SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!: How Self-Entitlement is Ruining the Craft

RJ Muna

Image: RJ Muna

“Shame is a soul eating emotion.”

C.G. Jung

Shame and I have a longstanding deep rooted relationship; it started to blossom in my childhood, and continues to grow throughout my adulthood.

I was an opinionated girl who is now an outspoken, loud Woman, for some unknown reason that intimidates people. I know exactly what I want, and that also intimidates people. I don’t rely on others because they have *always* let me down, so now I do it all by myself; which is not only intimidating to others, it seems to be threatening to them. As if my independence has any effect on their dependency.

I know my sexual power, wants and desires, regardless if I am sexually active currently—this sexual liberation will always intimidate people.

I have been shamed for my strength, but shamed for weakness, too. I have been shamed for being a slut, while also being shamed for being a prude. I have been shamed for personal evolution, and shamed for remaining comfortable.

I was called fake because I changed and I will never understand that. I grow, I evolve, my mind expands and so does my way of thinking; how is that fake?

How is personal evolution and growth shamed? How is finding a “good place” in life a bad thing? How is that shamed?

WHY is that shamed?

The how I have yet to figure out; where people get their sense of entitlement from is beyond me, but I know the why, which is: jealousy.

Does all shame stem from jealousy? I kinda think so.

Shame also comes from fear and ignorance, and when you mix the three together the combination is explosive.

So imagine my surprise when I started to venture into the Pagan and Occult community and found shame in abundance among my peers. Often directed at me with pinpoint accuracy.

Whew, was I hit with it all…

“You’re too dark.”

“You’re a shitty person if you cross/jinx/hex people; only evil Witches do that.”

“You are fluffy if you heal people, only Wiccans bother with that shit.”

“A Luciferian? So, what, you worship the Devil?”

“Daemons? You work with Daemons? I would never do that; I am not selling my Soul.”

And the list goes on, and on.

Few communities are more divided than the Witch community. Why *are* we so divided? Why are there stories that plague us with talks of “witch wars” based on jealousy, and exclusion based on being “too dark” or “too light”?

Why do we judge people based on their Magickal comfort zone and experience as opposed to who they are as a person?

I feel like judging someone based on what kind of Magick they practice is like judging them by what clothes they wear. Surely we can agree that in almost every case making assumptions about someone based upon what they are wearing will not be a reflection of who they are.

For example, those within the Goth community (probably) would agree that they are much more than “pale skin and black clothes”.

Making generalizations about any group of people has never turned out well and if you need proof of that just take a look at history, or even our current state of affairs.

The point is, you cannot judge the entirety of a person’s character on one aspect, or detail of them.

Can the same not be said about Magick?

It can in my case.

If you are to judge my morality and personal character off the Magick I practice, you will be wrong every time.

Where does this sanctimonious behavior come from? A behavior that I have been guilty of myself; I have many times scoffed at people for being Wiccan or what I deemed “fluffy”.

In hindsight I don’t regret it but I wouldn’t do it again.

I am trying to be consciously aware of such petty behavior in myself, and my hope is that in the future I will not display such ignorance and naivety towards my fellow Witches, or any group of people for that matter.

I want you to sit back and think about all of this for a moment.

I want you to personally think of the reasons why you are a Solitary Practitioner because a solid 90% of my readership are Solitary like myself.

I am willing to bet that somewhere on the list is shame. Most likely you were drawn to an alternative Philosophy because of shame, and then drawn into the seclusion of Solitary Practice for the very same reason.

Shame is a disease and we need to rid it from ourselves, and our community. There is nothing productive that comes from making another person feel bad for their actions, lifestyle or behavior.

There is nothing in the judgment of another that will help the collective; it only furthers the divide.

We should try and understand people, and why they do what they do; from behavior and Philosophy, to love and eating habits; there are personal reasons behind everything we do, both conscious and subconscious.

We should not and do not have to partake in a lifestyle or Magickal practice that we are not comfortable with but we also should not and cannot judge another for theirs.

The human condition is something we all have in common and no aspect of this experience should be shamed from a lack of understanding. We are in the age of information and technology, there is no excuse for being a judgmental, ignorant prick.

The shame inflicted on another is an issue rooted in yourself—take a long look in the mirror.

Sympathy for our fellow Witch will make us strong; sympathy for our fellow human will make us unite.

Rant: Kim Davis, Willful Ignorance, and Hypocrisy

Anca Mitroi

Image: Anca Mitroi

“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.”

Isaac Asimov


I have been chomping at the bit to say my piece about the now notorious Kim Davis, the Rowan County (Kentucky) clerk who refused to hand out marriage certificates to same sex couples using the excuse of religious freedom, and that she “didn’t want the wrath of God to be put on her” and “she doesn’t want to go to Hell”. Meanwhile she has been married 4 times, so that is 3 failed marriages, and has two children out of wedlock; shouldn’t point fingers with dirty hands, Mrs. Davis.

