This week’s TIP comes via a recent rant. It is a perfectly legitimate rant, because it‘s something that happens all the time, it’s frustrating to see when it does, and really, it lessens all of us when it occurs. Especially, when you consider the wealth of knowledge on different cultures and practices that we are missing out on because of it. I think (except for those that it affects directly), we’ve probably all done it at one time or another, but this doesn’t make it right. It just means that we all need to be more careful and actively make the effort to try to change the way we think when it comes to those we are interacting with.

This doesn’t apply to everyone (to be sure), however there seems to be a tendency within the Pagan community to assume that everyone is Wiccan, or on a Wicca-based path, and that we all celebrate the same Sabbats around the same time, and in generally the same way. There is a bit of “tunnel vision”, often forgetting that there are many different paths, all who have their own various holidays and celebrations. Not all of them are Sabbat related (or called Sabbats) – even if some of them are celebrated on, or around the same dates.

It’s also very frustrating to see how many people forget entirely that the Northern Hemisphere is NOT the only Hemisphere that exists. Many tend to ignore completely those Pagans who live on the “flip-side” as it were. Which means that even if they do happen to celebrate the Sabbats (which again, not all do) they will be doing so on a schedule that is completely opposite to what would be done in the Northern Hemisphere. It wouldn’t make any sense to celebrate seasonal holidays, outside of the season that they occur in, but for some reason, we often assume that those in the Southern Hemisphere do, if we even consider them at all.

So this week’s TIP is a reminder to expand our horizons just a bit. While clearly if you are discussing something with your local coven or group, it might not be such an issue, but in larger gatherings, and especially if you are participating in an online Pagan community or discussion, it’s worth the extra effort to remember that not everyone does things exactly in the same way. Nor would we want them too… imagine how boring it would be if we did.