A Not-So-Broken Tradition
By Misti Anslin Delaney and Wayland Raven
Modern Wicca is blessed with not one, but two heritages.
There is our spiritual heritage, including influences from the deep and mystic past that we have adopted and adapted; and our literal heritage, which began when Gerald Gardner synthesized the traditions of Dorothy Clutterbuck and her New Forest Witches with the rituals and rites of the Masonic Order. To deny or downplay either of these heritages would be a mistake, because it denies the richness of our religion.
Our Spiritual Lineage
Virtually no member of modern Wicca can honesty lay claim to an unbroken tradition going back hundreds of years.
Although it is true that there have been Family Tradition or "famtrad" witches of one sort or another through most of history, no two families practiced in the same way and, for many of them, the traditions were just that--pragmatic
family traditions that had nothing to do with religion. They used magick because magick worked. Gram taught Mom, who taught daughter, who taught granddaughter but in many cases their magick had little to do with their spiritual life.
Yes, there have been cultures where magick was an intrinsic part of the spiritual life of the people. But magick has also been an intrinsic part of the mundane culture of some peoples; it has been seen as something in which everyone participated, and without participation, one had no official place in society.
It is the "matter of fact" approach to magick that gives the ancient cultures such immense spiritual clout. Unfortunately those cultures have been overrun time and time again, and other than the words left to us in history (and those often written by the aggressors) we have lost much of the knowledge these people had.
For the most part we are recreating what we can of this knowledge as best we can, based on family lore, cultural tradition divorced from its spiritual roots, and from writings of the conquerors about the "quaint and superstitious customs" of their victims.
Any direct information we have from these cultures was carried forward, not from father to son and mother to daughter, but through successive incarnations, as souls carried accumulated wisdom from one lifetime to another, to be tapped, used, and built upon. To deny that and lay claim to a long unbroken history for the modern Craft that exists primarily in folklore and myth, is to deny one of our greatest strengths.
Older simply doesn't mean more sacred. One of the greatest strengths of the modern Wiccan religion is that it is a synthesis, begun by Gerald Gardner and continued over the last 70 years, of the best of spiritual wisdom throughout time and across the planet.
We have spiritual ancestry in ancient Egypt, in the Celtic lands, in mainland Europe, in pre-European invasion Americas, in every land and in every time. Because of when and where we were born, we have experienced the influences of and synthesized the best from all manner of religions; of Hinduism, of Buddhism, and yes, even of Judaism and Christianity.
We can call spiritual Mother or Father the first hominid to pick up a stone, see its similarity to human form, and create from it a figure we later came to call the Acheulian Goddess. We can lay claim to the spiritual lineage of Saint Francis of Assisi, who saw the face of his God in nature and her creatures. We can lay claim to heritage from the men and women killed at Salem and during the Inquisitions throughout Europe, e/ven as we acknowledge that many, if not most of those killed were probably not witches in any sense of the word/. We can look to Biddy Early, who defended her community from the cruelty of wealthy landowners, and to the current Dalai Lama, purveyor of some of the greatest wisdom of our time, as sources of inspiration.
Are they our literal, linear ancestors? No. They're not. We have no idea what our hominid predecessor actually thought about the stone figure he or she found, enhanced, carried, and dropped on the planes of Berekhat Ram (in the modern-day Golan Heights region) somewhere between 232,000 and 800,000 years ago. Strong similarities to the much more "manufactured" Goddess of Willendorf of 30,000 years ago in what is now Germany suggest that it was important, but we can only imagine now about its meaning to its originator.
Saint Francis saw the face of his patriarchal, mono-deity in nature. The men and women who died in Salem and at the hands of the Inquisition mostly thought of themselves as Christian. And surely the Dalai Lama would call himself as Buddhist, not pagan or Wiccan.
And yet, whether we acknowledge it or not, each of these has had an influence on Wicca as we know it. And so they are our spiritual ancestors.
Our Historical Lineage
And what of our linear, literal ancestors in Wicca?
