Fluffy bunnies and superiority complexes

[Vigdisdotter]

Anyway - the term 'fluffy' is used to label those very new to the craft, or those that some people think have not understood the 'true' meaning of witchcraft.

You do realize that you just made the same erroneous blanket statement that you're ranting about, right?

while some new people CAN be "fluffy bunnies" in the truest sense of the term, nothing says that all newbies are. I certainly wouldn't dub anyone any given thing beyond "newbie" just because they are new.

To me, "fluffy bunny" is a less then savoury attitude (much like "fundy") that has nothing to do with the number of years someone has been doing something.

I remember when myself and the rest that were fighting to keep our spiritual community together got labelled "fluffy bunnies." So at the next meeting we all showed up with stuffed toy bunnies that we had pasted claws and fangs on

[Sobek]

well not that stormy has been here in a good long while, the way i understood what she was going on with was not soo much the term "fluffy bunny" but the way it is used by more experienced practitioners as a derogatory statement coupled with her own experiences on the subject along with some things she has seen as an impartial observer.

[Vigdisdotter]

well not that stormy has been here in a good long while, the way i understood what she was going on with was not soo much the term "fluffy bunny" but the way it is used by more experienced practitioners as a derogatory statement coupled with her own experiences on the subject along with some things she has seen as an impartial observer.

I'm an "experienced practitioner" and that's not how I use it.

So like I said, it's the same kind of generalization as what she was ranting about

[Sercee]

Vigdisdotter, that's unfortunately how a lot of people 'experienced practitioners' use the term. It's good that you don't though.

[Vigdisdotter]

Vigdisdotter, that's unfortunately how a lot of people 'experienced practitioners' use the term. It's good that you don't though.

Yes it is unfortunate, but some doesn't equal the whole. And as this is a text based media, word choice makes all the differences in the world. If you will look back at the part of the OP's post that I back quoted, you'll see what I was referring too and thus why I said what I did.

I'm all for ranting, I think it's very healthy. But when a broad brush is used, the ranter becomes what they are ranting against.

[Lark]

I do agree with Vigisdotter that many experienced Pagans would never refer to a newbie as a "fluff bunny". Certainly I do not (and I've been doing this for near 20 years) nor do most the experienced Pagans of my acquaintance.

One of the best definitions of "Fluff Bunny" that I've run across is "Someone who isn’t looking for any meaningful spiritual experience, but rather for an unchallenging ego-boost to make themselves feel special". This is a person who doesn't want to learn more than the surface "facts", who doesn't want to do the work to create a genuine spiritual relationship with Deity, and who really doesn't care one way or the other about whether their beliefs are valid as long as they can look "cool" and "special".

Someone else that I know expanded this to include:

Someone who consistently quotes incorrect facts, despite being given good sources and true facts by multiple people

A hypocrite in that they rip off and thieve from everyone while condescendingly protecting their own babblings

Someone who hates without knowledge and who WILL NOT learn about that which they don't know about

Someone who is willfully ignorant

Someone who believes that book study is all it takes and who won't apply what they learned out of the book in their daily lives

Someone who is more interested in using Paganism in general as an escape from their lives and/or reality than because they have a genuine feeling of connection to something greater than themselves

Someone who is using Paganism in general as a way to shore up their ego and the personality problems they have.

I think it is also important to note that these comments, while aimed at the Pagan community, apply equally to all religions. There can also be fluffy Muslims, fluffy Christians, etc.

Nope, newbies are not fluffy to me. They simply don't have all of the information yet, and since they are by definition "New" one cannot expect them too. They need to be encouraged to delve deeper into their path. They need to be taught. And most importantly, those who ARE experienced need to show them through their own way of living and interacting with the Gods and with other people what it means to be Pagan.

-Lark-