Pagan Movements

Traditional/ Gardnerian Wicca

In the 1930's, an anthropologist named Margaret Murray published a book claiming that women (and men) burned as witches in the Middle Ages actually were witches, following ancient pagan traditions passed down from pre-Christian times. This book caused quite a stir when it came out, and piqued the interests of scholars. However, most of the book's content has since been debunked by other anthropologists.

In the 1940's, an English man named Gerald Gardner announced publicly that he had been initiated into a coven of witches. Gardner claimed that their tradition of witchcraft was directly descended from pre-Christian pagan practices, and its members had survived the Middle Ages by going underground and practicing in secret. Gardner published a couple of books on the topic and began initiating people into witchcraft himself. (Interestingly, Margaret Murray wrote the introduction to his book Witchcraft Today.) This was the beginning of what we know today as Wicca.

Most scholars agree that there really isn't any evidence to support Gardner's contention that Wicca descends from unbroken pagan traditions which survived medieval times in secret. A number of scholars (such as Aidan Kelly) have concluded that he invented the whole thing, possibly with help from others such as English occultist Aleister Crowley (and later from Doreen Valiente, the author of the Charge of the Goddess). Gardner borrowed from sources as diverse as English folklore and Masonic ritual.

There are a number of Wiccan denominations, such as Alexandrian Wicca or Seax-Wica, which I consider to be part of this group although they are not strictly Gardnerian. I include them here because they are based on "traditional" Wicca and share many of the characteristics described below.

Wiccan beliefs include:

• Divine Polarity - According to this concept, the God and Goddess represent complementary forces (light/dark, active/passive, outer world/ inner world) and their union is the divine spark which animates the world.
• The Goddess is a Triple Goddess in the form of Maiden, Mother, and Crone. Sometimes Wiccans use deities from specific cultures to represent these archetypes, for example the Greek goddess Persephone is usually seen as the Maiden.
• Wiccans' conception of the God varies - sometimes he is seen as a Triple God (Youth, Father, and Sage); sometimes as the Green Man, Lord of the Forests and the Hunt. Often he is represented as the Sun God, while the Goddess is the Moon.

Here are some of the hallmarks of traditional Wiccan practice. (Many of them have now been adopted by the larger community of pagans and witches, but their origin is Wiccan.)

• Sabbats - The name "sabbats" and the form in which most modern pagans celebrate the Wheel of the Year come from Wicca. Their origins are varied; for example, although some of the solstices and equinoxes have been celebrated by different cultures, no culture that I know of celebrates all of them. The "cross-quarters" (Beltane, Lughnasadh, Samhain, Imbolc), by contrast, are all Celtic holidays.
• Esbats - This term for rituals of the moon's phases supposedly comes from the French "s'esbattre", meaning "to frolic." I believe, although my memory may be wrong, that this comes from Margaret Murray's research.
• Three degrees of initiation - Those who wish to become members of this tradition must pass through three levels of initiation; the final degree empowers individuals to teach others. Typically initiates keep secret much of what they learn. (The three-degree initiation is Masonic in origin.)
• Drawing Down the Moon - This ritual where a priestess invokes the Goddess into oneself (and its parallel, Drawing Down the Sun) are Wiccan in origin.
• The Great Rite - The symbolic or actual sexual union of male and female in a ritual context.

Limitations: Some have criticized Gardnerians' emphasis on hierarchy as disempowering, and have suggested that their emphasis on secrecy is exclusionary. In addition, others have criticized the emphasis on male-female polarity as being heterosexist and encouraging stereotypes. (Modern Gardnerians differ in the extent to which they follow "traditional" practices and beliefs.)

Some authors associated with traditional Gardnerian Witchcraft: Gerald Gardner (obviously), Janet and Stewart Farrar, Raymond Buckland, Judy Harrow.

Ceremonial Magic(k)

Dianic Witchcraft and Goddess Spirituality

Faery/Feri Witchcraft

Shamanism/ Neo-Shamanism

Influenced by Mircea Eliade, a scholar of religions who wrote about indigenous shamanism in other cultures, a revival of "traditional" shamanic practices has been underway since, perhaps, the late 1970's. Michael Harner's book (The Way of the Shaman) and the workshops led by himself and his collaborators have been extremely influential in this regard. Harner claimed that when studying indigenous shamanistic traditions (in societies as diverse as Siberia, New Guinea, and the Amazonian jungle), a certain set of universal ("core") beliefs, goals, and techniques could be identified. Because of their universality, these shamanistic traditions (known as "core shamanism") could be taken out of their cultural context and used by anyone to achieve the same results. The development of shamanistic groups and traditions was also influenced by Carlos Castaneda, whose tales of his initiation by Don Juan, an indigenous shaman and teacher, have been widely read.

Neo-shamans may not call themselves Witches or even Pagans; however, many of them participate in the wider Pagan community. In addition, some neo-shamanistic groups have attempted to revive culture-specific forms of shamanism (Celtic or Norse shamanism, to give two examples). Techniques of shamanism have also been used by a number of different traditions of Witchcraft; in fact, shamanistic methods of trance induction and pathworking have become so widespread among Witches and Pagans that they are rarely seen as separate from individual traditions. It is not clear whether these techniques developed separately in each tradition or whether each tradition was influenced by the neo-shamanistic movement; probably there is some truth to both of these statements.

Some common techniques of neo-shamanism are:

• Induction into trance: Trance may be achieved by fasting, drumming, dancing, singing, or other methods.
• Pathworking and inner journeying: Through guided trances, neo-shamans may quest for such goals as spiritual healing, finding a "totem" or "power" animal, or answering life questions.
• Use of psychogenic/ hallucinogenic substances: This is not a widely accepted practice within the larger Pagan community, and is presumably also somewhat controversial among neo-shamans. However, the use of substances such as peyote, hallucinogenic mushrooms, and other psychogenic plants are common among a variety of indigenous societies. Castaneda, Harner, and others have suggested that they can be a way to access spiritual knowledge and make inner journeys.
• Apolitical orientation: Although many neo-shamans value the environment and may become involved in activism related to "sacred sites" such as Stonehenge, the movement tends to focus on personal growth and healing to the exclusion of political activism.

Limitations: Neo-shamans, who are mostly White, are frequently charged with cultural appropriation. This can take the form of simplifying or mis-interpreting traditional practices (as many scholars have argued that Eliade did) or it may take the form of "stealing" elements which are considered to belong to other cultures (such as the Native American sweat lodge). Neo-shamans typically argue that these ritual elements or techniques are "universal" and therefore belong to them equally; however, many indigenous groups find this assertion offensive. In addition, Carlos Castaneda in particular has been discredited as a reliable source about indigenous shamanism and many have claimed that he actually made up all or most of his encounters with Don Juan. (An interesting book which examines some of these charges, as well as other issues relating to neo-shamanism, is Robert J. Wallis, Shamans/ Neo-Shamans.)

Well-known authors in the field of shamanism include: Mircea Eliade (though not a shaman himself), Carlos Castaneda, and Michael Harner.

Cultural Reconstructionists

Science-Fiction-Derived Paganism