While some would lay claim to Old Dorothy, (Gardner's Dorothy Clutterbuck) truly, our religion began somewhere between 1939 and 1954 when Gerald Gardner began to synthesize what he had learned from the New Forest Witches with what he had learned of High Magick and ritual from the Masonic Order. It is difficult for historians to agree on how much of Gardner's Witchcraft was made up or co-opted from other mystic and secret societies, and how much may have come from his association with a person he called Dorothy Clutterbuck, who he said was part of a New Forest coven, and one of his first teachers. Dorothy was the person Gerald credited with initiating him into Witchcraft, though for a time her existence was in question.
The religion--if indeed it was a religion, and not a purely a magickal Craft--that Old Dorothy taught to her initiate, Gerald, was the mother of modern Wicca, but it wasn't the same religion. In 1954 Gardner's new religion was introduced in his book, "Witchcraft Today." That Gardner's book was a synthesis of knowledge and wisdom from several sources and not a literal writing of the oral traditions of one famtrad does not lessen the genius of this work. While it may have contained historical fantasy as a backdrop and a rationalization, Gardner was in the process of giving birth to a new religion a religion that has fed the needs of the 21st century. Over the last half century, Wicca has blossomed and grown, stood the test of time, and has thrived during a period when many other, older religions would seem to be in their death throes.
That's nothing we need to cover over, and nothing for which we need to make rationalizations!
Let us, then, embrace both our lineages and celebrate them.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
"The Secret" -in the balance
I finally had a look at “the Secret” the other day, and was somewhat underwhelmed. Billed as a thread of knowledge that has permeated the great minds of philosophy and science, you can imagine my let-down to be greeted by “Norman Vincent Peale meets the Celestine Prophecy”.
I think the thing that undoes it for me is that they give one-line quotes from some of the greatest minds in Western and Eastern thought without doing a single scrap of work to establish the source of the quote, let alone what it meant within its original context.
In other words, they quote great minds in the same manner that an evangelist might quote scripture, and like the evangelist, our “teachers” expect to be taken at their word.
In short, it is academically lazy and chock-a-block full of positive thinking pep talk. I had hoped that the authors might have attempted to string their affirmations together with something more enlightening than “great achievers are deeply focussed on their goals.”
On the positive side, the “law of attraction” they espouse actually has a lot of merit. It is the principle wherein we tend to manifest whatever is foremost in our thoughts. Visual cues take precedence over academic ones, and the intensity of “belief” takes precedence over empty repetition. We are conditioned to find negative thoughts more believable than positive ones, and with a bit of deliberate thought, we can reverse that trend and change our lives. Its pretty basic really, but we do need to be told, so I guess this presentation does that much.
In my experience, the “law of attraction” is one of several metaphysical laws that can be studied in depth by any student of the great metaphysical and religious disciplines. It is only “secret” because we tend to be intellectually lazy. I find it ironic that the post-modern era and the “information age” are co-existent with a pandemic that is best characterized by intellectual sloth. “The Secret” is actually hidden in plain sight.
Affirmation is a useful tool in good hands, but like any tool it leaves itself open to abuse. If you don’t use it properly, it won’t work well. Affirmation and visualization should be used as part of a larger metaphysical model, lest the hapless practitioner visualize and affirm their way into abject misery, a principle simply summed up by the old adage “be careful what you wish for”.
For $4.95, the refresher course in affirmation is probably good value for money. Certainly the information us useful to those who have never encountered the concept.
My only real criticism of the presentation is that it is overly materialistic in its emphasis, which says a great deal more about its sponsors and its target audience, than it does about the quality of information it carries.
One would hope that the “teachers of the secret” take their students through a broader metaphysical training than the one they espouse in the presentation.
There is a free viewing here if you, like me, are simply curious about what these folks are peddling.
In summary, intellectually lazy and materialistic in focus, but nevertheless a reasonable refresher course in “the law of attraction” that is better taken as part of your greater metaphysical model than as a stand-alone.
Take Care
Rod
I think the thing that undoes it for me is that they give one-line quotes from some of the greatest minds in Western and Eastern thought without doing a single scrap of work to establish the source of the quote, let alone what it meant within its original context.
In other words, they quote great minds in the same manner that an evangelist might quote scripture, and like the evangelist, our “teachers” expect to be taken at their word.
