Welcome to Gaia! ::

Yes I'm half-assing this thread because the fighting is half-assed.

Learning Wicca

They say can't learn Wicca from merely reading a book as Wicca is participatory. This is true, but even if you could most books on Wicca, really aren't, in that they don't accurately describe the Wicca they claim. They take concepts from traditional Wicca (none of which didn't exist in some form prior thereto), water them down and apply confectionery sugar and there you have Witch-aid. It even comes in powdered form whereby you just add water. Powdered anything always tastes week to me.. It's hard to get a good beverage that way.

You can learn by doing anything, but no its not the same. Initiation is a gnosis (transformative experience) that goes beyond mere acquirement of knowledge. That said formal initiation doesn't always take, and its a sad thing. You'd be surprised some of the things that waken people to the mysteries. When it happens everything is an initiation. It isn't where you learn it but how you learn it...

That doesn't make it BTW Wicca.
It is however a confrontation of the mysteries

This does not negate good sources. Practice doesn't make perfect.
Perfect practice makes perfect.

Initiation



Initiation is dual in purpose:

I. Initiation is a spiritual rebirth into the mysteries. It is not about a title, or a ceremony - those things are secondary.

II. Initiation is also a conduit for lineage. This is tradition specific other than the lineage of the mysteries themselves.

For example, one must be initiated by a Gardnerian to become a Gardnerian - or an Alexanandrian to become an Alexandrian and so son. However, while a Wiccan can set the stage for and be a conduit of initiation - Initiation itself comes first and foremost from deity. It is for this reason that anybody can be initiated into the mysteries.

It should be noted however that the first Wiccans called themselves, not Wiccans, but Witches in the singular, and that "The Wicca" referred to the shared experience in the circle, and the establishment of it's Egregore, through which the wisdom of the wise is passed. Thus a Wiccan, is one, who carries to some degree the collected wisdom of the circle, as received by direct experience of the mysteries.

The simple fact of the matter is that the only way your going to know if one went through a genuine initiatory experience other than by sharing the experience- is by their knowledge, insight, devotion and wisdom. If one has not then they can do a self dedication to Wicca which is still honorable. They would be what is known as a Neophyte meaning degree 0 or null; a preparatory state during which time they would be expected to have the same seriousness and commitment toward the craft as any initiate.

Listen closely to what authors are saying

While its true many books appropriate Wicca and try to sell it as something its not. Not all books are claiming to represent what Traditional, lineaged Wiccans, do. some are in fact explicit that they aren't. So it's hard to really ahave issue when they are honest about what heir praxis is and is not. The thing is, BTW Wiccans don't have exclusive rights to the word. Yes, Gardner used it long after it had supposedly fallen out of use but that doesn't mean he picked up a neglected patent on it.

If people aren't claiming BTW, and they know what they do isn't what a Traditional Wiccan does, then there's not much of an issue. Educating the general public is wonderful and so certain statements do have to be made here. That said. non-BTW Wicca isn't Gardnerian isn't Alexandrian etc. Even in lineaged covens, though the core praxis stays the same it's not the same Wicca - and by that I mean Wica.

The Coven[ant] is The Wica

Again, early on you didn't call yourself Wiccan, you said you were a witch because, well thats just how it was The Wica was the communal aspect, the gathering, the Sabbatical round, the coven. The sharing of collected wisdom, which while one having absorbed that and become reborn of the fire becomes an embodiment of tradition, technically in solitary identity they aren't "The Wica". Even if that solitary practice of course follows very much of Wiccan practice it isn't in the sense that BTW Wicca has specific requirements to get the work done, as any grimoire tradition, being itself a form of ceremonial magic(k). So my personal praxis I don't technically consider Wicca as that's my communal praxis when working with others in that tradition -The sharing of wisdom through the dynamic and mythos of the Sabbatical round (Wheel of The Year). Yet that mirrors life, and again once initiated, always initiating. On that note, any good coven, Wiccan or otherwise, that is worth the salt they use about the circle, will emphasize how important a solitary praxis is even when working in coven or cuveen.

