My pschology teacher says we don't exist

[emraldshadowcat]

I was sitting in psychology yesterday and we were talking about borderline mental disorders, and then he popped up with "do you know that some people still think that they are witches?" I was so tempted to stand up and say "do you know that some people still believe that they are christian?!"
Needless to say I get offended when people put down any positive religion that is not their own. Our religion is just as real as any other positive religion and my patience are constantly pushed by by people who refuse to aknowlege any religion that isn't their own.
I'm sorry if I sound harsh, but how do you guys handle these people?

Exasperated,
Emerald ShadowCat

[Amora]

Was this a college or a high school class? And did you say anything in responce to that?

I would have spoken up in that situation personally.

[emraldshadowcat]

It was a college class, and I was going to say something but I've always heard the horror stories about if you make a college professor mad they will fail you for no reason, and I can't afford to fail.

[Myst]

"Did you know some people think they know everything!?" *gasp*


*giggle* Ok that might not be the best answer...

If I were you when I got home I'd take it out on a punching bag and then meditate. This guy just probably won't listen to you. :(

[Earth Walker]

:ghost: <------------- I'm a ghost you can't see.

[Amora]

Some people still think they are witches?

Funny, I KNOW I'm one!

[Socharis]

That makes me sooo :mad:

[Lavender]

Originally posted by emraldshadowcat
..."do you know that some people still think that they are witches?"

I guess we're just delusional! :p :p

So much for being unbiased & impartial...

[SpikesPet5150]

If I'm just a figment of everyone elses imagination, why don't I look like a supermodel?? NO FAIR!!!!

~Bree

:elf:

Does that mean my elf doesn't exist either?? :( You made my elf cry!

[Andromeda]

I find people like that to be just rude and close minded, I try not to waste my time with them.

[Socharis]

Originally posted by Andromeda
I find people like that to be just rude and close minded, I try not to waste my time with them.

I hear that.

[Kaylara]

Oh crap... Does this mean that I don't really exist?

Boo! AAAAAAAAA!

Kaylara

[Tigerwallah]

I always wanted to be invisible.

[Socharis]

Originally posted by Kaylara
Oh crap... Does this mean that I don't really exist?

Boo! AAAAAAAAA!

Kaylara

We must be having like mass hallucination or summut.

[Socharis]

Originally posted by Tigerwallah
I always wanted to be invisible.

LOL 8O

[SimplyStrange]

So does that mean you are all just my imaginary friends?

Eek, I thought I grew out of that?

[Lavender]

Originally posted by SimplyStrange
So does that mean you are all just my imaginary friends?

'Fraid so, SS. :eek:

[Socharis]

LOL 8O

[SimplyStrange]

Sheesh...

So according to the psych. teacher, you guys are crazy...

But according to anyone else, I'm crazy.

Ah! Confusion!

[Socharis]

Originally posted by SimplyStrange
Sheesh...

So according to the psych. teacher, you guys are crazy...

But according to anyone else, I'm crazy.

Ah! Confusion!

your crazy what ever happens LOL 8O (JK)

[SimplyStrange]

Originally posted by Socharis


your crazy what ever happens LOL 8O (JK)

Oh thanks. You know, you're the crazy one. Me? I'm perfectly fine.

By the way, I don't believe you have met my second self...

[Myst]

oh NO, another SPLIT PERSONALITY 8O

I knew me and myself weren't alone here!

[Lavender]

So...if you got into a fight with your split personalities, who would have the black eye? :(

[SimplyStrange]

I would definately have the black eye :D

[Myst]

hehe

[QueendeQrash]

We exist. Really! Cool! I always thought we are a figment of my own imagination.

[gunner]

now if i quietly walk up behind that teacher and thump him sharply on the head will i still not exist?

[Dellit Tandannon]

heeeeeeelllp meeeeeeeeeee

i'm fading! i can see right through myself!!!!! oh no!!!!!
AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[SILVER MYST]

this prof of yours is rather biased, uneducated, and downright offensive. I know that I'm not dillusional or anything of the sort. I don't belong in a padded cell wearing a straightjacket in some nuthouse in the middle of nowhere, and I higky doubt any of y'all do either. I don't think anyone has ever stood up to him/her(whichever the case may be) before or said anything derogetory about his/her religious practices. I, for one, would rather be a practicing Wiccan than a non-practicing christian. Most Catholics(in particular) that I know go to church 2ce a year, if that and they still believe that they have a good faith life. WRONG!!!!! Most of them don't realize how hypocritical they are. They will sit there and pass judgement on your religious practices when they don't practice one at all.