In short, it is academically lazy and chock-a-block full of positive thinking pep talk. I had hoped that the authors might have attempted to string their affirmations together with something more enlightening than “great achievers are deeply focussed on their goals.”
On the positive side, the “law of attraction” they espouse actually has a lot of merit. It is the principle wherein we tend to manifest whatever is foremost in our thoughts. Visual cues take precedence over academic ones, and the intensity of “belief” takes precedence over empty repetition. We are conditioned to find negative thoughts more believable than positive ones, and with a bit of deliberate thought, we can reverse that trend and change our lives. Its pretty basic really, but we do need to be told, so I guess this presentation does that much.
In my experience, the “law of attraction” is one of several metaphysical laws that can be studied in depth by any student of the great metaphysical and religious disciplines. It is only “secret” because we tend to be intellectually lazy. I find it ironic that the post-modern era and the “information age” are co-existent with a pandemic that is best characterized by intellectual sloth. “The Secret” is actually hidden in plain sight.
Affirmation is a useful tool in good hands, but like any tool it leaves itself open to abuse. If you don’t use it properly, it won’t work well. Affirmation and visualization should be used as part of a larger metaphysical model, lest the hapless practitioner visualize and affirm their way into abject misery, a principle simply summed up by the old adage “be careful what you wish for”.
For $4.95, the refresher course in affirmation is probably good value for money. Certainly the information us useful to those who have never encountered the concept.
My only real criticism of the presentation is that it is overly materialistic in its emphasis, which says a great deal more about its sponsors and its target audience, than it does about the quality of information it carries.
One would hope that the “teachers of the secret” take their students through a broader metaphysical training than the one they espouse in the presentation.
There is a free viewing here if you, like me, are simply curious about what these folks are peddling.
In summary, intellectually lazy and materialistic in focus, but nevertheless a reasonable refresher course in “the law of attraction” that is better taken as part of your greater metaphysical model than as a stand-alone.
Take Care
Rod
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Book Review - Seasons of the Witch
Patricia Monaghan /Seasons of the Witch: Poetry and Songs for the Goddess. /St. Paul (MN): Llewellyn Worldwide, 2002. 200 pp, $19.95.
Monaghan is a well-known priestess and author of several books, and she teaches at DePaul University in Chicago. Dedicated to the Great Goddess, in her many forms, these poems are a warm and lovely evocation of feminist spirituality. Four major sections, each with some forty poems, lead us through the seasons, providing material for meditation, and for celebration of the Goddess. Perhaps the best introduction to this collection is a sample, selected from more than a hundred poems:
Venus of Laussel
You rise in my dreams
like the power of stone,
breaking the glass door
between wind and the body.
You are the measurer;
blood of my moons,
lines of my years,.
A thread of breath
connects me to time,
wind in my blood,
a thread to your womb,
Thirteen short lines --
You rise, then are gone.
Reviewed by
John M. Morris, PhD
Monaghan is a well-known priestess and author of several books, and she teaches at DePaul University in Chicago. Dedicated to the Great Goddess, in her many forms, these poems are a warm and lovely evocation of feminist spirituality. Four major sections, each with some forty poems, lead us through the seasons, providing material for meditation, and for celebration of the Goddess. Perhaps the best introduction to this collection is a sample, selected from more than a hundred poems:
Venus of Laussel
You rise in my dreams
like the power of stone,
breaking the glass door
between wind and the body.
You are the measurer;
blood of my moons,
lines of my years,.
A thread of breath
connects me to time,
wind in my blood,
a thread to your womb,
Thirteen short lines --
You rise, then are gone.
Reviewed by
John M. Morris, PhD
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Book Review - Witches & Neighbors
Robin Briggs /Witches & Neighbours/ London:Fontana-HarperCollins, 1997. 457 pp.
Until quite recently, histories of witchcraft were fanciful works, in which many of the horror stories they contained -- such as the claims that millions of accused witches were executed by the inquisitors -- were all that we had to rely on for our knowledge of the past. Such writers as Margart Murray were regularly attacked by academic historians without many serious attempts to reconstruct our history on firmer foundations.
Robin Briggs, in this historical study, is one of the many more recent historians to have attempted a serious look at what really happened in the past, particularly during the "burning times," when many hundreds of people were accused of black magic and dragged off to the stake. This study, by an English historian, attempts to set the record straight.
