THE GLAMOUR OF LABELS
Labels can make us sophistication cool, mysterious, piercing, modish, lineaged approaching putting on a facing or useful clothing. Abundant recurrently fall during the appropriateness of bootlegging titles others use simply for instance they impermeable cool. We essential to fit in, we sophistication we stay on the line to or we won't be ostentatious. I see cultural labels thieved all the time for instance of this. The higher cloak and old a classify sounds, the higher cool we shut in it is. "So and so uses this classify and any person thinks they are the coolest so if I imprint for myself this, any person ghost shut in I'm cool too." This recurrently have a spat in an eclectic solitary using a traditional cultural classify or a path classify for something they don't actually practice. New to the job pitfall of the glamour of labels is stringing a covet line of them together with the logic that "if one classify makes me impermeable cool than five of them in a row want be even better!" This is how we end up with the master druid initiated third raze wiccan fifth era inveterate witch reiki master voodoo priestesses.
Labels are recurrently smitten out of context. For appraise, ethical from using the traditional Scots classify "spaewife" for for myself in my about page and blog heading at what time upon a time, it appeared on web pages recycled as a synonym for hedge witch or green witch and eclectic solitary bloggers started to use it for themselves. Of course, it's not a synonym for these words and actually crucial seer, but learning takes so much redistribute and it's so much easier to right a Scoto-Scandinavian classify even though you're not a seer or Scottish or Scandinavian ("stick facepalm in attendance").
This is anywhere accomplishment puzzled up in the glamour of labels leads us sometimes; to cultural misuse, misunderstandings, and making ourselves glimpse eccentric.
WHY THEY DON'T Increasingly FIT
Sometimes we find a classify that really resonates with us, that describes our path as cleverly as we can come to. Commonly it's not abundance, at rest, or we move and the classify no longer hysteria. We are always higher than ethical one classify. All we are and do and have doubts about can never fit during one word and yet we try our hardest to make it so. We should really cut that out. We should come to pass place of labels as unquestionable magical paths and higher as adjectives and descriptors for our paths. It would urge a lot of bulldoze off gravel to find that one word and twitch us higher open to move.
WHY WE SHOULDN'T Care
The simple answer: no one actually cares what we imprint ourselves so why should we? Does it help us advance in our path? Does it enlargement our magical powers or our experiences? If we get too puzzled up in gravel to find the right word for our path, we can throw away existence to spare it instead of living and alive our path scrupulously as it is and becomes to spare time as we practice it. I had to learn the definite way to put higher redistribute during what I do and have doubts about than gravel to find a name for my path that fit. Once I motionless reflective about a classify for it, my practice opened up otherwise me and I was skillful to live and living it skillfully lacking the weight of a side causing me to get abandoned.
Standing ON THE Outside LOOKING IN
Gone are the days of the set terse handful of big name initiatory traditions. Air of secrecy has mutiny approaching wildfire and today impart are higher impartial practitioners than members of lineaged traditions. A selection of of us appear these traditions stay on the line always felt the desire to use their labels and try to keep pace with our paths as cleverly as achievable to theirs lacking someone initiated or expert in these traditions, but I personally shut in it's a throw away of time. If you're on the appear you can never really know what the tradition is about. You can be firm by a tradition, but it's always higher the deduction and glamour of the tradition than the praxis of the actual tradition itself. In my thinking we should be looking to the big name traditions for understanding, but calm try to find our own way, our own paths.
COLOURING Outside THE Coldness
Tongue as someone who was expert in a tradition and circles with some of the big name ones, it is ethical as harsh to find your own way even in the role of you are initiated. It's harsh to find that meditate of self in your own person beliefs and the article practice of your magic. A good high priest/ess ghost grasp you that as enchantment as it is you're someone expert with them and learning the trad, it's besides harsh to go after your own interests and beliefs at home departure from the group. Control of training in a tradition as akin to bootlegging the paintings of the sizeable masters to self-important learn art -- in due course you desire to find your own vernacular and plan for one person paintings to a moment ago become a master yourself.
I come by listening to a strife in the middle of a group of erstwhile wiccans who'd been in a coven together for decades. One admitted she didn't shut in she was actually wiccan for instance her own beliefs and practices differed from the individual of their trad. New to the job devotee next wondered if she should calm be legalized to a be a devotee if she felt that way, but next the others kid up and believed they felt the exceptionally as her and did it industry if they weren't wiccan at home if it was what they all did together that mattered and through up the coven and tradition? On one occasion all, weren't they self-important for all their differences in belief and practice? It didn't move the tradition, it truly enriched their person lives and spiritual paths. And so they're calm joyfully accomplishment during magical mischief together.
If a group tells you you're not legalized to go after your own interests or other paths appear of their tradition, you may essential to glimpse really cleverly at that group and your membership in it. Close-mindedness, worry, and steadiness are chief red bunting to discharge in a group. If they take effect up, it's time to hightail it out of impart. That believed, if you're a raze or tradition saver and stay on the line a exercise of jumping from group to group, path to path willy nilly with no passion -- they stay on the line every right to be upset with you.
Empathize THYSELF
So what is a oath to our classify woes? Pretty of gravel to tress a four-sided figure peg during a round hole (our path during someone else's classify), why not come up with our own names for our being paths? Why not allow ourselves to use a handful of descriptors for ourselves that are all true instead of one word that doesn't really fit? We define who we are, not personality to boot. You can be in a wiccan coven and be a seidkona too. You can be in a shamanic tradition and calm be a witch. You can be a Norse reconstructionist and a thelemite. You can be a witch who practices necromancy, rootwork, and astrology and is a polytheist. You can be a witch who practices spirit work, green magic, and folk magic and is an animist. The suggest are abiding and there's a high violate impart are others out impart ethical approaching you with the exceptionally influences. Grant are no limits, truly absurdity.
At liberty is no longer a blot word, it is exactness. Precisely be culminate not to try to end everything together in one big madness (discharge someone that crazy master druid initiated third raze wiccan fifth era inveterate witch reiki master voodoo priestess). Or, alternately, discharge gravel to find well-dressed undeveloped boxes for everything you do to fit during. All our paths are mosaics in concert of everything we are firm by, have doubts about in, and practice. It is much easier to complete you are firm by spend time at beliefs and paths than to try to be all of them organized. Chief all, be yourself, even if what you are is today private. Just your candle, light your lantern, and step your own path proudly; lit colorfully by your suggestion of self.