Gender, Possible New Series

I may be studying Tarot with a friend soon. It'll be informal and probably sporadic, but we both want to get better at reading, so we're attempting to set something up.

But, now on to the first of the "Beyond" part of this blog, a piece I wrote about gender polarity/equality issues in Trad Craft, as seen, of course, from the outside:

There exists the notion that male-to-female initiations and workings in Gardnerianism indicate a (repressive) hetero-dominant system, and that the Tradition itself is also highly misogynistic. These accusations are, in a word, ludicrous. In his book, Witchcraft Today, author Gerald B. Gardner easily counters and dispels both of them, albeit proactively.

When the Gods close a window...

So, the ritual matters post marked the end of my 101 lessons. Does anyone have any questions or suggestions on the series as a whole? Is anything lacking or missing? Is anything unclear or confusing?

Starting with the next entry, I'll start posting some more "advanced" topics, some of them the subject of controversy and debate in the Wiccan and Pagan communities. This is where the "beyond" part comes in folks, hold tight!

Link Dump

A few sites I enjoy/employ...

Esoterica Bichaunt - Witchcraft persecution during the Inquisition

Lunarium - "Discover the Mysteries of the Moon"

Infra-Azure Labs - Home of the LunaBar tool

Pagan Calendar - Every holiday and other Pagan/Heathen event one may care to know about

Archaeoastronomy Countdowns - Pinpoints the Sabbats and provides a dynamic countdown based on your computer's internal clock, plus this

To be expanded upon without warning.

Ritual Matters

Ritual Purpose, Etiquette and Progression

Purpose

The reason for performing ritual usually falls under three categories:
- to perform Magick or spellwork
- to honor and connect with the Divine
- to enact spiritual beliefs in a physical and visual way

What's in a Name? A rose by any other name...

Names and Naming Yourself

What and Why
A common practice of many Pagans is to choose a name to go by specifically within ritual. These can be called Magickal names, Circle names (as many Pagan rituals are held within an energy circle), Witch names, Craft names, or ritual names, depending on who you talk to (I personally use "Circle names" most of the time). Some choose to keep the name their parents gave them, but others feel that their legal name doesn't reflect who they truly are or who they are or wish to be within the confines of sacred space, since they did not select the name themselves and/or were given it before finding their Pagan identity. There are some paths wherein a teacher chooses the names for their students at one time or another, but to be so bold as to make a blanket statement about the Pagan community at large, the majority of teachers are more than accepting of one's personal choice of name.

Roles Within and Without Ritual

Roles in Wiccan Teaching and Ritual

Role of Clergy
There is a difference between being a Priest/ess and a High Priest/ess. Every Wiccan is a Priest (P) or Priestess (PS) to the Gods, but in Traditionalist settings only those who have taken on the role, honor, and responsibility as Coven leader and teacher may be called High Priest/ess.

Tools

Tools of Wiccan Craft

Before I start with the list, I want to talk a bit about the nature of tools and their energies. Tools can either be active or passive. This refers in part to Elemental associations. Active tools (athame and wand, for example) are associated with the active Elements of Air and Fire. These Elements are active because they are changing and dynamic, charged up and forceful. The passive Elements are then Earth and Water, because they are more mutable and slow in their changes and how they change other things, so their tools (pentacle, cup. cualdron, etc.) are also considered passive.

Celebrations

Holy Days and Celebrations

There are eight Sabbats, or holidays, in the Wiccan calendar. Four of these are Major or Greater Sabbats, also called Fire Festivals, and they are Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane, and Lammas. The other four occur at the two Solstices and two Equinoxes of each year, and are considered the Minor or Lesser Sabbats. The Wheel of the Year, as the whole of the calendar is sometimes called, is an agricultural calendar, marking the seasons according to observable events, such as the first planting or the first harvest. It also tells the story of the life of the God, conveying how His life stages are connected to these agricultural events.

Death, and an Apology

The apology first; it's been a week and a half since I posted here. I was ill, both physically and mentally (bronchitis/sinusitis and lack of depression/anxiety meds). But I'm doing better now, on both fronts.

