For those that consider yourselves Witches, a quick question

[too2sweet]

Ok... quick question (this is me personally asking, not anything official) for anyone who considers themselves a Witch. There is a new sub-forum in the Entertainment Discussion forum called the Supernatural Forum.

The forum description is (bold-ed by me)...

Quote:

Discuss unearthly beings, like ghosts, vampires, warewolves, witches, UFOs, paranormal, and other supernatural phenomenon.

Your thoughts and opinions would be greatly appreciated!  

[Cranium Squirrel]

From a non-witch, with a very silly sense of humor:

Score! Now I know you guys can kill Edward for me, being as you're both fictional!

All joking aside, this is clearly an example of a bad forum description. Someone should probably send the person who wrote it a quick PM explaining their oops. Some people are legitimately unaware of witchcraft as a legitimate religious tradition. They may just need a quick friendly lesson! 3nodding  

[FlySammyJ]

It doesn't bother me in the least. There is a whole mass of fiction devoted to the "witch" character as it exists in the social imagination, which has emerged over hundreds of years mulling over this idea of magic. Most cosmopolitan folks are aware that contemporary witches do not fly on broomsticks (literally, anyway) or wear pointy hats as a part of the standard uniform. I don't have a problem coexisting with the Witches of Eastwick, as long as people aren't confusing them with me.  

[Aino Ailill]

What gets me is that these beings/things are considered 'unearthly.' xP  

[aoijea23487]

I had no idea I was a supernatural phenomenon and an unearthly being. This is interesting news.

Maybe Gaia should know that there are people who are legitimately witches.  

[whiporwill-o]

Aino Ailill

What gets me is that these beings/things are considered 'unearthly.' xP

seconded.

on another note, i'm perfectly fine with people thinking i can twitch my nose to make things happen (i wish i could do that, then i'd never go to the grocery store >.>) just so long as they don't make me send out my flying monkeys whee

it doesn't bother me at all, the only thing that really bothers me about society's stereotypical witch is that s/he's a devil worshipper and then having to deal with them telling you that you're going to hell. why can't we all just get along. crying  

[scarlet_moon225]

Apparently I'm unearthly i wonder how that works cuz the last time i checked i was totally on earth. lol it really makes me wanna just pm that person and be all like dude witches, vampires, and werewolves are on earth..... watch out. muahahaha! but im not that mean.  

[CuAnnan]

Firstly, I don't believe anything supernatural exists. Merely that we do not have the naturalistic frame of reference from which to discuss things we call supernatural.
Everything that exists has a nature.  

[Aakosir]

I agree with CuAnnan. There are things that exist that "we" can not explain. We being the government. The people who make us believe what they want...  

[Nines19]

Byaggha

Some people are legitimately unaware of witchcraft as a legitimate religious tradition.

Or a legitimate religioun-independent (for the most part) practice. ninja

@Aakosir: Which government? Mine doesn't make me believe s**t.  

[ToshiYoko]

I've toyed around with Paganism a bit, but I don't consider myself a witch. I'm agnostic which means that I'm not sure what I believe, for those of you who don't know, but the very idea of people not understanding Paganism and Witchcraft for me is tiresome and annoying. I agree that it is annoying to be called a "Devil Worshiper" when you do not even believe in the Devil. I also find it annoying that witches are depicted almost always as having a green face, pointy nose, pointy hat, black robes, flying on broom sticks, etc. I will agree that this had me confused as well. I didn't realize that there were still Pagans living today when I was in high school and it took a lot of research that I did on my own to find out otherwise. I think that it's fun to think that we can break the laws of nature, especially when it means that we would be able to make things happen like in the Harry Potter books, but I also think that is important for us to understand the difference between fantasy and reality and for us to study all world religions from a young age rather than going through all of grade school thinking that the only true religion is Christianity because that's what has been shoved down our throats for so many years. Knowledge is our friend and we should embrace her.  

[Underworld Priestess]

I find it slightly insulting since not every witch is a fictional character.  

[TeaDidikai]

I think at some point we need to discuss if there is a schism between fictional witches and real witches and who had the term first.

And then we get to question if vampires have the same right to be upset.  

[Collowrath]

TeaDidikai

And then we get to question if vampires have the same right to be upset.

Supernatural forum is overrun with vampires, it seems. I'm always tempted to rage at them a little - there's very much this idea among some of them that they are above reproach because they're really 32457230460235 years old and just trapped in this human state for whatever reason.

Then I catch myself doing a little bit of ethnocentrism, like taking all my building blocks back because they're mine and no one else gets to touch them unless I say. scream So I step back, calm down, and leave it be - essentially, I would say there is a massive disconnect between what I would consider a "real" vampire (rather, the creature/s described in Slavic mythology that are translated as vampire), and the literary device created by Western writers.  

[TeaDidikai]

Collowrath

Then I catch myself doing a little bit of ethnocentrism, like taking all my building blocks back because they're mine and no one else gets to touch them unless I say.

I know what you mean. wink

I'd be inclined to something similar myself.

Witch. Vampire. Ghost. Werewolf.

Due to popular culture- my ethnicity is often listed along side these, and I get downright pissy when that happens- mostly because it demonstrates that not only are we not considered to be "real people" by some, but it perpetuates the ability for those outside of my culture to define us. But then- the fictional G~ stemmed from outsiders making fictional pieces about us.

The Vampire, the Ghost and the Werewolf existed as myths, ones that certain subcultures are now identifying by in order to invoke or evoke the essence of the myth (or their limited understanding thereof).

Witch... I'm not so sure about. If on the one hand the term was actually coined in an era where pagans and non-pagans clashed, I would argue that they find themselves in a similar position I do.

If on the other hand the term was coined to address a myth than was then taken over by popular culture- I'd say they're in the same position that the Vampires and Werewolves are in. wink