“What You Say Next Will Change Your World.” Marshal Rosenberg.
As Bard and Seiði language is my power – the very word “spell” is about the power of narrative – I think care in word choice ought to be in my tool bag. Even in the healthcare profession, calling people names [the pancreas in room 1208] is frowned upon. The risk, my friends, we violate their humanity, an act of violence at the root of all others.
Labeling is disabling.
People are not evil. American habit, at least, is to say so, and thus deny a person any chance of change in our narrative. A person may make evil choices that unnecessarily disrupt life. Then again, labeling someone “evil” does that, too. When has violence ever resolved unnecessary suffering?
A person might even be in the habit of making evil choices and acting on them. Their reputation may last centuries their choices are so evil. And I wonder, and pray to the almighty god of literature and science, If: “What if …?”
What if we see a young child make a brutal choice and act on it? What if rather than punishing them as evil doers, we talk to them, ask them about their needs and values, negotiate to help them find better strategies and virtues? Would they grow up to be monsters?
A hundred people may face devastating financial loss with only one committing suicide or murder because of it. What did the ninety-nine know, or have that the one did not have? I propose it was narrative: “That was bad” is far better to cope with than “I was bad.”
No, individuals can only be responsible for their own choices, in thoughts, words, or deeds. I think those of us in commune with magic know what kind of effect a word can have on a spirit.
I wonder, and pray to the almighty god of literature and science, If: “What if …?”
What if the Alliance had kept their promise to Germany after the first half of the World War, would the Third Reich have had any influence? Would the Thule Society have allowed itself to be corrupted with politics? And what if Abe Lincoln had been honest and not have suckered the South into a war? Would there have been a Crimean War or World War?
