Delta portraitDelta's Rants

A Declaration of Wiccan Reform

   As far as I can research, no one has yet called for a Reformation, so I hereby stake my claim to it.
One of the best things about Wicca - and paganism in general - is that it does not define truth for everyone. One of the worst things about Wicca - and paganism in general - is that it does not define itself for anyone.
   With no book like the Bible that all Wiccans can look for answer in, there is no defining criteria that a Wiccan can point to and say "This defines Wiccan belief." This is fantastic for those of us who want to challenge life's questions and answers personally - not have their spirituality defined for them. This is really, really bad for those of us who have to, somehow, some way find a way to differentiate themselves from the Goths and bunnies and demonologists, ad nauseum.
   So here it is, my Declaration of Reformation of Wicca:

   1. Wicca is a modern religion, traceable back to the 1950's, not any earlier. There was no monolithic Goddess culture prior to patriarchy.
   2. Modern anthropology has a lot to say about Margaret Murray's theoretical research, and what they say about her methodology is not kind.
   3. There are familial magickal traditions (FMT) that do go further back. They are not Wicca though they may have traits in common. To equate the two is to diminish both.
   4. Magickal and spiritual traditions of indigenous peoples belong to those people. Wicca is very loosely based on indigenous European beliefs.*
   5. There is a big difference between ripping off another culture's religious practices and honoring their beliefs.
   6. Worshipping only a Goddess is as unbalanced as worshipping only a God. Doing so will not restore the balance somehow. Wicca honors both, equally.
   7. Witch comes from the same root word as vice and vicious. Those who were burned as witches, or otherwise persecuted, were accused as followers of the Devil. We have no historical claim to those people. We have no reasonable argument to force people to change the only meaning a word has had for centuries to its diametric opposite on such flimsy evidence.
   8." 'An it harm none, do as ye will" is the Wiccan Rede. The Rede of the Wiccae by Porter is a copyrighted work and should be credited to her when used.
   9.  Teaching minors a set of religious beliefs of any type behind their parents backs without their knowledge and consent IS doing harm.
   10. Angels are Christian, the Kaballa is Jewish. Wicca does not incorporate Judeo-Christian symbology on any regular basis.

* - This does not include indigenous Italian beliefs - more on THAT topic later.

   So here is my dogma. I'm making my stand here - you can call yourself whatever you want. But I better not hear any bunny nonsense calling itself Reformed Wicca or I'll have to reach a little back into the ancestral past and brush up on the Stregan practices......

Delta
 
 

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