Wicca- A Debate (formerly Coven Debate)

[Astra the Fae]

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So I've read this backwards and forwards at least twice.

Anyway, you have to consider the source material from Gerald Gardner. Now if you've ever read Triumph of the Moon, Ronald Hutton states that prior to Wicca's creation in 1954, Gardner was initiated in an initiatory witchcraft coven. (Now mind you, despite what Margaret Murray may have claimed, there was no existence of a religion called Wicca prior to 1954, it existed as a word for male witch which is possible but as far as religions go, it's not ancient. Also bear in mind that Gardner initated back in 1933 or therabouts, in Britain there was an actual law that prohibited the practice of witchcraft dating back to both Queen Elizabeth I and King James. King James' however lasted until 1951)

The thing with covens is that it was how Gardner wanted to set it up. He wanted it to be kept in secret with only a few people knowing about it, studying it, experiencing, etc because that was how his previous coven was ran, and how Alesiter Crowley ran his s**t. I also have speculation that it was a practical just-in-case measure if Parliament at the time decided to go against it's repeal of the anti-Witchcraft Law or bring in a different one.

And more to the point that British Traditional Wicca is supposed to be a priesthood. It's supposed to be hard, difficult, trying, and only a handful of people are going to succeed and be committed to it for life. It's not supposed to be something that accepts everyone, not to mention that Gardner was a known homophobe.

However in the end, you had three different collapses in the span of some 30 years that lead to the creation of the solitary path. The first I believe was when Raymond Buckland, who was an initiated High Priest, came over to North America and started to blab about the oathbound nature of the religion (also to note, despite claims of there being a published Gardenian Book of Shadows, the only people who have access to it are the High Priests and High Priestesses of the lineaged traditions. They add and take out stuff constantly. Anything you see on sites like sacred-texts or being sold in stores is actually a fake. )

The second split was the very public split between Doreen Valiente and Gerald Gardner. Doreen didn't like how Gardner ran his s**t, called him out and left to join Robert Cochrane's witchcraft tradition. Ever since then and up until her death, she has spewed every anti-Gardner thing there is, and something people have clamoured to. (Especially on tumblr ick).

And finally what really kicked off Solitary Wicca, was the creator himself, Scott Cunningham. Cunningham himself was an initate of Wicca (Two things: It's possible for LGBTQA people to be initiated in Wicca, the kicker is that they still have to follow the gender binary when they initiate. That's just how it's set up and after reading Amber and Jet ( very good and informational mailing list about everything British Traditional Wicca, it's used by initiates, High Priests, High Priestesses, and even seekers alike.) on a few issues, it doesn't look like the British Traditional Wicca tradition is going to change. A lot of the HPs and HPSs were around when Gardner was alive and follow his stuff to heart, a lot of the newer people do want change but you can't get change unless everyone agrees and that change isn't going to happen from the outside. (And I mention this because he was gay.)And the other was that he was a first star initiate. Not someone given a lot of clearance on anything and a beginner to boot.). Now what lead him to go astray from BTW is really anyone's guess. After reading Wicca: A Guide to the Solitary Practitioner, Living Wicca and The Truth about Witchcraft Today, it's pretty obvious he had some sort of falling out. We're never going to know the true reason as Cunningham died in 1993.

Now that all being said, the whole fight over solitary and BTW is a dumb one. Not just that but people need to realize that they are both valid paths of Wicca. Like people have said, not everyone can join a coven, and not everyone is a priest or priestess which is fine. There should be something that does accept everyone regardless of their sex, sexual preference, race, etc.

Now another issue in the debate that I've found on tumblr within the Pagan community is the one over Wicca being transphobic and supporting the gender binary and Blessed Be having to do with blessing one's genitals (coming from the fradulent book I mentioned no less). The problem is that people can't differentiate between BTW and Solitary Wicca, so you'll see a lot more of Wicca hate coming from that community.

Wow I typed a lot in a hour to two hours (I was taking breaks while typing this out.)
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[Astra the Fae]

iKillCaustic--uKillMe

Well said.
I tend to stay away from the whole Wicca debate on tumblr, because there's a lot of misinformation out there and I really do not have the time to argue with idiots. The fact that I myself do not wish to follow Wicca and choose my own path also plays a part in that.

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I used to before I deleted the app from my phone. And that was solely because I spent YEARS dedicated to studying Wicca, and see some asshats who took maybe a five second look at a fake book and decide to tell people what Wicca is without actually studying or practicing or even initiating in it.

That pissed me off immensely. I didn't spend 7 or so years of my life dedicated to researching, reading over people's posts on A&J and talking to some lineaged Wiccans just to have it underminded by some idiots that can't tell the difference between a legit book and a fake.

And what's funny is when I did debate people, they didn't want to sign up on A&J and go through the threads written by legit lineaged Wiccans and told me to bring up books. Then they claimed I lacked "critical thinking" when they ate up all the bullshit posted by the piety posse. Ah well.

I'm pretty much done with the community on tumblr. I'll stick to forums and Gaia.
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