why are some pagans pretentious with their craft names?

Question

before anybody gets offended this is from one pagan to others, and i know not all choose secondary names. but to me it seems a bit disrespectful to call yourself "lord" or "lady," or naming yourself after a god/goddess. perhaps some people see it as flattery? then again you could come up with something off the wall like copper ducklynx lol.

1. if i burn in hell, you're going to be right there with me.
2. a craft name is not a screen name, do more research before you answer please.

Answer 1

I really get irked by the ones who feel the need to call themselves "reverend"...Misinterpretation of the idea that we are all clergy, which only meant we didn't need a mediator between ourselves and deity, not that we should all be ordained.

For the most part even those who earn titles within their own traditions find out that it doesn't really mean jack outside of their tradition.

Answer 2

Everyone has a different personality. Have you ever been at a Pagan Pride Day celebration and yelled "Morgan!" really loud. You'll get several young girls attention. Also there are far too many names with the words, shadow, cloud, moon, night, walker, and references to bears, owls, wolves and eagles. I have a craft name and so does my husband, but many people do not. This is what happens when a whole bunch of people who haven't found their creative side pick a craft name. In the Old days, you waited a year and a day before choosing a craft name. Now adays people go through craft names as fast as email addys.

I've also seen plenty of people name themselves after anime characters and fantasy novels. Lady Galadriel...hmmm. If you don't have an imagination, steal Tolkien's. Atreyu, Akira, Aladdin, etc. Just because they have found a different path doesn't mean they are creative.

Just something to chew on.

Love and Light.

Anastasia (Craft name Anthea)
Husband is Jason (Craft name Zenn)

Answer 3

Okay...I will admit that if all I knew about a person was their craft name and that craft name was pretentious, I would automatically think "fluffy". If possible, I'd still try to get to know the person and hope that I was wrong (it's happened enough). I like the idea of hearing someone using a name that denotes son/daughter of deity. Some ways of doing this is to use Ap or Mac in the name. I would feel uncomfortable in a small circle praying to a deity where someone in the circle had the same name as the deity being called. That's just a personal thing though. I agree that elders usually use their real names/nicknames in public.

On my pagan yahoo groups, I use my real first name. But at public events, I use "Witchy" because my real name is very unusual and hard to pronounce. When I try to use my real name in person I usually get the response of "What?" or "What do people call you?". Plus, I've been called Witchy for so long now that few people in my community even know my real name--if they ever knew it to begin with. I have a private name that my deities gave me when I dedicated my life to them, but that is something that I have always kept private.

Answer 4

I understand what you mean, I don't have a craft name, but have many on-screen names, that have little to no relevance to anything.

Silver Ravenwolf is a perfect example!! I have never come across a Ravenwolf in my life, and certainly not a Silver one!!

I don't mind people using coven names or craft names, but surely it is better for them to be something simple or something that is personal to them? Years ago, when I started out, I thought about using the name Floyd, as it had been the name of a dog I knew when I was 3, and it used to tickle me by poking me in the stomach. Poor thing died of cancer, I was told later on. For some reason, that dog and it's name stayed with me. I don't think I will ever use the name for myself, but have often thought of getting a dog and calling it that.

I have read many arguments for and against craft names, and I can't see it either way. I think it is up to the individual, but I do agree that a person should never call themselves by a deities name or by the titles Lord and Lady, until they have earned the right.

BB
)O(

Answer 5

Not all of it is pretentiousness, although certainly there is a lot of that going around.

First, one should not call oneself "Lady" anything, unless one has daughter covens. If you don't even know what that means, don't ever call yourself "Lady". The same principle applies to male Witches and using the term "Lord".

Second, some Pagans take Craft names in order to indicate devotion to a particular Deity. While I certainly agree that taking the name of the Deity him- or her-self is over the top, one can have a name like "Brigit's Daughter" in cases like that.

And now for a little story that illustrates this phenomenon perfectly.

YEARS ago, in the very beginnings of conventions/worldwide gathering of Pagans, a friend of mine was participating in a panel discussion on Eldership. During this discussion, a sweet young thing who was wearing a crown and a leg garter and a floaty "occult" gown, with a name tag reading "Lady ____" on it, stood up and asked "How can you tell if someone is an Elder?"

That lead to an erudite discussion of Eldership in various Traditions of the Craft, with explanations of the different ways in which different Traditions initiated or acknowledged one as an Elder in that Tradition.

Frustrated, the sweet young thing then said "That's not what I meant. I mean, how can you tell an Elder by looking at them?"

To which my friend replied: "They usually wear street clothes to things like this, and have their REAL name on their name tag."

(And, indeed, every Elder sitting at the table WAS doing just that)

Answer 6

I totally know what you mean. My first High Priestess had a bunch of names and when she introduced herself to people, this is how it sounded:

"Hi, my rainbow name is Calico and my Craft name is Rowena and my dance name is Maya...."

One day I asked her what her real name is and she said that she was like the Goddess with many names. Yeah, for the record, she was a pretentious *****.

Maybe having a Craft name is their opportunity to rename themselves in the image they want to be in. Since people generally want power, they give themself a powerful name, like that of a Goddess.

I don't think it's wrong to name yourself after a Goddess, as long as the person knows that she is only an extension of the Goddess and not the Goddess Herself.

I didn't pick my Craft name. It was given to me by the Goddess and I only use it during ritual. It came to me in a dream, and I think it's an okay name.

Blessed be.

Answer 7

Lord & Lady are generally terms used to refer to the God & Goddess, though their use in some covens and circles to refer to the High Priest and Priestess is an anachronism that is found meaningful, a reference to the feudal era's terms for those of higher standing.

Many cultures and peoples use the names of their various deities as names or the basis of names. For example, hispanic culture includes 'Jesus' (hey-zeus) as a common name for a male, but this is not considered disrespectful. Mary is a popular latinized name, yet it is not considered an insult of the mother of Jesus.

Ultimately, it's in the eye of the beholder whether it's disrespectful or not, because no one can know but the user if it's been chosen respectfully or not.

Answer 8

It is considered by some to be a tribute to name yourself after a god or goddess,personally my craft name is the name of a species of tree,won't tell you which one,given to me BY the god and goddess during initiation,so I took it.I think if you choose the name of deity, that deity should have some quality you also have or it IS pretentious.

Answer 9

Craft names are in ordinary terms Gardnerian and Alexandrian Wiccan stuff for covens as Black Aliss says, they have not have been given any area in Heathenry. Heathens are proud of their kinfolk and the names we inherit/given at delivery. No real Heathen might substitute their call from the kinfolk call which would be shameful yet we could use a descriptive nickname given to us via our friends which comprise Egil's father became time-honored as Skallagrim from Grim. A Wiccan craft call for use in the non-public of the coven is replaced once you flow from neophyte to witch, the witch call being a god or goddess's call and isn't any longer advised to anyone outdoors the coven.

Answer 10

If I want to call myself Princess Buttercup, I am free to.

We are all gods and goddesses, so it is not pretentious for one to call themselves that. I'm sure covens think it is only the HP and HPS' right to call themselves Lord and Lady but that is utter BS. Degrees do not make someone more or less a goddess or god.

Answer 11

reading through this makes me think that maybe the shtick that irritated me so much about pagans is no longer the dominant persona of paganism. which means that maybe this time when i find myself online wishing i had a community that felt real instead of omg you've got to be kidding you're so full of yourself.. maybe they are out there now.