do we have to be in a coven to be accepted? I am an eclectic kitchen wiotch, and claim Wicca as my religion. That is what i have surmised from all my readings, here on the net. Please clarify, and no Wicca- bashing. Please.
2007-10-18 04:39:59 · 14 answers · asked by Dragonflygirl 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
( ps. i just know prairiecrow is gonna put her two-pence in, cool, I welcome her responses!
2007-10-18 04:40:38 · update #1
( ps. i just know prairiecrow is gonna put her two-pence in, cool, I welcome her responses!
2007-10-18 04:59:31 · update #2
hands were ice- cold and i misspelled witch. My apologies.
2007-10-18 04:59:58 · update #3
And here is my two-pence.
Witchcraft is a technique in much the same way that prayer is a technique. Wicca is one of the religions in which most members practice witchcraft. Most Wiccans are witches, but not all witches are Wiccans.
As for approving of eclectics, it depends on who you're talking to. Gardnerians and Alexandrians, being initiatory Traditions, tend to frown on non-initiatory eclecticism. However, over the last couple of decades the eclectic Wiccan movement has grown in both size and importance, and many Wiccans do not practice in covens -- and that's just fine (although you might have to put up with the "hard-Gards" calling you a Neo-Wiccan...).
2007-10-18 05:30:37 · answer #1 · answered by prairiecrow 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Just because you say you are eclectic does not mean you are not Wiccan. There are probally more eclectic covens around then ones that claim a specific path ( i.e Gardnarian, Celtic, Saxon, etc.). I was initiated into a coven like this in 1974 and am still an ecelectic Wiccan !
2007-10-18 22:19:02 · answer #2 · answered by William R 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Traditional Wiccans will tell you that you have to be initiated in order to be a Wiccan and will sometimes refer to Solitaries as Neo-Wiccans.
Witch is anyone who practices witchcraft. It has nothing to do with religion. Wicca does not own the copyright to the word witch or witchcraft. I consider myself a witch, but I'm not Wiccan.
As for Eclectics...well, it depends. Not everyone has a beef with them but I think the problem is that there is a fine line between eclecticism and fluffy buffet-style spirituality where the person just picks and chooses from whatever tradition and throws them together in a big mess that doesn't make much sense historically, mythically, or really spiritually. An example would be mixing Norse spirituality with Hindu, Egyptian, or Greek without really going through it sensibly...it's one thing to be dual trad, meaning being loyal to different trads without mixing them up, but it's quite another to invoke Odin and Kali into the same circle. I tend to take offense at things like that personally. I have no problem with Eclectics as long as they do what they do smartly and remain true to the cultures they are borrowing from.
2007-10-18 05:04:17 · answer #3 · answered by Abriel 5 · 5⤊ 0⤋
A Wiccan is initiated into the religion. They have studied a formalized set of specific things called the mysteries which are only available to initiates and which they may not pass on to others except through initiation.
And eclectic witch may or may not have studied, but they aren't Wiccan because they were not initiated and cannot know the mysteries. You can still be a witch, but not a Wiccan. You haven't earned that title.
It's like calling yourself "Lady." Sure, you can call yourself whatever you want. But that doesn't mean you actually are one.
2007-10-18 04:45:06 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I am a Wiccan and I do not disapprove of "eclectics". All are welcome and in fact necessary to the rich diversity of our path. I am a member of a Wiccan Congregational Church (as far from covens and solitaries as one can philosophically come) and we have people come and go as spirit moves them.
One definition I have heard of Witch (as separate from Wiccan) is using a divine power to effect a change in reality. That's right, even those who pray for something are witches in this context, if it worked.
Wiccan then becomes the spiritual path one is on. So you can be a Wiccan without being a Witch and Vice-Versa.
I hope this helps :)
2007-10-18 06:17:51 · answer #5 · answered by leigh_dupee 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
There are entire traditions of Wiccan eclectics.
Gardner was an eclectic.
I think you're just listening to the WRONG PEOPLE.
Do more research.
A lot of the alleged eclectics who get disrespected (Grimassi, Ravenwolf, Horne) get disrespected for reasons OTHER than their eclecticism, although they tend to rationalize otherwise.
Edit: And remember, kiddies, less than 20 years ago, these alleged traditionals said that Wiccan MEANT poseur and that "REAL Witches" never used that term, or that REAL WITCHES pronounced it Weesh-an, so this whole trying to claim the term Wiccan nonsense is a very, very recent invention. Gardner et al NEVER used Wiccan as anything BUT an adjective.
2007-10-18 04:46:40 · answer #6 · answered by LabGrrl 7 · 5⤊ 0⤋
I'm Pagan but not Wiccan. Not all Wiccans call themselves "witch." I think you'll encounter some Wiccans who will be tolerant of your solitary ways, others think you have to be part of a coven or tradition to be a "real" Wiccan. Depends on the person. I started out as Wiccan but soon realized that the rules, the rede, and the threefold law were not for me.
2007-10-18 04:45:31 · answer #7 · answered by Cheryl E 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Greetings!
Yes, in some, and there are many Eclectic Wiccan Circles.
Accepted by who? You will run into people with differing opinions no matter what you do. Being Pagan is about individuality.
The Craft is not about what Authors, Celebrities, or others do, it`s about how you do what you do.
/!\
2007-10-18 06:13:00 · answer #8 · answered by Ard-Drui 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The only person who knows what YOU are is YOU.
Seriously, it's one of the reasons I'm turned off by many of the Wiccans I've met (which is not a generalization - I've met many wonderful ones too) - there's this vein of dogma and one up-ism running through them.
If you have read through Wiccan books and find that you agree and relate, than no one else's judgements mean a thing.
2007-10-18 05:07:44 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I gave up on calling myself "Wiccan" after I realized that there were too many BTW "if it ain't initiatory it ain't Wicca and if you can't trace your lineage back to Gardner then you're just a poser" attitudes out there.
So now I just call myself "Wicca-based Pagan" and if they don't like it that's their problem. I don't need my label to be accepted by others, it's just to give them a point of reference about my beliefs so they know my beliefs aren't those of, for example, Asatru or Druid.
My religion is between me and my Gods, and They know what I am.
2007-10-18 04:49:35 · answer #10 · answered by Nandina (Bunny Slipper Goddess) 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