About The Pagan Perspective:
The Pagan Perspective is a collaborative channel on YouTube. It was started in August 2009 by Cara and Kyle, in response to the lack of Pagan collaborative channels on YouTube. Each week, the members give their personal perspectives on topics suggested by our viewers. Members come from various paths and religious backgrounds, representing various age groups and home locations. Our goal is to show both similarities and differences between individuals and types of Pagans, in a welcoming, respectful environment.
We began with six members, Sunday through Friday. Today, when we operate with a "full team" that means twelve--six regular weekday hosts (Monday through Saturday) and six substitute hosts who post on the last week of the month, and fill in when the weekly hosts need someone. The current members' names can be found in a list in the right sidebar of this site.
Frequently Asked Questions:
How do I suggest a topic/ask a question?
Viewers suggest topics by sending a private message to the channel's YouTube account (username: paganperspective), or by leaving a suggestion in a public comment on our Community tab, also accessed through the link above. Look for a post from us (paganperspective) that says "Submit new topic suggestions here", and leave yours in the comments below that post. =)
Suggestions left in comments on individual videos or elsewhere may not be included, as we do not always see them. Paganperspective is a shared account, not anyone's personal account, so we don't all see every comment, though each member tries to check their own. Thank you!
If you don't have a YouTube account but do have a Facebook, some people also leave suggestions in visitor posts on our Facebook page, facebook.com/paganperspective. Suggestions left in various comments under our posts there may not be seen, just like comments on individual videos, but we do check the "Visitor Posts" on our page, just in case anyone left something there.
Will my topic be chosen?
Most topics do get addressed eventually. All topics suggested go into a list. This list remains ongoing, and each topic remains on it until we cover it. There are a few exceptions or conditions:
- Topics may be removed from the list and never covered if the suggestion was not clear and the user does not get back to us to clarify the question/topic. We often have too many topics to cover to spend a week on something none of us understand, so please be clear or get back to us if asked for clarification!
- We may not cover topics that seem to be too focused on negative opinions of a particular person. We have covered these types of topics in the past, and we are trying to stay away from doing much of it any more, because we are not here to assess or judge individuals. Pagan Elders and authors, we have talked about, and those will probably always be fair game. We have also talked about news articles with stories of individual Pagans, and how their story affects the community/what we think about it. We will take it on a situation by situation basis to determine if something crosses a line from sharing opinions to something we don't want to get into.
- Topics that are very similar to something we've already covered go into a "Maybe Later" list, so that we can address them after enough time has passed for us to cover it again. Usually you will get a reply saying that it's similar and will therefore be put into the other list.
- See the next question below for the "Choose Your Own Adventure" that we have started doing in the past couple years!
- The only topics that are not ever addressed are those where someone asks us merely to give basic information that can be found online by doing a quick internet search. This channel seeks to give personal perspectives and experiences, not just spout out research for you. For example, "Who are all the Gods and Goddesses?" or "What are the elements?" are not questions we would cover, but things like "What have your experiences with Deity/the elements been?" or "Do you have any favorite resources to suggest where we could find basic information?" are things we would address.
How long before my topic will be addressed?
That depends on how many topics are on the list before it, and whether we have any other similar topics on the list. We try to go in order of topic suggestion as much as possible, but sometimes topics are boosted up if 1) they more closely match the time of year we are in, or 2) they go along with another topic that was asked a while ago, so that we can answer multiple questions at once. And as explained in the previous FAQ, topics may be bumped down if they are very similar to something we've covered recently, so we may wait until much later to address it after more time has passed and maybe we can say something new.
If a lot of time has passed without a good time to cover a topic, we have started doing a "Choose Your Own Adventure" style where all the remaining topics are listed for the team members and they can choose which ones to respond to, that they feel most called to. This is usually done for 2-4 weeks in a row, depending on how many topics there are. For example, we once had a month to choose from 8 topics.
Can I join the channel / Are you looking for new members?
When enough members leave or we are otherwise left with enough openings to warrant needing some new people, we hold auditions on YouTube and all the current members vote on who will join. Auditions are always announced on the channel, and several weeks are given for video responses to be posted. Usually this takes place at the end of a calendar year.
We did not audition for new members in 2016 or 2017. We are preparing to refill open spots in 2018--in this case we will not wait until the end of the year, just long enough for us to get organized again!
Why don't you have a member of this Pagan path on the channel?
The members we have are dependent on who auditions and who receives enough votes. We vote based on several factors, not just what the person's path is, so while we strive for diversity, we will not choose a person just because we need someone from their path. If you don't see a certain path represented, it may be that no one of that path has ever auditioned, that someone did audition but didn't receive as many votes for that round, or that someone of that path was on the channel but subsequently decided to step down.
What paths have been represented on the channel?
The exact labels used by individuals vary, so this may not cover exactly how each person personally identified at the time they were a member. However, for a general idea, we have had people sharing views from Paganism and Neopaganism (both in general terms), Wicca (both eclectic, solitary, and traditional), Witchcraft, Germanic Witchcraft, Shamanic Witchcraft, Celtic Reconstructionism, Druidry, Heathenism, Norse pantheism, Hellenism (Greek polytheism), Eclecticism, Thelema, Christian Paganism/Christian Wicca, Non-theistic Paganism, family tradition, and more individual variations within. Again, people's path labels may change and evolve over time, so this list is just a basic idea. The best way to know how someone categorizes their path is to ask them! =)
Where are the videos from this person/path?
In the earlier months of the collab, when people left, some wanted to remove all their videos from the channel. We allowed this at the time, so you will not see videos from a few members we had early on who requested their videos be removed. We realized that this was very unfortunate for those who would have liked to see their contributions in the future, so in 2010, we started letting new members know that if/when they left the channel in the future, they would be asked to leave their videos in tact as resources for others. So you will see videos from most members we've had since 2010, and all videos from those since 2011. The lists on this site reflect all the videos we have.
What is this member's personal channel?
It is encouraged that we all link our personal channels in the description of our videos, but if someone has not included it, you can always find links to members' personal channels on the paganperspective channel's main page, on the "About" page under "Our Personal Channels." They go in order of the regular week, followed by the subs week (Monday through Saturday hosts, then Monday through Saturday subs), so if you don't know someone's username, just go by what day they are!
Thank you for reading and watching!
-Pagan Perspective
