It’s amazing the way you can dream up a personal history for someone based on what they are wearing and how they carry themselves. Now, I’m not saying it’s right to judge a person by their appearance, but, honestly, it’s hard not to form some sort of opinion. If it wasn’t, then why would we dress up for job interviews and first dates, and dress down for rock concerts and cleaning the house?
There are a lot of people out there who dress all in black, or cover themselves with occult jewellery, or look like they are on their way to the local ren. faire. Or maybe you’ve seen that quiet girl or guy on the bus who always makes sure the pentacle on their bag is showing, and holds up their book so everyone can see it’s “The Witch’s Book ‘o Spells.” So, where am I going with this? I’m not really sure. Maybe I’m trying to say that if you dress freaky, people will assume you are freaky. (Yeah, I know what they say about assume – it makes an ass of you and me.) And, sadly, because of this, pagans have got a reputation for being freaky. Take a look at some of those pagan gathering photos on the neat. Most of the people are dressed a bit differently then “mainstream” folks would be at a similar get-together. Remember, the next time you go out dripping in occult symbols, you are helping to form other people’s opinions about pagans.
Oh yeah, that lady in the nice, understated dress beside you on the bus, she’s pagan too. She just doesn’t feel the need to flaunt it or call attention to herself. Is she more secure in her faith then you? Well, that’s for you to decide.
Khaki pants and the lunatic fringe
Reading Silverlotus’ excellent article about the folks in the Wiccan community who, shall we say, have outrageous wardrobes got a chuckle from me. I vividly recall seeing a photo of Laurie Cabot in the back of one of her books…