He confines his study to the hysteria of the late Middle Ages in Europe, which may provide too narrow a view of the history of witchcraft, but it permits him to pay more attention to details of the rise and fall of the attacks on village witches. The brief treament of witchcraft in America is confined to the witch trials in Salem, asking why the histeria led to witch executions in Salem, but with little interest in most of the country.
With many new studies in the history of the craft, we are living in a time in which many of the old stroies of witch trials and executions are much better documented than in the past.
John M. Morris PhD
Until quite recently, histories of witchcraft were fanciful works, in which many of the horror stories they contained -- such as the claims that millions of accused witches were executed by the inquisitors -- were all that we had to rely on for our knowledge of the past. Such writers as Margart Murray were regularly attacked by academic historians without many serious attempts to reconstruct our history on firmer foundations.
Robin Briggs, in this historical study, is one of the many more recent historians to have attempted a serious look at what really happened in the past, particularly during the "burning times," when many hundreds of people were accused of black magic and dragged off to the stake. This study, by an English historian, attempts to set the record straight.
He confines his study to the hysteria of the late Middle Ages in Europe, which may provide too narrow a view of the history of witchcraft, but it permits him to pay more attention to details of the rise and fall of the attacks on village witches. The brief treament of witchcraft in America is confined to the witch trials in Salem, asking why the histeria led to witch executions in Salem, but with little interest in most of the country.
With many new studies in the history of the craft, we are living in a time in which many of the old stroies of witch trials and executions are much better documented than in the past.
John M. Morris PhD
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Yule 2006
At Yule, the light has receded to its lowest ebb. The Sun rises far to the south, transits low in the sky, and sets far to the south. This is the moment at which the light of the god is diminished, present only as spirit, and the goddess as crone reigns supreme.
Yule is the annual commemoration of darkness and the spark of returning light. As the season gets colder from here, we know by the increasing light that hope is returning. The seed of the god has been held safe in the heart of the crone, to be imparted to the maiden at the proper time.
Yule is the centre-point of the season of the Crone. This season begins at Samhain and ends at Imbolg, when the Crone passes the light she has protected on to the maiden, so that the process of rebirth can begin anew.
Fire and Air are the dominion of the god, Water and Earth the dominion of the goddess. Where these four combine, Spirit is brought to life. In a single seed, Spirit’s unlimited potential is stored in stasis, waiting for the right combination of elements to unlock its mysteries and fulfil its design.
The moist, sheltering womb of the Earth speaks to us of the Goddess. The warm heat of the Sun and the freshness of the breeze speak to us of the God.
Yule marks the turning of the wheel for the god in the same way that Samhain marks its turning for the goddess. At Samhain the Goddess becomes crone, the keeper of the light, the one whose gentle nurture keeps the light of Spirit safe while the God diminishes as he must. She goes from bearer of life (maiden and mother) to keeper of light. At Yule the God has completed his job as sage, and has died as he must, to remain in Spirit only, to be kept by the crone until the day of the maiden.
The God transcends mortality in life and death. The Goddess transcends mortality in quiet nurture. She turns her back to winter’s chill and protects the seed that is in her care.
The Goddess and the God depend on each other. Without the warmth of the sun and the freshness of the breeze, Earth is barren and cold. Without the womb of the Earth and the water which gives it life, the Sun and the air are without effect.
Where the goddess and god are set at enmity with each other, the fire of an angry god seeks to destroy the fertility of the goddess, and likewise the wiles of an embittered crone exploit the vulnerability of the god, despising the spark she is charged with nurturing. Strife is mounted on strife, each is set to consume the other, earth is ravaged, life is spent in vain and chaos ensues.
Where the god and goddess are brought into harmony with each other, the cycles of life, nurture, and endeavour, of contribution, wisdom, and abundance, and of death, regeneration, and cultivation, earth is enriched, life is spent productively, and order ensues.
It is most important for each of us to keep our goddess and our god in balance, and direct them each on the same path. It is no coincidence that families traditionally come together at this time, representing the eternal principle of nurture, which keeps the “light” of the family alive. All to often, however, it is the old rules and traditions of family, those cold hard, unyielding, unchanging patterns that quench the spark they would otherwise nurture. For such families, winter’s longest night is made all the more bitter.
