Thursday, October 2, 2008

Words of Power

As Witches we all know that words have Power. As Women we know words have Power. So why do so many people get irritated by the words Wimmin, Wombyns, Herstory and other words that have been created by the Feminist and Dianic movement. I will admit I did for a while, they just sounded so silly. But then I understood it, their silliness aside, it is important to have these words because they make people think. They jump out of you, and give your subconscious a nudge. They make you question the status quo, and realise that yes, History does alienate women. It is HIs Story. woMEN, etc, etc...

People that say these things have no effect, I will ask you, so NLP doesn't work then? For those that don't know, NLP is this,

NLP is about Language

Language affects how we think and respond. The very process of converting experience into language requires that we condense, distort, and summarise how we perceive the world.

NLP provides questions and patterns to make our communication more clearly understood. NLP teaches us to understand how language affects us through implicit and embedded assumptions.

The English language is full of traps and pitfalls for the unwary communicator... for example, if you are told NOT to think of a kangaroo, you will immediately think of a kangaroo, which is the opposite result from that intended!

Listen for the use of implied assumptions when you use the word "but". For example, "I like the way that you did that piece of work, but... ." The listener tends to forget everything that went before the "but", waiting for problems to emerge.

Since advertisers, the media and politicians use language to convey their messages, learning about language through NLP can increase awareness and "consumer protection" for your mind.
http://www.anlp.org/index.asp?CatName=What%20is%20NLP&CatID=32&PageID=199



Words have the power to change, to ridicule, to support, to harm, to do magick. So surely changing words that have hidden agendas is a valid exercise? Whether you like them or not.

3 comments:

  1. It is amazing to already hear children castigating themselves at pre school/Primary age!

    I try very hard to be as encouraging as I can especially when dealing with young children ...I work with primary school aged children doing Environmental Education (Playwoork, Forest School etc )

    Having said that, I AM aware I don't apply the same rigour to Compostgirl and I have to stop being so critical of her...but its much harder when it is your own child and they have just annoyed the heck out of you for the umpteenth time.............

    Your blog is very thought provoking and interesting MD....

    Good posts!

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  2. But but but but but... they sound silly!

    Actually I think it's a symptom of feminine mysogeny. They hate the idea of being under mens' thumbs so much have to come up with new words to avoid being reminded of the thing they hate. Whereas it'd be much healthier if they just rose above it.

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  3. I think LoM, there may be an element of that, but I think it is becoming less and less. These words even through their silliness make you stop and think. Although I realise that the danger is that they will just make you stop and move away. I know they weren't intended as more separatist language, but perhaps that's what they have become. But like I have said before elsewhere, at least we are talking about it.

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