The other day, during my monthly Trump rage, while reminding people of the global Bind Trump ritual, I was called out onto the mat by one of occultism’s self-proclaimed Big Names, who declared that people like myself were destroying the work of decades by Wiccan Elders to convince Christians that Wiccans are not Satanists. Needless to say, I did not take kindly to the lecture, especially given the implication that the lecturer considers themselves a Wiccan Elder—the fact that they called me Forest Gump didn’t endear me to them either.
What makes this person a Wiccan Elder? Is it their long experience with Wicca? No, I would not call seven years of experience worthy of the label of Elder. No, what makes this person believe that they are a Wiccan Elder, and a leader of the Craft is the simple fact that they were initiated by someone who was initiated directly by Alex and Maxine Sanders, the founders of Alexandrian Wicca. Likewise, this Big Name is now referring to his wife as “Witch Queen.” Again, the only justification is that they claim a superior lineage to the rabble, a claim of initiation that some Alexandrians doubt happened.
In my case, I do believe that an initiation did happen. But I believe that it was the old game of “I will give you a degree, if you give me one.” In this case, it appears that a Golden Dawn initiation (an Inner Order one) was given for a Wiccan initiation. It should be noted that I actually doubt that they are just two steps away from the Sanders. Nevertheless, even if they are telling the truth, I do not believe that they deserve the respect they are demanding from others.
This is not the first time that they have played the superior lineage card. For years, this Big Name has claimed to be the best leader in Golden Dawn, for his contact with the Secret Chiefs of the tradition—uber-humans who only he is enlightened enough to be in contact with. And seven years ago, they claimed contact with a uber-secret branch of Italian witchcraft. Two years ago, they received their uber-special Alexandrian initiation.
They are not the only ones who try to play the superior lineage card. One cannot throw a stone without hitting someone who has been personally picked by the gods to lead mankind to a glorious new age, or a witch who is descended from the many witches who were burned in Salem. Mankind is awash with people with better lineages, better contacts, superior wisdom, and better personalities than the rest of us, the unwashed rabble who should fall behind them in adoration.
Unfortunately, the esoteric world has far too many people like myself, who could care less about your superior bloodline, your superior lineage, and you having been kissed by the gods.
No, my Elders are those who have served for years without having to trot out a superior lineage. Morning Glory, former owner of Herbs and Arts, who provided a place for witches to meet and hold classes, she is an Elder in my book. Cassandra Ravenwolf, who taught herb classes, answered my silly questions, and provided a place for the community to meet, she is an Elder in my book. Alia Deny, who has helped introduce many people to the community, with decades of service under her belt, she is an Elder in my book. My Elders have served for decades, and have never asked me to automatically give them respect just because their lineages were better than mine.
And while I will never be an Elder, despite having written about Wicca and witchcraft for twenty-five years, I refuse to respect someone whose only claim to being an Elder is that they have a better lineage than I do. (The exact reason why I am automatically disqualified for Elder status is that no one realizes exactly how long I have been involved in the community, how old I really am, and most importantly, I keep saying things that no proper Elder would dream of saying—the community has voted, and I am exempt from all such duties, thanks to the filthy words that keep coming out of my mouth.) No, only actual service to the community, and acknowledgement by the community that you are doing good work, counts towards being an Elder in my book.
So those people who believe that I should kiss the hem of their robe, due to their uber-specialness, can go wash their heads in a bucket while I continue to be (as this great leader said) the Forest Gump of occultism. After all, I know my place in the scheme of things—I am here to annoy those who seek to be Elders without possessing any actual merit, and expect instant elevation to chief wombat. It is not a nice job, but someone has to do it.
[Author’s note: This column was started previous to the death of Alia, president of the Hearthstone Community Church; she will be missed by all of us in the community that knew and loved her.]
Showing posts with label witch wars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label witch wars. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 3, 2017
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Why I dislike the labels
Lately, there has been a lot of labeling of various people and groups in the Golden Dawn community as "reconstructionist," "traditionalist," "reformist," etc.
And quite honestly, while I understand the need to make sure that newcomers know the positions of the groups and individuals involved, I think that the labels are doing more harm than good.
The problem with labels is that sooner or later, you get to the point when someone is saying that such a idealistic position is better than the others. In other words, you get someone claiming that one answer is the only correct answer---hoping that other people are going to believe them.
It does not help a diverse community get along.