As a personal meditation here today, Yule is about the seed of a new idea, not yet ready for planting, but waiting for the right time. Yule is a time for making new plans, for receiving new insights, and for setting new directions. The season from Yule to Imbolg, is the time for these plans to develop.
In a sentence, Yule is time to “shut up and listen”. Listen to the voice of your own emptiness, and have compassion for the emptiness of others: lend a hand where you can Listen to your physical ancestors, find ways to apply their wisdom, even if you walk a different path. Listen to your elders, those whom you look up to for any reason.
Time to act is Imbolg, now is the time to listen, to plan, to ponder.
So come, let us celebrate together the return of the light. Winter’s darkest night is now behind us.
Yule 2006 R. B. Smith
Yule is the annual commemoration of darkness and the spark of returning light. As the season gets colder from here, we know by the increasing light that hope is returning. The seed of the god has been held safe in the heart of the crone, to be imparted to the maiden at the proper time.
Yule is the centre-point of the season of the Crone. This season begins at Samhain and ends at Imbolg, when the Crone passes the light she has protected on to the maiden, so that the process of rebirth can begin anew.
Fire and Air are the dominion of the god, Water and Earth the dominion of the goddess. Where these four combine, Spirit is brought to life. In a single seed, Spirit’s unlimited potential is stored in stasis, waiting for the right combination of elements to unlock its mysteries and fulfil its design.
The moist, sheltering womb of the Earth speaks to us of the Goddess. The warm heat of the Sun and the freshness of the breeze speak to us of the God.
Yule marks the turning of the wheel for the god in the same way that Samhain marks its turning for the goddess. At Samhain the Goddess becomes crone, the keeper of the light, the one whose gentle nurture keeps the light of Spirit safe while the God diminishes as he must. She goes from bearer of life (maiden and mother) to keeper of light. At Yule the God has completed his job as sage, and has died as he must, to remain in Spirit only, to be kept by the crone until the day of the maiden.
The God transcends mortality in life and death. The Goddess transcends mortality in quiet nurture. She turns her back to winter’s chill and protects the seed that is in her care.
The Goddess and the God depend on each other. Without the warmth of the sun and the freshness of the breeze, Earth is barren and cold. Without the womb of the Earth and the water which gives it life, the Sun and the air are without effect.
Where the goddess and god are set at enmity with each other, the fire of an angry god seeks to destroy the fertility of the goddess, and likewise the wiles of an embittered crone exploit the vulnerability of the god, despising the spark she is charged with nurturing. Strife is mounted on strife, each is set to consume the other, earth is ravaged, life is spent in vain and chaos ensues.
Where the god and goddess are brought into harmony with each other, the cycles of life, nurture, and endeavour, of contribution, wisdom, and abundance, and of death, regeneration, and cultivation, earth is enriched, life is spent productively, and order ensues.
It is most important for each of us to keep our goddess and our god in balance, and direct them each on the same path. It is no coincidence that families traditionally come together at this time, representing the eternal principle of nurture, which keeps the “light” of the family alive. All to often, however, it is the old rules and traditions of family, those cold hard, unyielding, unchanging patterns that quench the spark they would otherwise nurture. For such families, winter’s longest night is made all the more bitter.
As a personal meditation here today, Yule is about the seed of a new idea, not yet ready for planting, but waiting for the right time. Yule is a time for making new plans, for receiving new insights, and for setting new directions. The season from Yule to Imbolg, is the time for these plans to develop.
In a sentence, Yule is time to “shut up and listen”. Listen to the voice of your own emptiness, and have compassion for the emptiness of others: lend a hand where you can Listen to your physical ancestors, find ways to apply their wisdom, even if you walk a different path. Listen to your elders, those whom you look up to for any reason.
Time to act is Imbolg, now is the time to listen, to plan, to ponder.
So come, let us celebrate together the return of the light. Winter’s darkest night is now behind us.
Yule 2006 R. B. Smith
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Joy to the World
Joy to the World
Our town is full of illuminated displays, bright colors for the holiday season. On my daily inspection of the decorations, in the morning before the sun is up, I surveyed my neighbors' bright-colored response to the coming holidays.
