Thoughts in the "Fluffy" epidemic?

[scorn]

Ok, so I have been hearing alot about the fluffies, and I already have a firm standpoint on the idea, but I was wondering what you guys think.

PS.
Before someone asks me, a fluffy is someone that seems to be either insaine, pretend, or fake. These people claim titles they dont work for, argue relelntlessly without any evidence that what they say is true, make impossible claims, ect.

Blessings,
Scorn

[muladzh]

Thank you, for educating me with that information - I have never heard of a fluffy, though I have met enough of such people. I tend not to condemn anyone or anything, so I have no particularly strong feelings about 'fluffies'. Each to their own, and hopefully they will stay out of my vicinity.

[Jen]

Fluffy, which ever way you look at it, is a derogatory word.
I try to live my life without passing judgment and certainly not on people I've never met before.
We would do well to remember that we all shine with the divine light and our best teachers, apart from ourselves, are the people around us.

[moondaughter]

I don't really like the term fluffy. I think that it puts a negative aspect on being optimistic. Sure maybe some people seem fake, but that is a result of their own insecurity and I normally do my best to help them when they ask and tolerate them as I would any other person

[scorn]

Well, there are some people out there that I cannot tolerate. Like the 16 year olds claiming to shapeshift into insects. sorry, but I cant really believe them. Or the ones who say they are a reincarnation of loki, or some other god.

[moondaughter]

I know that they are ridiculously annoying...and naive...their lost souls...not happy with the way their own lives are...if anything I pity them...and I try to help them sometimes when I can

[scorn]

I found this article and found it amusing.


WHAT IS A FLUFFY BUNNY?

1. Claim to be practicing some really old path, but don’t put forth the effort to find out what people actually did or believed on that path. Make stuff up while claiming that it’s how the ancients did it.

2. Ignore anything dark or threatening, even if pretending to work with dark deities. Talk about how your deity of choice is always good or always right, or pretend your favorite dark goddess is really just a misunderstood sweetie-pie.

3. Accept any kind of nonsense you’re told by another fluffy or read in some book with a crescent moon on the spine. Alternatively, accept any one source as definitive, no matter what those tight-assed intellectuals think about it. And do pass on whatever it is you think you know as though you invented it.

4. Get all worked up at any kind of challenge involving logic or fact. Only feelings really matter. Disregard what others have to say if it doesn’t affirm what you already believe, whether or not they can prove their claims.

5. Make a big point of being huffy at anyone who doesn’t take whatever you say at face value, especially if they continue to present evidence that disproves your claims, and declare that you are finished talking about the subject because "everyone is entitled to an opinion" and so your opinion is just as good as anyone else’s.

6. Emphasize loudly that people don’t have the right to make judgments about your words if they don’t know you very well offline. Regardless of what you actually SAY, only your professed motivations should matter to other people.

7. Avoid conflict at all costs, and jump into other people’s disagreements, even if you’re not directly involved, to try to get them to agree for agreement’s sake. Agree with other people just to smooth things over, or even lecture them on how they should just get along. If you moderate a list or message board, delete any messages that don’t agree with you or that present uncomfortable viewpoints.

8. Try to get others to refrain from using profanity or stop talking about a subject because it makes you uncomfortable; for example, go to a clothing-optional event and then pitch a fit if anyone opts to go fully or partially nude.

9. Tell non-fluffies how horrible/non-spiritual they are for not accepting all pagans, regardless of how asinine their behavior might be; but be sure to tell everyone at the drop of a hat that you’re Not A Satanist, whether they asked or not.

10. Be sure to complain frequently about persecution, whether you’ve actually experienced any or not. Extra points if you think someone choosing not to do business with you is "persecution" or if you repeat any form of the "Burning Times" myth:
~ 9 million died (or any number greater than about 40,000)
~ Those condemned as witches were Wiccans (or any kind of Pagan)
~ People were burned at Salem (try hanged and pressed)
You might want to check the Covenant of the Goddess website for a reasonable account of the Witch Hysteria from a source with impeccable Wiccan credentials, except that doing so might be non-fluffy.

11. In conversation in person or otherwise, always assume that the Wiccan Rede (or whatever your code of honor happens to be) applies to all Pagans. If mildly challenged on this, act confused; if strongly challenged, go into Major Evil Eye Mode and accuse the Rede-Infidel (who OBVIOUSLY has no ethics whatsoever) of Satanism, Crowleyism, or worse.

