I’ve been getting a number of emails from ASL and Interpreting students, asking permission to quote from my blog for a paper or project they are doing for one of their classes.
I am honored to receive such requests, and happy to grant such permission. I still prefer that you contact me if you do wish to quote from my blog for such purposes, but I am pleased to see that this blog is being used as a resource for helping to further the studies of those interested in learning more about American Sign Language and Deaf Culture.
Most of these requests have come from individuals who have shown an interest in demonstrating the spiritual diversity that can and does exist in the Deaf Community, and some of the challenges of such.
In short, they are researching and writing about Deaf Paganism.
I too am researching and writing about Deaf Paganism. I’m just as much a student of this subject as any of you. Even though I have been a Deaf Pagan for nearly thirty years, there is still much I am learning, and need to learn.
Every day I am discovering new and fascinating things about Deaf Paganism, and being a Deaf Pagan. In particular, I am interested in doing a comparative analysis of the similarities between the Deaf Community and the Pagan Community… as I do believe such similarities exist, and perhaps should be explored more closely. I hope to be doing some writing on this in the near future.
But in the meantime, I would like to encourage those with an interest in learning more about Deaf Paganism to check out these posts I wrote in the past ~
Are Deaf Pagans Public Enough?
Providing Interpreters for Pagan Events
To Capitalize… or not to capitalize?
Three Bars of Soap and a Massage
Is Pagan Okay In the Deaf Community?
Deaf-Friendly, Pagan-Friendly Spiritual Conference
Pagan-Friendly Sign Language Interpreters
This sculpture shows the sign for "connect"...and that is what Deaf Pagan Crossroads is all about - making connections. Connections between Deafhood and Paganism, connections between the Deaf Community and the Hearing Community, connections between myself as the writer and you as the reader. I hope you will take the time to read my various posts, some of which are listed below. Welcome to the Crossroads, and I hope you make some connections here!
I would encourage everyone - whether Deaf, Pagan, or a combination of both - to read the various blogs Ocean has listed here. I think you will find them well-written, interesting, and thought-provoking. They provide great insight into what it means to be Deaf and Pagan, from the perspective of one who has lived in both communities for over twenty-five years.
Ocean has done a tremendous job in raising consciousness about Deafhood within the Pagan Community, and about Paganism within the Deaf Community. Her tireless efforts to bridge the two worlds and bring about a greater understanding and appreciation for both deserves our recognition, and our respect.
Thank you, Ocean.
Hey, good post :).
Anyway, I want to inform you that I just read “Discovering Cosmic Mother Goddess” (sp?) last week. It was an amazing read because of the shift of paradigm on the early human cultures being more matrilocal. Or rather, like my yet another author I read (who I love a lot) named Riane Eisler calls partnership culture (or society). These books show by many powerful archeological evidences that for 300,00 years of humans (and possibly other homo types), the Goddess was the main god worshiped.
Just wondering if you can research more on how it is possible that signed languages developed in these Goddess-worshiping societies long ago by theorizing it out?
hi dear friend deaf in the world deaf walk we wantto knowyour project
Just curious, but in question of verbal rituals in which you vibrate god names and the likes for Magickal acts; How does one (if Deaf) either
1. Know they are vibrating the names correctly, and or
2. is there a substitute that provides the same grandour for a ritual??
I am a Thelamite, know fluent ASL and I want to invite a Deaf friend to a Gnostic Mass, but this one question has been lingering on my mind…
Any thoughts??
Since I am not familiar with the specific type of ritual which you describe, it would be hard for me to give advice on specific ways of making this ritual accessible.
However, it does appear that you are trying to create the same type of outcome for a Deaf person within an environment that may simply may not generate that type of outcome. As a general rule, Deaf people are visually-oriented, so a ritual that bases itself predominately on sound is not going to have the same impact on a Deaf person that it would for a hearing person. And since the “grandeur” of such a ritual is based on that sound, finding a similar substitute may be difficult, unless you can come up with ways to make it more visual. While some Deaf people are capable of speaking, chanting, or verbally vibrating the names as you describe it, others are not. Thus some may get something out of this ritual, while others may not.
The one idea that does come to mind is the use of balloons which a Deaf person can hold in order to feel the vibrations; however, this would not necessarily help them with recreating the sound themselves. A skilled interpreter might be able to find visual ways of describing the sounds in a way that would provide a comparable visual description that will capture that same essence of the ritual, but not everyone has this skill.
My best advice to you is…. talk to your Deaf friend. S/he is the best expert about the type of accommodations needed. Each Deaf person is different, and thus his or her needs may be different. Your friend would be best able to state whether s/he is interested in attending such a ritual and after discussing what could expected, the two of you (along with the ritual leaders) could come up with ideas that will allow for this particular Deaf person to participate in and enjoy the experience.
I wish you the best.