The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum

I remember her history being awful, but I am also fairly certain that one of her books is the first place I encountered a how-to on making a servitor. So I guess sometimes mushrooms grow out of shit?

 
My main problem with her is that she seems to embody every laughable stereotype about neopagan teenagers, except that she's an adult.  Believes in the unsolicited preaching of neopaganism?  Check.  Unrealistic expectations about magic?  Check.  Talks constantly of the "burning times"?  Check.  Thinks using the term "quantum physics" is an excuse to make things up as she goes along?  Super check.

To top it off, she has this weird aversion to black magic, claiming in Teen Witch that no REAL neopagan uses black magic/blood magic/other magic she doesn't like.  Which, in addition to being pretty goddamn arbitrary, also just flies in the face of the general attitude of the pagan community and how people in general dont have a set orthodoxy.

Bottom line, I dont particularly like her.  End of rant.

Serious question...who is this 'we' you have mentioned? I'm not even trying to be a nitpicking ass...I'm genuinely puzzled by the statement.

On a personal note, I'm not really down with statements that include "those people" in them. It strikes me as being an ultimately harmful concept in that one is purposely othering an entire group of people without really articulating (for others and for oneself) why.

Whenever I hear/read someone referring to others as "those people", I tend to assume it is for the high crime of Eating Crackers Like They Own the Place.

 
Perhaps I should go into more detail on what I mean by "fluffbunny".

I've first heard the term used on Rationalwiki (an admittedly atheist biased website), and I have a couple of friends into alternative religious stuff who have also used the term, or similar terms.  It basically refers to people, who to put it in short, basically make up their religious beliefs as they see fit, often with a lack of coherence whatsoever.  This is different, mind you, from merely being eclectic, or having a combination of beliefs like some of us here do.  Many pagan traditions have significant overlap, especially those of European flavor, so such things tend to happen.

The thing about "fluffbunnies" is that they tend to be far more concerned about the feel good aspect of things and often an obsession with spells to solve their problems.  If it ended at that, I wouldn't care too much, but the thing is that there are some nasty bastards who have realized they can make a quick buck off of the credulous people who mistake having an "open mind" with throwing common sense out the window.  It doesn't help that such industries and many of the bunnies that buy into them are also fond of cultural appropriation of traditions that have next to nothing to do with them, and typically misrepresenting said tradition entirely.

Sorry for the long winded rant, but I always consider critical thinking to be a valuable tool.  Mind you, I dont consider "fluffbunnies" to be bad people in themselves, I just think that they have some maturing to do in terms of their faith, and they generally get around to doing that in time.  I hope you can at least understand why I feel the way I do.

My main problem with her is that she seems to embody every laughable stereotype about neopagan teenagers, except that she's an adult.

 
Since the source of the stereotype was teens who'd read her books and took them too authoritatively, of course that's the case - she's not following the stereotype, she's its adult prototype/cause. (Assuming, of course, that her books are an accurate reflection of her practice and beliefs.)

In response to the OP: I've been a bootstrap eclectic religious witch for ~40 years, since I was in my teens; I'm not sure it's meaningful to ask what I'd be if I wasn't that. Possibly some sort of initiatory neoPagan religious witchcraft, if I'd happened to cross paths with a teacher/coven that resonated sufficiently well, but that's a high bar.

If not pagan at all (hard for me to imagine why I wouldn't be, but for the sake of discussion), I suppose I'd be a pluralistic (i.e., not anti-theist) agnostic/soft atheist, perhaps with no 'social church' connection, or perhaps still loosely affiliated with the United Church of Canada (which is what I was raised in) or involved to a greater or lesser extent with UUism.

Sunflower

What would you be?

I went from mainstream Anglicanism to Dark Paganism to the Orthodox Church. I guess that qualifies as a bit of flip-flopping. If I were to flop once again, it would be out of Christianity, since I don't think I'd give any other church the time of day. Probably go into full-time Druidry. I still want to do the Bard rank with OBOD anyway. When I can spend £200.

What would you be?

If I wasn't either a Jew/Noahide (still figuring that one out...) I would probably be a rather liberal Muslim.

 
I'd probably be a proper full-on dialetical atheist Marxist rather than a Marxish.

What would you be?

 
Slavic heathen, likely, or possibly Romuva.

Or a very, very grumpy agnostic mystic.

I had a similar response (except for the number of decades involved) since I've been on my current path one way or another since middle school.

 
Another similar response here. When I started reading about paganism, it was like finding home. I think I was pagan before I had a name for it.

Had I not found my way, I most likely would have been a Spiritualist, as that was the church that I felt most at home in when I was young. Either that or Catholic. I find great beauty in the rituals of Catholicism.

I suppose I'd be a pluralistic (i.e., not anti-theist) agnostic/soft atheist... or involved to a greater or lesser extent with UUism.

Sunflower

Maybe this as well, and very involved in one of those Sunday Assembly 'congregations' (a.k.a. the atheists' 'church' by some folk).  

Or a  Catholic monk cloistered away in some beautiful old stone monastery in Ireland or England who could just work in a garden (or make alcohol or fruitcakes), read, pray, chant all day...