Witchvox Article

Author: Hobbittmom
Posted: September 21st. 2008
Times Viewed: 3,216

You've heard the old myths about Witches and/or Pagans. That they eat children, worship the devil, are engaged in all manner of nefarious sorcery and are generally unfit human beings. Today, those old myths have died away, at least to some extent. But not all of them. They've taken a different form.

Many Pagans have had to fight to keep their children or have been barred from community activities because they were Pagan. The fact remains, Pagans love Mother Earth and how could they possibly be abusive to children when they love all life? That's not to say that there isn't the Pagan who does abuse children, there probably are but for the most part the abuse inflicted on the child is because the abuser was abused and has an unstable mind.

What are the basic causes of abuse of children? Actually they are many and varied. First, there is the obvious, abuse in the family the carries down through generations. Second, there are those with unstable minds due to medical or psychological difficulties. Third, neglect because of the demands of the modern world.

The results of this abuse are devastating. Broken homes, homeless teens and younger children, neglect of basic needs and children who lack trust of others. Some go on to become bullies, perpetuating the abuse on those younger or less fortunate. More tragic perhaps, are those inflict harm on themselves. And then of course, there are those we mourn, children who commit suicide because they can't live with the harm caused to them.

How do we Pagans and other members of society correct these horrible problems? It should be noted that not all the problems of society can be corrected, but we can make a start and correcting the abuses inflicted on children would be the obvious place to begin. Religion has definitely played a part in the abuse of children and I will go into that further in a later paragraph, but history has shown that it can be a good support for families in trouble.

The clergy of many religions including Paganism offer counseling and therapy for adults and children who may need counseling. The medical establishment has seen the benefits of holistic therapies in their treatment of individuals and holistic therapy has its basis in many form of spirituality.

However, before the clergy begins to offer counseling, they must first eradicate their abusive tendencies towards those who are outside the mainstream or who are outside the Pagan religion, spiritual path. The clergies' abuse of the past include forced assimilation of Native peoples, torture and killing of those accused of Witchcraft, and wars such as the Crusades.

The effects of these abuses can be seen in society today as people mistrust each other, cause war and ravage the environment trying to outdo other people's. The biggest effect is on children, as those in the midst of war have to fend for themselves or even take up arms. As for the environment, if the past mistakes are not corrected, children will have no home.

It's going to take more than the political machine in place in many countries to alleviate these problems. Here again, the clergy can take a positive stance and help children. How, you may ask? Many members of the clergy have advised politicians and once their abusive tendencies are taken care of they can then advise politicians of today in how to get along with one another. Other ways include helping those in war-ravaged countries and educating the public on ways to help the environment.

Since we are speaking of the environment, it is time now to speak of Mother Earth, for that is where we started. How does all this abuse of children affect Mother Earth? Children who are in abusive families are less likely to be concerned with the environment than their peers and are therefore more likely to cause harm to Mother Earth. Since no has seemed to care for them, they in turn care for no one, so as not to get hurt again.

We need to raise our children in a consistent, nurturing loving environment that stresses the importance of everyone and our role in taking care of our planet. Ways to do this include community awareness of problems on our planet, community outreach programs for disadvantaged children and educating them in ways to help our planet.

Also, families who teach in a loving manner the dangers of abusing our planet and ways to care and love for her teach children nurturing techniques for family, home, community and environment.

Finally, the clergy can also get involved, not by preaching but by several options, such as cleaning up a torn down neighborhood, planting trees and creating gardens for meditation and play. There are many ways in which the clergy can help care for children and ensure a healthy home and planet for future generations.

In many ways Mother Earth belongs to children and children belong to Mother Earth. Each is necessary to the other and there must be balance between those who on the planet and the planet itself. Ecology is the way in which lifeforms and Earth find balance with each other. How do children and the clergy find balance and therefore transfer that balance to Mother Earth? Working together for long-term goals. Caring, nurturing, sharing, finding balance, each of these things must be in place in order for children to stop being abused and for our planet to be a safe haven for future generations.

Finally, I must add that this article began with mythological abuses of children by Pagans and how mainstream religions still perpetuate some of those myths. Obviously this is abuse and it translates into abuse of children today, the abuses of the planet we live on today, and the abuse that will continue into tomorrow unless we do something about it now. And as I stressed in an earlier article, each of us is important to the wellbeing of the planet and it only takes the abuse of one child to start a downward trend that could spiral out of control if not corrected.

I was such a child. Many people abused me, clergy included, and were it not for the efforts of family who did love me, wise counselors who stressed nurturing the self, and the efforts of loving Pagans, I would be an adult out of control. Thank Mother Earth and her wise children that this is not so.

Blessed Be,
Kelly a.k.a. Shining Crow Spider
a.k.a. Hobbittmom

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