so-called tabbo out there is a scheme to grab attention.

I've had a bit of difficulty with this over the course of my life. People always assume that I am looking for attention. Now, I do dress outside the norm. Black eye liner, weird clothes that make me laugh, but all in all I'd rather be left alone more often than not.

Don't get me wrong, I feel many Pagans are out for attention, and will use Paganism to get it. What better to get attention than a taboo, after all? I'm sure we all did it as a child, playing sick when we actually weren't, misbehaving, causing trouble just to get noticed. It is the wrong kind of attention, but sometimes people aren't doing these things for attention at all. I used to hate hearing it as a child, that what I did was for attention (still do). It's really not. What I did back then such as hiding in department stores and making store security lock down the store to find me I did because I thought it was funny. :lol:

[Antoninus]

**rubs face** Well, the name problem just got solved. It wasnt a desireable result, but it WAS resolved.

I just got off the phone with one of the club people. The ASB called her and told her that "No you cant change your name because the yearbook is already formatted with your current club name".

So THAT little problem is...kinda solved. Not a real desireable result, but...one less thing to worry about.

[Jackiedanielz]

**rubs face** Well, the name problem just got solved. It wasnt a desireable result, but it WAS resolved.

I just got off the phone with one of the club people. The ASB called her and told her that "No you cant change your name because the yearbook is already formatted with your current club name".

So THAT little problem is...kinda solved. Not a real desireable result, but...one less thing to worry about.

Formatted, Smormatted. Its November, Yearbooks have to be proofread & edited many times before the last deadline. Guaranteed they are still working on it so they can get school club/sports pictures in it. If you have a spring track & field the team hasn't even been picked yet, so you should be able to get this change in if you push for it.

[mattolsen]

Occult can refer to ancient christian practices as well (unless I'm mistaken) You would probably be better off changing to a name that more accurately represents the religion such as:

Old Religion
Earth Religion
Wiccan Study
religious exploration
earth and magic

At this point changing the name probably isn't enough... you will probably have to do some PR work. Having it brought up at the next PTA meeting might help. Changing the focus of the club on learning about the religion rather than the magic for a little whiel may help as well. Also if there is a way for the club to get involved in the community whether it be through community service or fund raisers etc... this will help.

my blessings go out to you.

[Antoninus]

Formatted, Smormatted. Its November, Yearbooks have to be proofread & edited many times before the last deadline. Guaranteed they are still working on it so they can get school club/sports pictures in it. If you have a spring track & field the team hasn't even been picked yet, so you should be able to get this change in if you push for it.
We tried. ASB wont budge for love or money on it. They insist we cant change our name because of the yearbook and they have to be EXTRA paranoid about it this year because the whole yearbook is color this year.

[nevermore_2008]

how about the natural pride club or the PIP (people interested in paganism, only you have to know what it stands for )

[bshore]

That's so freakin cool that you actually got a club started in the first place!!! I did a research paper on Wicca when I was in high school, and it took forever to convince my teachers and the principle that I wasn't worshiping Satan. A club would have sent them over the top.

Good PR would go further than a name change, anyway, so I'd focus on holding events where other people can join. Suggestions:
book club where people discuss occult-related books
bulletin board with fun stuff you do advertised (in my school, each club got a bulletin board to themselves for a couple weeks.)
Maybe next year you can sponsor a "trick-or-treat" day and pass out candy while informing people on the beginings of Halloween

Just ideas. Plus, keep in mind that club membership fluctuates from year to year. As long as you leave a few underclassmen who really love it, the club will continue next year. So, good luck with everything!

[Salanthos]

when I was in high school, we had a club that was basically an occult club (but diffrent name), because the king and president (yes, a heredetary monarchy) was noted for being interested in a bunch of other stuff. she was in at least four or five other groups, and I don't think anyone in our club was in less than two others. I think part of the reason we didn't have problems was that a lot of other people knew us and that we were just to the weird side of odd, not really crazy. my suggestion is, if it proves impossible to change the name, to try and make the members of the club better known - like try planning an event with a couple other clubs, attending events for other organizations, etc. the end result - this would take time - would be for people to think something like: sure, the club has a funny name, but I met some of the people and they're nice. or better - saying it when someone else says something negative.
of course, the quickest would be to change the name. I'd suggest moving away from religion altogether. you might try something like 'folklore in practice' - I know tarot and such could be considered folklore - and it would seem more like a club for people fascinated by legends and myths than sacrifices. Or you might try something like 'traditional cultures', 'legends, myths and magics', 'earth teachings' ect. this comes up with an image of people interested in something, which might be beneficial.

[WokeUpDead]

It seems like club memberships rise and fall all the time. It could just be a down period.

[9-2-2]

I have some experience with this.

Rule #1: High school is the damned worst place to have an occult study group.
Rule #2: There is only one rule in this situation :p

Have your occult study group at home, or at a cafe that won't crap all over occultism. Try to find somewhere that won't attract people looking to hunt occultists down and trash the crap outta everything.

I hide all of my occult paraphenalia in my bedroom. NO ONE is allowed in there except for my fiance and one of my roomates.

Where did I meet with my occult buddies as a teen?
We went to the library, where the librarians couldn't say jack about what we were doing. They supply crappier occult books, but if they say anything, well, they'll draw attention on themselves for carrying such material and get themselves fired.
Then again, as long as you're not doping up in the library they won't care about what you do. :)
Another place is in a cafe. Cafes tend to be relaxed atmosphere, but sometimes they'll ask you to leave if their customers get too nervous.
You can also study in the woods, but you have no a/c or heating, no comfy spot, your materials can get damaged, there's no comfortable place to go to the bathroom, and if the cops see you out there then they'll get everyone's parents involved. Becomes messy. :p

So, libraries pretty much rock. :)

[pawnman]

Cthulhu club. Lifetime membership to anyone who can poperly pronounce it.

There's an established nationwide club waiting for you to tap into it.

http://www.locksley.com/cthulhu/index2.htm (http://www.locksley.com/cthulhu/index2.htm)