ConVocation report

[matt_arnold]

I just got back from a day at ConVocation, a local pagan convention. Since I'm not a pagan, many puzzled people have asked me to explain why I would do this. This was only beforehand-- not to the attendees of the convention itself, who seemed mostly indifferent to the presence of unbelievers. (At ConVocation, pretty much everybody is outside the

Comments

[lorrraine]

Hi Matt,

Sorry, nope, you don't believe in magic so you don't get to define it. I can translate things into your language for you, but I do that for clarity, not because I see your language as superior. I really don't care what assumptions you choose to make about magic because I'm not using your definitions and you are only using them to deny the existence of magic. I take my definition of Magic from Aleister Crowley and Alan Moore, two practicing magicians.

I find it kind of sad that you think you use direct language. You don't. You wrap the things that you do not want to believe in such limited definitions that you make them ridiculous. That's your choice, but I won't play that game.

I am not redefining either story or magic, just acknowledging their pre-existing equivalence. I am not redefining story or Goddess either, just again recognizing that every deity is a story just as every person is a story. I spoke with Isis. Call her goddess or call her story I spoke with her.

I tend to use prosaic examples because they are easy to understand. And yeah, I'm a hard nosed skeptic which isn't quite the same thing as a rationalist. The difference is that if something is irrational but effective I will choose to believe in it over something rational and ineffective or less effective.

Here's an example that you may find less prosaic. I found Cynthya by magic. After 3 years of romantic abstinence and failure I decided to resort to magic. I found Cynthya within roughly a day of that. I got what I asked for. I didn't ask for true love or a lifelong relationship. I sought someone with whom I would share the potential for a relationship that would be mutually beneficial. I had that with Cynthya while our relationship lasted. Yes, I acknowledge the possibility that I might have met Cynthya without magic. The odd chain of events that happened to lead me to hir was entirely mundane. But when 3 years of effort repeatedly fails and results come from seeming happenstance within a day of magic, I choose to believe that magic worked.

Thanks,
Lorrraine

[matt_arnold]

OK, this helps me to understand your position a lot better.