Hmmm, Sophia....

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Toward Wiccan Apologetics

I came across a forum site that was discussing apologetics in which one person, presumably a Witch, stated the desire to help anyone defend their religious position. One person replied that apologetics was very simply using "God's Truth" to fight the untruths of the Christian god of evil.
So in wondering and wandering I came across this site:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apologetics

It provides a much sounder definition for apologetics and it really gets me to thinking. How well are we, as Witches, armed to defend our own positions against the "onslaught" of the Christian apologists? It could be a rippingly fun exercise to explore the arguments against Wicca that can be found on a host of Christian apologetic web pages:

http://www.thechristiandefense.com/ftopic2735.html&sid=494a2df12b48a1e8fdca8ae0e7bfb752

http://contenderministries.org/wicca.php

http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/2003/0305bt.asp

Some fairly stimulating reading to be sure...;^)

BB
--J.

Is a male Witch a Warlock?

Note: This is an image of a "puritan"; for some reason when I think of Warlocks I think of a dude in Pilgrim garb. Hmm...the buckled hat is kinda funky. I think I'll have to get one, one of these days. ;^)


I have felt for some time that the term Warlock to refer to a male Witch may have some value. For years I have taken the position offered by most Wiccans like Stewart Farrar who says in "Eight Sabbats for Witches":

"But `warlock', in the sense of `a male witch',
is Scottish Late Middle English and entirely
derogatory; its root means `traitor, enemy,
devil'; and if the very few modern male witches
who call themselves warlocks realized its
origin, they would join the majority and
share the title `witch' with their sisters."

I have felt for some time that there may be a connection between the term "ergi" which is used to refer to a male sorcerer who has an effeminate or "receptive" nature and warlock which refers to the traitor or oath-breaker. Perhaps this is one who has turned away from "manly" things who has turned his back on the warrior's lodge to embark on a pursuit of the "womanly" mysteries--of magick, divination, healing, and mediumship. Just a thought...

Check out these links to learn more...

http://www.ladyoftheearth.com/witch/warlock.txt

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergi

Where have all the male Witches gone?

So where are the men in modern Wicca? Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore the company of women...I definitely would not consider myself to be a "man's man". I simply find I'm most at home in the company of women. Being raised by a single mother may have something to do with that. I still wonder, though, why it is that Wicca and Witchcraft attract more women than men. After all, if it weren't for the efforts of men in the 20th century, modern Wicca may well not exist!
Gerald Gardner, Alex Sanders, Robert Cochrane, Evan John Jones, Raymond Buckland, Paul Huson, Stewart Farrar, Gavin Frost, Scott Cunningham, Robin Skelton too name just a few are men who have contributed greatly to the growth of Modern Witchcraft and the movement toward "Goddess Religion" and yet (it seems) men are now less attracted than they once were. In fact, many of the new covens coming out of the 1950s and 60s were mostly men!
I think that the efforts of women like Z. Budapest and Starhawk have contributed greatly to the empowerment of women and the spread of "Goddess Religion" but I think that in the broader movement there has been a loss of the balance that, to me, is one of the central themes of Wicca.
For all one may celebrate the works of Starhawk there seems to be hardly much mention of her own teacher, a man by the name of Victor Anderson--a person who apparently was not always in agreement with her politics!
So again, I wonder where the men are? And particularly the straight men? I mean there are many all women covens--especially where I live, but all men covens, which are much fewer and far between, are usually comprised of gay men...not that I have a problem with this as straight men and gay men should be quite comfortable working together, as straight women and lesbians are certainly comfortable working together. My main concern is that Wiccan and Pagan society, while trying its best to encourage diversity seems to have left the straight male out of this society of diversity. Is this due to an inherent misandry existing in Wicca today? Is it because the straight male is the embodiment of the evil patriarchal paradigm? Or is it merely poor publicity which has left the average straight guy with the sense that there is no place for him in Wicca and Witchcraft?
Hmmm...makes me think I may have to take matters into my own hands and host an information meeting for men who are interested in Wicca, but perhaps don't bother to pursue it because they feel it is for women only...I pray to Lady and Lord that the balance be restored!
Blessed Be!

Triumph of the Moon

Okay, so what do I think? Is modern Witchcraft a survival of ancient Pagan practices? Was the Witchcraft of the Burning Times such a survival? Could it be said that the Cunning Men and Women of the 18^th and 19^th centuries were Witches? Well, if you read this work by Prof. Ronald Hutton you may be unpleasantly surprised...

When I was first coming to an understanding of what Witchcraft is I believed what most folks of the time, who cared about such matters, believed: I believed in the “Murray hypothesis”…that the Witchcraft of the Burning Times was a Pagan survival and that the Devil that Witches were supposed to worship was actually an ancient pre-historic god. With the work of people like Ronald Hutton we realize that this is not necessarily the case. We learn that modern Witchcraft and the modern Witch religion, Wicca, is more likely the invention of people like Gerald Gardner.

What one may be surprised to learn in this book is that this fact does not invalidate Wicca and the modern practice of Witchcraft. What it does do is acknowledge the many influences on this “New Religious Movement.” We learn of the influences of Classicism/romanticism, of Naturalism, of Folklore, and of the Ceremonial Magickal tradition. We also learn of the many people involved in the shaping of modern Witchcraft.