In fact, labeling and name-calling leads to flame wars and witch wars, and all sorts of unpleasantness.
For instance, the one side's low opinion of scholars tends to make me avoid that side like I do most plagues. After all, I am training to be a scholar---being told that I have the morals of a zombified pig bent on destorying the world does not endear me to the opinions of the people who label me such.
Ok, in all fairness, they have not stated it in such a manner, but that is the way that I emotionally react to their opinions of scholars.
And that is the biggest problem with the labeling that is going on, people react to the labels emotionally. Because of that, large sections of the Golden Dawn community refuse to talk to other sections of the community.
(Ok, there are other reasons for the lack of communications---a laundry list of reasons. But the labelling is not helping any of us deal with the problems on the laundry list.)
It feels like the beginnings of the witch wars all again.
For those of who missed that little bit of unpleasantness, the core of the battle was the statement, "I am a real witch (Wiccan or whatever term they prefered), and So-and-so is not a real witch."
Compare it with the statement (well hidden in the process of labelling), "I am a member of the real Golden Dawn, and So-and-so and all with their (insert label) tendencies is not."
Do you see why I am worried?
And quite honestly, while I understand the need to make sure that newcomers know the positions of the groups and individuals involved, I think that the labels are doing more harm than good.
The problem with labels is that sooner or later, you get to the point when someone is saying that such a idealistic position is better than the others. In other words, you get someone claiming that one answer is the only correct answer---hoping that other people are going to believe them.
It does not help a diverse community get along.
In fact, labeling and name-calling leads to flame wars and witch wars, and all sorts of unpleasantness.
For instance, the one side's low opinion of scholars tends to make me avoid that side like I do most plagues. After all, I am training to be a scholar---being told that I have the morals of a zombified pig bent on destorying the world does not endear me to the opinions of the people who label me such.
Ok, in all fairness, they have not stated it in such a manner, but that is the way that I emotionally react to their opinions of scholars.
And that is the biggest problem with the labeling that is going on, people react to the labels emotionally. Because of that, large sections of the Golden Dawn community refuse to talk to other sections of the community.
(Ok, there are other reasons for the lack of communications---a laundry list of reasons. But the labelling is not helping any of us deal with the problems on the laundry list.)
It feels like the beginnings of the witch wars all again.
For those of who missed that little bit of unpleasantness, the core of the battle was the statement, "I am a real witch (Wiccan or whatever term they prefered), and So-and-so is not a real witch."
Compare it with the statement (well hidden in the process of labelling), "I am a member of the real Golden Dawn, and So-and-so and all with their (insert label) tendencies is not."
Do you see why I am worried?
Sunday, May 8, 2011
My Mother
*warning personal issues* So today is Mother's Day, one of the dozen days every year that I wonder if I was too harsh on my mother. Then I remind myself of her opinions of me, and I attempt to get back to doing whatever it is that I am supposed to be accomplishing.
Let me state for the record that it is all my fault that her and me do not get along. Quite simply, I chose to be a witch (Wiccan), and then decided to add the additional insults of joining a quasi-secret society (Golden Dawn) and deciding to be very public about my religion. My choice of profession did not help any either.
But let's be clear---it is my attitude problem and religion that are the cause of the problems. My Order membership and profession were just part of the bonus round.
And at a certain point in time, I decided to completely walk away. Somedays, I wonder if I did the right thing. Of course, it does not really matter if I did or not.
Now, none of this really matters...unless you deal with me on a regular basis.
I am one of those examples of a screwed-up human being (not talking to my mother is just the tip of the iceberg), who unfortunately finds himself in a position of public representative of his religion and Order (BIOGD/BIORC). My only comfort is that I can point at a couple of other public figures, who seem to be a few more cards short of a full deck than I am.
Don't get me wrong. I would not be where I am at today if it wasn't for my mother. I am reminded of this every time a witch war or a flame war threatens to flares up. Instead of handing the people, who are tossing around the gasoline, a nice glass of water, I tend to encourage them to light a match. The politics and conflicts between the various factions of Golden Dawn and Wicca/paganism look downright tame compared to the stuff I saw growing up.
For instance, one of the big threats always is that flamers will go after one's reputation. My response is to smile---can you really spread any worse rumors about me than my mother did? And given the fact that I had to conceal my life for ages and ages (I still not sure how the truth was worse than what she was claiming), today I tend to wear my flaws in bold letters on my shirt.
