When Gardner started his coven, his intention was to revive the worship of the Old Gods of the British Isles, specifically the worship of the Horned Lord of life and death. This rapidly evolved to include the worship of the Moon Mother. Most of the basics of Wicca are either adaptations of ceremonial magic or are Celtic in origin. Doreen Valiente adapted pieces of the Carmina Gadelica to become important parts of the Gardnerian tradition (the Carmina Gadelica is a massive collection of Celtic texts and prayer-poetry). The Sabbats first celebrated by Gardner were the four Fire Festivals: Samhain, Imbolc, Bealtinne, and Lughnassadh, with the solstices added later, and equinoxes later still.
These are Celtic festivals, the first four uniquely so. The ritual inclusion of the black-handled knife, fire leaping, and broom riding are also Celtic in origin. I am NOT saying that one must be Celtic to be a valid Pagan initiate or Wiccan priest or priestess; what I am saying is that Wicca was originally based on the Old Gods of ONE cultural group. Rapidly, this focus was lost and a wealth of material was brought in from many sources, especially Egyptian, Greek, and Norse. This material was and usually still is, blended together indiscriminately: ripping symbols and concepts out of their cultural context to be used in ways that are often inappropriate to their native context.
Let me dispel some fallacies perpetuated by such inappropriate "wiccanizing":
1.) Most Goddesses in most cultures are not patterned in Maiden/Mother/Crone triads. Triple goddesses are common (as far as I know) only among the Celts, the Hindus, and to a much lesser extent the Thracians (perhaps due to the heavy Celtic influence upon that area). The
Artemis/Selene/Hecate triad is atypical of Greek religion, but the Thracian influence upon this particular cult is announced by the presence of Hecate. It is important to note that triple goddesses, in their original context, are not Maiden/Mother/Crone but three of a kind - usually depicted by three women in the prime of their lives. In most cultures being a goddess means being immortal, and if one is undying and unaging then the being a crone, with all the changes aging brings, will never be experienced by the goddesses themselves. The sole exception to this is the Cailleach, who is only goddess in my experience/research who ages and is periodically renewed. For all other goddesses, the M/M/C triad is a poetic projection invented in the last century by Robert Graves and refers primarily to the moon in its cycles, and by (illogical) extension all goddesses everywhere.
2.) A "crone" Goddess does not have to be, and usually isn't grand motherly. Don't sugar coat the deities who preside over the harsher aspects of reality. While some death goddesses do take you "gently into that good night", others haul you there, gore splattered and dripping (ie. Badh [Irish] and Kali [Hindu]). Death is often sudden and arbitrary-seeming, but it is a part of the great Cycle. Thus in serving the balance there is no reason why these less pleasant deities should not enjoy their work.
3.) Neither Inanna nor Persephone make their descents into the Underworld at Samhain. If the Celtic feast of Samhain is celebrated, doesn't is make sense that Celtic deities be honoured. Likewise, doesn't it make good sense that should one wish to celebrate the descent of either of these Goddesses, that the ritual be timed to accord with the Sumerian and Greek ritual calendar respectively?
The list could continue, but three examples should suffice. Is Wicca to be a mix and match religion, of poor scholarship and flimsy concepts? I do feel the greater community should as a whole embrace many traditions and cultures, but respecting many cultures does not mean that an individual needs to straddle them all, or worse yet mix them. Metaphorically, if one takes paint in the seven colours of the spectrum (all of which are beautiful), and pours them all into the same pot, the result is an awfully pukey shade. Is it wise to serve pork (taboo to most Near eastern gods) at a feast for Astarte? Is it wise to have the initials of the Judeo-Christian god on a tool used solely for non-Abrahamic ritual? No; at least that's what I thought, and common sense would lead me to believe. Well, there is nothing common about sense; I have witnessed or heard about respectable groups that have done these things and more in ritual.
