"You Are the Company You Keep"

That's a phrase I heard a lot in the sixth grade. My science and homeroom teacher, Ms Gassett, said it. Often. It was the title to a poem she had taced up on the front wall, and it's something I'll always remember. She said it more as a caution - you are who you surround yourself with, so pick your friends carefully - and she had a point in that. However, I see it more as something to verbalise what you already know - that you act differently with different people.

Maybe you've seen the article about it at PaganWiccan About. Maybe you haven't. But I was thinking about that quote, and then Patti's article came to mind, so I thought, hey, I have this niftly little blog, why not add some more to it. So . . . I am.

You are the company you keep. That applies to friends, family, pets . . . even deities. Yeah, weird, isn't it? But it makes sense, too.

Think about it: taking my own life as an example, this afternoon, my friend Chris was over to hang out with me and my twin sister. We've been friends with each other since the seventh grade, and we even dated for a while. It didn't go anywhere, but we're still close. He's a really casual guy, big on tabletop RPGs and writing. He's been published, in fact, and plans to open a book store in town after we graduate.

At any rate, I noticed while hanging out that I'm much . . . freer with my language around him than I am with most of my other friends. I swear a bit more, I discuss a wider variety of things. I'm more open and outspoken.

Compare that to another friend of mine, Preston. He games too. He's big on Yu-Gi-Oh! and I'm introducing him to Dungeons and Dragons. He's very conservative and has a lot of misconceptions without even realising it - a recently cleared up one being that 'Pagan' is a term for 'Satanic cult.'

With Preston, I tend to be fairly quiet; I listen more and tune him out when he talks about Yu-Gi-Oh! because, frankly, I played it when I was seven and then got bored. Yes, the cards are shiny now, I will happily coo over them in appreciation. THst's as far as my interest goes. With Preston, I talk more about drama club and books, politics, and occasionally tackle him when he tries to 'exorcise' me(old joke dating back to Freshman year. I declared I was going to steal his soul for eating my cake.). I don't swear a LOT around him, but I do use a few milder curse words when making a point.

As a final example, Katy. Among all of the friends I've mentioned, she's the only one that knows I'm a witch. Chris thinks I'm Agnostic, and Preston thinks I'm vaguely Christian. Katy is a year younger than me, MUCH smarter than I am, Agnostic herself, a fellow military brat, and very opinionated, with most of those opinions being considered outlandish by the majority of the United States' population.

With Katy, I discuss fanfiction, writing, Harry Potter, religion, family, politics, psychology, medical problems, music and why our Chorus teacher ought to be sacked. In brief: we talk about anything and everything that comes to mind, with the only topic closed for discussion being her theory of my hearing loss being neurological in origin. She believes everything connects back to the brain directly, and we've agreed to disagree on why I've been losing my hearing. With her I swear very little, but discuss a lot of less-than-ethical subjects and there's a lot of repartee and satire between the two of us.

So. Three people. Three totally different ways of acting. Outspoken and loose-languaged, versus quiet and philisophical, versus outlandish and brutally honest, with lots of ethical questioning.

Why would it NOT be the same way with gods and goddesses? Or spirits or the elements or who/whatever it is a person worships and believes in? Would you treat the Morrigan the same way as you would, say, Athena? Or Aphrodite? Would you show reverence to Mars the same way you would to Cayote or Thor? Or Odin or Ishtar?

Each are a seperate (if linked, depending on your beliefs) entities, and deserve the respect they personally would expect. I wouldn't discuss why exactly para-human studies aren't ethical with Chris - he'd be completely bored and it wouldn't have a point. I wouldn't discuss sports with Katy because she'd think it's a waste of time. I wouldn't treat them in the same way, so why would I a deity?

Just some food for thought.

 - Janie L.