I see Paganism as being weak and timid. Weak as in afraid to make a personal or group stand, and timid in the way of not making any specific personal pronouncements. Pagans, both as individuals and groups to me are overly politically correct, not wanting to step on anyone's toes so therefore they embrace everything and discarding nothing. With this I have a difficult time seeing how one can embrace everything and still stand for anything. Because to stand for something requires that some singularity of thought or culture must be brought to the fore. To use a Christian axiom " A house divided cannot stand". You cannot be all things to all people, regardless of how open-minded you think you are or how liberal your attitudes.
The word "Paganism" itself is an umbrella phrase used to pigeon-hole many if not all traditions. It combines a strong willed oath-bound Asatru with a lovey-dovey new age flower child. The Asatru/Child of Odin who can make a hard choice and is of a strong mind would not what to be labelled a "pagan". I feel for the reasons I have outlined above, the New Age Atlantean to whom the "Goddess is all things Good" who be overjoyed to be described in the above paragraph, as a embracer of all things.
Wiccans, I believe are closer to the idealism of "the Goddess of all love and all happy things", while witches are more towards if not more towards those with strong opinionated views, similar to that of the Asatru. There is FIRE and there is ICE and there are unresolved issues in the Universe. There is a dualism in nature. Life Death, Light Dark, Good Evil.
Too many Wiccans, Wiccan writers and Wiccan apologists see only the Life, Light and Good. Wiccans see the Life, Death, Rebirth cycle as never ending, ongoing forever, being nurtured against the bosom of the Goddess. Many Witches I know are more pragmatic, there is Life, Death and maybe a Rebirth, but that Rebirth is something different and it may not be pleasant, and they accept the possibility that things are not always sweet and kind.
There is an old saying that if you gather 100 Pagans together you will have 101 opinions. I think you could add to this if you put 100 Wiccans together you would get perhaps 50 or more opinions, or at least as many opinions as there are Wiccan traditions.
However if you gathered 100 witches together you would get only 1 or 2 opinions. Why, because a witch does not have to justify his or her opinion. As there are only 2 paths in Witchcraft, The Warrior and the Nurturer representing the masculine and the feminine, the dark and the light, death and life.
There are many, many books of paganism and Wicca and the ideals they encompasses, be those books by Gerald Gardner, (Aliester or Vivianne) Crowley, Buckner, Starhawk, Cunningham, Valiente or any other writer, these are simply just the opinions and words of one person or one group of people opinions ideas of what the Universe is all about. These books are textbook to religion, and carry instructions on what to say, how to do things and as such limit ones own personal spiritual growth. Limited in the way, other may say to you, "but the book says". This is a benign example but it is the seed of limiting personal awareness and growth.
I don't think there can be a definitive book on Witchcraft, because witchcraft is one of the last true faiths. The last because a book cannot be written to describe the link and the tie between you as the Witch and the Divine Source whatever you see it as being.
Witchcraft and being a witch is simply being in touch with yourself. You do not need to be told how to do that, if you do then you are not ready to be a witch or you have lost the point of witching. To be a witch you follow your heart, and if there is doubt, then the time is not right. You will know the time of you personal "awakening". No one can help you find it, and more so no one can prevent you from achieving it.
Most pagan rituals and Wiccan rites have a format, forum and sequence, these can be strictly or loosely followed. There is a rote manner to rituals and in groups or covens requirements for dress, tools, places and places of rank. Why should these requirements or notions be in place? If you do not agree with these things you cannot change them. Perhaps your views will be viewed with suspicion and even your faith questioned.
Does anyone have the right to question your faith?
Does anyone have the right to dictate to you how you should follow your faith?
As with Witchcraft, a Witch can create a ritual out of anything or even nothing. A ritual can be simple a silent meditation or a complex ritual of your personal design. A ritual of Witchcraft can be done by even as a simple visualization, without any psychical tools, just the Witch's mind and concentration. Wicca and Wiccans, based on what I have read of wicca, know to be rue of Wiccans, feel in my heart and have experienced first hand in groups and covens, is that Wicca requires a group and the faith of Wicca itself is based on the principles group dynamics. Whereas with "Paganism" it has almost entrenched the idea of group dynamics as a "tenet" of acceptance and of protocol.
If there is a Goddess/God dualism in the Universe, if there is a God or a number of Gods, that is not the point of the faith of Witchcraft. Naming these gods, assigning roles to gods and worship one or a few aspects of the total divine is an act of lacking the realisation and the completeness of everything. It is degrading the Divine to human form, and not acknowledging the completeness and differentness of the Divine. Rather than try to limit the unlimitless we should concentrate our energies on creating ourselves. The spiritual point of being is "Being". Knowing yourself and being in direct contact or linkage with the Divine Source. If you limit the Divine to a single gender, a single culture, a single attribute, how can that singleness help you achieve completeness and full potential? Pagans, of the "Old Age" ways, are following traditions and systems of worships that may be 1000's of years old. They may have pretty, ornate or complex rituals, but they may equally have lost touch with what it is exactly they are worshipping and why.