It surprised me to recall the number of different traditions that celebrate this as a season to be jolly, each in its own way. A few years ago, Kwanzaa was introduced as an African tradition, with candles and many gifts. The Jewish holidays have long been celebrated as a Festival of Lights. I was told that the Chinese workers, back where I was born in Montana, celebrated the New Year at the time of my birth. And there are many other traditions, including of course the Christians, that celebrate at this time. The eight Pagan celebrations don't include Christmas, but Pagans can celebrate anyway.
In any case, as I was inspecting our neighbors' bright-colored decorations early this morning, I was surprised to notice how few of them were specifically Christian. There were a couple of miniature mangers, with shepherds and wise men, but other theme were much more evident. Many, many reindeer. Big, inflatable Santa Claus or Elves, including a Grinch, with a green face in a Santa Suit. Only one of our city's churches had a full-scale display!
The message I got, from the dozens of bright and shining lights, on this mildly chilly morning, was that we want to celebrate these holidays with bright colors and joyful gatherings, in which we can join with our neighbors in singing "Joy to the World."
John M Morris
Our town is full of illuminated displays, bright colors for the holiday season. On my daily inspection of the decorations, in the morning before the sun is up, I surveyed my neighbors' bright-colored response to the coming holidays.
It surprised me to recall the number of different traditions that celebrate this as a season to be jolly, each in its own way. A few years ago, Kwanzaa was introduced as an African tradition, with candles and many gifts. The Jewish holidays have long been celebrated as a Festival of Lights. I was told that the Chinese workers, back where I was born in Montana, celebrated the New Year at the time of my birth. And there are many other traditions, including of course the Christians, that celebrate at this time. The eight Pagan celebrations don't include Christmas, but Pagans can celebrate anyway.
In any case, as I was inspecting our neighbors' bright-colored decorations early this morning, I was surprised to notice how few of them were specifically Christian. There were a couple of miniature mangers, with shepherds and wise men, but other theme were much more evident. Many, many reindeer. Big, inflatable Santa Claus or Elves, including a Grinch, with a green face in a Santa Suit. Only one of our city's churches had a full-scale display!
The message I got, from the dozens of bright and shining lights, on this mildly chilly morning, was that we want to celebrate these holidays with bright colors and joyful gatherings, in which we can join with our neighbors in singing "Joy to the World."
John M Morris
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Whose Idea was this?
The Erudite Pagan is a new forum serving an age-old purpose.
The owner and editor of The Seeker Journal, John M. Morris, expressed interest in an electronic magazine that would reflect the quality and caliber of work that was once published in the paper edition of The Seeker.
The Seeker's chief editor, Misti Anslin Delaney, liked the idea well enough that she poked her husband, Rodney Smith, in the ribs and asked him to set up this site on blogspot. So, here we are, the three former editors of The Seeker, starting a new magazine which we will call "The Erudite Pagan"
Much like The Seeker before it, E.P is looking for quality articles written by folks who not only know their stuff, but know how to communicate their understanding to others.
It is Sumhain 2006, Misti and John and I have just shared a quiet celebration (with our little guy, Jack), the wheel of the year has turned full circle... and I promised John that this site would be up before he got home!!
I trust that you will enjoy this journey as much as we are bound to.
Take Care
Rod
The owner and editor of The Seeker Journal, John M. Morris, expressed interest in an electronic magazine that would reflect the quality and caliber of work that was once published in the paper edition of The Seeker.
The Seeker's chief editor, Misti Anslin Delaney, liked the idea well enough that she poked her husband, Rodney Smith, in the ribs and asked him to set up this site on blogspot. So, here we are, the three former editors of The Seeker, starting a new magazine which we will call "The Erudite Pagan"
Much like The Seeker before it, E.P is looking for quality articles written by folks who not only know their stuff, but know how to communicate their understanding to others.It is Sumhain 2006, Misti and John and I have just shared a quiet celebration (with our little guy, Jack), the wheel of the year has turned full circle... and I promised John that this site would be up before he got home!!
I trust that you will enjoy this journey as much as we are bound to.
Take Care
Rod
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