So, last night I did something that I'm extremely excited about. See, my school has this thing called study session where they force you to do homework. As you can guess it's usually one of the most boring times ever (partially due to the fact that if they catch you online for non-homework purposes they'll take your computer away). Well, my roomie and I were extremely bored last night during study session and trying to find something to do when I stumbled onto (not stumbled upon unfortunately) a website that can ordain you to be able to marry people. Obviously, being bored out of my skull and possibly high on caffeine from dinner, I was like, "HELL YEAH I WANA BE ABLE TO MARRY PEOPLE!" And so I followed the site's directions and bata-boom bata-bing, now I'm a liscenced minister (ministress?). The best part about it is that the church through which I (and soon afterwards, my roomie) became legally ordained (in all 50 states, fluff yeah!) is an interfaith church, so it didn't matter that I'm Wiccan; in fact, that's one of the only forms on which I've ever actually seen the option "Wiccan" present and it makes me have hope for the future.
On a more serious note, I've started my senior research class and I'm pretty sure I've found a way to connect Civil War photography to the topic I actually want to discuss in what will eventually be about a ten-page paper. Though I know it's quite a stretch, I've managed to chainlink Brady's posed-corpse war photos to the inculcating of American minds (of all ages!!) to fear Paganism through popular media. Remember those unflattering movies I ranted about last time? Yep, those are the ones I mean. Now, don't see me wrong here, I'm not trying to blame the media for Paganism being dissed all the time; in fact, it's almost exactly the opposite. I'd like to be able to show people that even starting over a century ago, commercialism has snatched onto the things that regular Americans don't understand (i.e. war or a Pagan revival) and making it into something that will make them money. Originally, many of the capitalists responsible for starting this still ongoing media trend did not intend to shed an off-colored light onto these subjects; Brady, for example, changed the scenes for his photography (eww posing bodies that have been dead for nearly a week...yeah I'd really want to make good money after that too) so that the American public might more easily comprehend the massacres of the Civil War. Unfortunately, over time these simple, well-intentioned alterations have become full-blown untruths about traditions and people who maintream society just don't get, and now they are afraid. This is where I come back to the fact of media today. How many times a year are there horror/thriller movies coming out about possession caused by curses, demon-summoning cultists, or just plain "evil witchcraft" that the "hero" of the story has to kill?? Granted, sometimes I enjoy these movies too. But I always cringe at the details (small or immense) that the production team or director, or even the writer, or whoever else, got completely and sadly incorrect.
Movies like this (including such films as 5ive Girls and The Blair Witch Project) whether it is their true intention or not, make people scared when they see a pentagram. They make parents send their children to psychiatrists to "get them 'fixed'" because they find inscence or a book by Scott Cunningham or an altar in their rooms. And honestly, Judeo-Christian traditions support these kinds of films along with these reactions. Folks, these individuals being punished--whether for their actual beliefs or for just dabbling to find out what Paganism is--are being punished unfairly (please note: I do not condemn the fact of finding help; some people take things too far, some people really do need psychiatric help, and some people really are just twisted). I feel like I, and the individuals similar to myself in respect to belief or philosophy, should not have to endure the glares and snide remarks (sometimes even the violence) which comes from the media simply trying to entertain. I feel like the media should also be there to undo the wrong opinions which have been smashed into our heads just as often--if not more so--as they continue the bludgeoning.
Well, that's enough of lamenting the problems of mainstream Judeo-Christian society today...Thanks for suffering through, and remember: it's only awkward if you make it awkward!!
Love&Kisses <3
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