What kind of Wolf are you?

In the Neo-Pagan world, we often like to think of ourselves as Wolves amongst men. It's easy symbology coming straight from our Christian surroundings. They like to think of themselves as sheep being guarded by the shepherd. Christ is shown in art as a youth with a lamb over his shoulders. What exactly does this mean?

Domesticated sheep are very scared herd animals. If you frighten them too much before slaughter, it actually spoils the flavor of the meat. They do best in large groups, grazing safely with a human companion and some trained dogs. They look up to the shepherd to keep the wolves away. They have few natural defenses. In essence, they are dependent.

Wolves on the other hand, work as teams and families hunting. They have complex social structure. They are constantly using their intellect to survive a world that hunts them down and shoots them. They don't have an all powerful God watching over them in protection. They are the true meaning behind "God helps those who help themselves".

So... where am I exactly going with this?

This is where sociology and constructs come in. Constructs , simply put, are ideas in our heads about how things are-- our group version of truth. Everyone does it. My sociology professor had some really interesting things to say about that-- and I am going to very loosely quote him here, because I'm remembering it from several years ago:

THE FIVE KINDS OF PEOPLE:

#1- They don't know society is a construct, and they are happy living in their construct.
#2- They don't know society is a construct, and they are unhappy living in their construct. They never figure out why they are unhappy.
#3- They know it's a construct, and are happy to live in it. They've found ways to excel in it and manipulate the construct to their liking.
#4- They know it's a construct, and they think it sucks. They find ways to survive in it, they cope they best they can.. but they still hate it.
#5- They know it's a construct, think it sucks, and fail miserably at surviving in it.

What kind of wolf are you?

Obviously, #1 is a sheeple. They are ignorant, stupid and easily pacified.
#2 is a sheeple. They are ignorant, stupid and never learn from their mistakes.
#3 is a wolf. They are educated, in harmony with their environment, and masters of their domain. Possibly an Alpha.
#4 is wolf. They are observant, not always in harmony with their environment but do what they must to survive. They are likely the lower ranking wolves in the pack.
#5 is wolf. They are that dumb ass wolf who gets kicked out of the pack and thinks he's a stud because he's "lone wolf". This is that loner who's chances of survival in the natural world have just been cut in half because he can't hunt in a pack, he has to fend for himself daily and makes chaos for himself. You know know this type.. we have a million of them in Neo-Paganism. They reject society, the reject anything they deem "yuppy", they reject anything that will make them an honest living and help them survive. Dude. If you're here.. you're just as bad off as Sheeple #2. You could learn from your mistakes, but you just have too much resentment to move on.

This brings up dependence, independence and co-dependency-- three issues I'll talk about a lot in my quest for tightwaddery. There's a reason they call it "financial independence". It's the way of the Wolf. It might just be the way of our Goddess as well.

Aggie

Why does tightwaddery matter to me?

#1) As a single parent, I don't have the luxury of a two income household. So many of the financial advise columns and articles I read assume that you're middle class and two income. What about the rest of us?

#2) I'm older now and I have goals in life I want to reach. Most of my past financial goals were "eat and pay the bills". I want more out of life than that. I have few investments because of this hand-to-mouth past, and that's gotta change in these economic times. I'm pushing 40 and the last 20 years of my financial life have been wasted. The next 20 have to make up for it.

#3) Upcoming economic times. They're threatening a recession, and if it happens, America is in for a world of hurt. My current income is pretty secure, but with inflation and the rising cost of living, the budget is only going to get tighter.

#4) I watch my friends fail ... and I feel like there is little I can do to help them. Some of them ask me just to listen to their woes, some of them ask me for advise.. some of them are so clueless they have no idea where to start. I try to be supportive, but dayum--- I also just feel like choking them to death. There are times I need to vent.. and vent bad. Hope someone benefits from it.

#5) I've often used tightwaddery to survive, but I want to use tightwaddery for goods that match my religion and politics now. I've gone for years without or purchasing second hand thrift store goods. For some things, I wanna trade up. I now want organic food, I want organic clothing (silks, wools and cottons) and I want Fair Trade goods. Time to put my Pagan money where my Pagan mouth is. I'll never give up thrift stores and avoiding Walmart... but I do want to invest in local economies.

#6) I just love socioeconomics and sociology. Besides my classes in art, I loved sociology the most. Social constructs, institutions and social problems facinate me. I took one class called "social problems" that was about nothing but poverty, urban crime, drug use, lack of education, lack of healthcare and such. It really prepared me a lot for working with Title I students, more than any of the student psychology classes could have. Tightwaddery isn't just about YOUR dollar and what you do with it.. it's about your world and the construct you're stuck in.

Aggie