And now...

Death and Dying

Similar to many Eastern belief systems, I hold the ideas of reincarnation and Karma to be true. The God is seen as being reborn each year, and indeed anyone can observe the whole of nature cycling to Her new life in the Spring. So, why should animals (humans included) be any different from the rest of nature? This is the logic behind the belief that, after death, our spiritual essences (or souls, if you prefer) journey to a paradise called Summerland, where we rest, commune with the Gods and loved ones, and reflect on our most recent life before being reincarnated into another form. Some even remember or have recovered memories of their past lives, and so trust not only the logic, but their own experiences as well.

Magick

I define Magick as occultist Alestair Crowley did, “the Art and Science of causing change in accordance with Will” (spelling it with a "k" is also Crowley's doing, and is meant to differentiate between Witchcraft and sleight of hand). Using that language, Magick becomes no more mysterious or “supernatural” than raising my hand. And, indeed, to any well-trained Witch, it shouldn’t be. Magick is similar to prayer, as it is an appeal to another source for intervention and assistance. However, I view Magick as more involved than prayers; to my mind, prayers are handing over the situation to that other power, saying, “You do it for me and I‘ll cross my fingers and hope it all works out.” Magick is instead saying, “I’m doing what I can on this plane, and now I need You to do what You can in the astral.” If involving some area of the mundane (finding a job, for example), any Magick done should be an extension of mundane efforts (filling out applications, submitting resumes, etc.).

Bath & Body Works Employee Fired for Being Wiccan

From the LiveJournal community BiPolyPaganGeek:

A boycott against Bath and Body Works (Original article on Examiner.com)

Gina Uberti, in this case is Wiccan and had been prior to hiring with this company. Every year for the last six years of her eight year employment, she would take the week of Sahmain off and head to Salem, Massachusetts to celebrate the holiday. Her leave had been approved almost a year prior to the incident.

Admin Post: In Bit of a Pickle

So I've recently signed a contract with Suite101.com to be a Freelance Contributing Writer (yay for me!) I can write about anything I want at this point, so long as it's never appeared on the internet anywhere else, and once I post it there, I can't reproduce it anywhere else online for one year.

Here's why it matters to this blog: Most of the rest of my "101" material falls into that category of unpublished-online. So my question to you few readers I have, is how would you feel about my submitting the future lessons to Suite, and then linking to them from here? You'd still get to see them, just need to leave Blogspot to do so.

Weigh in on the issue for me?

November Full Moon

Full Moon in Taurus, Nov. 2, 2009 c.e.

See this chart for a list of Moon Names from various cultural and religious traditions.

Here are some informational links:
- Starweaver's Full Moon Magic
- Full Moon in Taurus from Astrology.About.com
- Full Moon in Taurus from CaliforniaPsychics.com

And listen to this: Wytches Chant by Inkubus Sukkubus. This is a haunting rendition of the traditional Goddess chant, appropriate since She's at Her strongest at this time.

Last thought for today, something I didn't realize before but that also makes perfect sense; at the Full Moon, its sign is always opposite to that of the Sun's. Not only is this astronomically logical, it is spiritually symbolic, the God and Goddess embodying opposing (though not necessarily antagonistic) forces. This
Full Moon seems especially poignant, since we just passed Samhain - the Goddess is at Her peak while the God has reached His very depths. Something to think about for Esbats this months.

Theology

Wiccan Deity Construct

The main Wiccan view of Deity is that of the Union of the Horned God with the Great Mother Goddess, and this Union is related to the ritual celebrations throughout the year. The God is born at Yule, grows in strength till Midsummer, declines during the Fall months, then dies at Samhain to be reborn again. He lives and dies for the sake of the people and the land, growing with the seedlings and dying with the harvest. The Goddess is both Mother and Wife to Him, depending on the moment in the cycle. This is not, however, an incestuous relationship, but part of the Mystery of the Divine Union. The Goddess is specifically honored during Moon rituals, called Esbats, with the Full Moon seen as the height of Her power.