Anyways, just wanted to note that I did think of my mother today. I still love her, but it is probably best that we no longer talk to one another anymore. And so it goes.
Let me state for the record that it is all my fault that her and me do not get along. Quite simply, I chose to be a witch (Wiccan), and then decided to add the additional insults of joining a quasi-secret society (Golden Dawn) and deciding to be very public about my religion. My choice of profession did not help any either.
But let's be clear---it is my attitude problem and religion that are the cause of the problems. My Order membership and profession were just part of the bonus round.
And at a certain point in time, I decided to completely walk away. Somedays, I wonder if I did the right thing. Of course, it does not really matter if I did or not.
Now, none of this really matters...unless you deal with me on a regular basis.
I am one of those examples of a screwed-up human being (not talking to my mother is just the tip of the iceberg), who unfortunately finds himself in a position of public representative of his religion and Order (BIOGD/BIORC). My only comfort is that I can point at a couple of other public figures, who seem to be a few more cards short of a full deck than I am.
Don't get me wrong. I would not be where I am at today if it wasn't for my mother. I am reminded of this every time a witch war or a flame war threatens to flares up. Instead of handing the people, who are tossing around the gasoline, a nice glass of water, I tend to encourage them to light a match. The politics and conflicts between the various factions of Golden Dawn and Wicca/paganism look downright tame compared to the stuff I saw growing up.
For instance, one of the big threats always is that flamers will go after one's reputation. My response is to smile---can you really spread any worse rumors about me than my mother did? And given the fact that I had to conceal my life for ages and ages (I still not sure how the truth was worse than what she was claiming), today I tend to wear my flaws in bold letters on my shirt.
Anyways, just wanted to note that I did think of my mother today. I still love her, but it is probably best that we no longer talk to one another anymore. And so it goes.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Thoughts about academics and documented proof
Between the blogosphere's hot zone over Ronald Hutton v Ben Whitmore and someone asking for proof that the original Golden Dawn did an 180 positioning during the purification and consecration, I have been giving a lot of thought to the burden of documented proof and academics lately.
A long time ago, I came to the conclusion that no amount of proof about certain practices, including a signed, dated, and notorized letter from Westcott and Mathers, is going to convince certain people who believe that certain ideas and procedures were not part of the system. It is that simple. The stronger a person believes that certain things are one way and one way only, the less likely that you are going to be able to convince them otherwise. The same goes for trying to convince people to try new procedures and ideas out when they believe that only the ancient techniques should be used.
I have also came to the conclusion that the esoteric world needs to have both the mythical history and the actual history. Mythical history provides us with emotional support, while being able to talk about the actual history makes us less likely to look like loons.
We are not likely to ever know the absolute truth about anything. The best that we can do is assign a percentage of probability to any given fact or statement based on our current knowledge and resources.
Now I will admit that I find the flame/witch war raging around Hutton v Whitmore amusing; it reminds me of some of the mudslinging that I have seen sitting on the sidelines of academia. Yes, even an undergrad gets to see politics and mudslinging. I think that in my case, with my goal of getting at least a masters degree (history or literature or maybe both), and my past experience in the witch and flame wars (1980's Denver---yeah!), makes me more attuned to seeing how academics treat one another.
Hutton when he published knew that he was opening himself up to criticism. And he knew that not all of it was going to come from trained professionals. There is no law that says that only trained professional academics can review and nitpick the work of professional historians. (The same rule applies to professional occultists and writers.) Rebuttals can come from anyone. Just assign percent values to the original work and the rebuttals and reviews and MOVE ON!
In fact, I hate to say this (sorry to everyone)---but this flame war over Hutton's and Whitmore's works might actually be good. One of the harsh realities of book publishing is that people have to be aware of a book if it is going to sell any copies. It is word-of-mouth that sells books. While I wish there was less name-calling, I am glad that people are becoming more aware of these books.
A long time ago, I came to the conclusion that no amount of proof about certain practices, including a signed, dated, and notorized letter from Westcott and Mathers, is going to convince certain people who believe that certain ideas and procedures were not part of the system. It is that simple. The stronger a person believes that certain things are one way and one way only, the less likely that you are going to be able to convince them otherwise. The same goes for trying to convince people to try new procedures and ideas out when they believe that only the ancient techniques should be used.
I have also came to the conclusion that the esoteric world needs to have both the mythical history and the actual history. Mythical history provides us with emotional support, while being able to talk about the actual history makes us less likely to look like loons.