[Raynewitch]

So if I am dilusional.....I am going to dilude (is that even a word?!) myself into thinking I am dating Ben Affleck.......mmmmmmmmmmm Ben Affleck.

And if I, as a witch, do not exsist, I will be sneaking myself over to Bens house and...well dont worry :evilway: mwuhahahaha.

Im going to get lost in my own dream world now with Ben.......ohhhhhh and since I am super dilusional....Paul McDermott.

(Does Homer Simpson - hanging tongue out of mouth - uuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhh - attractive isnt it :D)

R

[Raynewitch]

Actually wait....I think your Professor is right....we dont exsist, we are complete fiction. Ok ok Im using that as the excuse to why I never get Pm's :wah: Its not fair I tells ya! I never get any! Pm's I mean.....

By the way, is your Professor REALLY a Professor, or is he just some guy off the street come to preach his teeny weeny-ed peabrain thoughts?

:elf: Rayne :elf: :D

[Sephiroth]

how can u prove u exist?

maybe we dont exist.

but truely how can u explain life as an existance when neather modern science nor phylosophy can

[Earth Walker]

I exist, therefore I am. :wave:

[emraldshadowcat]

I like the idea of thumping him in the head and then seeing if we still don't exist. Why can't closed minds come with closed mouths!!!! Thanks for not letting me be the only imaginary person!! I guess he doesn't realize how powerful one's imagination can be!
Blessed Be,
Emerald ShadowCat

[Illuminatus]

Originally posted by emraldshadowcat
I was sitting in psychology yesterday and we were talking about borderline mental disorders, and then he popped up with "do you know that some people still think that they are witches?" I was so tempted to stand up and say "do you know that some people still believe that they are christian?!"
Needless to say I get offended when people put down any positive religion that is not their own. Our religion is just as real as any other positive religion and my patience are constantly pushed by by people who refuse to aknowlege any religion that isn't their own.
I'm sorry if I sound harsh, but how do you guys handle these people?


C'mon. Your Psychology Professor didn't say you "witches didn't exist". He was saying that Magick doesn't exist, using witchcraft as an example. Blatantly misrepresenting him in the title of your post ('my psychology professor says we don't exist') is really misleading, and IMHO dosesn't go far to strengthen your position of sheer outrage against him.

If anything, his only crime is ignoranance of the fact that witchcraft is as much a Religion as an exploration of majick. Most people don't know that, since they consider those two things to be very much seperate.

- Illuminatus!

[Midnight_Raven]

Do u know think they know all. Its fun being invisible!!!! I had the same thing happen to me but in highschool.

[SimplyStrange]

Originally posted by Dellit Tandannon
heeeeeeelllp meeeeeeeeeee

i'm fading! i can see right through myself!!!!! oh no!!!!!
AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh no!!! Where are you, Dellit? Where did you go? Dellit?!?!

[Xois]

You shall all now be graced with my 1000th post ;)

Well, you might be suprised to know that what you consider a witch and what he consideres a witch are probably two totally different things :)

the ones he is thinking of probably don't! :)

Don't forget, the word we are trying to reclaim does have a separate meaning to the uninitiated...He probably meant no harm...but it wouldn't be bad to give him some sort of handout about Pagansim... :D

Cheers
Xois

[Xois]

We did it again...we agreed (geeze, the fabric of the universe is going to disintergrate!)

I hadn't even read your post and said a very similar thing!

hehehe

Xois

[emraldshadowcat]

I'm so sorry if I upset anybody with what I said. I realize that what is probably his idea of a witch doesn't exist. But I was just trying to share the humor that was my part of my initial reaction. I mean at first I was offended, but then I realized that our idea of a witch were 2 different things.
I didn't mean to mis-represet him.
Forgive me,
Emerald ShadowCat

[moonflower]

*dons a ridiculous pointy hat, and walks calmly up to the prof. bats him soundly on the head with her broom and rides said broom off towards the moon*

Classify that buddy, and my black cat doesn't like you either! :p

But I digress, don't let silly people like that worry you, people like that are close minded, and quite frankly, often scared of or jealous of anything different than the 'norm' they grew up with. Be proud of who you are and know you aren't alone. Maybe we don't exist to people like him, but why should that stop us? ;)

[moonflower]

On second reflection of my last post, it probally seemed 'harsher' than I ment it to be. It was a lighthearted joke *the stereotypical witch bit*. I agree that he probally was thinking of a different kind of witch. I also agree with Xois about showing him a pagan handout. It might open his mind to the new kind of witch. Then maybe he will think twice before making such flippant remarks.
I have heard our 'witchyness' classified under a personality disorder called 'schitzotypal'. This disturbs me a bit because If I remember right it said something about the person being 'disillusioned into believing they have any 'magical' powers or 'sixth sense' etc etc'. But enough of that im going off on a tangent, this was to apologise in case my last post was misinterpreted.

