Elizabeth Vong

Elizabeth is my closest friend and the pre-submission editor of my book. She's also published essays in 3 AM and newWitch magazines (look for her upcoming newWitch article on glamouring) and is a very experienced solitary Pagan. Her experience and candor is evident in her answers below.

The Second Circle: What is your background in Paganism? How long have you been practicing and what paths have you followed?

Elizabeth Vong: I've been involved in Paganism for the last seventeen years. I started out investigating Wicca, and was briefly a member of an eclectic Wiccan coven, but mostly I've practiced as a solitary Pagan, which is more or less where I am now.

TSC: How do you feel Paganism has changed since you started out?

E.V.: It's become much more recognized by mainstream society, if not always understood. When I first began at about age 16, the popular image of Wiccans and Pagans was that we were devil-worshiping Satanists. I grew up in the Bible Belt, so maybe this attitude was more prevalent there, but my impression was that there wasn't a lot of general knowledge about what being a Pagan really meant. At the time I got started, there weren't many Pagans my own age. Most of them seemed to be from the Woodstock generation, and many of them had gotten into Paganism through having been part of the Sixties subculture.

Now, after TV shows like Buffy or Charmed, and movies like The Craft, there seems to be more general awareness of Pagan and other magical/religious paths. On the other hand, I feel that this isn't always a good thing. While it's great that young people and those new to Paganism have many more resources available for them than when I was starting out back in the mid-Eighties, there's also a kind of "fashion witch" mentality, the idea that being a Pagan or Wiccan also means you've got to be a member of certain subcultures or have certain other interests, or that being a witch is all about being young, hip, and fashionably dressed. We're still seen as a fringe group, but a fringe group just about everybody under the age of 40 has had some contact with or met someone who's Pagan or Wiccan.

I think non-Pagans sometimes have the idea that all witches, Pagans and Wiccans are vapid and shallow, or the impression that you've got to be a teenage girl with piercings in order to be a witch or follow a Pagan path. Sometimes I wonder if it wasn't preferable, after all, to be mistaken for a Satanist instead of a fashion victim.

TSC: What is one thing that, in your eyes, characterizes the advancing Pagan?

E.V.: Having a sense of discretion. Unless you're already a part of an established tradition with definite limits, most of us are eclectic and sort of making it up as we go along. People at a certain level should recognize that there are elements of other religions that simply do not work well within a Pagan ritual/magical context, and you probably shouldn't incorporate every single thing that appeals to you into your own spirituality. While experimenting is necessary to an extent, at some point you've got to understand the difference between just liking something and genuinely feeling drawn to it. Just because something's cool and magical-seeming doesn't necessarily mean you should do it, and I think most advancing Pagans figure this out pretty quickly after leaving the newbie stage.

TSC: What advice would you give those who are just now leaving their beginning stage and looking to advance?

E.V.: Learn to truly understand yourself and your own motives, weaknesses, hot buttons, and strengths. Don't be in denial about anything, no matter how upsetting or painful. Understand that just calling yourself a Pagan or "realizing" you're a witch doesn't guarantee instant wisdom -- it takes hard work to acquire that. "Know thyself" is an excellent piece of advice that I've tried very hard to remember, and which I feel is crucial to advancing spiritually and personally. You can practice Paganism for years, but if you don't make an effort to understand yourself objectively and to be aware of your blind spots or weaknesses, you're not going to advance very much.

TSC: If you could go back in time and speak with yourself in your first year as a Pagan, what advice would you give to you?

E.V.: Not to take anybody else's word over my own best judgment or gut feelings. While most elders, teachers and HP's are responsible and helpful, I had the misfortune to be in a situation where I was being taken advantage of by someone in a position of power. At the time I was too naive to see this, because frankly I was flattered by all the attention I got and so didn't question what was going on. Because of this person, I was dragged into a really stupid "witch war" in the local community, and later I felt very ashamed of having participated in the ugliness. This was a big lesson for me -- listen to others, but question them too. Any person with real integrity can withstand questioning. If he or she can't, find another teacher.

TSC: What are the challenges you face as a more experienced Pagan? How do you meet those challenges?

E.V.: Sometimes I'm too judgmental. I tend to get impatient with Pagans who don't share some of my beliefs -- which are largely based on personal experience. I don't think this is a fair way to deal with other Pagans, though. Everyone was a newbie once, and it's not right to judge other people whose opinions differ from mine because they haven't had the kinds of experiences I have. Let's face it -- some of us are never going to have certain experiences no matter how long we practice, and it's a mistake to assume that the gods treat everyone equally, because they don't. Just because we're all Pagans, witches or whatever is no guarantee that we're all going to do the same things. So I have to remember that because my path has gone in a certain direction, that's no guarantee that others' will, and I can't really fault them if their experience and understanding doesn't match mine.

TSC: Do you have any rules or maxims that you follow? If so, what are they?

E.V.: I try to consider all the possible consequences of my actions. Sometimes, if I feel the repercussions are worth it or if action is necessary, I'll do what I feel I must rather than avoid action, but generally, I'd rather get through life without making it more difficult for myself and other people. The one rule I absolutely have is always sticking to my given word; I feel that breaking a promise is worse than telling a lie, since it not only makes people mistrustful of you, but it undermines your attempts to work magic successfully, not to mention the fact that certain deities and powers are less than sympathetic to oathbreakers. I'm not perfect, so sometimes I don't always succeed at damage control or promises, but I try very, very hard to be conscientious about both.

TSC: What are your primary areas of focus, spiritually speaking? If you are active in your local Pagan community, in what capacity do you see yourself working?

E.V.: I guess you could call me a Norse-influenced solitary Pagan, if we need a label for it. I don't do things like cast circles the Wiccan way; much of my actual practice is fairly simple and specifically focused around my patron deity and one or two others, and at some point I went from one of those "living room Pagans" to someone who isn't concerned with celebrating the Wheel of the Year so much as integrating my spirituality and my personal values into my everyday life. I'm interested in a lot of different things on a mostly academic level, like comparative mythology, divination, fairy tales and folklore, too.

I'm not really active in a local community sense, but I've been writing for Pagan publications, and I consider that not so much the position of a teacher or scholar as just sharing my ideas with others who may find them interesting.

TSC: Where do you see your Pagan path heading next? What goals or plans do you have for the future?