We are not likely to ever know the absolute truth about anything. The best that we can do is assign a percentage of probability to any given fact or statement based on our current knowledge and resources.
Now I will admit that I find the flame/witch war raging around Hutton v Whitmore amusing; it reminds me of some of the mudslinging that I have seen sitting on the sidelines of academia. Yes, even an undergrad gets to see politics and mudslinging. I think that in my case, with my goal of getting at least a masters degree (history or literature or maybe both), and my past experience in the witch and flame wars (1980's Denver---yeah!), makes me more attuned to seeing how academics treat one another.
Hutton when he published knew that he was opening himself up to criticism. And he knew that not all of it was going to come from trained professionals. There is no law that says that only trained professional academics can review and nitpick the work of professional historians. (The same rule applies to professional occultists and writers.) Rebuttals can come from anyone. Just assign percent values to the original work and the rebuttals and reviews and MOVE ON!
In fact, I hate to say this (sorry to everyone)---but this flame war over Hutton's and Whitmore's works might actually be good. One of the harsh realities of book publishing is that people have to be aware of a book if it is going to sell any copies. It is word-of-mouth that sells books. While I wish there was less name-calling, I am glad that people are becoming more aware of these books.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Tomorrow is the June OFM ritual
Tomorrow is the June 2010 Hearthstone Community Church Open Full Moon ritual. And I still have things I have to do tonight in order to be ready for it. It is amazing how a year is not long enourgh to prepare for a public ritual.
Then again, I did not realize how this week was going to turn out. I don't think anyone in the lodge saw this week coming. Quite simply, I am mentally and emotionally exhausted at this point. I haven't felt this bad emotionally since just before I chose to break ties with my mother. I wonder if this is how hostage negotiations feel like...if so, I understand the suicide rates among cops and soldiers.
If I wasn't so emotionally exhausted, I would probably find it amusing that another run of family conflict reared its ugly head at the beginning of this week. And that would be wrong. Of course, nothing I have said and done this week has been the correct response...or at least, that is how it is going to be recorded in the family's history. I dare people to ask me why I chose to break ties with my mother.
And the next time anyone asks me why I show so little concern about the flame and witch wars that periodically flare up in the esoteric community, this week (and others like it) is going to be my answer. I have seen NOTHING in the little spits that the esoteric community throws that can compare to the scars I carry around from dealing with my own family. There are times I suspect that each and every one of the villians in the Golden Dawn community has a nasty family in their background.
Because of this week, I would like to issue an apology to each and every person who attends tomorrow's ritual. While this ritual was scheduled just over a year ago, it is going to feel like I put absolutely no thought into it. I am sorry for letting my own personal problems (they are all mine) to get in the way of the work that I am supposed to be doing.
Nevertheless, I would still like to see everyone who is in Denver at the OFM that I am leading tomorrow. After all, you can tell more about a person when they are at their worst...or at least that is what my father used to say.
Then again, I did not realize how this week was going to turn out. I don't think anyone in the lodge saw this week coming. Quite simply, I am mentally and emotionally exhausted at this point. I haven't felt this bad emotionally since just before I chose to break ties with my mother. I wonder if this is how hostage negotiations feel like...if so, I understand the suicide rates among cops and soldiers.
If I wasn't so emotionally exhausted, I would probably find it amusing that another run of family conflict reared its ugly head at the beginning of this week. And that would be wrong. Of course, nothing I have said and done this week has been the correct response...or at least, that is how it is going to be recorded in the family's history. I dare people to ask me why I chose to break ties with my mother.
And the next time anyone asks me why I show so little concern about the flame and witch wars that periodically flare up in the esoteric community, this week (and others like it) is going to be my answer. I have seen NOTHING in the little spits that the esoteric community throws that can compare to the scars I carry around from dealing with my own family. There are times I suspect that each and every one of the villians in the Golden Dawn community has a nasty family in their background.
Because of this week, I would like to issue an apology to each and every person who attends tomorrow's ritual. While this ritual was scheduled just over a year ago, it is going to feel like I put absolutely no thought into it. I am sorry for letting my own personal problems (they are all mine) to get in the way of the work that I am supposed to be doing.
Nevertheless, I would still like to see everyone who is in Denver at the OFM that I am leading tomorrow. After all, you can tell more about a person when they are at their worst...or at least that is what my father used to say.
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