[Autumn Gemini]

If I don't exsist then why am I paying all these bills!!!!! :bug:

[Socharis]

"I think therefore I am"

what this actually means is i can doubt everything but i can not doubt doubting.

Therefore if you doubt you exist.

[Élistariel]

Well as a new-pagan (non practicing) I now know why hardly anyone seems to see me. I agree on the "I think, there for I am." What is thinking other than nuerons and whatnot? Afterall, and my sincere appologies if I make little sense, the world was created from something. You can't logically make a something from a, or many nothings. Nothing + nothing = more nothing, or just nothing, how can there be more of what's not there? Also, if something doesn't exist, how can we disprove it or say it doesn't exist. If it didn't exist, there wouldn't even be a word for it. If we made up a word for something that didn't exist and gave it a connotation, we would therefore, bring it into existance, hindering the point of discussing its nonexistance.

[earthcat]

I was sitting in a room full of people, and overheard the conversation of the two sitting next to me. The two girls were talking about another, and one of them said, (this is too funny), "Well, she's a self-proclaimed witch." I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing. I wanted to say, "You've got another 'self-proclaimed witch' right next to you... cackle cackle cackle..... Wanna see my flying monkees?"
And now I'm a 'self-proclaimed invisible witch'. Weeeeeeeeeeeee!!!
Wanna see my invisible flying monkees???http://www.plaudersmilies.de/bats.gif

[Djiril]

Personally, I would have said something like "I object to that," and explained why, which I think any good teacher should let someone do.

[Azure]

My thought on the prof would be that he is probably pretty unaware of Wicca, etc, but all to plainly aware of the Religious Right's Satanic Panic, and is in his mind comparing it to the Salem Witch hysteria. Unfortunately, that's all too common in this day and age, so I would cut him some slack.

If you're interested in the way the Satanic Panic has affected the public's view of psychology, as a beginning swing over to www.witchvox.com and check out Kerr Cuchulain's series on the subject. I think this week he covers Jack Chick, but everything is archived over there.

And who cares if a bunch of fluffy chicks talk about "self-proclaimed witches" - they probably are just jealous. the image of the witch in the mind of adolescent girls is a pretty strong one these days - even for the misinformed. Look at Charmed et al for examples of what they have to be jealous of. Chances are they aren't thinking of the Satanic Panic, or even green warty Halloween witches, but hot chicks with pentagrams and strong personalities. . . I know, we aren't Charmed, and we don't fight demons while decked out in Prada and Manolo, but the PR is different, and oddly more positive, even if it's still inaccurate.

[MzNeko]

You mean my darlin' husband is just a figment of my imagination?

Boy, do I have a dirty mind... :D

[earthcat]

I agree with you wholeheartdly on that, Azure. The PR we're getting may be of the fantastic kind, but it does show us in a much more positive light.
The audience for Buffy and Charmed is a large one, and while the shows do glamourize the Craft, they don't show the stereo-typical devil-worshipping, evil and/or warty green Witch that was seen often in the past. They show that Witches are just people with ordinary problems, (along with the extra-ordinary problems), and that they could be the person standing behind you in the check-out lane in the grocery store.....

[Drisel]

For once I have to agree with what Illuminatus had to say. Your teacher may have been aluding to the "witches" of old.

Keep in mind that in many fields of psychology that hearing voices or seeing things can be taken as signs of mental illness. This goes in the face of many religious people who communicate with other realms on a regular basis.

As for having a problem with your teacher, most college courses offer the student a chance to voice your complaints about a teacher or course material at the end of the course through an anonomys evaluation. Teachers as well as administration take these reviews very seriously.

[Earth Walker]

:shift:

[Emaleth]

I'm schizophrenic:eek: . I've always suspected that, but now I have a proof:p . The funny thing is a student of mine called me a witch years before I knew I was one. Was that child prophetic or just crazy?

Blessed Be

[SerenityMoon]

yep. totally concur. ignorant people (ignorant meaning what it's SUPPOSED to mean: uneducated about somthing) say things like that without realizing they are hurting somebody. help him learn, perhaps?

[Wyrdsister]

Hey, what's with the resurrection of a year old post? ;)

Wyrdsister

[Djiril]

DOH!!! Forgot to check the date.:bigredgri