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Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
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Article: 19420
[Pagan]
Date Posted:
2/27/2008
11:54:31 am EST
Wvox Stats
Views: 5,970
RSS: 18,487
Comments: 11
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Wiccans Thrive In N.M.
Author: Nicole Brady, Eyewitness News 4, and Reed Upton, Source: KOB.com
Title: WICCANS THRIVE IN N.M.
Wiccans, followers of a federally recognized religion that practices a form of shamanism, is alive and well in New Mexico with a nationally known seminary in Jemez Springs.
And followers don’t shrink from being labeled a witch.
“For me, it’s the same thing,” said Jim Blanchard, one follower of the religion. “I am a Wiccan. I am a witch.”
While the word “witch” inspires negative images of hags toiling over bubbling cauldrons of evil potions, practitioners say their faith is more about celebrating the natural world.
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Community Thoughts: There are 11 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| Commentary | Mar 1st. at 7:01:02 pm EST
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NOVA (New Brunswick, New Jersey) - Email Me
I'd have thought someone would've given Nicole Brady a book on WIcca, so she could've learned her misstatements and corrected them before writing this article.
Meanwhile, it's nice to know NM is so WItch-friendly. One would think so, being there are so many Native Americans living there.
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| I Love The Article... | Feb 28th. at 1:24:40 pm EST
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Lady Eagle Spirit (Austin, Texas) - Email Me
ITs the comments I am having trouble with...especially one Christian's lack of history...
I went to AZ back in 2003 for Spring Break and a family reunion. Sierra Vista has some of the most beautiful scenery!
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| Interesting State/good Article | Feb 28th. at 10:46:21 am EST
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Christopher Blackwell (Deming, New Mexico) - Email Me
I have lived here for over 25 years. It has its good points and its bad points.. I liked the article, but I really am more upset when any of my fellow Wiccans start bashing Christians. If we don't like being bashed why do it ourselves? If we act the same as those kind of people then how are we any better.
I am surrounded by Christians here in the Southern part of the state. I am an open Wiccan and write letters to the editor of our local paper on Wiccan subjects. No one has ever given me a hard time about my religion, but then I try to be a respectful person, ready to help anyone around them. I openly wear my pentacle, but I don't bring up my religion in every conversation. No one likes to be preached at so why do it.
Fear leads to hatred, so why would anyone be dumb enough to want to scare people about themselves or their religion? What we don't like in others should be a guide to what we should not do ourselves.
Everyone can learn from a wise man, but a wise man can learn from anyone, even a fool.
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| NM For The Win | Feb 28th. at 1:26:38 am EST
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Faloku (Arcata, California) - Email Me
I love New Mexico, I still consider it my home even though I haven't been back there in years. Good old Albuquerque...
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| Jemez Springs | Feb 28th. at 12:01:46 am EST
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Kate Doktor (Magnolia, Arkansas) - Email Me
I was lucky enough to visit there last summer while helping someone drive their stuff to CA. The people that run Ardantane are wonderful and they have a beautiful school.
If any of you have a chance to go out there it would be well worth it. The area is wonderful as well (it was snowing when I went there and everything was amazing) .
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| There Are Lots Of Pagans In The S.W. | Feb 27th. at 11:26:17 pm EST
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Morboriel (Brooklyn, Arizona) - Email Me
There are also tons of flaky New Age woo woo crystal humpers. You can generally tell which stores cater to which crowd by the price tags on the tacky faerie tschokes and whether or not there are UFO books on the shelves.
Regarding shamanism...most of the "shamanism" in the SW, at least here in Arizona, is of the decidely plastic variety--think Lynn Andrews wannabes who read a little too much Casteneda. The large Indian population unfortunately means many more New Age fraudsters looking to cash in on "Native American Wisdom" (barf!) . Especially in Sedona, aka the Froot Loop Capital of America. Half the frauds on the Plastic Shamans site are active in AZ and NM, I swear.
I'll tell you this: silliness about vortexes aside, if you want to connect with nature spirits there are few places on Earth better suited to such pursuits than the American Southwest. The desert is a powerful teacher and I've grown tremendously as a Witch in my nearly two years out here. Nothing quite strips away the BS and residual fluff quite like standing in the middle of a monsoon storm with lightning crashing all around you. In terms of energy work along my practice has taken great leaps forward. It's hard NOT to, out here in the middle of such raw elemental nature.
I plan on moving back East because I'm a New Yorker and Phoenix is far too hick for me but I definitely find the time I've spent here to be valuable. I highly recommend at least visiting. There's a reason so many tribes call this area sacred.
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| I Liked NM | Feb 27th. at 9:28:26 pm EST
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Young Coyote (W. Hempstead, California) - Email Me
I was actually suprised how beautiful the landscape was. My only issue with it is 1: too hot and 2: not close enough to a large body of water.
The artcile was short but sweet. No stupid fearmongering. If anything, they pointed out how some Christians are paranoid about "witches", though not in so many words.
There is a huge amount of comments for this article. I was happy to see how many of them were positive, from CHRISTIANS no less. There were only a few haters and most of them just made one comment that was quickly shot down by both Pagans and Christians, which was encouraging to see. Only one or two haters stuck around to try and argue their point, but their knowledge of history was so lacking that it was just sad.
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| Maybe I'll Move To NM | Feb 27th. at 6:27:05 pm EST
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Kiya (Tucson, Arizona) - Email Me
Blue Fox: Yeah, shamanism is really big in this area (New Mexico and Arizona) . It's more popular in, accurately, less populated areas. (Which are in no shortage either here in Arizona or in New Mexico, let me tell you.) I live in a large city in Arizona so I don't meet as many shamans here in town, but because there are so many Native Americans settled in this area still, shamanism of many sorts has settled here comfortably.
If you like New Mexico, you would probably enjoy Arizona too. (New Mexico has nicer weather than we do though. It's not as hot there.)
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| .... | Feb 27th. at 12:56:56 pm EST
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Blue Fox (Toronto (Etobicoke) , Ontario) - Email Me
A form of shaminism?... is shamanism really big in NM?
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