From a Meetup forum; comments and my responses.
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perhaps this is how the original individual sees their spritual path...as a form of cleansing. I doubt either of us would agree with their interpretation...but to say it's wrong...is to deny them their right to choose their own words for their spiritual pathway.

From what I remember, it started out as a Christian verse that has since been paganized. Not that a lot of pagans would admit to plagiarism of Christian stuff. So I can’t take it as a pagan expressing their spiritual path. The reason it got my goat to begin with was that it’s being passed around during the Hallowe’en season as a "see, witches aren’t bad, we’re harmless and peaceful and would really like you to run with that so I can stay under your radar."

It’s not the words themselves that gall me, but the context in which I have seen it passed around. Which, for me, trivializes the rich and complex nature of not only Wicca, but non-Wiccan witches (by lumping them in with a generic rose-colored image).

I really don't find it worth the hours of flame on it that some folks spent.

I find anything that misrepresents things to the point of being detrimental to how others perceive my faith is worth whatever time it takes to point out.

Tags: beliefs, meetup, pagan, pc, rant, wicca, witchcraft

We met at a new venue, The Cove , a combo restaurant, Laundromat and car wash. The food was fabulous. I had their chicken strip basket, and the meat was nice and moist, with not an overload of crust. Here’s their menu , and the prices were reasonable. Pagan-friendly as well; I said "Witches' Meetup" and they didn't even blink.

We sat in the bar area, which had a lot of tables and a pool table. Apparently Tuesday is a slow night, so we were not crowded into a loud venue. Eclectic musical playlist on the speakers: Queen, David Bowie, Heart, John Lennon etc. This will definitely be a Meetup venue in the future!

Conversation ranged from local pagan chat (PNO issues, upcoming Pagan Pride Day), annoying wannabes, what’s being talked about on the local Yahoo groups, the Sabbat Theatre, Mexican folk magic and the idea of President Bush mooning Crawford Camp Casey. There were other topics, but that’s what I remember.

When we left, I noted two flyers on my car. One of them was for a “I can heal with Mexican magic” flyer. We scouted around and saw that my car was the only one with this particular flyer. Everyone had a good laugh, figuring it was because of the Lycian Wicca web site plastered across my rear window. Also, Mexican folk magic had been our last topic of conversation so it was a fitting end to the evening.

crossposted to satx_pagans, txpagans

Tags: meetup

Started out badly. Ambergreen called me just as I was leaving; the party room for our potluck was no longer available. It had been burglarized. When I arrived, found out it was much worse. "Should have been here about 15 minutes ago; the police and media just left." The party room was a crime scene in a bigger way; someone had beaten a year-old child nearly to death the night before. We will never use that party room again.

Second glitch; a number of new folks didn't show, leaving five people with planned food for 16. I sent out a notice about how important the RSVP is.

So, we headed out to the secondary pool area which had a picnic area with roof. The skeeters must have been lying in wait.

I get a call at 8:30 pm; the little one is ill. So off I go early.

Well, it was an interesting evening!

Tags: meetup