Worst Things You Can Ever Say As A Pagan

[Yanueh]

I was on an information-gathering rampage and found this on Yahoo! Answers.

How to charge a magic wand?
i have almost 14 inch wooden stick that i want to charge it with power so it can help me in my spells, i want to charge the wand with positive energy, i have a garden if that matters. what should i do to charge the wooden stick so it can have magical powers?

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters
If your around your garden a lot, wait till a full moon then bury it under your garden for a week after soaking it in herb water of the herb that give you the desired trait.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but won't two weeks buried in your garden pretty much ruin your wooden wand?  

[maenad nuri]

aren't a lot of wands treated or varnished? That would probably make it okay.  

[Brass Bell Doll]

It seems like some of the steps may not have been outlined very well. I think I could adjust it so that the essence of the suggestion remained, but the details were better suited.  

[Yanueh]

maenad nuri

aren't a lot of wands treated or varnished? That would probably make it okay.

Some varnish is water-resistant, but a lot of it isn't. A lot of nice varnishes can be ruined just by setting a glass of icewater on them.  

[Aydenfyre]

maenad nuri

aren't a lot of wands treated or varnished? That would probably make it okay.

But from the way it was described, he just found a pretty stick he liked, and wanted to charge it. He never mentioned anything about treating it with anything. Other than that, I suppose it would depend on the type of soil that "WANTED!" uses, and the type of wood that the particular stick was.  

[Artistic Genocide]

I finally have one to put down in this thread. I've been stalking a facebook 'Wicca' page, and someone just asked if anyone had any totem animals. Here's what someone said about that:

Quote:

Yes Kaida- I have a hybrid wolf/huskie mix and a mountain horned dragon lizard-and we do speak to each other-i have sent my lizard to give tidings of love to my woman-she felt them and she is 7000 miles away

...

 

[Brass Bell Doll]

Would you be willing to explain why this is one of the worst things a pagan could say?  

[Artistic Genocide]

It wasn't so mix the huskie mix thing that was bad, but in the discuss he was insisting that the lizard was actually a 20ft+ physical dragon.... To my knowledge, no such creature exists physically.

That, and the guy was proclaiming to be a Celtic Druid. That's an old argument for me, though, so I didn't post that.

Edit: Probably should have included that fact in the first post. My fault.

 

[Brass Bell Doll]

I didn't see the part where he claimed that his lizard was twenty feet long. I am familiar with a kind of pet lizard known as a Mountain horned Dragon.

Even that being the case, I feel that the term totem as it is used in modern spirituality wouldn't imply the animal had to be a physical species.

To add, could you explain why being a Celtic Druid is something you have a problem with?  

[Shearaha]

Because Druids were a social class that was wiped out by invading forces. The knowledge they held and the position they held in society are gone and have been replaced with others such as doctors, lawers and archetects. Druids no longer exist and the social structure needed for them to exist is no more as well.  

[Lance Kibagari]

Shearaha

Because Druids were a social class that was wiped out by invading forces. The knowledge they held and the position they held in society are gone and have been replaced with others such as doctors, lawers and archetects. Druids no longer exist and the social structure needed for them to exist is no more as well.

I'm not trying to undercut you, Shearaha; I'm merely attempting to clarify.

In addition, there is no evidence that they were a religious group as WELL as a social class, thus making any "modern druid"'s claim to that title false at best and cultural misappropriation/culture rape at worst.

I know CuAnnan has gone over the topic countless times, but for the life of me I cannot find any of his posts on the subject of druids.  

[Shearaha]

Lance Kibagari

Shearaha

Because Druids were a social class that was wiped out by invading forces. The knowledge they held and the position they held in society are gone and have been replaced with others such as doctors, lawers and archetects. Druids no longer exist and the social structure needed for them to exist is no more as well.

I'm not trying to undercut you, Shearaha; I'm merely attempting to clarify.

In addition, there is no evidence that they were a religious group as WELL as a social class, thus making any "modern druid"'s claim to that title false at best and cultural misappropriation/culture rape at worst.

I know CuAnnan has gone over the topic countless times, but for the life of me I cannot find any of his posts on the subject of druids.

Thanks Lance, I knew I forgot something xd  

[Brass Bell Doll]

Shearaha

Because Druids were a social class that was wiped out by invading forces. The knowledge they held and the position they held in society are gone and have been replaced with others such as doctors, lawers and archetects. Druids no longer exist and the social structure needed for them to exist is no more as well.

I'm sorry, but I am not understanding the line of your reasoning.

Lance Kibagari

In addition, there is no evidence that they were a religious group as WELL as a social class, thus making any "modern druid"'s claim to that title false at best and cultural misappropriation/culture rape at worst.

I feel I would be able to agree with this more if the situation was a little different.

If people who call themselves druids claimed to be from an ancient line of druids, then I would agree with you.

If they used an ancient title, then perhaps I could see that as misappropriation.

My understanding is that the Celts were not a single culture, so I am not following why it would be cultural misappropriation- especially if it was coined into modern English by a group of modern Celts.

I don't think the word druid is ancient though- if memory serves it's current use stems from a Latin term which may have it's roots in older Celtic languages. I do not feel that is a good reason to harbor animosity towards those who use it though- if we redact all languages of their loan words based on etymology alone, I think we're going to develop a problem very quickly.  

[Shearaha]

But they are steeling a title, one that belonge to a once very important social class among the Gael. There are also those who claim to be decendents of druids and parctice based off of an old book, which they can never produce, that was written by their ancestor before they were killed by the Romans or the Christian invaders who followed. The issue comes form those who are taking a title from a culture and using it outside of context. It's similar to the issue with teenie boppers who use the title of Wicca. Except that real druids don't exist anymore and so can not defend themselves.  

[Brass Bell Doll]

Shearaha

But they are steeling a title, one that belonge to a once very important social class among the Gael.

I'm afraid I disagree for a couple of reasons. Since the Gael are Irish, I think to steal from them they would have to be stealing an Irish word. Druid is not an Irish word.

The second issue I see is that the Irish are not the only Celts, so if this is about the rights of the Gael, then why would we give the right to dictate what is proper in all of Celtic culture to one group? Why would the Irish be in a position to speak for all Celts everywhere?

Shearaha

There are also those who claim to be decendents of druids and parctice based off of an old book, which they can never produce, that was written by their ancestor before they were killed by the Romans or the Christian invaders who followed. The issue comes form those who are taking a title from a culture and using it outside of context.

I am afraid I must again disagree. I feel the real issue with people who make a claim like that is that they aren't telling the truth. If they are saying falsehoods in order to make themselves seem special- then would they be any less annoying if they claimed to be any other kind of ancient line of mystics long since gone?

Shearaha

It's similar to the issue with teenie boppers who use the title of Wicca. Except that real druids don't exist anymore and so can not defend themselves.

I have less issue with those who call themselves Wiccan as well, because not all Wiccan's feel that those young pagans are wrong for using the title.