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| I now have an online shop at Cafe Press that sells Tarot- themed items such as t-shirts, coffee mugs, magnets, etc. ... all with Tarot card images. You can click on the Café Press button above or type http://www.cafepress.com/Kni ghtHawkTarot into your browser. I have also set up an online shop on ZAZZLE called KnightHawk's Tarot Products This shop carries the same types of items as Cafe Press, but they are customizable. |
This website is an experiment in progress -- a community effort to illustrate what it is like to be Pagan through the
sharing of true personal stories that put a human face on Paganism -- stories which show that Pagans have lives
filled with joys and sorrows, loves and losses, and hopes and fears like everyone else’s.
My hope is that these stories will show Pagans who are new to the path that they are not alone in their feelings and
experiences and will give them some guidance too. But even those with a great deal of experience may learn from
these stories and benefit from the chance to build upon their sense of community, which I hope this website will also
provide.
In addition, I hope that this website will give non-Pagans a greater understanding of another culture and another
belief system, and maybe through reading the stories of other people’s lives they can come closer to understanding
the hearts of their Pagan friends or family members. At the very least, this may enrich their lives through the
greater understanding of others that such tales can provide.
sharing of true personal stories that put a human face on Paganism -- stories which show that Pagans have lives
filled with joys and sorrows, loves and losses, and hopes and fears like everyone else’s.
My hope is that these stories will show Pagans who are new to the path that they are not alone in their feelings and
experiences and will give them some guidance too. But even those with a great deal of experience may learn from
these stories and benefit from the chance to build upon their sense of community, which I hope this website will also
provide.
In addition, I hope that this website will give non-Pagans a greater understanding of another culture and another
belief system, and maybe through reading the stories of other people’s lives they can come closer to understanding
the hearts of their Pagan friends or family members. At the very least, this may enrich their lives through the
greater understanding of others that such tales can provide.
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First, let me define a couple of terms. There is a wide diversity of ideas and belief within the Pagan / Wiccan
community. In order to try to encompass this breadth of belief, I plan to use a couple of rather generic terms in the
discussion that follows.
First, I will use words like “Divinity” “The Divine” “Deity” or “Spirit” rather than “The God and Goddess” or “The
Goddess and God” or “The Gods” or ... etc. This is just my choice of terms, not a judgment of other choices. I do
find it to be less cumbersome, and my purpose is to use terms that are inclusive of the variety of faiths under the
Pagan umbrella.
Second, rather than constantly referring to “Pagans, Wiccans, etc.” (which I find to be somewhat awkward and
unwieldy) I plan to just say “Pagan”. Technically, a pagan is a worshipper of a non-Judeo-Christian religion, which
is too all encompassing for even my purposes here. But that’s “pagan” with a lowercase “p”. I will use the term
“Pagan” (uppercase “P”) to refer to someone who follows or practices an earth-based or nature-revering religion,
including Wiccans, witches, Druids, and other “Neo-Pagan” religions that are basically modern revivals of ancient
folk religions and traditions. (It does not, however, include Satanists and Devil worshipers.)
community. In order to try to encompass this breadth of belief, I plan to use a couple of rather generic terms in the
discussion that follows.
First, I will use words like “Divinity” “The Divine” “Deity” or “Spirit” rather than “The God and Goddess” or “The
Goddess and God” or “The Gods” or ... etc. This is just my choice of terms, not a judgment of other choices. I do
find it to be less cumbersome, and my purpose is to use terms that are inclusive of the variety of faiths under the
Pagan umbrella.
Second, rather than constantly referring to “Pagans, Wiccans, etc.” (which I find to be somewhat awkward and
unwieldy) I plan to just say “Pagan”. Technically, a pagan is a worshipper of a non-Judeo-Christian religion, which
is too all encompassing for even my purposes here. But that’s “pagan” with a lowercase “p”. I will use the term
“Pagan” (uppercase “P”) to refer to someone who follows or practices an earth-based or nature-revering religion,
including Wiccans, witches, Druids, and other “Neo-Pagan” religions that are basically modern revivals of ancient
folk religions and traditions. (It does not, however, include Satanists and Devil worshipers.)
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For a long time I kicked around the idea of writing a book that collects real life stories of Pagans -- a vivid
illustration of our shared humanity, sort of like Studs Terkel’s books, Working and The Good War, if you are
familiar with them. In other words, the stories I wanted were ones that would clearly express the sentiments that
Margot Adler expressed in the following quote:
illustration of our shared humanity, sort of like Studs Terkel’s books, Working and The Good War, if you are
familiar with them. In other words, the stories I wanted were ones that would clearly express the sentiments that
Margot Adler expressed in the following quote:
"... We are ordinary people like you. We have families, jobs, hopes, and dreams. ... We
are not what you think we are from looking at TV. ... We laugh, we cry. We are
serious. We have a sense of humour. You don't have to be afraid of us. ... Just give us
the same right we give you — to live in peace. We are much more similar to you than
you think."
are not what you think we are from looking at TV. ... We laugh, we cry. We are
serious. We have a sense of humour. You don't have to be afraid of us. ... Just give us
the same right we give you — to live in peace. We are much more similar to you than
you think."
