When credentials don’t matter

di — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 23:25:16 +0000

Oh, credentials do matter most of the time. The vast majority of the time. Very few people would buy anything from my perfumery without checking my feedback to make sure at the very least I’m not selling the contents of my armpit. That’s reasonable. And of course you want to know who your babysitter is, who his/her parents are or if an adult whether he/she is property insured and vested – and knows CPR. And of course, in Wicca, if you’re going to join a coven and do the initiation gig, you should know that the person has actually practiced Wicca for a long time and if doing anything beyond first degree initiations has actually had an initiation conferred upon him/herself somewhere else down the line.

That said, there are a few people with axes to grind or something to prove or some screwed up need to feel important who just take it too far, and do not know that sometimes a person’s initiatory tree just isn’t relevant. Forgive me, I just ran into a pack of related head-up-assery on that very thing today. For a religion that might point to knowledge-seeking as a constant, there sure are a lot of know-it-alls, and as usual, the know-it-alls never actually have anything useful to share/say.

I’m having a metaphysical issue. So I explain where I’m coming from (I think) – since NOT explaining where I’m coming from has resulted in me being told how to wipe my ass instead of just being handed the toilet paper – and I detail what I have done about the problem thus far. The result is that I and people I’m no longer connected to are being called “frauds” over something that’s not relevant to the issue and that I am in no way obligated to prove. I don’t give a flying fuck whether you believe I have the credentials I say I do¹ I’m not trying to teach, I’m trying to fix a problem and if I’m lucky learn something – so the veracity of my background isn’t relevant. Now if you have something relevant and helpful to share, share it – if you ARE whatever muckity-muck trad and the useful and relevant thing that might help someone having a problem is oathbound, then you need to consider the possibility that a)YOU are in fact being conned and b)if perhaps your understanding of how Wicca is supposed to work in your life has gotten a bit warped.

Kids, there is no central Wiccan registry. And I subscribe to a practice of Wicca that acknowledges at some point, somebody just made some shit up that happens to fit around and work with a design concept and magical energy. The shape worked. The intiations, while energetically important, are also the biggest part of the Shit Someone Just Made Up. Secrets are strictly a human concept, not a divine one, and I’m not so self-important to think that my knowledge is in any way equivalent to instructions on how to built an atom bomb – and those, dear readers, are available in your public library.

I’ve been at this 14 years with no dabbling phase. I’m convinced the reason for the lack of 202 is not the fault of publishers, but the fault of this jackassery. I’m a 3rd degree who doesn’t know everything. Apparently admitting I don’t know everything makes me in some way suspicious. That’s fine, random idiot. You think I’m a fraud. I’ll think you’re a jackass.

Diana Rajchel » authority

When credentials don’t matter

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