November 2, 2007

• These words, I own them

  Pagan………Heathen…………Witch……………

  It’s safe to say that our world is defined by the words we use. There are many religions that claim the world began with a sound or word. Words are then holy, even as we use them in our everyday life. They create our reality and allow us to share it with others, but it is by our choice that they define us.

  We use words to describe everything, from the world around us to our friends and neighbors to ourselves. We label things. It is in our nature to identify and categorize. But sometimes our words are offensive, often intentionally. We criticize ourselves, and who really has more right to do that than ourselves? But we also criticize others. We insult them, with words, and that is not acceptable. There are certain words which we call “curse words,” which do not curse anyone at all. They are merely insults that people find offensive for their graphic nature. I don’t think I need to go into detail here. We know what these words are and we know that proper people do not use them. Curse words, on the other hand, are words which call attention from the divine, or offend the divine with their irreverence. There are very few real curse words.

  There are other words however, which we use to insult others, which are only offensive if we choose to allow them to be. I’m talking of those words which certain groups are actively trying to reclaim. There are a lot of words that people have used down through the generations to insult their neighbors, but the ones that I am chiefly interested in are Pagan, Heathen, and Witch. These are my words for me. These words, among others, are words that define certain aspects of my life. If someone calls me by these words, I am not offended no matter how much they would like me to be. These words make me smile.

  Pagan comes from the Latin, paganus, meaning “country dweller” or “rustic.” Heathen comes from old English hæðen, merged with Old Norse heiðinn, meaning “not Christian or Jewish.” It is historically assumed to be from Goth haiþno, “gentile, heathen woman,” used by Ulfilas in the first translation of the Bible, and if so, it could be a derivative of Goth haiþi, “dwelling on the heath.”  Pagan and Heathen are virtually interchangeable. Well I am Pagan and a Heathen then, aren’t I? I live in the country. I’m proud of it. I’d rather live out in the sticks than the city. Cities are like festering sores on the face of the earth. They just keep spreading and corrupting the land around them. Humanity is a virus and we cause city-sores. But I digress.

  Pagan was not originally a derogatory term, but came to be one. Just like the term redneck was not originally offensive. Redneck originally meant someone who worked out of doors, under the hot sun, and who had a redneck as evidence. Working outside is good, honest work, and there’s nothing derogatory about it. The same goes for Pagan and Heathen. I am proud to be a both as they defines my life outside of a city. Paganism and Heathen are not derogatory terms in and of themselves but carry the connotations of centuries of bad press. Those who used these terms assumed that people who lived out in the country were uneducated, ill-bred, and foolish for their beliefs. This is no longer true (if it ever was). We have books and we have the internet. We are as well educated or better than our city (and Christian) counterparts. We need to be in order to defend ourselves from their incivility and unfounded abuse.

  I am proud of the words Pagan and Heathen as they define my religious beliefs. Though Abrahamic religions use the word Pagan to define any religion outside their belief system, most Pagans would tell you it defines religions that venerate nature. Christians and their related religions use Pagan as such a broad term that it is virtually useless as a reference tool. When everyone “different from us” is called by the same word, that word becomes meaningless. For this reason, I reclaim Pagan and Heathen. I give them definition by adopting them. Paganism is a broad term for my beliefs which include polytheism, pantheism, shamanism, and animism. These are all forms of Paganism which I accept as part of myself.

  Witch is another word that I reclaim. Witch comes from wicce which means wise. Wizard comes from the same root. Wizard and witch, male and female wise-ones, people who practice wise-craft. What is so wrong about being wise? There are two interrelated reasons why Witch is a bad word. One is the the King James Bible. When it was translated to English by King James, he took some liberties with the translations, most notably, but not confined to the phrase, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” In the original, the word witch translated to poisoner. Now why would they have changed that word? Because of a witch’s knowledge of herbs? All witches are no more poisoners than all Christians are saints. (As an aside, did you know that the original language of the Bible made no reference to meat? In fact, the word that was translated into meat originally had a vegetarian connotation… makes you think, hmmm?)

  The other reason Witch became a bad word has to do with the fear people felt at being called one during the Witch trails. Hardly anyone survived such a slur, finding themselves in the stocks or a dungeon soon after. It didn’t matter that few of the people accused of witchcraft were actually Witches. The accused were as good as dead. More often than not, the accusations were created from greed, not truth. It’s a well-known fact that the Church claimed every bit of the property of the accused if they were “proven” guilty and executed. Just as modern accusers in Africa claim elderly female relatives are witches in order to claim their property for themselves.

  So, in addition to Pagan and Heathen, I reclaim Witch. These are my words for who I am. You may call me by these words, but do not expect to insult me with them. I am who I am. In as much as I am proud of who I am and my accomplishments, I will not be insulted by my own words. It took me a long time to create a self-esteem from the nothing I grew up with, and I will not be ashamed of who I have become. There is nothing to be ashamed of in the truth.

  • 11:12 am
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