The Craziest Thing Someone's Said About Your Tradition?

[Lokabrenna]

What's the craziest thing someone's said about your path?

For Paganism in general...I'd say anything that can be found in a Chick tract. (My personal favourite is "Dark Dungeons").

For Vanatru, I've heard: "People say they're Vanatru just to get dates." (I've also heard the same thing said about Wiccans, in particular). IMHO, if you've joined a religion, any religion, to get dates, ur doin' it wrong.

[Nuri]

What's the craziest thing someone's said about your path?

"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live."

My fellow Pagan friend and I just looked at each other and walked away. The last thing we wanted was to be lynched in the library. Ah, well. Joys of growing up in the Bible Belt!

[Dragonfly68]

You're not really a pagan if you don't do magic.

[Nuri]

You're not really a pagan if you don't do magic.

Someone told you that? oh my.

[Dragonfly68]

Someone told you that? oh my.

They didn't say it to my face, they told other members of our group that I wasn't a true pagan cause I didn't practice magic. One of the others told me that was said about me. Considering the couple who said it, I believe the person who told me.

[SunflowerP]

What's the craziest thing someone's said about your path?

That the initial version of this was a ripoff of the Principia Discordia. I can only suppose that he didn't bother to actually read one or the other or both, and was just very sloppily going, "Principia, Principles, same difference."

(Backstory - that writeup was the result of articulating my personal practice in a coherent, consistent form, at a point when it became clear that "what I do" could be, and needed to be, a viable system for others to use. Pretty much any time I refer to "my trad", I'm talking about that document and/or its practical application as the framework of my coven/teaching work - my present personal practice isn't incompatible with that, but it's far more informal and mysticism-focused.)

Sunflower

[Thorn]

That the initial version of this was a ripoff of the Principia Discordia.

That's just odd.

I can only suppose that he didn't bother to actually read one or the other or both

You think, maybe?

(Thanks for reposting this link, btw. You gave it to me a long time ago, but it was lost in one of the many computer crashes between then and now. I've always liked this system of yours.)

[Lokabrenna]

You're not really a pagan if you don't do magic.

I've heard this one before. I think it might have something to do with confusing Pagan with Wiccan and assuming all Wiccans do is practice magic.

I mentioned this before on the old forum, but a classmate in university said that I *had* to believe in karma and the Threefold Law if I was a Pagan. The real kicker, however, is that she identified as an "atheist Druid" (which...isn't impossible, I guess?) and that she had been raised Pagan!

I honestly didn't know what to make of that conversation as a whole.

[Dark Midnight]

What's the craziest thing someone's said about your path?

The most bizarre thing anyone had said about my religion is 'Well, it's not written in the Bible, so you're just imagining it and making it up as you go along!'. *headdesks*

[KittyVel]

What's the craziest thing someone's said about your path?

I can give you an exact quote. Sorry, it's kinda long...

"I don't plan on ever seeking out other gods, because I view them all as frauds and liars. God created all of the otherworldly beings before, or at the same time that this world was created. But some of these beings decided to become rebellious and were cast out of heaven. Some of those beings decided to make themselves into 'gods' and have humans worship them. Satan, the Devil, or Lucifer, is their leader, and is also the one who started the rebellion. So in a way, all of the deity's that humans have ever worshipped do exist. But they're not nearly as powerful as we make them out to be, and they don't deserve to be worshipped or to have followers. I am not sure about this, but it is very likely that for certain 'gods', there are multiple demons taking up those identities. For example, the anubis that is appearing to you in your dreams may not be the only one. There could be two, five, or even a dozen demons that call themselves anubis. (At least in front of humans) I don't know what that demon is telling you, but he can't be up to any good. He's trying to keep you away from the truth that you'll find in Jesus Christ and getting you to follow a false religion. Ask him if he believes that Jesus is the Son of the One True God, and I'm sure he'll say no. But he's a liar because he knows it, and he'll just tell you that because wants to see you in hell. That's where he's going, and he can't do anything about it, so his goal is to lead as many humans there as he can. If he appears to you again, don't let him trick you. And if he doesn't know already, tell him about everything that I said. I'm sure he'll be angry at me for exposing him, but he'll probably try to hide that from you. AND ANUBIS, IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST, I COMMAND YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM VELVELA."

...*HEADDESK*...*OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN*