Seax wicca and Making your own Wiccan Path???

Question

I own the book "The Tree" which is the Seax Wican BoS.
and i Know a seax Wiccan, Daven (He's friends with Raymond Buckland, the founder of Seax Wicca) and He, Daven, Mixed Druidry and Seax Wica together to make his own little style of Worship.
I was wondering if i could do this too, How would i start?
What makes Wicca "Wicca" and how does one blend a religion into it, without ruining either one?

(I'm a student not a teacher, so this might be hard for me)

Answer 1

In my opinion, what makes Wicca its own religion are:

1) The Wiccan Rede.
2) The honoring of the Divine in male/female polarities.
3) Holy days tied to the solar calendar (the sabbats) and the lunar calendar (the esbats).
4) The practice of witchcraft.
5) Belief in the Law of Threefold Return.
6) A specific ritual structure that is distinctly Wiccan.
7) The belief that the universe is the living body of God/dess, and therefore sacred.
8) The absence of a concept of sin (original or otherwise).
9) The fact that it consists entirely of clergy; each Wiccan is considered a functioning priest/ess.
10) The concept of equality between the sexes.
11) A sexual element to the liturgy, specifically in those passages that address the relationship between the Goddess and the God.
12) The concept that joy and pleasure, with harm to none, are valid and potentially sacred.
13) Tolerance for other faiths; often the belief that all religions are potentially valid paths to the Divine; "all religions are correct to their adherents".

I'm sure I could come up with more, but those are just off the top of my head. And if you talk with someone from one of the initiatory Traditions I'm sure they'll have a significantly different answer.

Answer 2

Well, what makes Wicca Wiccan is something that is constantly debated. (Some traditionalists will say even Seax WIcca isn't Wicca, just as an example) It's good to know on an academic level, but perhaps less helpful here. (if you wnat to see the definition I use, check out wicca.timerift.net and then something labeled "witches wiccans and pagans" (or something close to it) in the nav (sorry, I'm at work. I don't want to check that link right now)

My suggestion would be for you to find out what YOUR path is. Look at Seax Wicca, if that is calling to you. Look at Druidry, if that is calling to you. Look at the things you find to be true and the rituals that address those beliefs. And after you've figure out what your practices are...THEN start to worry whether it should be called Wicca or not. Becuase the ultimate goal is find your path, not to specifically be Wiccan, right? Maybe your ultimate path doesn't have a formal name. That's fine.

Answer 3

Okay, let me explain something here.

I was a self-dedicated Seax-Wican back in 1991. I was Seax-Wican for many many years. I grew and Seax-Wica no longer fit what I believed, and I moved on to Druidism. I studied that for many years as well. I have since combined part of Seax-Wica and part of the Druidism I studied for my own personal practice and my own personal spirituality. I have not taught it to anyone.

Buckland had nothing to do with Druidism as far as I can tell. He created Seax-Wica back in 1972 or so, and at that time I was 4 years old. He studied Scottish Witchcraft many years later and wrote a book about that. Also keeping the traditions separate. I have no clue how he practices his personal spirituality at this point. The sum total of my interaction with Buckland has been about two dozen short emails and listening to a talk by him at a Witches Ball. That's been it.

While I'm pretty sure that he knows me and of me, I don't think that I know him that well at all.

Want to blend your own faith path? Study the sources you pull from until you know them so well that you can operate completely in those modes. If you are going to blend Asatru with Thelema, then study Asatru to a point where you could be considered an authority in Asatru. Do the rituals, study the literature, add to the body of that knowledge. Then go and study Thelema and do the same thing. At that point you will have enough experience under your belt to understand what will and won't work before you start mixing the systems.

And for the Gods' sakes, DO NOT TRY TO PASS THIS OFF AS ANYTHING BUT YOUR OWN SYSTEM. I see people who pull from various paths who blend them together and try to pass it off as the acshunt way of doing it, when it's a thuroughly modern invention. Make sure that you keep that in mind.

And also don't teach your hybrid when speaking authoritatively about any other path. When I talk about Seax-Wica, I talk about Seax-Wica, I teach Seax-Wica, I show the Seax-Wican rituals, not the hybrid rituals I came up with for my practice. Heck, the only people besides me who knows those rituals is my immediate family. When I teach Druidism, I teach Druidism, not my path. I dont' try to pass what I do off as ancient Druidism either. I always make sure that I keep those clear when I talk about Druidism or Seax-Wica.

Yes, this is going to take you YEARS to accomplish. It's supposed to. I have been studying Pagan religions for the past 16 years, and metaphysics in general from 1972. So it is a life path and something you have to dedicate yourself to and commit yourself to. Not something that you can pick up and put down again in a week. You have to know those systems inside out.

Answer 4

First, you need to decide which way you want your path to go. What type of beliefs do you want with your path? Wicca encompasses many paths and many beliefs. It is a religion or rather a variety of faiths. I follow two paths, one is eclectic and encompassed Celtic, Druid, & American Indian beliefs. The second I have only been with for a bit over a year which is the Correllian faith. In that I am a first degree priestess. You have to do a lot of studying and decide which way you want to go. I do have a book on this, but not with me, it is packed away in a different state, so I am afraid I can't give you the title or autor/ess! I am sure there are sites out there that can help in directing you. Let me know if I can be of anymore help. Blessed Be!

Rev. Kaldea

Answer 5

I think that you should learn the basics in one tradition at a time before blending stuff, but as to what is Wicca, I think Prariecrow's answer is good, and not that far from mine, so instead of repeating most of what was said there, I'll say I agree with that list, save for two minor changes:
Instead of "Belief in the Law of Threefold Return." I'd say "Belief in the Law of Return" as the three-fold stuff is a recent addition, and not all trads hold by modifiers, and instead of " The belief that the universe is the living body of God/dess, and therefore sacred" I would say "a belief in Earth Stewardship," as in traditional Wicca, the earth is not really a part of the gods but it's own entity. I also prefer early Gardnerian solar-only liturgical calendar, but that's after learning a more common one.

But those areincredibly little theological differences, and not about the big stuff.

I really don't encourage heading out to do your own thing until you really understand at least one tradition, though.

Answer 6

Wicca is a part of the Pagan religion. I am a Wiccan and I created my own path. Wicca teaches a lot about respecting nature and treating all people equally. I'd suggest choosing the aspects of the things you believe and adding them all together. You can choose what you like from each side. That is what I did. Paganism allows you to make it your own. It is often a solitary religion that is meant for you to practice it the way you choose. Just read about it and choose what you like and write it down to remind yourself what you want it to be. Being a student is no big deal. I am one too and I was able to make Wiccan and Paganism special to me.
Hope that helps. )o(

Answer 7

Daven has likely given the best answer on this; however, before you attempt to "make" a "Wiccan path", you should study what Wicca is. :)

Answer 8

You could try asking Daven for particulars on what he did and why. He's a good person and generally helpful. I'm sure he wouldn't have a problem explaining his hybridization.

(For those who don't know who I or the OP are talking about, go check out http://www.davensjournal.com - highly recommended)

Answer 9

There are 13 Basic Principles of Wicca, you can view them by your own perspective. That's what makes it such a personal religion.

Answer 10

why are you worried about ruining a religion? the way you believe isn't gonna make or break anyone, except maybe you.

i'm an eclectic witch because i couldn't find *a* path that suited me... so i apply different things from different faiths to my own practices. it suits me just fine and if the next witch disagrees, that's completely okay. ^.^