The importance of both Solitary and Communal Praxis

There's a story you here from time to time, (and this happens to Gardnerians right, not just the sailor scouts) which goes like this: The coven disbands either through it just falling apart or people moving, and because all many of them ever did was group work they have no idea how to operate at all and either stop practicing altogether or essentially re-learning their craft.

This should not happen, but it does happen on occasion.

A Healthy Coven Doing The Work

None of this is to insinuate that traditionalists don't have a reason to be upset. They've been marginalized and their craft sold out. Regardless of your background, if Wicca means something to you you should be concerned about this. If you know the harm of appropriation of any kind you hopefully are also concerned about this. The solution is all about helping people craft healthy traditions.

For those who aren't BTW Wicca, this means teaching them of the roots of their inspiration and how to honor those roots. To provide them with a richer, and more meaningful outer court than what they've been getting.

For traditionalists, the non-traditionalists need to learn respect and appreciate the collected wisdom of tradition. However in order for them to do this traditionalists need to show them that they are respectable and care about their growth instead of saying "nope" and casting a wall. That's not to say that there wont be boundaries but there needs to be enough openness to communicate a relationship.

As much as you see the media say things about Wicca and the occult what really bothers me is the ignorance I see from those claiming the title. But there's two very important things here that have to be stated. While I'm not just going to reveal things to them I shouldn't, I'm sort of enabling the problem if I can't actually take the time to share with them how I honor these traditions. That's how you show the meaning they have. Secondly, I'm too busy practicing my craft to worry about which groups and individuals call themselves Wiccans, and frankly unless they are making broad statements or mis-representing a particular trad I don't see the need battle definitions. Also, regarding traditions, while they all interest me to some degree I'm not as interest in how they do their correspondences nearly as much as I am in how we do ours. In short, I work with who I work with because we are too dedicated in seeking the mysteries and crafting our art accordingly to have time to be a d**k about it.

[But, taking a moment to be a d**k... allot of the people who will give you trouble on the forums are looking to pick a fight and are actually Cowans (term meaning non-Wiccan but you wouldn't call any magic-practitioner a Cowan). While you do see this elsewhere occasionally I've never seen it anywhere as much as you see it on Gaia which is just astonishing. I actually know the people who started on here, or I did anyway. Allot of it came from non-Wiccan Pagans and occultists being frustrated by the popularity and fluffyness of Wicca, that was esp. rampant here at the time. Thus the elitist mob was born.

Many of us parted ways and I actually turned this guild into a sanctuary at the time. The guild has grown into more than that since then but I still consider that a guiding factor. ]

The Word Before Gardner

That said the word as used pre-gardner didn't refer to a specific praxis obviously though it was often tied to conjuring up things, and of sorcery- though that's probably neither here nor there.

"It should be noted here that the terms Wicca and Wiccan are older than Gardner's usage. Charles Leland, author of Aradia, which is a core root of modern Wicca's liturgy mentioned the term in his other publication, "Gypsy Sorcery". The oldest known mention of the word (which appears in the non-Wica plural, Wiccan no less) is to be found in the writings of AElfric of Eynsham (955-1010 CE) in which he talks of meeting at the crossroads and communing with the spirits through the conjurative practice of necromancy."

It's etymology is an older word for Witch, meaning "wise" and "to bend". It was used by Gardner to denote a form of Sabbatical craft, a wisdom religion where wisdom was shared through the mythos of the changing seasons and an agricultural mythos of fertility and growth. So any Witch who chooses to refer to themselves in the old-English tongue has the right, by definition to do so.

In modern English it still means witch as a definition. You can't just say it doesn't mean definition a now that you have also given it a definition of b. Gardner's use of it, as the archetypal Wica, does not negate the use of older definition just because it had fallen out of style in popular culture. That is elitist logic which is not sound. It is no different than a new-age establishment taking the word Shaman from the Tungus people and saying to use the word Shaman you have to do x.

He said that he told the word Wica, that he didn't apply it himself. The religion we know as Wicca today, BTW Wicca, did not exist pre-Gardner. However, in the years just prior to his involvement, and in the early stages of his reformation there was an earlier (not ancient) praxis, which he claimed was called Wica, and which we now today would call proto-Wicca or Beta-Wicca.

The Cunningham Tradition of Wicca and The Three Problem Childs

The point being, is that the Cunningham Tradition (as I like to call it, as his books were very much a gateway and I refuse to call it the Teen-Witch Tradition as that would be a cursing) is inspired by and takes there structure from BTW - NOW, many of them don't know it and it's a very watered down practice often sans the more ceremonial stylings of BTW and it's not BTW but what I mean is they get, or think they get the ideas from there, whatever idea it might be. So in that situation education is extremely important because it's simply a different world and to be ignorant of this is to not know where you are in the world. Not that you have to compete with anyone but it's good to know your bearings. Knowing they aren't the same and respecting that builds respect on both sides and helps prevent harmful appropriation. Theres a way to go about it it though because if your worried what others do outside of your circle, if you put up a way and drive them away (as many on both sides do) you can't address the actual issues in any way that makes the situation better for the next generation on either side... instead you see so many people fight the battle that they forget to practice what their fighting for.. which makes you ask what they are fighting for... because it tends to be counter-intuitive.

Other than that the biggest hurdle to resolving issues is this:
Cunningham described (at the request of his publisher I hear) Wicca to an orthodoxic world.

Problem child No 1.

What hope there was that such a book would launch people into learning from a orthopraxic community I'd say is pretty much gone. The books were great and arguably by some, needed at the time but there are are books out there that are better because they aren't written for the ignorant populace that was (hey we do make some strides). To say a Wiccan believes anything is nonsensical really, that is as a universal statement. Praxis informs beliefs, and we even use belief as a tool but you could believe there is no deity behind your psychological worldview and thats fine, as long as you can be in relationship to those constructs in ritual.

Problem child no.2

Lack of understanding about the Rede and threefold rule or put another way, "Oh, Wiccans never cast baneful magicks". Actually this isn't a problem with understanding "scripture" is inherited by former or current believers in certain mainstream Abrahamic faiths which shall not be named. Such a divisive worldview doesn't serve here. This is also related to asking deity for help all the time. Whereas, in Wicca you work wit deity to get the job done. There needs to be a taking on of the responsibility and power of crafting, not the giving up of personal power we see else where. If you do that how are you to grow as a witch, Wiccan or no?

Problem child no.3

There's nothing wrong with pointing out what you do and do not. However, if you look at the founders of Wicca, did they spend so much team trying to convince people not to piss on their porch (yes that happened)? No, sure they took time to educate which saved them allot of sorrow but they never put themselves on trial. You don't people any sort of apologetics for your craft. If they think you are going to hell, ask them to give you an air conditioner as a funeral gift. Just because one employs secrecy does not mean they should act as if they have something to hide. This includes not watering down your craft to suit popular opinion. It's always been a path of distillation and the more you learn the more at times you may feel apart from others whom haven't passed through that fire. It's to be expected and you have to recognize some people just aren't ready to get it. If you've just picked up a copy of Cunningham and are still trying to figure this all out, know that if the respect of traditionalists means anything to you, they are going to notice how you carry yourself here. It shows commitment to the mysteries. If your a traditionalist, do what you can in aiding those seeking in looking inward just as your teacher helped you without breaking your oaths. This includes integrating aspects of self and traditions in a healthy and non-appropriative manner. Lead by example, of how you carry yourself. That's path-working.

Where does the Cunningham Tradition Lead?

For some it may lead to consideration and entry into Traditional Wicca. For others it will lead full-circle into the reclaiming of the crafting of their ancestors back into their family line- and it is this which I see as the true legacy of outer-court Wicca in any form and the gift Cunningham, along with others have sought to give people. While it's rumored that Cunningham was forced to adopt the word Wicca from his publisher his book does cover various aspects of the practice from the Di-theism, The Sabbat, and so forth.



Still others, seeking the gathering of the sabbath and the learning of higher magick, infused by the spirit of their own line will contribute to the Wicca, and in turn be contributed to. They will be of both, and like Cunningham, will divine the future of The Craft.

xp redface rolleyes
Sigh I fell into that one too. Bait hook line and sinker.

Mr. my club you can't play in the sandbox because you do not have brand name toys. forgetting we can play with sand with just our hands.

I bantered for around five post before I grew to tired of it, It was not worth the effort or the negative energy.

I saw

He really needs to learn how to pick his battles. The frustrating think is that much of what he says isn't incorrect but his logical content placement is broken. It's bad syntax. It doesn't parse.

In the context of BTW he's mostly right for the most part. Like he was arguing about apples and ranges to you. Well yeah you can't really compare a grimoire tradition (which when you take a moment to think about it thats what BTW is, a lineaged Sabbatic grimoire tradition) which is orthopraxic to orthodoxic denomination.

With the orthodox you can just put a bunch of people together (following Christians teachings) and then go further and divide based on what one believes those teachings where. It's kind of like that in Traditional Wicca to, because applying teachings is a praxis which doesn't nessisarily have to be a dogma. Which is great because I can tell you have while we get together and share of the same praxis, what we take away from it is very personal and we dont all believe the same thing. That's the beauty of it.

But what I intended to say here is that it's hard to say "your aren't a Christian because you believe this" because that's not how Jesus worked. However if you say "You don't follow Solomons magick because you do or don't do this" That's much more substantial.

And within the context of BTW, he's right there are requirements for it to be Wicca as is defined in that tradition because the book of shadows is like a grimoire in that respect. Also we are of course talking about being brought into the collective will and group-mind/egregore of that tradition.

The problem is that he and others on Gaia want to limit the word to just fit that particular wisdom tradition. That's the thing, they are so dishonest that they say "we have exclusive rights to the word" and that in itself is appropriation. It may not have referred to a specific praxis but how they can say with a straight face that Wicca is the same word With when you go back far enough yet still say only they have the right to use the word... I'd never do that because frankly I see it as an insult to the roots of traditional Wicca..

And when you think about it, those who are inspired by other material to put back together their own fragments- how is that any different than what Gardner did?

You know what it was. It was witches, of like mind coming together to practice, grow and preserve their craft. Out of that came a group praxis and it became a tradition. You know, because that's what traditions are...

And having a tradition that is both living and a grimoire can be a pain in the a**. The core praxis stays the same but that's core structure. It doesn't mean you are moved to say the same words every ritual. I mean theres power in that, but there's also power in sympathetic flow. You have to find the balance and I think allot of Gardnerians especially, if I am to be honest here have forgotten that.

The thing is that while our experiences are different even being in the same circle, it is still a certain kind of experience and that's the point of doing things the way we do them. Adding or or tweaking things outside the core is tricky because overall your still looking for the same kind of recipe. Add too much, change to much and chances are the recipe will be too different to pass down what you want to pass down - which we should always be evaluating.

The truth of the matter is that this will always be debated. There are grups outthere that have lineage to Gardner but whome wouldn't be considered BTW Wicca by many Gardnerians for whatever reason.It could be that the said group prefers to work robed instead of skyclad and thats the only difference. And I can understand that because it does make a huge difference in ritual. I mean they still have lineage so they are Gardnerian if they choose to claim the title but they may not operate Gardnerian if that makes any sense to you.

Like when I'm doing a ritual by my self, even if it follows a Wiccan (traditionally) technique the the kind of dynamic generated isn't the same and so I wouldn't really consider it Wiccan. So let's say you are a BTW Wiccan and you apply certain techniques to a ritual. Tou may be using parts of Wiccan praxis but not the Wiccan recipe per se.

