No, but I can't wait to bust out my tape now....now do we suspect that Ben and Glory are connected somehow?

I saw a magazine called New Witch and Barnes & Noble last night.

It had an article about invokng Buffy as a kind of goddess. The writer started by building an alter covered with pictures of Buffy. I didn't read the whole thing, but I was most entertained by the idea.

ETA: And here is the article. Google is a magical thing.

This is a little weird:

Remember: you aren't dealing with a real person, you're working with the perception of that person. It's vital to keep positive: if you allow any negatives into your perception you weaken the potency of your magick.

Understanding that we are talking characters, I can't think of a single interesting character without a downside. Except Zoe, so far, I guess, if I overlook that I don't think Wash is attractive.

Oh yes, that article. Completely took over my pagan mailing list a few months ago. The main problem with it is that New Witch is a cheap rag written at a second grade level.

Well, I've joked that Buffy has taken the place of religion in my life, but isn't it kind of disrespectful to recommend that sincere practitioners of a legitimate religion make altars and say prayers to a fictional cheerleader?

Sorry to bring back painful memories if I did, Jess. I hadn't seen it before.

I admit I read it thinking it was goofy, but on a reread it seems like the writer is basically talking about the same thing as those "What Would Jesus Do?" bracelets -- going to your understanding of a higher being for help through your day. It's like Lennon said -- whatever gets you through the night, whether that's saying the rosary or sacrificing pictures of a TV show heroine.

(And FTR, my own spirtual beliefs are of the wishwashy, new-agey, "god is in everything and everything is in god" sort. Sadly, they don't make t-shirts for us.)

Dude, when I called Munch my spiritual mentor, I was *kidding*. But I would die before writing an article about it...unless...what do they pay?

isn't it kind of disrespectful to recommend that sincere practitioners of a legitimate religion make altars and say prayers to a fictional cheerleader?

Well....no. Because, first, it's not about worshipping Buffy, it's about invoking her. And who's to say that the Slayer is a less legitimate aspect of the Goddess to explore than any other, just because the genesis of the idea came from a screenplay?

Frankly, I think the article is badly written and incredibly shallow. But it's coming from a well-intentioned place, and the ideas it's based on aren't stupid.

Oh, right. I've done that when I meditate but usually it's Cesar Chavez or Dorothy Parker, or somebody. Although a meditation on faith had some uinintended benefits for me once. I used to have "What would Lenny Briscoe do?" as a tagline back when.

Well, I've joked that Buffy has taken the place of religion in my life, but isn't it kind of disrespectful to recommend that sincere practitioners of a legitimate religion make altars and say prayers to a fictional cheerleader?

Jess linked that a while back. I asked a Wiccan Priestess friend about it, on another board. If I recall correctly, she said what you'd be doing, in a case like that, is drawing on the powers the fictional character possesses. Iirc, She was iffy on it herself, for herself, but knew people who did it.