Do the urban dwelling Pagans need to symbolical spill blood on the Earth each spring to make the land fertile, if they buy all their food at a neon lit, four acre Safeway? How do members of a Coven of Wicca who are practicing either a "lost and forgotten religion" (Margaret Adler) or a "recreated ritualistic faith" (Gardner or Crowley) or even a "modernist faith" of perhaps Feminist Spirituality (Starhawk) interact with the Universe. Does the Universe care?
If show and pomp of the ritual are all that are required or demonstrated , is that not for self-edification of the gather and for the groups self- validation? Where is the spirituality with a replica Venus of Willendorf and an ancient stag horn if the true spiritual representation of these items has been lost for 4000 years and the practices followed today are just actions based on anthropological research?
Why did Neolithic man do this or do that? We have no idea of their culture, language or religions, we only have assumptions. As a parallel could a culture 4000 years in the future understand today's culture if they had only a few fragments of the 20th century? Could they correctly ascertain the meaning of a tombstone, a Harry Potter book, a hand gun and a stack of Poke-mon CD-Roms?
Where is the true nature of the Ancient Magick and arcane knowledge, if the rites are contrived spectacles of show based on a mishmash of Egyptian Roman Greek and Celtic beliefs and Gods? Does the aspect of Horus really wish to share and altar with Diana and Loki? Are the mythologies behind these gods any more real than the "mythologies" behind UFO abductions, Atlantis or stories of the Loch Ness monster or Tibetan Yetis? In a modernist approach to spirituality, how can a group of women a representation of the "All" if they exclude men? Or a Men's group that excludes women? New Age religions are just the rehashing of old ideas and doctrines wrapped up in a glossy folder and available at $20.00 a night at your local community hall. Are we as a culture that lost that we cannot even find what it is in our own hearts, so we embrace the latest cause? Paganism and Wicca, and all that they entail are religions, regardless of how they present themselves and regardless of what they call themselves. They have all lost the way of faith. Faith is the bond or the covenant or the tie between the individual and whatever it is that they call the Divine Source. One who is full of faith, does not need to gather with others, nor do they need the support of those of like mind. All that one who is seeking faith requires is to be aware of who they are and understand their place in the Universe.
All faith is good because it is pure. Religion on the other hand is, I don't want to say bad, but it is preconceived. If you join a Temple, Church, Mosque or Coven and the rules are set. This is the way things are done, we have been doing it for generations, in strict accordance with the writings of our Spiritual founder. A written "book" of a writer in 700 BCE, 45CE, 670CE or 1896 may not be fully acceptable in the year 2001. Treat your slaves well, slay your enemy with Divine right, once a year kill a goat, have sexual orgies in the name of God.
I am a witch, because it is my faith. I feel that I am in control of my magick. I am in control of those things around me that are controllable. I call myself a witch, because I feel a "witch" can stand alone. A witch does not need the support of others or the affirmations that one receives in a group environment or Coven, or other religious groups. I call myself a witch because I believe a witch sees both the dark and the light, the positive and that which is negative. I believe a witch has the strength to be willing to do that which is required and that which may seem unpopular. Faith is not, and even religion is not, nor should they be a popularity contest. Neither should the be a place that makes one feel uncomfortable. They should not be places were there are pressures and requirements that are restrictions ones freedom of action.
With Faith there is no doubt, if you know you are on the right course, doing the right thing, saying what needs to be said, and if you know that all your actions are true who can challenge you?
If you can look at yourself in the mirror and like yourself, who can
challenge you?
If you know that whatever it is you call your Divine Source of spiritual faith and strength will not strike you down for a betrayal of faith, who can challenge you. With your Faith, you have independence, and that independence must be tempered with both compassion and wisdom. For in the final analysis it is you an only you that are accountable for you actions. There is no Savoir coming to remove "the stain of sin" that was enacted in malicious or deceit. You are simple accountable for all your actions. This life, the life is what there is here and now! If there are Gods or a divine plan we are no privy to such thing, you can only act in accordance with your personal faith, with what you know to be right and with freedom to act accordingly. Paganism in its broadest sense prohibits any form of exclusion or censorship, and that is its greatest weakness. Wicca and all "text" based forms of religion limit one's freedom of action, expression and thought.
A quote that is questionably (I do not believe he actually said this) attributed to the Evangelical Christian Reverend Billy Graham says "Good Christian don't think, They obey". Is that a sentiment that is that different form any strict dogma, be it Islamic, Hindu, Druidic or Gardnerian Wicca? It there any difference between religions, or do all place limits on ones personal faith?
Witching, grants you the opportunity to take control of your life and destiny. The peril in this is as was stated above is "personal accountability". There is no support structure, there is no group hugs or shoulders to cry on, there is only you and your Faith, and if that Faith is strong and without doubt what else do you need?
The Club - Blackangel