So it can be confusing to really explain how that works. And to be fair it's not like non-BTW Wiccans have always done their thing without taking from BTW outer court. But as long as someone isn't claiming to be and brings honor to the practices (requires some education of course) that come out of BTW (none of which weren't adapted from somewhere else) I don't really see the issue.

Now if someone takes a word like Shaman, from a people (of the Tungus in this case) and apply it without consent when that word was never used outside said clergy. Yeah thats not cool.

And if someone where to use a Cherokee title of a practitioner not having been brought into it (and you wouldn't really know anything about it otherwise), yeah that makes me pissed. If they take one of our practices, wanter it down, sugar-coat and cheapen, sell it for profit... yes that pisses me off.

So I whole heartedly understand appropriation. And sometimes non-Traditional Wiccans can be frustrating but then.... have you ever been a room with a Gardnerian and an Alexanrian?

I mean look at it this way. The feathers of many (migratory generally) are illegal to own unless your native. (U.S. Law). But if your not poaching and you have respect for the bird, what it means to use that feather in medicine (magic(k), no native s going to turn you in for it. That's a pretty broad statement but it's a pretty safe one as well.

The Highs-school I went to was, and is horrible about cultural sensitivity. There mascot is "The Warrior", a native in a headress. Well you couldn't get away with making a Black or Asian person a mascot, we generally frown on that right? And that's what I say. I don't tell these teams to remove their mascot I say, "if your going to be racist, don't be racist about it", in other words I say, "don't just pick on those without legal privilege, have the balls to choose a mascot that isn't as safe", the "Be a Man" bit.

Well the worst of it is that at football games someone will wear a headress which is not appropriate. It's not about blood either it's about being given that by your community. Someone wouldn't wear a Purple Heart if they didn't earn it. It's the same thing. So i suggested that they choose a student to give a "spirit" award for service to their school and/or community at large. Because that's how it works... you earn it for service to your people (and other people to, which honors your people).

Unfortunately it's a rather privileged community and they don't care.

Point is, just because someone isn't of my line and there are things I cant reveal to them, that doesn't mean I don't want them to to craft rich traditions of their own, I do... and that's what Wicca was.

I don't like being put up on a pedastool or seen as a role model to aspire to either. HP and HPs carry allot of influence on people even if said people aren't aware of it. It's hard not to "manipulate" a situation just be being around, if you know what I mean... but then it takes allot of strength of character to be one.

It's true, there's not one path on this planet that doesn't own something to another path. For example, since we are talking about Wicca. The ironic thing is that if it weren't for esoteric Christianity, BTW Wicca either wouldn't exist or would be very different. To the point where the non-BTW revival that was the consequence of Gardner's publicity may not have even come into being. You see allot of people leave Christianity for some other path, and let's be honest allot of people are like "Wicca sounds like it could really work for me" But part of it is that they see it as being so far removed from Christianity. You know the pendulum swing where they go to the other perceived extreme before evening out? Sometimes it manifests as a strong anti-Christian phase. But Garner based allot of it on Crowley's work and Ceremonial magic(k). Crowley's path to creating his own religion and order really took off from three main events... the firsts which was his intitiation into the Golden Dawn (esp the initiation into 5=6 Adeptus Minor). Point being, no GS no Thelemic system, no BTW Wicca as we know it, no eclectic revival. Now the inner order of what we now call the GD was Largely/Manly Christian in symbolism... because the whole of the inner order was pretty much a continuation of the Rosicrucian order, an esoteric Christian order. Let alone all the stuff we get from Kabbalah.

I don't see anything wrong with cultural sharing or cross-over and that in itself isn't appropriation. There are healthy ways and unhealthy ways of marriaging two traditions or customs. Appropriation robs the original cultural of their voice to define and practice their traditions as they see fit. When you take something, change it and then tell the original culture of it they are wrong. That's spot on appropriation. Taking the word Wicca, applying it to your line and thens saying others are wrong... that's appropriating NewForrest Coven, and others in my opinion.