12. Presume to lecture others on any of the Favorite Fluffy Topics:
~ Why Witchcraft is a Religion
~ Only Wiccans are Witches
~ What Real Witches (your definition) don’t do: hexes, spells for selfish purposes, animal sacrifices (we’re not like those awful Santerians or Voodoo practitioners), sex magick, etc.
~ What Real Witches (your definition) MUST do: be vegetarian/vegan, do charity work, recycle, vote for Democrats, etc.
~ Why Magick should NOT be used to interfere with another’s Will or Karma - even by healing them
~ How the world was a happy, peaceful matriarchy until those horrible men had to mess it all up
~ How ritual nudity, sex magick, and the scourge are all in traditional Wicca only because Uncle Gerald was a dirty old man, not because of any actual value they might have

13. Insist that Wicca, or whatever your path is, is whatever you make it, regardless of its history. Demand respect for what you’re doing even as you trash the efforts of your precursors and insist on calling the trash by the same name. Don’t bother renaming what you do, however loosely based on the original form, because you want to ride on the coattails of people who went before and claim some sort of lineage regardless of the lack of similarities between what they did and what you do.

14. If your belief is "All Goddesses are One Goddess" and "All Gods are One God" and ultimately all deities are aspects of the One, use this as an excuse to not bother learning about or working with specific deities. Or, when you do call on a Lord and Lady by name, mix and match any two from any pantheons at any times.

15. Use a disability as an excuse not to check your facts or learn anything new, or as an excuse to engage in other fluffy behavior. Claim persecution if anyone dares to suggest that using a spell-checker isn’t unreasonable even for someone with a disability.

16. Sign your emails/posts "Namaste" or "Bright Blessings" when the content of the message chews someone out, insults, or otherwise contradicts the salutation.

17. You can be lacking in all of the preceding Fluffy Traits, but if you demonstrate this one, you’re in the Fluffy Club: Don’t show any signs of having been touched by divinity or ecstatic experience. Many mainstream Christians sing hymns as if they were laundry-lists, and everyone accepts them, so that is what we want to do. Look askance at people who actually get out of themselves in ritual or celebration. Care more about what society and/or your friends think than what your deities think or whether you are actually getting anything out of what you do. Be sure not to do anything, even if it would develop your path/abilities/insights, that might possibly provoke disapproval or make you lose face.

Copyright Freeman and Sky Dancer, 2003-2004. All rights reserved. Permission to repost or otherwise distribute is granted provided the essay is kept intact and this notice included.

[scorn]

Yet another one!

This one I would have replaced Scott Cunningham (whome I have no BIG issue with) with a much more popular fluffy author... Silver Ravenwolf.


The Charge of the Bunny Goddess

by Gwen Wolfrose

Listen to the words of the Great Fluff she who of old is known as Amethyst
MoonPixie, Mosscovered Rosequartz, Moonwater Firedancer, Keltic Dragondream,
Lady Mooncrystal HPS, Lady Raven, Malibu SparkleBarbie, and Wiccan
MacMorrigan, and by many other names, most of them made up by an online name
generator:

Whenever you have need of anything once in the month, and better it be when
the bookstore is still open, then shall you gather and adore me, who am
Queen of all Bunnies. There shall you gather, you who desire to learn the
true Art of Bunnycraft, yet have not grown in your furry undercoat; to these
I will teach the esoterism of true fluffiness. And you shall be free from
anything that is not white light goodness; and as a sign that you are truly
free, you shall quote Scott Cunningham as gospel, put curses on those who
call you names, bless everyone with white light happiness, redefine
everything so that it fits your way of thinking, and demand that the so
called dark gods are just misunderstood, never again the burning times...
except for Satanists, we can still burn them since they aren't pagan anyway.
For I am covered with fur behold my cuteness. Keep pure your highest ideal;
strive ever towards it and if anyone tries to stop you, change your screen
name and rejoin their list to teach them a lesson. For mine is the
determination to stomp out darkness wherever it may be whether they like it
or not.

I am the Queen Mother Fluffer, Who can give the Gift of Joy unto the heart
of man or woman so long as you are life affirming and positive ONLY. On
Earth, I give the Knowledge that honesty is a crime if I do not agree with
it; and beyond death, we will not discuss since death is a negative concept.
I do not demand sacrifice, for behold; opening up a book does not require
that much effort.

Hear ye the Words of the Bunny Goddess: She Whose Feet are fuzzy and soft,
Whose Body encircleth the book store especially the Llewellyn shelf.

I, Who am the Fluffy Queen of the Earth and the White Light amongst the
Internet, and the Mystery of why BTW's don't like it when I say Wicca is
anything I want it to be because Scott said so, and the Desire to make up
lies about them to make myself look like a hero to the other fluffers. I
call unto thy soul, all ye who would be Bunnies: Arise! And come unto Me!

