A Brief (A Very Brief) History Of Wicca
Feb. 2nd, 2005 11:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poliphiloReligious movements swiftly go out of date. They begin by challenging the status quo, then, once society has caught up with them, slip into conservatism as they defend their aging insights against the onrush of the new.
Wicca began as a challenge to the mores of the 1950s. It was always a little old-fashioned- with a whiff of geriatric naughtiness- and was soon overtaken by the sexual revolution of the 1960s. It was reinvented in the 70s, by Starhawk and others, as a vehicle for left-wing protest and feminist assertion. Now, unless I'm missing something, there's nothing much left in it except a nostalgia for ye olden dayes.
Charmed is the monument erected over its grave. If the US entertainment industry thinks something is safe for the mainstream, you can be pretty certain it's no longer prancing and kicking.
Wicca began as a challenge to the mores of the 1950s. It was always a little old-fashioned- with a whiff of geriatric naughtiness- and was soon overtaken by the sexual revolution of the 1960s. It was reinvented in the 70s, by Starhawk and others, as a vehicle for left-wing protest and feminist assertion. Now, unless I'm missing something, there's nothing much left in it except a nostalgia for ye olden dayes.
Charmed is the monument erected over its grave. If the US entertainment industry thinks something is safe for the mainstream, you can be pretty certain it's no longer prancing and kicking.
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no subject
Date: 2005-02-02 10:38 am (UTC)...we used to practice religiously (if you'll pardon the pun) but tc lost heart when his eyes began to go bad. he gave up his membership in the lodge (a small group of kabbalists...) and we don't do regular circles the way we did when it was just me, tc, and sean...
...cheron is more faithful, but she is solitary and marcey isn't particularly comfortable with our rituals...
here is a quote that i serendipitously found while i was eating lunch...
Work and house and errands and physical fitness and activities and things. The expediencies of every day. This cannot be all there is.
Something more is calling. It is of the past, it embodies tradition, yet tradition is only the vehicle. It is of the heart, but it is more than diffuse sentiment. Some of it is dimly remembered, yet remembered for a reason.
It is a coherent way of life and the taste of home. It is a way to teach the children right and wrong, consciousness, history, and an appreciation of all we have. It connects them to their garndparents and mine.
It is an ancient religion. It beckons, and half the time I am not even sure why. Its rituals tantalize and will not be denied.
What is the lure of ritual when passionate believe is hardly ever to be found, when fulfillment of ritual is a matter of choice? It is more than the preservation of an empty vessel. It is the conviction, deep and unspoken, that ritual, the vessel, contains a precious substance, though I cannot name it. My ignorance is the problem, not that of the vessel.
Why do I, having long ignored the rituals, yearn in their direction? Some of its caretakers ave been those I loved best and respected most. I cannot forget them. I start from there. Miriam's Kitchen-a memoir Elizabeth Ehrlich, ISBN 0-670-86908-2
no subject
Date: 2005-02-02 10:56 am (UTC)But for several years ritual was a great delight.
Some of the best times I've ever had were in that temple.
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Date: 2005-02-02 03:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-03 05:26 am (UTC)