You know when the Cherokee were forced into OKlahoma along with a dozen other tribes, it was pretty crowded by all acounts. Despite the tribes having different identities and cultures a pan-Indian culture of the area did arise. There are certain songs that were shared and adopted and because everyone knows them they are considered inter-tribal or "open dances". Some of the onces not danced as often by their original tribe, it's hard to know which they originally came from. But everyone knows how to do the dances respectively, honoring the tradition.

Another thing, Cherokee often intermarried with the Creek, and that leads me to my next point. The way I see it, few people are purely of one ethnicities so more than likely they aren't of a single culture. Well in some countries it's different but you what I mean. Especially if one seeks out the culture of their ancestors. So if we are honestly being true to our roots we're going to have a blended path.

People like to but other people in boxes, and that's alright to get an idea but someone said, i forget who, that "there are as many religions as their are people" If you are from two different cultures and you follow a path that is of both- that isn't appropriation but more importantly it shoes that a maxing of them can be honorable and it can be healthy. I don't see my path as any more unnatural than i am. I'm a mixed blood, I can't afford to have one half of myself hate my other half for what it did it. I don't have time for that, and having internal peace is proof enough that the elements of my spirituality are on good terms with one another.

We are living in an ever-culturally mized world and we're going to have to learn how to find that. Seclusion from the world isn't the answer and that's why or traditions are dying out because so many of our young people don't see the relevance. Yet so many of us are afraid that what we do choose to share will be twisted and end up in Teen Witch. So what do you do? That's the other part of the balance- understanding the boundaries of old but how they apply in our modern world. None of us want our traditions watered down but if we respect eachothers traditions and make sure we truly take the time to learn them if we are entrusted with them, it should only enrich our own traditions. Theres a sort of attitude we need to get over before we can truly me culturally-mixed in a healthy way. Else we're just all wearing eachother down instead of lifting each-other up.

But yeah we are told you can't be both x and y, even if you are by your very blood... and that leaves you divide. I believe Jesus said something about divided kingdoms being unable to stand when we sent Ba'al yo evict a lesser daemon in the book of Mathew.

This is obviously not the only way our societies create internal conflict and the fact that they create such inflict in every facet of our lives I hope would be concerning to anybody... but allot of people find it hard to care. Internal division in individuals manifests also as division within communities. It's simple correspondence. You can't put a puzzle together either if you don't know how the pieces are different and where they need to be.

One of the resounding things I learned is to teach and share alike to anyone who came upon you if they are worthy. Embrace the other because that is the only way these traditions will survive the ages. I agree there is a time to celebrate the differences and a time to embrace the sameness. It seems so fruitless to argue about how very much we are different when we have far more in comment then our differences.

Look at a grove of trees yes each tree has its individual trunk but look down the roots all intertwine that is witchcraft the trunks are each type of witchcraft and look up all the branches intertwine reaching for the light . That is how I was taught to look at this situation.

Yes! wearing eachother down instead of lifting eachother up.

I understand cultural appropriation, which is just a form of racism and stereotyping in its core. Racism in the actually definition not as another word for prejudice as it is used now.

Culture shift is and has and will continue to happen.

Religions can't be harmed they have no feelings, they can be watered down as so many of us fear into 'Teen Witch' but the use of something as fringe as a name is not worth the effort to protect. Around the world every name of a group of people, means THE PEOPLE they might add an identifier of the river of x or y or z. If you want to protect something hold its core together strengthen it by adopting traditions and people who will uphold it. Make it more inclusive not less.

sorry rant....

really? wow... idk.

We may all have a different back yard but it only takes one jerk for the aliens to say "nope".

We may all be on different islands but it only takes one jerk with a nuclear reactor to posion our water supply.

It only takes one june-bug downing the back-stroke in the punch bowl to ruin the party.

Wait I'm getting at is the shared investment of fate... :p

My true will requires me to invest in your true will etc.
We call it Duyugodv.