The idea of trying to amass such a collection of stories was rather daunting though, especially since I don’t have
the resources to travel extensively, nor do I like to travel very much. But recently I stumbled across the Post
Secrets website. As a result, I was inspired to do something similar for my project, but using emails instead of
postcards. This soon led to this website.
the resources to travel extensively, nor do I like to travel very much. But recently I stumbled across the Post
Secrets website. As a result, I was inspired to do something similar for my project, but using emails instead of
postcards. This soon led to this website.
|
| This website is an experiment in progress. My hope is for it to be an ongoing community effort to illustrate what it is like to be Pagan through the use of true personal stories, stories which show that Pagans have lives filled with joys and sorrows, loves and losses, and hopes and fears just like everyone else. My intent is NOT, however, to teach the details of this religious / spiritual path. There are MANY books and websites out there that do that quite nicely already. Instead, I want to present real life stories that will put a human face on Paganism, remove the prejudices and stigma about it, and expose the lies and misconceptions that many people still believe. I hope these stories will show Pagans who are new to the path that they are not alone in their feelings and experiences. There are many who make their spiritual journey with little or no personal guidance, and so they suffer a sense of bewilderment, anguish, or disillusionment. Hopefully, these stories will provide them with hope and guidance through the common experiences of others who have traveled the path before them. Of course, no one can truly know what the Pagan life is like until they experience it themselves. But like works of art, the tales I am looking for will express feelings more than convey facts and instructions; they will communicate from heart to heart rather than from mind to mind. And so they will be, at least vicariously, experiential rather than merely informational. Even Pagans with a great deal of experience may learn from these stories and benefit from the chance to build upon their sense of community, which is what this website is intended to provide. In addition, I hope that this website will also give non-Pagans a greater understanding of another culture. There are many myths out there about Pagans that need to be dispelled, and maybe this website will help do that. (One would hope, for example, that the Satan-worshiping and animal- sacrificing myths about Pagans would have died out by now, but sadly, they persist.) More than that, however, I hope that these tales will demonstrate that this is a genuine religious and spiritual path. I recently read a posting from someone on a Wiccan e-list who said (in reference to non-Pagan friends and relatives), “Even those who accept won't necessarily understand.” True, but maybe by reading the stories of other people’s lives they can come closer to understanding the hearts of their Pagan friends or family members. Or at the very least, this website may enrich their lives through the greater understanding of others that such tales can provide. At this point, I would like to take a moment to veer off onto a tangent. If you want to read a few short FAQ lists about Wicca, try these WebPages: http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/whatiswicca/tp/misconceptions.htm http://www.salemtarot.com/witchfaq.html http://draganfire.bravehost.com/faq.html |
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So now, in support of this ongoing project, you are invited to contribute (via email) your stories about
some aspect of your Pagan or Wiccan life. As noted above, your tale can be one of joy or sorrow, love or
loss, hope or fear. It can be marked by regret or happiness, tears or laughter, unfeeling cruelty or
unexpected kindness. It can be unbelievably fantastical or quite mundane, a memory from your childhood
or an unresolved situation you are experiencing today, mystical and spiritual or bawdy and sensual (but
please, no erotica stories). Most of all, though, it must be your own true story.
As for suggested subject areas for these tales, please see the list of Story Subject Areas. (If there are
other areas / issues you would like to suggest, let me know.)
I will publish the best of these tales on a WebPage for these stories and periodically, I will update it with
new stories as I get new material.
Also, a long-range goal is that eventually I hope to organize and annotate these stories for a book on this
subject.
Finally, I want to say that I hope this project will be as informative and educational for everyone who
participates in it, just as I expect it to be for me.
some aspect of your Pagan or Wiccan life. As noted above, your tale can be one of joy or sorrow, love or
loss, hope or fear. It can be marked by regret or happiness, tears or laughter, unfeeling cruelty or
unexpected kindness. It can be unbelievably fantastical or quite mundane, a memory from your childhood
or an unresolved situation you are experiencing today, mystical and spiritual or bawdy and sensual (but
please, no erotica stories). Most of all, though, it must be your own true story.
As for suggested subject areas for these tales, please see the list of Story Subject Areas. (If there are
other areas / issues you would like to suggest, let me know.)
I will publish the best of these tales on a WebPage for these stories and periodically, I will update it with
new stories as I get new material.
Also, a long-range goal is that eventually I hope to organize and annotate these stories for a book on this
subject.
Finally, I want to say that I hope this project will be as informative and educational for everyone who
participates in it, just as I expect it to be for me.
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By submitting your story to me, you grant me a perpetual, royalty-free license to use,
reproduce, modify, publish, distribute, and otherwise exercise all copyright and publicity
rights with respect to that information at my sole discretion, including storing it on this
website and incorporating it in other works in any media now known or later developed
including without limitation published books.
If you do not wish to grant me these rights, I suggest that you do not submit your story to me
or to this website. I reserve the right to select, edit and arrange submissions, and to remove
information from my website at any time at my sole discretion.
No image, information, or writing from this site may be used for any purpose without
expressed written authorization, with one exception — you may post an excerpt of no more
than 100 words in a review of this site or as a recommendation of this site.
reproduce, modify, publish, distribute, and otherwise exercise all copyright and publicity
rights with respect to that information at my sole discretion, including storing it on this
website and incorporating it in other works in any media now known or later developed
including without limitation published books.
If you do not wish to grant me these rights, I suggest that you do not submit your story to me
or to this website. I reserve the right to select, edit and arrange submissions, and to remove
information from my website at any time at my sole discretion.
No image, information, or writing from this site may be used for any purpose without
expressed written authorization, with one exception — you may post an excerpt of no more
than 100 words in a review of this site or as a recommendation of this site.
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| ... and to find your way around the Pagan and Wiccan -- In their own words website, you can use the main navigation bar (below on the left) or the navigation bar on the right to see some eclectic stuff. |
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