And it's mostly aimed at those who were Pagan or witches before the internet became so wide-spread that people didn't look at you like you had two heads if you didn't have it; but anyone is free to answer
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I quite deliberately avoid anything resembling the "pagan community" in meatspace and always have. The Internet gave me access to a LOT of information I would never have walked into a shop to buy in book form (assuming there was a shop that sold such things or would order them for me in my area, which there was not), much less sought out an actual person to ask. The Amber & Jet mailing list alone makes the Internet entirely worth it
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not really getting introduced to "magic" the way it appears in mainstream books these days until I was in high school (which is about when the World Wide Web became a thing) has left me with a weird sense that there is "real magic" (the stuff I was taught as a kid) and "public/Internet/gadje magic" (the stuff I talk to people online about).
This is definitely an interesting point, and one that I noticed as well. Since I wasn't allowed the books or other resources, those kinds of more "commercial" magick wasn't available to me, so I see a differences as well.
I consider myself to have always been Pagan as my beliefs haven't really changed over my lifetime, I just now have a name for them. However, I didn't find that name until the era of the internet and it's thanks to the internet that I came upon such a name
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Positive: Well, definately learning about different practices...stuff you might not get from books.
Negative: I think the internet has kind of fueled what I call "consumer paganism"...where people talk about paganism, buy a lot of pagan books and paraphernalia, but aren't doing a lot of rituals or soul searching...bascially, they become people who are all talk and no action. I know that I fall into this trap as well, I guess that's why I'm sensitive to it...but yeah, I think while the internet has helped us learn more about each other...it's a convienient distraction from our real craft.
re: consumer paganismianphanesJune 22 2010, 17:08:14 UTC
hrm...I think I actually saw more consumer paganism in the eighties than now. One possible reason is because the Craft was pretty much the only game in town, and thus there was a long list of things to buy, whereas some of the more recent developments are much less "tool" focused. Also, since I was of the generation where there were lots of books, but very few groups or elders, there was a strong tendency to buy just about every book one saw. Now that one can fairly easily ask which books are good, and one can get large amounts of information on the net, I see fewer of the new pagans going wild on book purchases.
Which is opposite of my experience--it's tougher to find people in person who aren't just talk, whereas online I've been able to find people pushing the boundaries in everything from reconstructionism and syncreticism to non-core shamanism.
The most positive thing about the internet for me has been the social connections. I can google events in my area, follow blogs, and find other pagans who live near me. I met one of my best friends this way. On the other hand, there are a lot of websites that offer spells and potions and things, and these kind of piss me off because so many young people are falling for them. These aren't real paganism, not the way I learned it.
When I started my path 14 years ago, there were certainly pagan sites, but not nearly to the level there is today: no youtube, no wiki, google was brand new, etc
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The primary reason for not guiding teens is not because they phase out of it...so do the majority of young adults. However, getting involved with teens without the written consent of their legal guardian(s) can put one at legal risk. (Legally, minors are not persons. Corporations are legal persons, children are legal chattels.) I will discuss paganism with minors in public settings; however, I will not include them in ritual, invite them into my home, or form a relationship of guidance with them, unless I've met their guardians and have written consent from them.
(I've made an exception to that rule one time, when the parent was a radical feminist lesbian Witch who had *asked* me to spend time with her son "because I want him to have positive male role models, and I'm not bringing any home". Under those circumstances, I saw no need to get written consent.)
You know, I had a similar problem with adults other than my mom (who raised me as a pseudo-Pagan spiritualist-type and has always encouraged soul searching in her children). When they didn't know my mom, they automatically assumed I was just another misfit adolescent. It used to drive me mad, but I never thought about that legal risk or even just the I-don't-want-your-parents-to-kill-me risk. It makes a lot more sense to me now.
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This is definitely an interesting point, and one that I noticed as well. Since I wasn't allowed the books or other resources, those kinds of more "commercial" magick wasn't available to me, so I see a differences as well.
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Negative: I think the internet has kind of fueled what I call "consumer paganism"...where people talk about paganism, buy a lot of pagan books and paraphernalia, but aren't doing a lot of rituals or soul searching...bascially, they become people who are all talk and no action. I know that I fall into this trap as well, I guess that's why I'm sensitive to it...but yeah, I think while the internet has helped us learn more about each other...it's a convienient distraction from our real craft.
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(I've made an exception to that rule one time, when the parent was a radical feminist lesbian Witch who had *asked* me to spend time with her son "because I want him to have positive male role models, and I'm not bringing any home". Under those circumstances, I saw no need to get written consent.)
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