Pagan Monoculture – say ‘pagan’, mean ‘witch’

Tags

Craft, monoculture, pop wicca, witch

I grow tired of the number of times I see this, on pagan fora. And I am always taken by surprise – why, after all these years, do so many still equate ‘pagan’ to magic, Wicca etc? Are so many new pagans still ignorant of the breadth of traditions within paganisms, and that they don’t all believe the same things? How does this happen?

There’s a forum I’m on which has ‘pagan’ in the title. Let’s call it ‘Pagan Education’, as its title implies that.  Yet 99% of the comments there seem to derive from the monoculture of pop-wicca i.e. a paganism built upon what are perceived as Wiccan practices and beliefs, even if the beliefs aren’t generally held by lineaged Wiccans within the UK. The monoculture assumes that, if some pagans aren’t part of all of it, at least they share ‘essential’ beliefs. Things like the Wheel of the Year, worship of nature, and worship of gods.

Nope. Either nope – as in the festivals – or nope as in ‘not the way you do’. At that point, bafflement sets in for the pagan monoculturalist.

Perhaps we’re back to there being such a critical mass of ignorance among pagans, many of whom never seem to look outside their own beliefs, that it so eliminates any voice expressing difference that those voices fall quiet. This has happened to me. If you’re black, living in what society and with different experiences to everyone else, after a while you realise that the only options are either to shut up or to turn into some funfair exhibition.  “Oh, it’s just X banging on about Y again. Ignore her.”

Let’s go back to the ‘Pagan Education’ forum.  I guess I began to feel I might have been misled by the title of the group when the leaders kept posting stuff that talked about ‘traditions’ when they seemed to mean Wicca/trad. OK, I’m used to being a lone voice, and the name of the site clearly expressed the desire to share information between pagans, so I expressed the recon line, as I tend to do if talking mainly to monoculturalists. After all, Heathenry’s not exactly a minority within the pagan community, these days.

Nope. Everyone continued to chat away about witchcraft.

The leaders of the group seem intent to put out at least one post a day, designed to engender comment and discussion. It’s a great idea – shame about the fuzziness. After observing the phrase ‘the Craft’ being thrown around in a few of these posts, I initiated a thread, asking what people mean by the phrase?

As expected, everyone seemed to have a different idea. Oh, there were one or two voices I’d seen and respected on other fora who put forward the idea it might be lineaged Wicca, but they were largely swamped by the opinions that ranged from witchcraft – any – to (I kid you not) any and all pagans, including Heathens.

You know, there are times when I’m almost pleased to be the lone recon voice on a site. Had there been a few more Heathens – or CR, RR, Hellenismos etc etc – there might have been a small ruckus at being labelled ‘the Craft’.

Move on. The monoculturalists didn’t get it, though lineaged Wiccan friends did – and fell about laughing. “It’s absolutely meaningless!” one exclaimed to me, in private. “Everyone means something different!”

The worst occasion I saw on that site was when one of the leaders asked for recommendations for books for a new pagan. 99% of the recommendations were the usual culprits – Marion Greene, Scott Cunningham, Vivienne Crowley etc.  One or two of us asked what path the new pagan might be interested in? One person recommended a book that explored different paths – and received a dismissive response. I suggested mythology might be good. No one was interested. Another –

Wait. Let’s just rewind on that. Here’s a group purporting to be for Pagan Education and no one is interested in mythology? OK, so what I’m seeing here, in a number of threads, is that pagan = witchcraft and pagan education = leading people into magic.

Guys, it simply is not so. Worse still, you are now part of the problem, in that the name of your website is part of this lack of meaning that makes words useless. Like ‘the Craft’. If pagan = witch, then what becomes of the word ‘pagan’? What word can be used in its place?

I begin to understand why so many recons simply turn their back on the word. They feel that pagan=sub-Wiccan monoculture that excludes them, so they may as well exclude it. Because no one wants to listen. No one is actually interested in what our pre-Christian ancestors wrote about the gods. No one wants to know that there are very many different forms of paganism, all rich and vibrant and exciting – and not a monoculture.

The Importance of the Right Coven

Tags

covens, Craft, finding a coven, first degree, initiation, oaths

By Sunblade1500 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
The Witches Cottage, a hut in Bricket Wood, England, used by Gerald Gardner and his Bricket Wood Coven to perform rituals during the mid-20th century.

Among Gardnerian/Alexandrian Wiccans, it is said that first degree is an initiation into the coven but second is an initiation into all covens.

A good coven should create a good first initiation. And that is important. Thought must go into it, for it is the entry into lineaged Wicca. Done well, it is a birth; and it feels like one. Done well, it is an entry into mysteries, which enables the initiand to experience understanding. Done badly, it offers nothing. Everything is left to the individual and the gods to rectify the situation. Lineaged Wiccans tend towards a fatalistic attitude that whether the initiate remains in Wicca, or returns to it if s/he walks, is a sign of whether the initiation worked. But this is not an excuse for a coven to mess up the initiation.

This is why it’s so important to find the right coven.

First degree brings someone into lineaged Wicca. It gives them access to the rituals, to the coven’s Book of Shadows (which should record rituals going back to those who began the Craft), and to all those things which do not get published online because they are not written down. Of course, they should never be divulged, because Wiccans are bound by oaths to keep them secret. And what is done for the first degree initiate would never be written down, because it will be tailored for that person.

But so many new pagans think that Wicca is “it”, and rush towards it without exploring the vast variety of pagan religions and beliefs. Part of that rush is an eagerness to find a Wiccan coven. Various sites and fora are littered with “where can I find a coven?” posts. Wiccans on forums or at moots may find they are pestered by requests. That eagerness means that many new pagans searching to be Wiccans will join any coven willing to give them a place.

Leaving to one side (that’s another blog!) the confidence tricksters who lie in order to take advantage of such people, any real coven worth its salt will spend time assessing those who seek initiation, long before eiether admitting someone to the coven, or to first degree. Many Wiccan covens will meet a seeker once or more times, and perhaps invite them to a meeting with some other coven members, before letting them attend any rituals. Even then, many (most) covens will hold separate outer court rituals for those seeking first degree initiation, in which the seeker is given teaching and practice, without being exposed to oath-bound material or rituals. The HP and HPs will determine how long this goes on gor, and it may involve a lot of reading and homework by the initiand. That, itself, will put many off.

But there is more than that. As I said, the first initiation is into the coven. So the coven will want to feel certain they wish to circle with this seeker. That they wish to share their craft names and their personal information. After all, the first hurdle is high: “perfect love and perfect trust”.

And what of the seeker? It’s tough to be given the advice “if it feels wrong; if it doesn’t fit well – walk away. Find another coven.” Many might have spent a long time finding the present coven. But that’s what happens. It can take years. Or you might be initiated into a coven that doesn’t fit well. If that happens, it’s a bad sign, as it probably means that the HP and HPs are not tuned in to the seeker and his/her needs. And that means the initiation won’t be tuned in, either. And that takes us back to the earlier point about some initiations having to be redone by the individual or the gods. Where that happens, the seeker may not stay with that coven, anyway. And may not stay with Wicca.

So it isn’t enough to find a coven. Any coven. To feel good in the circle; to feel good about spending time with your fellow covenees, it has to be a good fit for everyone. And if that means spending a lot of time searching… believe me, it is worth it.