I think personally that it could be said that it doesn’t really matter that so many of the earlier ideas about the origins of Wicca and Witchcraft are not “true” for every religious movement has its own origin myths. Folks like Robert Graves and Robin Skelton have written of the value of "Poetic Truth". I think the truths of modern Wicca and Paganism in general are very much poetic truths.

Also, any argument that Wicca is an invalid religion because it is “made up” does not hold water for me…all religions, after all, are made up.

I find it interesting how Prof. Hutton, who is English, explores the English roots of modern Witchcraft (he says that Wicca is the only religion that England has given the world!!). It’s interesting how he talks of the influence of the “California Cosmology” and how it compares to British Witchcraft. I found it particularly interesting that early modern Witchcraft was founded by fairly conservative, although definitely eccentric, individuals…as compared to the very left leaning liberalism of the California influences like Starhawk, and Z. Budapest.

I highly recommend this book…I intend to occasionally post notes to this blog about the various people and publications he mentions in this book. I will now view the Wind in the Willows with different eyes. :^)

Good Reading!

Lavendar Green Magic

From time to time I will post information on popular fiction or music that has been influenced by a positive outlook on Witchcraft.

I have just finished reading this book and I have to say that I am stunned by its simple beauty. I have a feeling that Andre Norton was, like so many other science fiction and fantasy writers, quite simpathetic toward Witches and modern Paganisms in general.

I went to see if she has a web-site and found this link...

http://www.andre-norton.org/

I was a little stunned to see that she has passed away.
Brightest blessings on her journey wherever that may lead.

I will be taking on her WitchWorld series as soon as I can. Maybe after I have explored more of her works in this vein...perhaps "Red Hart Magic". There seems to be an entire series of books aimed at a "young adult" audience. Kind of Harry Potterish long before Harry Potter. Lavender-Green Magic was written and takes place in the early '70's.
Blessed be.

Another Elder passes into Witchdom

Elizabeth Pepper, the founder of the Witches' Almanac has passed into the Summery halls and meadows of Witchdom.
Her loss will be dearly felt, I'm sure, by many who have found guidance in the Almanac and in her many other publications.

Blessed Be, Lady Pepper...

I encourage you to visit this site...
http://www.thewitchesalmanac.com/guestbook.html
...and leave a message of condolence.

As an aside, I'd encourage all Witches, if they haven't already, to get their hands on a copy of Witches' All...it is a sort of "best of" edition of the Witches' Almanac.

Magister Robin

I wish to pay respects to Robin Skelton...

I lived in Victoria, B.C., for quite a stretch before Magister Robin passed over into Witchdom. (I suspect "Magister" is not a term he would have used for himself, but I will use it just the same for any male Witch I hold in high regard.) He left his body eight years ago on August 22. Come this August 22nd I shall light a candle for him. I regret that I never met him...he was a champion of the arts, a prolific writer, a brilliant poet, an inspiring and attentive professor, and a powerful Witch...perhaps Canada's only well-known one, at that.

While I never did meet him in life. I did have the good fortune of partaking of some of his essence when I was initiated into the "Skelton lineage". My initiator had himself been initiated by Magister Robin, and knowing that I was a practising Witch without formal outside initiation, he was happy to initiate me without the usual required training time of a year and a day. Following this I initiated my wife.

I highly recommend his writings on Witchcraft, Spellcraft, and Talismans. His poetry is marvelous "reading aloud" material--particularly "Words for Witches" which can be found in one of his latest publications, One Leaf Shaking.

Hail and Blessed Be, Magister Robin!

links:
http://ring.uvic.ca/97sep05/skelton.html
http://www.canadapagan.com/CanInfo/articles/poetry.htm

ps. I highly recommend checking out his daughter's web site: http://www.alisonskelton.com/index.htm

Jumpin'

Jumping from one to the next
Was what She was trying to tell me
As I skidded through the sun-bleached dust
But me never seeing as She saw kept jumping blindly
I remember now
And see with irredescent eyes
And now I sit and see
In a world without up or down
And from here I can jump
And I will be nourished
I will be my nature
She is my Teacher.

Steeping Thoughts

I have struggled many years with being a Witch. With coming to terms with being one. With accepting that I am one.
I have, over the years, been really quite fickle in the spiritual department. My wife likes to refer to any "path" I follow at any given time as the "flavour of the month." You could say that I have essentially ignored the Charge of the Goddess, written by Doreen Valiente those many years ago...

"Know that your seeking and yearnings will avail you not unless you know the mystery,
For if that which you seek you find not within yourself you shall never find it without,
For behold I have been with you from the beginning and I am that which is attained at the end of desire."

A beautiful, inspired piece of writing...much like most of Valiente's work (may she be dwelling blissfully in the Summery Halls and Meadows of Witchdom)...

This is the start of an electronic accounting of one man's treading of the Witch Way. In it I hope to explore the history (both mythical and factual) of Witchcraft. I also hope to write about Witch practices, cultural phenomena, broader religious/spiritual/magickal phenomena, and pretty much anything else that comes to mind.

Blessed Be,
JumpinSpider