Blessed Samhain

Blessed Samhain.

Wiccan Ethics II - Grey Areas

This is the second part of the ethics lesson, some common questions and conundrums.

Veganism/Vegetarianism
I myself used to be a lacto-ovo vegetarian, but realized that I was simply because my ex-fiancé badgered me into it. Veganism/vegetarianism is a fine choice if someone wants to live that way, and done right it can be very healthy. However, I think citing the Rede as the reason is silly. Even if you don't believe in killing animals for food, the plants you eat are still dying, and I've heard of (not actually read though) studies that show that plants scream at supersonic levels when cut down. And, animals kill each other for food naturally, they didn't learn that from humans. And those that aren't predators are still killing plants, and in some cases will eat insects as well. In nature, life comes from death, and I personally don't see why humans should be any different. After all, we're animals and a part of nature ourselves, no matter how hard we may try to remove ourselves from it. This is not to say I agree with all the slaughterhouse and farming practices out there, but even for animals in the more extreme conditions, death seems all the more merciful. And there’s also the argument that, since harm constitutes senseless acts, killing one animal to feed another isn’t truly harm anyway. Overall, I think using the Rede as a justification for one's diet is not only unnecessary, but also somewhat missing the point.

Wiccan Ethics I - Explanation

This lesson will be in two parts. The first is simply explaining and defining Wiccan ethical tenents, while the second will explore some common scenarios and questions.

Wiccan Ethics

The basic ethical tenant of Wicca is the Wiccan Rede, which states, “An it harm none, do what you Will.” A simple, yet highly profound statement.

History, in Brief

A Brief History of Modern Wicca

Keep in mind there's plenty here that lots of people disagree with, some very vehemently. I encourage all who read this to do their own research, getting as scholarly as possible. With that in mind, I can tell you that what follows is the history as my parents have always explained it, their sources being their own training and independent research.

Other Categorical Definitions

The series continues, folks. As before, YMMV.

A. Pagan vs. Wiccan

All Wiccans are Pagan, but not all Pagans are Wiccan. Many use the Christian denomination model as a comparison (e.g.: all Methodists are Christian but not all Christians are Methodist), however this is a false analogy; Methodists and all other Christians conceive of and worship the Divine under the same name, and the other beliefs and the services of these various denominations share many additional similarities. The same cannot be said of the full spectrum of Paganism. Some follow a specific cultural pantheon, such as Celtic, Norse, Greek, etc.. Others do not ascribe to one pantheon, instead following whatever Gods call to them regardless of Their cultural origins.

Wicca - A Personal Definition

For those of you who are familiar with Wicca, YMMV and I don't expect total agreement here (and in the case that someone were learning from me, I'd just expect for them to be familiar with and use my definitions so long as they were under my guidance, so that they could understand my perspective and reasonings). Again, my main purpose in posting these lessons is to make sure that my thought processes translated well into words, that things are clear and coherent, etc.. Comments and questions GREATLY encouraged and appreciated!

Introduction, Statement of Purpose

I've written a series of lessons on Wicca. It's more Traditional-leaning, but since I'm not an initiate of anything, it of course isn't strictly Traditional (and even if I was, of course it wouldn't be in that case either, oaths and all that). Mostly, it's for the hypothetical students I hope to have someday, but also for my husband, should he ever get around to reading any of it. I've decided to post these lessons mostly to get feedback, since just about anyone can find this information elsewhere. Really, I just want to make sure that nothing's overly confusing. I'm not expecting complete agreement on all things, but I suspect there's very little that would be objectionable to most.

Once I get through those, however, I have more personal, and some would say more "advanced" essays and articles I've written that I plan to include here as well.

Lastly, this is an experiment on myself. I feel Called to teach, but heretofore have not encountered anyone wanting to learn anything more from me than the barest of basics before they take off in their own direction. And there's nothing wrong with that, but it's not my Calling. This blog will serve as a litmus tests of sorts, so that I can try my hand at teaching before I reach the hypothetical "real deal."

Thank you for joining me on this journey. I hope it is enlightening for all involved.