Talk
to twenty different pagans and ask them what their religion (or path in pagan
speak) is and you will get 20 different answers. How many of them actually make
any sense depends on who you ask. In fact, for most (what I call fluffy bunnies)
the only thing they can tell you about being a pagan is that they are not
Christian.So, why do the fluffy bunnies like paganism and hate Christianity? They don't know really. They did not like Christianity because it was their parent's religion, but they do not want to be thought of as just a bunch of kids trying to piss off their parents. They think that Christianity is too judgmental and labeling, but they are not "into" judging people, they leave that to Christians. So what are they "into"?
Well, let's see, they are "into" nature because nature is pure and full of magick, just as these fluffy bunnies are full of something and it might be fair to say that it is natural. However, Nature is harsh, it is cruel, it does not care about the wants or even the needs of any individual creature. The only real rules of Nature is eat or be eaten. The natural order will be maintained at any costs, including the cost of a certain species of hairless ape that has done its best to bash the living spirit out of nature. The magick that nature is so "full" of is hard to grasp and even harder to control and yet the fluffy bunnies would have you believe that for $19.99 anyone can do it.
Fluffy bunnies are also into acceptance. They are big on accepting things, as long as you do not question them too closely on it. Most of them are not very accepting of Christians, or rules, or etiquette, or a code of honor. In fact what they really want is for everybody to accept them, but don't ask them to much about why.
Fluffy bunnies also talk a lot about being open: Open minded, open hearted, and opening yourself up to new viewpoints, experiences, etc. At least they want everyone else to be more open. A fluffy bunny however is rarely very open themselves. They put up a shield of mindless rhetoric and hope like anything that it confuses people enough to keep them from seeing what a fluffy bunny is really up to.
What are they up to? Well like little children that do not know any better, they want everything their own way. They do not want to share, to cooperate, or to be honest. They want to have all the power and use it to keep everyone else at their beck and call. Deep down they like the villains in Disney cartoons because they think that the villains have all the fun, but they do not even want to spend the energy to work up a really good scheme, or take any chances by being honest that for all their talk of god this and natural that that what they really want is the bad and the unnatural.
How to spot a fluffy bunny? Well there are a lot of ways.
1. Young fluffy bunnies are quick to tell you that age doesn't matter. That it makes no difference if they are hormonal teens acting like hormonal teens, they are different because they are more aware than any other hormonal teen ever was. Didn't most of us feel the same way when we were hormonal teens? C'mon people, when we were little most of us "knew" the really great stuff under the ole Tannenbaum came from Santa Claus. Later we "knew" that that senior we met our first day as high school freshmen with the dynamite body was our true soul mate. On the day we graduated from high school many of us "knew" we were going to change the world. Imagine what you are gonna know in a few more years.
2. They talk endlessly about not being afraid of what is new and different while dressing in styles that predate their grandparent's, just like all their friends do. You would think that anyone who follows a "Nature based path" would be all too familiar with what acting like a lemming gets you. They also seem to be rather resistant to any pagan paths or ideas that are different from theirs, especially those the are related to the tenets of a path or an ethical code.
3. They are always eclectic-somethings. The more somethings the better is the fluffy bunny motto. Eclectic-wiccan-druid-shaman-magii usually with about 99 generations of the same thing in their family. Problem is that when you ask them to specifically define their system of beliefs they sneer at you that you would not understand such things and that it is very judgmental of you to presume that they do not know what they are talking about just because they do not know what they are talking about. A few of them also speak long dead languages that were so secretive to begin with that they have never been written down and yet sound suspiciously like Klingon, the language of the elves in Lord of the Rings, or cobbled together Celt from some really cool web site they found. This is not to say that merging religions is always bad, but I will devote and entire rage to this later.
4. They are endlessly prattling on about persecution. Mom and dad are persecuting them just because they cannot run around with the guy down the street till 3 in the morning on a school night (you know, the guy that has a rap sheet longer than his hair). They are being persecuted by their teachers because they could not get extra credit in home economics by doing a demonstration on the best ways to avoid chafing in hot weather while sky clad. They are being persecuted by other Pagans who will not give them a complete spell book the day they become initiates into a coven or worse, just because they really really want one. If they get fired from a job for not showing up, for always being late, or for being stoned, they claim they employers are persecuting them. This is so much like Aesop's fable of the boy who cried wolf that you would think that common sense would keep people from acting this way; but if common sense were all that common, Beige wouldn't have a damn thing to rage about.
5. There must be a How to Be A Fluffy Pagan handbook somewhere, because you can usually tell at a glance if you are dealing with a fluffy Pagan. First they have to wear a pentacle, doesn't matter what it is made of, or how many others just like it are running around. "Real Pagans" wear pentacles must be rule 1 for the Fluffy Pagan. How else can you explain people that claim to be so persecuted by Christians wearing a Christian Hex Mark around their neck. This also holds true for those wearing Celtic Knots. A Celtic Knot is not a magickal symbol. The design was created by early typesetters to beautify the margins of CHRISTIAN BIBLES. But right next to that pretty pentagram necklace you will often see your average fluff carrying a bag bedecked with Celtic Knot scrollwork, or even wearing jewelry featuring the knots. Nothing wrong with wearing a piece of jewelry because it is pretty, but knock off the sacred symbol crap. If you want a sacred symbol, make yourself into one, a living breathing example of the full benefits of following that path of yours, instead of just another kid playing dress up.
6. Magick! Gods forbid you should forget that "k" at then end when dealing with the fluffy bunny. As they explain it there is a big difference between what David Copperfield does on stage and what they do in the woods. I agree, there are several differences: Copperfield gets paid for what he does, he can demonstrate his magic anytime he is called upon to do so, and its impressive to watch, as opposed to fluffy bunny magick which sounds suspiciously like their rituals were written by TSR, almost never works in any tangible way, and doesn't seem to gain them anything at all. Yes, yes, yes, I know, you are thinking "But Beige, money isn't the only thing that matters?" Tell that to your landlord next time the rent is due. C'mon folks is it too much to ask for a reality check that doesn't bounce here?
7. Judging. Oh we know too well how the fluffies hate anyone judging them. If you tell them that using Belladonna in their Migraine healing ritual potion might not be such a good idea, you are being judgmental, just the the evil "fundies" (See Fundies below). The fact that belladonna has a whole list of problems with improper use of it doesn't matter to them. Funny, it seems that they seem to like judging when they are doing it to someone else, especially fundies, Satanists, their parents, and anyone that doesn't take the nubile young fluffy serious.
8. Fundies. The fluffy bunny's term for followers of Christianity. If anyone mentions the bible, they are automatically a fundie. If they "judge" the fluffy bunny, they are a fundie. In fact it seems the fluffy bunny sees fundies on every street corner. Fundies are considered the ultiamate evil to fluffies. I guess the freedom of religion is only supposed to apply to the fluffies and the rest of the world should find some other planet to worship on.
In short, fluffy bunnies are Pagans with no real knowledge of what the word pagan means, let alone what it means to live as one. For them it is a fad, a trend, another game they play at while growing up. Many of them will also grow out of it and either move on to another mode of Pagan existence, or go back to being Christian. Unfortunately they do a lot of damage in the process. Damage to themselves, the people they claim to "love", other people's property, etc. Bear with them folks, they know not what they do.
