The first Manila Pagan Pride day.
Glad to be part of this little history.
Proud, Not Prideful
Interesting that it should be called Pagan 'Pride' day. If there's one thing that would keep the entire Pagan community from coming together, it's pride. Whether online or in person, Pagans clawing at each others' throats is such a common scene in the community that we ourselves have come up with an endearing term for it: Witchwars. I have been moderating five Pagan groups in the past decade, and I have inevitably and unfortunately gotten my hands dirty several times cleaning up and being involved in such mess. Many of us have seen it all before: long-winded and pedantic arguments among "intellectual" Pagans battling it out for the Most Arcane and Wisest Super-Witch of All, or paranoid accusations about someone hurling out a malevolent spell or "psychic attack".
While the internet has become a boon to us Pagan folks for helping us build the community as it is today, the written communication is also causing some trouble. I think that much of the arguments can be prevented just by getting to know one another in person and finding out that he/she isn't really as annoying as you thought as his/her online alter-ego was.
I fail to see the point in most of these witch wars. Whether you're a fluffbunny newbie or arcane magus of the highest order, we are all one and the same in the eyes of the people outside the community, that is, for the most part of the people of the world. It depends largely on how we work together how they see us: whether as a bunch of weird folks living their fantasy worlds with all those stories of "psychic attacks" and stuff, or as a group of goodwilling people with just a different set of beliefs trying to contribute to the world in their own way.
I guess it will take lots of time and work to do for Paganism to get an ample amount of respect from the rest of the world, but things will be much easier when you begin to act in a way that you and other people in the Pagan community would be proud of.
Rebuilding Our Roots
I was really honored when the Pagan Pride Day organizers came up to me and asked me if I could design the logo, and so I humbly and happily obliged. I was able to come up with an idea easily, but pulling it off in Photoshop was another matter entirely. When I finished the final logo I found it quite blah at first, but I immediately liked it when my non-Pagan friend saw it and noted that it looks like a Keith Haring.
The logo has an allusion to the popular folk creation myth about the origin of our ancestors, wherein in the beginning, a bird caused a tree to split into two, and in each part of the hollow trunk were the first man and woman, named Malakas (strong) and Maganda (beautiful). The pointy figure at the left of the symbol represents the woman, and the curvy one at the right represents the man. The two stylized P's (for "Pagan Pride") are the two halves of the tree that were split open, and these are being tied back together with a purple ribbon by the man and the woman. In brief, the symbolism of this image is that of going back to and rebuilding of our roots by means of Pagan spirituality, which is represented by the iconic purple ribbon.
Of course, it also fits perfectly into the Bathala meme:
September 18 is the day to wear the purple ribbon. Stand up, and be proud.
Basbasan Nawa!
For my blogpost after the event, go to Pagan Pride Day! Part Two.
I fail to see the point in most of these witch wars. Whether you're a fluffbunny newbie or arcane magus of the highest order, we are all one and the same in the eyes of the people outside the community, that is, for the most part of the people of the world. It depends largely on how we work together how they see us: whether as a bunch of weird folks living their fantasy worlds with all those stories of "psychic attacks" and stuff, or as a group of goodwilling people with just a different set of beliefs trying to contribute to the world in their own way.
I guess it will take lots of time and work to do for Paganism to get an ample amount of respect from the rest of the world, but things will be much easier when you begin to act in a way that you and other people in the Pagan community would be proud of.
Rebuilding Our Roots
I was really honored when the Pagan Pride Day organizers came up to me and asked me if I could design the logo, and so I humbly and happily obliged. I was able to come up with an idea easily, but pulling it off in Photoshop was another matter entirely. When I finished the final logo I found it quite blah at first, but I immediately liked it when my non-Pagan friend saw it and noted that it looks like a Keith Haring.
The logo has an allusion to the popular folk creation myth about the origin of our ancestors, wherein in the beginning, a bird caused a tree to split into two, and in each part of the hollow trunk were the first man and woman, named Malakas (strong) and Maganda (beautiful). The pointy figure at the left of the symbol represents the woman, and the curvy one at the right represents the man. The two stylized P's (for "Pagan Pride") are the two halves of the tree that were split open, and these are being tied back together with a purple ribbon by the man and the woman. In brief, the symbolism of this image is that of going back to and rebuilding of our roots by means of Pagan spirituality, which is represented by the iconic purple ribbon.
Of course, it also fits perfectly into the Bathala meme:
September 18 is the day to wear the purple ribbon. Stand up, and be proud.
Basbasan Nawa!
For my blogpost after the event, go to Pagan Pride Day! Part Two.
Posted in: 
2 comments:
love it. ^^
Thanks Aries! :)
Post a Comment