Why do Pagans need to know Self Defense?

Why do Pagans need to know Self Defense?

Why in the world would Pagans need for self defense? Well there are times that defusing a bad situation may take more than calming words. There is a huge difference in defending oneself than in attacking. And why in the name of our Goddesses and Gods would a MEDIC be talking about this?

Well we all need to know how to defend ourselves. Sometimes we can defuse a bad situation  by talking. Sometime we can run away. And there is NO shame in that. Running away is a  training event for combat arms soldiers in the US Army. And then there is the final item of fighting back. As a medic, I have treated thousands of wounds from fights, and I have treated hundreds of wounds from combat. And if there is any way people can make my life easier by defusing, running away, or stopping the threat before it happens makes my and all healers lives easier.

Recently on the Wild Hunt a group local to me, Ardantane is working on putting on a class on dealing with Hate crimes titled  ‘Dealing With Hate Crimes’  I can relate to being a victim of some pretty hateful attacks against me and my family and it may have been a contributing factor to my leaving my last position. Words are just words. And yes they can hurt. But that is not what we are here to talk about today. Also self defense as nothing to do with politics. I will say that the last election have got more people to seriously to work on prepping. So that is one good thing that came out of it.

Self defense is not always about violence. But there are times that it may be needed. No one can predict the future. That is one of the reasons most of us prep. It is like owning a fire extinguisher. We pray we never need it but are damn glad we have it.  If we take one of the many “worst case scenarios” and we end up in a lower tech society that is void of large organized law enforcement. There is no more Winn Dixie Krogers Safeway or Walmart to go buy more supplies from. Someone decides they want what you want.

In a normal world I am a big advocate of nothing material is worth you getting injured or losing your life.

But what if that sack of say,  potatoes is the item that causes your family to live or die this winter?
I am not going to rant and rave and see the world will be ending at 1437.30 tomorrow and it will be dog eat dog the strong survive to dominate the weaker.

Well not at 1437.30 tomorrow. But maybe. And do not say it can not happen. Ever hear what happened 7 April 1994? Rwanda ring any bells? 1 MILLION citizens butchered. The minority population of Tutsi were decimated by the dominate Hutsu’s, with axe machete and yes gunfire. The Hutus controlled the government and Rwanda Tutsi citizens were not allowed to own firearms.

The skulls and bones of some of those who were slaughtered as they sought refuge inside a church are laid out as a memorial to the thousands who were killed in and around the Catholic church during the 1994 genocide in Ntarama, Rwanda

AP PHOTO/BEN CURTIS

Anyone remember Bosnia? Some of my best nightmares come from that effing place.
I saw my first real live “War Lords” there raping a village of it’s supplies. And we could not do a gods damn thing. Because the War Lords were on “our” side.  If I could have got Željko Ražnatović  or Radovan Kasadzic (The Butcher of Bosnia) in my gunsights………………………………

AP Photo

We are not here to say YOU MUST LEARN.
We are here to say if you want to learn we will teach. Just because I was a soldier,, I love fighting. That is the furthest from the truth. I HATE it. I really do. I go way out of my way to avoid it. But force it upon me and………..

Enough of that. We are here to pass along methods to defend yourself and family. With and without firearms. What you my fine folk decide to do with the knowledge is up to you.

So Finn myself and selected others will be filling this page on the how to defend yourself.

Bjarni AKA Medic