I try not to pay too much attention to the conservative Christians these days, they are of abundance and I avoid them like the plague; their ignorance alone makes me want leave this planet and relocate somewhere with no religion, with no humans, actually.

I have decided to write about this issue because whenever politicians get involved I pay attention. Since I was a child politics and philosophy have been passions of mine. I especially love having debates, not just about the politicians themselves but the issues at hand, and how socioeconomic status is everything in this world. Illusions, all of it but fascinating to me nonetheless.

Democracy was a shit show in Rome, and it is (at times) a shit show now. Instead of battling it out in some bloody war (literal or metaphorical because they knew how to debate (or blackmail) their counsel) on the sands and pebbles of Ancient Rome, our politicians battle it out on the mainstream, and social media platforms with no filters, no class, and no fucking clue about what the everyday American is facing, or cares about. They no longer keep their craziness hidden, it appears to be on display for all to see. Politicians are owned puppets, and for the love of all that is holy and unholy I hope that people pay attention to Bernie Sanders and the things that man has to say because he is our ticket out of this mess.

I really want to know when it became ok for our politicians to jump in and save a woman who defied Federal Law and are calling her a hero because she was “victim to Christian persecution” (Mike Huckabee). Even the right wing militia group known as the “Oath keepers” have been “Deployed” to protect Mrs. Davis.

Man, imagine if there were an armed group of Satanists going to protect someone. Would law enforcement then jump in? Since when is it ok to have a rogue, armed militia running around with guns? Oh, because, ‘Merica.

There have even been comparisons made between Davis and Rosa Parks, and that is just an insult to Parks. I’m not even going to go there.

I know that myself, and many of you do not take the GOP seriously, and WE can laugh it off, the problem is there are millions of people out there who cannot. There are millions of people out there who lack critical thinking skills, and any ability to think rationally or logically.

The media force feeds the lies to the masses in heaping piles of bullshit.

The Supreme Court of the United States of America ruled that same sex marriage is law (which should have never been illegal or an issue to begin with, but, as always, “religion”). In case anyone is confused as to what this means, let me break it down for you: SCOTUS is the law of this land.

Period.

Let’s not mention the fact that she (Davis) works for the Government, as a county clerk she is their employee, essentially. It does not matter though if she is, or is not an employee of the Government, she defied Federal Law.

What if a Muslim defied Federal Law, any Federal Law in protest of his/her religion, would it play out the same? What if a Witch, Atheist, Pagan, Heathen, Druid etc. etc. did the same, what would be the outcome then? Why is it only Christians defying laws in the name of religious rights?

Let’s ask that again…

WHY IS IT ONLY CHRISTIANS DEFYING LAWS IN THE NAME OF RELIGIOUS RIGHTS?

As Americans we have the freedom to worship (or not worship) as we wish, hundreds of millions of people in this world are not afforded such a luxury; Christians are granted so many luxuries, but they still scream about how they are persecuted.

Correct me if I am wrong here but, when I look around at the issues we are facing as a country, even the world, and the real persecutions going on, the real finger pointing and judgments are all coming from the Christian arena. I enjoy very much how Conservative Christians say that Islamic extremists are the real threat to America but they don’t want to address the extremism of the Westboro Baptist Church, or tea partiers like Cruz, Huckabee, Rubio, Paul (more libertarian)  and Ryan because “God”. Duh.

I guess it’s just their God? Man, he sounds like a real dick.

Ignorance is one thing, it is the root of a lot of our country’s problems but willful ignorance is far worse.

When you decide you do not want to think outside of the box, and are not willing to adjust your mentality, or perception to the changing world, we have a problem as a collective unit. I am not suggesting that people give up their religion, their belief or anything of the sort; that is not my place to do so, again we are free to worship as we wish, but we need to remove religion from Government.

We need to remove the divisions created by religion, and the lies that have been told. It is passed time that people realize the bible is an allegory, it is a book of stories based on Pagan traditions, and Babylonian, Sumerian and Egyptian historical figures, written by a King and translated by many; it is not the “Word of God”.

Let’s not even mention how many versions of the bible existed before the New Testament. I will link you to some really good resources at the end, in case you ever want to throw verses in a Christian’s face.

You have to fight fire with fire, right?

The homosexual couples who went to that clerk’s office to get their marriage certificates and were denied are just as American as Mrs. Davis is, regardless of how stupid, closed minded or insane she may be; this fact was and is missed by Davis and many others like her. They want to scream patriotism but only when it is in their favor, only when it is in the name of their God.

You have the right to free speech but you must face the consequences of your words, and actions. You have the right to worship as you wish, but not when it infringes on another, and definitely not in defiance of Federal Law. You have lots of rights, Mrs. Davis but you forgot that so does every other American.

How Christian like to be so goddamned hateful, judgmental, and selfish.

Resources for further exploration:

http://www.nobeliefs.com/DarkBible/darkbible2.htm

http://www.greatsite.com/timeline-english-bible-history/