"What is Paganism" done entirely in American Sign Language! I am super excited. Here is the translation for the video. I realize now that I made a few mistakes and could have explained some things a little better, but it's great for my first time. I am hoping to make more videos in the future. Well, maybe!
Translation:
Hello! Welcome to the Fat Pagan (Signed "Thick Witch). My name is Kit, meaning baby fox. I have been a pagan for the past 10 years. About two or three years ago, I started studying American Sign Language. I love and cherish the language so much! In fact, I prefer signing.
Recently, I was searching on Youtube for "ASL + Pagan". I found VERY FEW videos, none of which were about the Pagan religion itsel. Now, I would like to discuss it; what's it about and what does it mean?
First, maybe you think that paganism is evil or Devil worship. Maybe your mental images are evil witches, Harry Potter, Charmed, etc. No, these are not part of Paganism.
If not, then what’s paganism?
A label!
Whoa, a label? I just said religion!
Yes! It is a label.
Here is an example.
You know about the Christian religion? Christianity encompasses a variety of different sects; for example, Catholicism, Protestant, Baptist, Methodist, Amish, etc.
Paganism and Christianity are kind of similar. Paganism is just as diverse as Christianity. BUT, all Christian sects have common beliefs: the Bible is true; there is ONE God; Jesus; Jesus himself was sinless and holy; Heaven and Hell; the Final Judgment; and so-on.
Paganism has only one common belief. All Pagan people themselves identify as pagan. That’s it!
Now, some paganism examples are:
• Wicca. Wicca has a long list of different sects but I won't be discussing them. Maybe I will discuss them later, on another video. But, a few examples are: Eclectic, Dianic, Faery, British Traditional
• Reconstruction/Revivalism (R/R). R/R has many different parts as well, and maybe there will be a video too. Few examples: Egyptian, Greek, Romanian, Irish.
• Gothic, list: Celtic, Deborean, Hereditary, Pictish
• Witchcraft
• Sometimes Heathenry
Et cetera.
Now, Heathenry is included only sometimes. Many religions NOT included in paganism. Examples: Hinduism, Buddhism, Native religions, Shinto, really religions themselves label Pagan NOT. Depending on who you ask, Heathens sometimes call themselves Pagan and sometimes do not.
I think I'm finished. I described a little about what paganism means. I briefly talked about the different beliefs, but didn't really go in depth. Maybe a future video will describe some of the different beliefs individually and really describe in depth.
Any questions? Comments? Go ahead and type them below.
Now for a typical pagan goodbye: merry meet, merry part, merry meet again! Bye!
June is the Pagan Values blog carnival, where pagans across the net share their values and practices in a big catch all. I am late (but fashionably so! I'm only 28 days late, srsly) of course, but finally here is a mish mash of the values I live by.
The Magic Circle by John William Waterhouse
I consider myself a Witch, not a Wiccan. I don't follow the Rede but favor the Asatru "Golden Rule": I shall do unto you what you do unto my kin. What you do to me, I shall do to you. Instead of the Threefold Law, I subscribe to Actions and Consequences: what I do has consequences, good or bad. If I study for my test, I will likely pass. If I don't study, I will probably fail. With this, I don't avoid curses or hexes; I accept any consequences of my actions. I believe a witch who cannot harm cannot heal either. Avoiding one part of the circle isn't balance; I don't think a person should live in one part or another, but in both the light and dark aspects.
I practice Witchcraft, but I seldom do spells. I think it is mostly because I think that if I can get what I need through mundane means, I don't need to do a spell and I can conserve my magick for important things, like protection spells. I work a lot on this mundane plane; healing with herbs and medicine, fostering relationships through action and words, working hard for monetary success, focusing on the body. Lately I have been trying to focus on other realms. So far, it hasn't gone very far. I SHALL TRY MORE!!!!!!
Children, the elderly, and animals are especially coveted in my philosophy. These three typically have no voice and little to no protection. They are to be respected and protected, not destroyed. I also find that they typically are a lot smarter than adults think. The things that children can understand are astounding, the things that animals can do is mind blowing, and the knowledge that the elderly possess is staggering.
Music - don't get me started. Oh, how music is to the soul! It is the expression of the soul itself, its joys and sadness, its love and hate. Just the way that music can pick you up after a hard day is amazing. I could not imagine a life without music. *swoon*
The Gods: for me, I am a hard polytheist. I believe that all gods exist in some form or fashion. Yes, I also believe that the gods are capable of walking this Earth. But my views are a complex hypothesis, hypotheses even. I will reserve for another post, but a taste... hehe.
Science knows that we have a least 9 different dimensions. We are said to be on the third dimension, and therefore also exist in the first two as well. What if, then, the beings we call Gods are actually beings that exist in a different, higher dimension? Another hypothesis is that there are an infinite number of universes, ones that run parallel to this one, or ones that are parasites, or ones so far away from us that we cannot even imagine it. What if some of these universes overlap and bleed into others, like the way that our physical world intersects with the spiritual world at certain points of the year (ie Samhain and Beltane). What if mythical creatures really did exist, but were "side effects" from a collision of two different universes? What if, what if.
Back to the point, Life is a constant choice - a constant battle between the things you should be doing and the things you are doing. Life is like a stream, it keeps moving, and eventually it ends into something larger and is recycled. The afterlife holds no fear for me. Death is a blessing, a movement into something new, a release of pain and illness. It is the end of one journey and the beginning of another. The Summerlands, a kind of rest stop or way station, is way better than the summers here in Texas, let me tell ya.
Balance... it really just boils down to balance in the end. Skepticism and faith, thought and action, light and dark, imagination and reality, magickal and mundane, right and wrong, even life and death.
There is no way that one person can completely write down their thoughts in one post, or one paper, or even one book. It takes a lifetime to learn things, and we never stop learning and never stop teaching either. "Christians and Muslims may be People of the Book, but Pagans are People of the Library." Libraries, even.
As to the other side of this blog, I am and will probably always be, a fat activist. While I don't proselytize my religion, I will totally spread HAES. It's something that everyone should believe in, instead of the FoBT. It may sound like a Christian, but this message will surely make the lives of thousands, hundreds of thousands, of people (women AND men) so much better than the current self hatred they are experiencing. When children don't have to constantly worry about their body image, they can focus on other things like learning and being children. They don't have to grow up with a warped sense of themselves.
Like Joy Nash said, when you look at pictures of when you were younger, you exclaim how adorable you were, and why you weren't wearing that cute dress you always thought you were too ugly for. But when you look at yourself, you shame yourself for being ugly, and you can't wear that dress you want to wear because you are so ugly and sometime down the road, when you are older, you will again look at pics you took today and exclaim how cute and adorable you were. Just be adorable now, and believe in yourself.