For I am the Soul of the Bunny, Who giveth Only Positive Life Affirming
White Light to the Universe: from Me all things proceed, and unto Me nothing
must return because it's your bad karma not mine so there. And before My
Face, which is fuzzy and soft and known to all gods who are all benevolent,
thine innermost Bunny Self shall be enfolded in the Rapture of the Infinite
Bunny.

Let My Worship be within the heart that tolerates no darkness, for behold:
all acts in the name of white light goodness and fluffiness are my rituals
especially if Scott wrote it. And therefore let there be white light and
fluff within you.

And thou who thinkest to seek for Me, know thy seeking and yearning shall
avail thee not, unless thou knowest the Mystery: that if thou do not own a
Scott Cunningham book and seekest Me, then thou shalt never find Me unless
you google Me or join an email list full of my Children which are many
because I am a Bunny after all...

For behold, I have been with thee from the beginning; and I am That which is
attained at the end of Wicca for the Solitary Practitioner or the middle if
you can't be bothered to read the whole thing.

Copyright © 2004 Gwen Wolfrose, all rights reserved.
May be reposted anywhere so long as this copyright is included

[lisa]

I'm confused...I thought one of the fundamental aspects of being a Wiccan (or any pagan for that matter), one which clearly separated us from the Christians, was a sort of understanding that "differerent" is not wrong...regardless if it was a completely different belief system or variations within our own...

And if a person wants to claim they can shapeshift into an insect or leap tall buildings in a single bound...who cares...obviously that person is trying to overcompensate for something or took a crapload of LSD at one point and never came back...

Point being...people lie and exhaggerate for all sorts of reasons, claim to be what they are not, or what they wish to be. If it doesn't harm you or affect you communing with your choice of Dieties in the manner you choose to, then it's really not a problem.

[scorn]

But, it is a problem because when they go around to people, who only have the influence of the media and church, and tell them that they are pagan and can shape shift and jump over buildings in one bound it makes all pagans seem crazy and adds to the bad name we have already gotten.
People dont take paganism seriously because of people who go around telling these "white lies". Why cant they just tell the truth?
And then you have to think of the amount of people who say things like this just to see if you will believe them, if your gulilble.

[lisa]

I'm sorry...but, I am still not buying that a bunch of people with low self-esteem and over-active imaginations, are creating a community-wide problem of epidemic proportions...

Adolf Hitler, Jim Jones, David Koresh, Osama Bin Laden...these people were dangerous, these people caused epidemics, real epidemics...and I don't see a pagan in the bunch.

When Fluffies begin mass murdering non-pagans in the name of Isis, then they're a problem...but short of that, be happy that they just live in a fantasy world and like to play pretend.

[Jen]

Whether it's because I've spent longer in the pagan online community than most other people, I don't know - but I used to get equally peeved off about "fluffies" as you scorn (and anyone else reading this who agrees).
Then I realised that it's pointless getting angry at someone who says things that I don't believe in or agree with.
I believe that everyone who crosses our paths, whether it be online or not, has something to teach us. Even if it's just confirming your own beliefs and ideas - it is still a lesson learnt.
There doesn't seem to be as many "fluffies" surfing the net as there used to be so it seems time has sorted the wheat from the chaff which is what generally happens, in any circle, anyway.

[scorn]

"With a fool no season spend or be counted as his friend."
-Wiccan Rede
Its called the craft of the wise not the craft of the nice.

Since when do you have to start killing people to be a nuisance? The guy selling heroin is a nuisance, and so is the one who verbally and emotionally abuses his wife. You dont have to kill or PHYSICALLY hurt someone to be a problem.

[watershield]

Ok, Fluffies exist and they do draw attention to a lot of silliness and misunderstanding about neo-paganism.
But then you have the Hari Krishna folks chanting on street corners that really tick off the Hindu community.
You've got the long haired, dirt covered dooms day preacher, quoting the bible and getting in the face of anybody who walks by.

If you pay attention, your going to find some element from every religion or belief that causes a bit of controversy or embarrassment. In time, these "situation" either adapt or fade away.

[watershield]

Oh...don't get me wrong. I've had many the rant about some kid, telling me she knows all there is to know about everything because she read scott cuninghams "book" and has been a wiccian for two weeks.

What I'm saying is ....thay can be annoying. And people look at them funny and do wonder if that's what it's really about. But every faith and path has their share of enthusiastic newbies. Hell, even I was a newbie once.... ok, hard to believe