Friday, February 20, 2015

Feisty Fridays~American Council of Witches

 

Over on Facebook, there's this thing trying to develop itself into the Gods only know what. They say they are an all encompassing group for support to the Pagan community. However, their tactics and lack of forthrightness leads many people to think they are yet one more group of people who are trying to set themselves up as the Grand PuBah to govern the community.

First, let me be perfectly clear here. I do not accept anyone's dictate over my life. I am an individual and I follow no man's law except that of the United States constitution and everything it covers or implies. I refute anyone who practices hubris and is egotistical enough to believe they have the right to set any standards they expect anyone to live by.

Now, back to my original post. I listened to the entire radio broadcast CoAW *spokesperson Robert Aaron* had on United Pagan Radio on Thursday at 4:30. No questions were answered, just a lot of rambling and blame projecting to others in the Pagan community, no responsibility was taken for their actions and attitudes. When questions were posed to the person *speaking* for the council, we were given a random dialog with the caveat of "remember, this is NOT the final draft, and if you see or hear something different on March first when we go live, it is not my fault". There was a LOT of that, it's not my fault. And talking in circles.

The American Council of Witches 2015 does not want anyone to question them. On their Facebook page, the only posts left up were the ones supportive of them and they have removed all of the posts that questioned them. Any post or comment that had been left asking for their credentials and validity were immediately deleted and that person blocked. It is my personal opinion The American Council does not have enough knowledge to be a recognized council in which to support anyone in the Pagan community.

In fact, according to Robert Aaron, the spokesperson of CoAW 2015, there was only ONE member of the original council from 1974 that was contacted and invited. And evidently, although I'm not sure because a clear and concise reason was never given, this person declined to be involved. Why is this? And why is it such a chore to involve someone that is more well known in the Pagan Community. Yes, I understand many BNPs either have no time to get involved in something that is doomed to failure from the beginning OR want to be compensated for their time. And in reality, I would be embarrassed to ask a BNP to be part of any group or organization I was trying to form unless I was willing to pay for their time.

It also seems to be that their choice of name is ill-conceived as well. Not only does it leave a bad taste in the mouth of many, it also evidently does not cover everyone under the Pagan Umbrella. Only those who follow a polytheist form of worship are welcome. The moderator of the chat was specifically asked if Satanism was included and she said absolutely not. Satanists are not welcome. Then went on to explain the technical difficulties they were having with the audio feed during the podcast as some of the Satanists *hacking* their podcast.

Because the name they have chosen does not FIT the Pagan umbrella it also has many people seeing a resurrection of a group by the same name from 2011. During a conversation I was part of on Facebook on Thursday, Chas Bogan had this to say:

"This is a handful of ill-prepared, inarticulate nobodies who've hijacked the name of a controversial organization in a misguided attempt to lend them credibility and speak for a diverse Pagan community that already has built organizations to represent it. I don’t see this working well for them. All this animosity could have been avoided had they not chosen the name that they did, as it lends them both an unwarranted ring of authority and resurrects past controversies from when the name was last appropriated in 2011. You want to build an organization to represent witches, great, just be honest and begin doing the work. Eventually, as with Lady Liberty League, you will gain the acknowledgment and respect of your community."

I have to say, I more than agree with him. How anyone can expect to be taken serious when they are using the same name as a FAILED organization is so far beyond my realm of reality. It makes me wonder just exactly how much research they have done before they jumped into this? And if they did do any research, why adopt a name that is only going to give you negativity and ridicule?

I think it is time the Hidden Children come out of the dark and reclaim their abilities. I refuse to be lumped into a category of those who are afraid of their own shadows, nor will I keep silent. If Pagans feel the need to hide behind a smoke screen created out of lies and deceptions, I will NOT be part of that. I am Witch, not Wiccan, I do NOT accept any of the mandates that the ACoW may feel necessary to bring forth to the Pagan Community.