The Noble Pagan Forums - Do you hafta hide?

My situation isn't so much hiding as everyone already knows what my beliefs are. It's more like being in a bad parody of "V for Vendetta".

I lost my job and house about a year ago and asked my parents if I could move back in for a while till I can get back on my feet. The imediate answer was no. They are hard core bible-thumpin' Southern Baptists. After two weeks of me sleeping on my brothers couch at his apartment he helped me convince them to let me stay. Dad finally said he didn't care as long as I didn't start trouble with the neighbors and Mom decided that not letting me move back in would make her look bad in the eyes of her friends at church. She also decided it was her god-given duty to "fix" me.

So now I can't wear my pentacle in the house, my friends can't come over, and I can't have any of my supplies or tools in the house EVER. She went through every box of my stuff and left anything even remotely paganesque in the back of the storage unit. She screens my calls and hangs up on anyone she recognizes from my group.

I'm 26 years old and have to get permission to go out and a 10pm curfew so that she can make sure I don't do any "debil worshipping" in the middle of the night. If only she could understand that I don't need any of those things or to be with anyone else to do what I do.

ok... I'm don't ranting now... Sorry for getting so carried away. I do love my mother but she makes me so angry sometimes.

No matter the age you're still living under their roof. It sucks, and I hate it for you, but until you've moved out again, they can ask of you what they will.

Just looking at me you wouldn't know that I'm Pagan. I don't wear any of the symbolisms and I dress pretty plainly. But as soon as I open my mouth....

-cackles-

To my family - they know I am "eclectic" in my beliefs. I was born/raised strict Christian, and still hold to some of that, but even my parents who are still in the church will admit that the church has ruined the religion.

To friends - they all know I write (fiction) and when I first started talking/questioning all this, they all knew it was for research. To have moved past that into a belief system....I guess they still assume and I just don't do anything to correct that.

Where I live, it is not at all diverse. Everyone goes to predominately Christian churches and I would not say they are very accepting of anything outside that. Honestly, in my time here, the people who have hurt me the most were the "friends" who called themselves, and who were some of the strongest Christians, I knew. I stay here because the schools are good (my kids themselves are not like the above) but once they are out of the home, I can see myself moving.

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Those who fail to ask for the truth are as ignorant as the lie.

ROFLOL....here too. I have to do the "soccer mom" thing for the kids schools, etc. (though I REFUSE to be one of the "matching jogging suits, gym after kids get on the bus, Tupperware party moms....they drive me batty!) and aside from an occasional totem necklace, etc. I don't really wear anything that hollers PAGAN. Thought mid summer when I am barefoot, summer dress, gardening, funky music and dancing in the yard I DO get the "OMG she is wierd" looks as they pass my house is gaggles for their daily exercise ;-)

Maybe that is why I haven't gotten a Tupperware party invite lately?? LOL

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Those who fail to ask for the truth are as ignorant as the lie.

LOL I totally understand. I love to garden and if I can do it barefooted I will. However I have an infestation of fire ants...and they don't play well with exposed flesh.

I guess the way I feel about 'wearing' or 'showing off' my pagan roots is different from others. First and foremost I believe that you're taking a big risk by openly displaying such symbolisms. I'm not saying that you have to hide them by any means but depending on your geographic location will really dictate the amount of tolerance you're going to meet. If you're in the south wearing a pentagram, more than likely you'll get a boat load of shit for wearing it-- and the usual stereotypes will follow. Also if you have a family, you're putting them at risk and sometimes in harms way for those small town, deeply Jesus religious individuals that will attempt violence towards you.

The Hammer of Thor is now the new swastika. A man I use to date was pulled over for speeding. He's 6'3, good looking, blond and blue eyed. He's also very tattooed. Around his neck was a Hammer of Thor. The cop in a round about way asked if Jim was with the Arian Brotherhood-- because they had adopted the Hammer of Thor as their new emblem of Arian Power. We had NO idea this had happened and the cop politely told Jim "Hey man, not that I care but you can be profiled, especially with your physical features to boot.". Now we're aware it was illegal what the cop did and we didn't report him. He wasn't looking to give Jim hell. It was a "BTW the Skinheads are up to it again."

Certain symbols will mark you and you'll be profiles.

I also believe some people wear them just to make others uncomfortable which is the WRONG reason to wear your spiritual pride. Others wear it like a cross and believe it brings favor to them in the eyes of their patron.

I'm sorry if this sounds like a rant.

I wear some less common symbols of the Goddess or God so that A)-- most people think its pretty and don't profile me wrongly and B)-- Its just pretty ^_^

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*invites Win to a Tupperware party*

Fooled you! I seem to lack a tupperware contact myself......

