I've been a practicing Pagan and Witch for about ten years. Although my
practice - like that of most modern Pagans and Witches - has been
strongly influenced by Wicca, I don't consider myself a Wiccan
for a number of reasons. One reason is that my beliefs are too fluid, and
I don't want to limit myself to one way of looking at things. For example, I
spent some time studying the Norse tradition, in which the Sun is
considered to be feminine and the Moon masculine, in contrast with Wiccan
tradition. I don't see any problem with holding these views
simultaneously, but I don't think that doing so can be considered
Wiccan.
Another reason is that I don't agree with most Wiccans' beliefs about
gender and divinity. I have noticed two prevalent practices among Wiccans.
The first, generally practiced by "eclectic" Wiccans, is a tendency to
place an emphasis on the Goddess in worship - partially because for many
people who grew up hearing the name "God" used in a stern, authoritarian,
often repressive context, it is easy to go to the other extreme as a
reaction and effectively ignore the God. The other tendency, usually
found among "traditional" Wiccans, is an emphasis on God-Goddess polarity
which causes practitioners to revere stereotypical gender roles as
divine.
I don't see either of these options as desirable. I'm all for transforming
the patriarchy, but I don't think leaving men out of the divine picture -
or portraying women or men in stereotyped roles - is the way to go. (More
on that topic in my essay Is Biology Destiny?)
A third reason I don't consider myself Wiccan is that I don't believe in
the "Wiccan Myth", which goes something like this: A long time ago, people
used to worship a goddess, and there was peace and gender equality, and
everything was good. Then the Christians came and brought male gods with
them, at which point warfare became common and people became obsessed with
money and lost touch with the earth and started repressing women. But
through it all there was a secret society of witches keeping the Old
Religion alive, and during the "Burning Times" millions
of
them were burned at the stake. This religion resurfaced when Gerald
Gardner made it public in the '50's.
OK, so I have a number of problems with this. First of all, Christianity
is not responsible for every evil in the world. Sure, I have plenty of
bones to pick with Christianity, but I can't buy into the myth of the
golden age in which everyone worshiped the Goddess, therefore everyone was
happy. I find it extremely unlikely that society was perfect before
Christianity came along (just as I think it's silly to say that society
became perfect after Christianity came along). To give an example, there
were plenty of pagan religions which involved human sacrifice, something
which I obviously don't condone. And few modern pagans would be willing to
give up today's technology. As regards the debate over prehistoric
matriarchy, my belief is that we'll never have enough evidence to be
certain one way or the other.
Second, there is no evidence that the people who were burned during the
Middle Ages as "witches" were any sort of pagan. Some of them
were herbalists and healers, some of them were women who had a lot of
power or money, some of them were too smart, some of them just pissed off
the wrong people. While it seems likely to me that in medieval times, I
might have fit into one or more of those categories, I don't feel any
special kinship on a religious basis with those who were killed.
Third, neo-paganism is not a continuation of a pre-Christian religion. It
is based in part on folk traditions which have survived from that time,
but it is not a direct descendent of ancient paganism. There really isn't
any compelling evidence suggesting the survival of such religions in an
organized form.
I really think it is too bad that we feel the need to legitimize ourselves
by "proving" that we have a historical basis for what we are doing. For
me, one of neo-paganism's strengths is that it is flexible and open
to inventions and new ideas.
I don't think that Wicca has to include all of the elements I've described
here. But I've found that it frequently does. Simply identifying as a
Pagan and a Witch is simpler for me than trying to define myself in terms
of something I'm not sure I agree with.
