I’m new here, and English is not my first language so I apologize in advance for any language mistakes. Feel free to correct any blatant errors or ask me to clarify if my bad grammar makes something not make sense (it could of course not make sense in any case, but… 
). And I hope I posted this in the right place?
This is, I admit, a rather trivial and shallow observation, but still, it’s something that I have come across many, many times when running into all sorts of woos.
I am a non-believer in all sorts of woo, the paranormal, astrology... what have you, and I am an atheist as well. Still, when finding myself in situations where I met a new group of people, the woo(s) in the group, if there is/are any, tend to sort of “adopt” me right away. At parties or other social gatherings they drag me to a corner, happy to have found a “fellow woo” that they can discuss angels with, or tarot cards, or astral projections and auras. In both of the art schools I’ve attended I was at once invited to join the newage clique. On several occasions I’ve been invited to witch covens, new age festivals and goddesses parties under the full moon. And all this by people I didn’t previously know. So what is it about me that screams “fellow woo” when I at best find all those things boring, and at worst feels seriously depressed over the credulous state of such a large part of mankind? Why do they all want to know who my guardian angel is, what color my aura has and who I was in a former life, when I only find it incredibly embarrassing that a grown-up is expressing such blind beliefs in such utter nonsense?
With me and woos it’s sort of the equivalent of cats always wanting to jump onto the lap of the most allergic person in the room.
I figured out, a few years back, why this is. It’s my looks, plain and simple. I like “gypsy-style” tunics and similar “hippie-style” clothing, because I find it pretty, it’s very comfortable to wear and I have found it to be quite complimentary of my figure (and finding such isn’t an easy task, believe me
). I also like long hair and I haven’t cut mine in many years (aside from trimming) and it now reaches my knees. I always liked exotic jewelry as well. And painting and writing is both my hobby and my job. All this, I have discovered, is the cast from which newage people are molded! You can NOT look like that and not be a woo!
I am a rather shy person who usually listens politely even to unbearable blabber for a while, but sooner or later I have to pull out and tell the woo that “kidnapped” me that they got it all wrong, I am not at all a fellow woo, and does not believe the slightest in the things they are talking about. And then I am mostly met with quite a negative reaction, no matter how politely I try to explain this. I have fooled these people. I am guilty of false advertising. Well, excuse me for having the personal taste in clothes and jewelry that I have, I didn’t know that a woo-brain must come with it.
Of course, these days I do know that . But I prefer to still dress the way I feel comfortable with and not care about that this misunderstanding will occur now and then, and if they don’t want to be pals after I have shown my true colors… well, I don’t really see that as a great loss. This is not a problem in my life; I just thought it would be amusing to share this trivial and very personal observation. I am not at all saying that this reflects any sort of truth in a wider sense; I am generalizing a bit, based on personal experience. But it did make me realize once how much fashion actually is an important factor even when it comes to beliefs.
Or non-beliefs? Must you be dressing in certain ways to be taken seriously as a skeptic?
). And I hope I posted this in the right place? This is, I admit, a rather trivial and shallow observation, but still, it’s something that I have come across many, many times when running into all sorts of woos.
I am a non-believer in all sorts of woo, the paranormal, astrology... what have you, and I am an atheist as well. Still, when finding myself in situations where I met a new group of people, the woo(s) in the group, if there is/are any, tend to sort of “adopt” me right away. At parties or other social gatherings they drag me to a corner, happy to have found a “fellow woo” that they can discuss angels with, or tarot cards, or astral projections and auras. In both of the art schools I’ve attended I was at once invited to join the newage clique. On several occasions I’ve been invited to witch covens, new age festivals and goddesses parties under the full moon. And all this by people I didn’t previously know. So what is it about me that screams “fellow woo” when I at best find all those things boring, and at worst feels seriously depressed over the credulous state of such a large part of mankind? Why do they all want to know who my guardian angel is, what color my aura has and who I was in a former life, when I only find it incredibly embarrassing that a grown-up is expressing such blind beliefs in such utter nonsense?
With me and woos it’s sort of the equivalent of cats always wanting to jump onto the lap of the most allergic person in the room.
I figured out, a few years back, why this is. It’s my looks, plain and simple. I like “gypsy-style” tunics and similar “hippie-style” clothing, because I find it pretty, it’s very comfortable to wear and I have found it to be quite complimentary of my figure (and finding such isn’t an easy task, believe me
). I also like long hair and I haven’t cut mine in many years (aside from trimming) and it now reaches my knees. I always liked exotic jewelry as well. And painting and writing is both my hobby and my job. All this, I have discovered, is the cast from which newage people are molded! You can NOT look like that and not be a woo! I am a rather shy person who usually listens politely even to unbearable blabber for a while, but sooner or later I have to pull out and tell the woo that “kidnapped” me that they got it all wrong, I am not at all a fellow woo, and does not believe the slightest in the things they are talking about. And then I am mostly met with quite a negative reaction, no matter how politely I try to explain this. I have fooled these people. I am guilty of false advertising. Well, excuse me for having the personal taste in clothes and jewelry that I have, I didn’t know that a woo-brain must come with it.
Of course, these days I do know that
. But I prefer to still dress the way I feel comfortable with and not care about that this misunderstanding will occur now and then, and if they don’t want to be pals after I have shown my true colors… well, I don’t really see that as a great loss. This is not a problem in my life; I just thought it would be amusing to share this trivial and very personal observation. I am not at all saying that this reflects any sort of truth in a wider sense; I am generalizing a bit, based on personal experience. But it did make me realize once how much fashion actually is an important factor even when it comes to beliefs. Or non-beliefs? Must you be dressing in certain ways to be taken seriously as a skeptic?
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