LOL!



C/S/

LOL....I prefer glass now anyways ;-)

Hide? No!! Advertise? No!

I guess we fall pretty much into the category, of we dont preach try to convert or feel the need to advertise but if someone asks we'll tell them.

The only exceptions to this would be, my wife does wear a Pentagle necklace, sometimes its on show sometimes its not, I wear a Hammer of Thunor rarely seen by anyone. Niether are so in your face I consider them advertising.

This looks like a perfect time for me to segue into one of my experiences / stories that I so love to do.

I was walking out of the hospital's back doorway to my repair shop when I saw this gray and white bus with the emblem of the local baptist church on the side of it and a whole BUNCH of people getting off. I thought to myself, "Myself, what do you supposed those people are up to?"

Well, as luck would have it, they apparently decided to go and spread the word of Christ among the non-believers (in rural bible-belt Virginia no less ... go fig), and apparently I looked the part in my slacks, buttoned down silk blue shirt and crew-cut hair (I hadn't yet blonded it ... that's another story altogether) because as I was walking to get into my car one of the fellows came up to me and grabbed me by the arm (yes, no "excuse me!" or anything, just grabbed). Now normally my reaction would be to simply cold-clock the rude individual, but I chose not to assault the man because my mischievous side had kicked in by now.

"Have you been saved today?" the man asks me in the special way that most Christians on a mission seem to have around here.

...

Let's back track abit to earlier in the day for a minute.

...

The X-Ray suite had stopped working completely so I have all the covers off the machine and electrical wiring, boards and connections exposed to the world to see as I'm trying to figure out why. Somewhere on the incoming power connections we were losing the 480 volts required to get this bad boy up and running, so I had my buddy, the hospital's electrician, in there with me troubleshooting the problem. After about 45 minutes of chasing signal and voltages I had to check a really tight spot where you have to be a contortionist to reach. The problem is that the main incoming power connections are about 3 inches from your hand.

Yep.

Remember, I *AM* Biomed Man. Therefore anything that has the potential to kill, maim or harm me ... will.

I slipped on my precarious perch just enough for my hand to smack the 480 volt incoming power and grab a hold of me. Now the thing about AC voltage is that it's frequency is the *EXACT* frequency that your body uses to control your muscles in your body. So the act of my palm touching the power caused an immediate reaction of my hand closing around the contact and refusing to let go.

So I'm doing what we lovingly refer to in the business as "The Funky Chicken" (the dance your whole body does while being electrocuted) as the 480 volts of electricity is flowing through my body when I feel a very heavy weight crash down on my body and force all the air from my lungs, and incidentally a small fart as we hit the ground. It turns out my buddy the electrician had full body tackled me off my perch to remove me from the electrical connection and disconnect me from the circuit.

...

Let's move back to the evangelical baptist (Is this even possible? I didn't think so until this day) now.

...

"Have you been saved today?" the man asks me in the special way that most Christians on a mission seem to have around here.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I have been saved today. You see my best friend pulled me back from the brink of death as I was being electrocuted. He saved my life by putting his in danger. So, yes, I have been saved today."

This brought a perplexed look to the man's face as he struggled to figure out how to turn that situation to his advantage in trying to convert the heathen in business attire. Finally, after a few moments of confused silence, he pulls out a small cross from his shirt on a chain (again with the WTF? I didn't think baptists wore crosses ... oh well ... live and learn) shows it to me and speaks again in that special way.

"Do you see this? This means that I have been saved and absolved of all my sins and will go to heaven upon my death and judgment!"

Not to be out done (as per my malicious / mischievous side), I pulled out my pentacle and showed it to him. As I did so I spoke to him in that special way that gets the message of "Get the fuck out of my face before I implant your head so far up your ass you will have to fart to breathe" across.

"Do you see this? This means you don't like me because your ignorance and blind faith forces you to think that I work for your devil and eat your livestock and children."

I then got in my car and calmly drove away as the man just stood there in the parking lot completely dumbfounded as to what to say next.

Now, I know it probably did nothing more than startle the man and probably ended up doing more harm than good in the long run.

But damnit! It felt good.

I don't hide the fact that I'm pagan. I don't advertise it either ... unless I'm forced or someone asks.

LOL!
I remember you telling me that one....to this day I give the shortened version of that:
"See this means Jesus loves me"
"See this means you don't like me...."

LOL!

Anyways you know na everyone knows your Super Pagan Powered Alter Ego that is Bio Med Man!!!
For those who would like to know more about our illustrious and infamous Runner of Clouds....

Click here




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