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This would not suprise me. Most people are a little bit racist, even if they aren't doing it intentionally.

I would like to clarify upon my intent in posting in Irish.

If you cannot think in Irish, there are concepts you cannot understand. This is a very very old and established linguistic principle. There are words and concepts that you lack the congitive ability to process if you do not speak any given language. Be it French, Spanish, Romanian, Parsi, Dutch, Flemish, and so on.

If you don't speak the language: ask.
If you get told to ******** off: ******** off.
If you do neither, you are a racist.

/story
/justifications
/lame-a**-excuses-we've-heard-and-dismissed-from-you-six-million-times-already

Did I say I wouldn't change it? There are things I've come across I'm not sure about and I dont fully agree with. The nature of deities being an example. As a whole the tradition is Soft Poly, but is open to personal experience and divergences.

I am not clergy or a teacher in the system. There are 4 years of training before I get to those mysteries and training. This thread here is a basic understanding of what I have available as a first degree dedicant and student. For me to make those changes with out the authority to institute those changes would be wrong.

It would be like me calling any system I taught the Temple tradition with out having all the training and access to all the mysteries, like why Cunningham did not teach Wicca. I can only speak based on my experiences with the tradition at this point.

Which I do for my own practice. However this thread is about the Temple Tradition, not my own personal practice. At the moment the two are seperate, thought they will probably get more intwined as my training continues.

I was always under the impression that racisim was always intentional. That it was something one thoughtfully and meaningfully engaged in. Which is why I couldn't see the racisim in this tradition. Hell I am still trying to understand it...However If that is not the case (and I am willing to admit that my understanding of words and actions may be wrong) then the majority of witches and neo-pagans I know are also racist.

I am not saying it's a good thing. I'm just saying that it's not something I had not realized before now. It hurts realizing that I have been engaging in a behavior that I have always striven to avoid. I feel lost and confused and in some ways betrayed.

Last night I was upset about the comments in this thread, because it caused a massive amount of confusion with in me. Confusion I didn't have any answers for, and frankly still don't.

I was also feeling angry because I felt attacked. I realize now after a good nights sleep that I wasn't being attacked. People were just trying to show me the racism and get me to think about my actions that I was engaging in. Which is fine.

I now have a question for Penczak when I hand in the homework for this lesson. Though I do need some help in finding the information on the actual Celtic Festivals, because all the searches I have done result in the common neo-pagan popular understanding. It's not something I am going to bring up to my Teacher till I have some resources to use.