The same kind of common sense should be used not only with regard to any particular ritual, but for those initiated who preside over these rituals as well. One would not serve pork at an Astarte ritual, and be the same token, someone who has had bacon for breakfast is probably not truly fit to conduct that ritual. However, purposely abstaining from pork is not proper to a priestess of the Black Sow, Cerridwen ... Moral: you can't please all of the Gods, all of the time, especially if you are pantheon hopping.
So just as the ritual should be appropriate, so should the priest or priestess. Being an initiate is being a constant representative of your tradition and your Gods, so your very lifestyle can determine which Gods favour you and who you in turn favour. For example, is a rabid homophobe a fit priest of Apollo? Is a pacifist a fit priest of Thor? Can a woman properly serve Mithras, whose rites were all male mysteries?
Don't get me wrong; with the wide variety of cultures, and Gods within those cultures, there is a place for everyone, but no one can be all things for all Gods. Under normal circumstances today, a Catholic priest cannot perform a Jewish ritual in a synagogue, and neither can a rabbi perform mass in a Catholic church. In the past a druid could not perform the ritual duties of a Norse godi; so why can an initiate, untrained in old Sumarian religion and world view, officiate at a Sumerian ritual? I feel that while a Pagan can and should learn about many pantheons and magical traditions, she or he can fully internalize only one.
A cultures mythology depicts its world view; it shows a sacred view of the reality upon which to base one's life. The myths give role models of right action, both in day-to-day life and in how to relate to the divine. From a psychological perspective, a culture's mythology arranges the archetypes in ones mind and relates them to each other in culturally specific ways.
One cannot internalize clashing systems or vague umbrella systems. For this reason, I think that when a Pagan decides to become a priest or priestess of the Old Gods, she or he should learn and be devoted to a single path. That means one set of values and principles, one set of symbols, one world view, one set of ritual practices: in short, one pantheon. Here I am assuming a lot, in that I presuppose this pantheon to be one in which a single priest or priestess serves all, or most, of the Gods. The priests of ancient Greece served not only one pantheon, but usually a single deity! Generic Pagan or Generic Wiccan clergy usually create and perform mediocre ritual, until twenty years of experience and practice makes up for lack of focus. Specialized clergy produce rituals that reach the standards of the tradition in three or four years.
In conclusion, I would like to head-off a few of the objections before they start. Firstly, I am not proposing totally backward-looking unchanging paths. Wicca is a living religion, and Celtic Wicca, Greek Wicca, Norse Wicca, etc. should all grow and change in their own way, adapting their own festivals and rites in a co-creative act with their Gods. There will even be times when they borrow from each other and apt (adapt) things carefully. Secondly, being true to one path does NOT excuse ethnocentricity, prejudice, or bigoted behaviour. A priest or priestess can be true to his or her path and still appreciate the beauty of other paths, even participating - but not officiating at - rituals of other paths. At open rituals of other paths, she or he should be able to appreciate the similarities, and differences, in the spirit in which they are intended.
Finally, I would like to tackle the "all Goddesses are one Goddess, and all Gods are one God" or "They are all One" theories. These concepts do exist in some polytheistic philosophies, and be appropriate in the modern Pagan traditions that worship those gods. However, it is inappropriate to other traditions and should not be an excuse for sloppy research or vague theology. I am human, so are you, we both have blood in our veins; we are so similar in structure and basic psychological make up, and yet WE ARE INDIVIDUALS. I do not know all that you know and we like different things. If this is true of simple humans and all other incarnate life, if this is true of spirits (an undine is not a salamander), then it must also be true of Gods. Especially since, in most pantheons, Gods have the power to become incarnate humans, and humans have the potential to undergo apotheosis and become Gods. I am not you and Cernunnos is not Inanna.
There are many wonderful and valid paths of spirituality in this world; modern Paganism (like Hinduism) is not one religion, it is a diverse movement of related paths, religions and lifestyles. One person can learn and appreciate all of this diversity and the beauty of its parts, but she or he can only fully apply and internalize one. Explore, then make a decision and work with discipline and perseverance. Isn't it preferable to succeed at walking one path well rather than walking half a dozen poorly?
The Club - Blackangel