Abbadie - A Traves del Cerco

So, most Pagan blogs I follow started to post about the often-messy subject of Pagan values, thanks to a prompt by Pax to make this the International Pagan Values Blogging Month. OK, so I’ll pitch in. I’m going to talk about what happens in my country, Mexico; I have no idea how different things may or may not be elsewhere, but obviously, I’ll talk about what I know.

In recent years, there has been a lot of criticism against the Catholic Church (Catholicism is the majority religion in Mexico) because there have been several instances of priests committing child abuse; of course, such a crime is the responsibility of the individuals guilty of it, regardless of their beliefs – trouble is, when they are exposed, the Church, instead of taking any measures against them, merely assigns them to some out-of-the-way parish at a different state and allows them to continue their priestly activities. This and no other is the reason the Church is so severely criticized.

So, you must still wonder why am I mentioning this at all. There is a very good reason.

It is no secret among Mexican Pagans that I am pretty much disliked among many groups of pagans, mostly because I quite simply shock people who seem to believe that “Pagan” stands for “sharing Wiccan beliefs” when they find out that I do not believe in the Law of Three, I don’t give a damn about candle colors, I couldn’t care less about the Rede, I do not believe in “the God and Goddess” (or, like </a></b></a>sannion says in his article Unity Through Diversity, “the Great Mother Goddess [TM]”. </a></font></b></a>sannion, by the way, wrote a great piece; by all means don’t miss it!). Most of all, though, folks seem to think I’m not even Pagan anymore because I’ve quite simply stated that I’m not interested in Wicca any longer.

(Edit: I have no idea where the symbols above come from, they're nowhere to be seen in the edit page and I'm a bit wary of getting into the HTML code. Sorry)

But there is another reason people don’t like me: I’ve been somewhat outspoken and critical of certain things. One of my greater crimes has been that of openly criticizing some popular Pagan authors and teachers for their unreliable information or falling into the 2012 fiasco. I’ve criticized some Mexican Pagan personalities who have quite a following here, and their devout followers are understandably offended by this. However, it really puzzles me that several Pagans who are not their students, and sometimes even state that they agree with me at some points, rebuke me for my criticisms!

I was shocked with disbelief when one such person, who shall go nameless, once wrote to me something along these lines:

“I know a lot of shady stuff about (here she mentioned a certain person), too, but I’ve never said a word of it just like I’ll never say anything bad about you. It is obvious to me that you have never undergone a true initiation, because you so openly criticize and expose her; the Oath binds me to never wrong a brother or sister in the Craft, and I am true to it”.

This is but one example of something I’ve heard several times, but it’s the only time it was actually used as “proof” that I was a false adept. Where do I start...?

Región de Elfhame:: The Soapbox

Temperamento:: pissed off

La Feria Internacional del Libro Guadalajara 2008 ha dejado buenas secuelas. Hacía varios años que no participaba activamente, y fue una buena manera de reanudar mis intervenciones que comenzaron hace más de una década en compañía de Minerva Cómics. Nunca imaginé que algún día vería mis libros en el Stand de Autores Independientes, pero lo inesperado es habitual en estos tiempos. Mi primicia Noches paganas: Cuentos narrados junto al fuego del Sabbath tuvo buena acogida, y la mesa redonda Conversación con escritores de la insurgencia literaria fue amena, dinámica y como siempre, se nos hizo breve el tiempo para el estira y afloja argumental. Especialmente memorable me parece la intervención inicial de Carlos Eduardo Ramos, quien lamentó la ausencia de quienes le habían dicho que no le convenía participar con nosotros –refiere que le advirtieron que “algo pesaba” (que se escuchen acordes dramáticos, por favor) sobre los escritores de la insurgencia literaria-, para poderles decir que estaba aquí con nosotros sus amigos, así como iría a presentarlos a ellos si lo invitaran, pues sean del grupo que sean, “todos son sus amigos”. Eso es lealtad y rectitud ante las actitudes soeces de quienquiera que haya sido.
 

En suma, un buen paso; vamos por más, ¡y la próxima FIL no nos encontrará inactivos!

 

Región de Elfhame:: Incomodando, según parece

Temperamento:: accomplished

La Voz del Viento:: Alaska - Dios y Diez Demonios

En la mesa “Conversación con escritores de la insurgencia literaria” en la Feria Internacional del Libro Guadalajara, se llevará a cabo la presentación del más reciente libro de Luis G. Abbadie (Wisdom Stone):

Disponible en el Stand E-19 de Autores Independientes, en el marco de FIL Guadalajara.

Región de Elfhame:: The Kirkyard

Temperamento:: accomplished

La Voz del Viento:: Damh, the Bard "The Hills, They are Hollow"

I just saw at one of my contacts' lj (I'll omit her name to spare her any flaming) that she posted about some acquaintance of hers with weird habits who idolizes Aleister Crowley, some sicko who wants to kill christians and live on drugs or some such thing.

Now, I know Crowley has a zillion of sick fans of that kind, morons who read his stuff literally and then want to use him as an excuse to ruin their own lives. Sad, sad.

Now that's just my point. These sorry people read Crowley LITERALLY. They don't stand a chance when it comes to understanding his writings, where NOTHING, not a SINGLE fucking thing, is straightforward. No wonder his Liber Legis disgust so many people. Crowley himself stated that he was repulsed by many things said in the book, but he of all people certainly understood that nothing is what it seems -just like in the theme song of a certain dumb Mexican TV talk show somebody just mentioned to me in perfect synchronicity.

What I find sad is that intelligent, knowledgeable people also misread Crowley, and take his received writings literally.

No, I am NOT a thelemite, never have been, never will be. But I can certainly relate to a lot of things in those weird, labyrinthic books. I think Crowley would have been a very interesting person to debate with. One of the few people I've heard about who would get certain things. I've heard some reconstructionist pagans call him eclectic, just like I've heard christians call him evil or disgusting. Sad, that none of them saw through the mocking veneer of mixed symbols and subtle letter shifts, as what he was - a revivalist of a very solid, very powerful magical current stemming from one of the oldest human cultures. He messed up, yes he did; and lots of times. He tried the wrong things again and again. But he also left a priceless legacy.

I see somebody call Liber Legis a "book of shit" and, damn it, I find it offensive. No book of philosophy and beliefs should be dealt with like that. Not the Bible. Not the Book of Tao. 

Not Liber Legis.

You were "visited" by the Liber Legis' entities and you killed them, you say. I say, you were probably visited by what you drew through the emotions caused by not understanding the book, by taking its words at face value.

You know, I heard awful things about santeria from my wiccan acquaintances way back when; they described the Loa as evil, "low-vibrational" beings... but I didn't stick with what I heard and with the creepy semblance they displayed,. I looked beyond it and found something quite close to the path of Cunning that I currently walk as a witch... something that maybe makes us spiritual cousins of a sort. Something that leads to the same crossroads, whether it be the Witch-Master or Attibon Legba awaiting there for us.

We should be beyond condemning what appears unsettling or sinister at first glance; we are all too often the subject of such condemning.

Think about it.

Región de Elfhame:: Hadit

Temperamento:: gloomy

La Voz del Viento:: The hum of Current 93 rushing past