Did you ever see Disney's Quest for Camelot? There's a song in there called "I stand alone". It makes a good point but the character singing is short sided. He says as "each tree stands on its own", but trees dont stand on their own if they dont have to... and there's a song later on about unity. Though I forget or not if they ever pointed out he was wrong about the trees.

It's the steps of character formation really, but that goes for national or any other form of identity.

Dependence => Independence --removemovalofillusion--> Interdependence
The Third requires mastery of the prior to,
it is the same as receiving while giving and giving while receiving or even knowing which you need in the moment. There's an empathy to it, you feel the good you give to another person. Sometimes you need to cut off those connections though, gather yourself and then re-apply them... as the Buddha taught.

You mean racism as being aware of race? We have a negative social definition because people handle those observations poorly. There's not wrong with people aware of racial differences that can be as important as knowing the personalities of the plants in your garden. It's when we place value judgements of worth or get trapped in stereotyping that it all goes to hell.

You mention something very important allot of people sadly miss. What's really being stolen is ones identity, ones voice... the right to speak of ones culture becoming a privilege. I say people dont realize that because you often have to quantify it as a custom or object before they even begin to come close to understanding. You rarely get anywhere though because their focus on the example object instead of the psychological impact it has a culture. You know how many native children cry at night because they dont want to grow up to be the savage on rv. I've seen that happen too many times. The problem devastating, and why wouldn't it be? The worst curses mess with peoples process and make them curse themselves. Any time you want to get money from a group of people, or anything else for that matter you implant the idea that the thing you want them to do is crucial to who they are.

It's the same kind of programming you see in marketing- but racist whereas marketing is more so classist. Though there's overlap at times obviously.

Well our religion does have feelings becauses it's the group egregore that comes out of the fire. It's our existence on the tribal, clan and community levels. Just as the fire inside us is our personal fire, the fire we gather around is the collective fire. It has a name. We stay aware of that fire in everything we do.. When someone does something to our traditions that's a sympathetic connection to our being.

But then we tend to see religion allot differently than most I think.

I do believe in learning and adapting technique that works but I'm not completely utilitarian to the point I consider nothing else other than application For the same way I wouldn't use my Athame to cut something physical.

But then I also believe keeping to the etymology of words to because when the structure of a languages becomes less self-referencing so does the psyche that uses that language as a syntax. So at some point that can actually work against us.

But I think I get what you mean. Because our religion is a living one it does change. It isn't set in stone. Certain medicine (magic(k) may be, for the sake of giving a specific gift of experience but things change a bit from family to family, and that goes for coven to coven as well.

Any religion that can't adapt is a dead religion. It's simple Darwinism.

The Cherokee language is endangered but it would have died long ago if we didn't adapt and create a written syllabary. Our survival has been crucial on the adaption of new, foreign technologies. We wouldn't have needed them had there been no colonization but that's not the point. The reason our tribe has survived as it has where as some simply didn't is because we integrate what we can use. Also, because we were more willing to inter-breed with Europeans. (hey its true).

This is a facet of Appalachian tradition as well. Yes you stick to your roots but you also use what roots you got.

I completely agree. There was a time for secrecy and there still is... such as regarding who you work with and what you do, to those who aren't involved. If they aren't, they don't need to know. But if you can share something with someone that will help them on their path, but get them harmed and wont break the confidence of another... do so, absolutely.

But like I wouldn't teach someone hexagrams without first making sure they can do pentagrams... :p

About what to say to a young one who wakes with those tears just point out the 'Indian' on the tv is actually a bad white man in a funny wig and makeup, makes for a whole different John Wayne movie. My step mom told my step sister that once, so i know you are not exaggerating about the fears children can get from how their people are depicted on tv. My step mom was part of the local tribe and so were her children from her first marriage, I was the little blond wierdo visiting the Res. They always made me play the evil/stupid sheriff. My dad could and has passed, did hoop dancing in his youth, he lived on a property that backed up the the Res almost until I was born.