Saturday, September 22, 2012
My Motto
I added a new page to the blog today. It's a nice little quote that will now become this blog's motto.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Pagan Men, Unite!
by Isaac Bonewits
“Witchcraft is wimmin’s religion?!?” If that’s true, then is there a point to being a man in a “female-dominated” religion? Actually, there are lots of them — the Stag Lord is at least a thirteen-point buck, and those tines are there for something other than hanging the High Priestess’ garters on!
When I was writing The Pagan Man, one misconception I ran into over and over was that there’s “nothing for men to do” in the Craft, and that even a High Priest is “just a glorified altar boy.” Yet the same guys who were telling me this were also talking about how they taught the members of their coven how to drum, or to carve ceremonial masks, or about specific pantheons, or about how to spot lousy research. Of course, all of these jobs could be done by women, so there’s nothing specifically masculine about doing them — but nothing particularly feminine either!
The Craft as we know it today wouldn’t exist without its “Founding Fathers” — the men who devoted their lives to reviving the real (or imagined) worship of the Old Gods and Goddesses. Here’s just a double-handful to get started with.
The Roman author Apulius wrote The Golden Ass and gave the ancient world his vision of Isis as the Goddess who was all goddesses. Charles Godfrey Leland translated and published Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches. Sir James Frazer wrote The Golden Bough, providing later generations of Wiccans and other Pagans thousands of pages of intriguing ideas. Aleister Crowley was the archetypal “dirty old man” of ceremonial magic; wrote dozens of books that influenced later Pagans, and had his own transforming vision of the Goddess. Robert Graves wrote the beautiful (but most-unscholarly) book The White Goddess, based on his visions, as well as trustworthy books on Greek mythology that have been part of Wiccan reading lists from the beginning.
Gerald Gardner put all the work of those previous men together with ideas from Theosophy, Rosicrucianism, Tantra, and his own imagination to create what would come to be known as Wicca (if your teacher or the books you are reading are telling you otherwise, they’re fibbing), synthesizing what was probably the world’s first real religion of Witchcraft, working with half a dozen priestesses in the process. Alex Sanders, Stewart Farrar, Raymond Buckland, Gavin Frost, Victor Anderson, Carl Weschke, and other men wrote (or published, in Weschke’s case) highly influential books and started their own “ancient” traditions of the Craft—and not a one of them was “politically correct” or a “feminized male!” (To be completely honest, some of these guys were jerks in their private lives, but we can still take what was positive in their work and leave the rest behind.)
The Craft as we know it wouldn’t exist without the men who devoted their lives to reviving the worship of the Old Gods and Goddesses.
The Craft as we know it wouldn’t exist without the men who devoted their lives to reviving the worship of the Old Gods and Goddesses.
In more recent years, we’ve had: Scott Cunningham, who wrote Wicca for the Solitary Practitioner and Living Wicca, leading to an explosion of solitary Wiccans in the English and Spanish-speaking worlds. Aidan Kelly was one of the founders of the Eclectic Wicca movement in California and author of Crafting the Art of Magic, the first scholarly (if flawed) book about the birth of Wicca. Frederic Lamond, A. J. Drew, Raven Grimassi, Christopher Penczak, and other men have discussed, revealed, and/or invented new traditions of the Craft in which men are fully empowered witches. Other men, such as Oberon Zell-Ravenheart, founder of the first Neopagan religious organization, the Church of All Worlds; Ian Corrigan, an early member of Ár nDraíocht Féin: A Druid Fellowship; and yours truly, (best known for founding ADF and writing books such as Real Magic and Bonewits’s Essential Guide to Witchcraft and Wicca) have all practiced varieties of Wicca in addition to their other Pagan work.
All of these famous men are far out-numbered by the thousands of Wiccan men who are quietly High Priesting covens, leading Pagan study groups, running Wiccan shops, organizing Wiccan festivals, researching Paleopagan history, teaching and practicing artistic and musical skills, editing Pagan publications, and otherwise taking leading roles in the geometric growth of the Craft around the world. To understand more about the roles played specifically in Wicca by men, it helps to have some vocabulary (I’m notorious for this stuff). As I explained in The Pagan Man:
Most Wiccan denominations/ traditions can be viewed on a value spectrum ranging from Orthodox/Conservative or so-called British Traditional on one end to Eclectic on the other. As is true for other Pagan paths, the influence of dualism in Western culture causes religious conservatism and liberalism to be usually (but not always) associated with political, social, sexual, and other forms of conservatism and liberalism by both practitioners and observers. Perhaps because of this, the closer to the conservative end of the scale, the more likely a given Wiccan tradition will be to insist that the Goddess is more important than the God and that both genders are needed for effective non-solitary ritual.
Yet whether we are talking about conservative or liberal Wicca, the vast majority of Wiccan traditions have men as members, leaders, or even founders. Conservative Wicca places a heavy emphasis on the polarity of male and female energy in balance with each other, so men are expected to individually or collectively generate half the energy in the ritual circle — which can be quite a challenge when you’re the only guy with four or five gals! In liberal Wicca, each participant is expected to carry his or her share of the magical work, regardless of gender.
Despite the centuries in which African Mesopagan faiths have been doing rituals where both gods and goddesses can possess both men and women, all but a few Wiccan trads seem to believe that only women can “draw down” the Goddess into themselves and only men the God. But if you’re not acting as the priest of a coven, this is usually irrelevant to a male experience of a Wiccan circle (if you are, I have a chapter on Pagan men as priests and wizards in the book).
On a social and small-group political level, however, it is a fact of life that many Wiccan traditions are matriarchal, with the oldest and/or highest ranking woman being able to overrule the wishes of the men (and the other women). Unless you are unlucky enough to hook up with a weak woman, you will probably never be in charge — get used to it. If you are lucky, on the other hand, you will find a strong woman who will accept you as an equal and share power willingly.
There are few (if any) Pagan paths in which males are allowed to exercise the kind of tyrannical power men routinely wield in some mainstream religions. Most of the non-Wiccan Neopagan and Reconstructionist paths (and some liberal Wiccan ones) are adamantly egalitarian these days, largely in reaction against matriarchalism.
So if you are in a conservative tradition of Wicca and think the High Priestess of the coven you are in, or the woman you hope to start a coven with, is too “bossy,” there is nothing to stop you from finding — or inventing — a more liberal/eclectic tradition where equality between the genders is practiced as well as preached.
Be careful about leaping to conclusions, however; some people are just bossy as part of their personality and not because they think their religion justifies or requires it — and if your High Priestess has a decade more experience than you, she may be acting from superior knowledge rather than ego. Or she could be a lunatic who simply enjoys cracking the whip over guys she has convinced are required to put up with rude treatment.
In that last case run, do not walk, to the nearest circle gate and vamoose! There are plenty of sane, strong women running covens who will welcome men to join them in the worship of the Old Gods and Goddesses. The bottom line here is that the Goddess and God love Their sons as much as Their daughters, and there is very little that a Pagan woman can do that a Pagan man can’t also.
— Isaac Bonewits (October 1, 1949 – August 12, 2010) was an influential American Druid who published a number of books on the subject of Neopaganism and magic. He was also a public speaker, liturgist, singer and songwriter, and founded the Druidic organization Ár nDraíocht Féin, as well as the Neopagan civil rights group, the Aquarian Anti-Defamation League. Born in Royal Oak, Michigan, Bonewits had been heavily involved in occultism since the 1960s. He died in 2010.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
What do you want?
So, what is it you want from your not so local Pagan Man? What should I rant about? What do you want to hear about? What... is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?
See that comment section down there? Yeah, put your ideas down there because that kinda helps me know what your thinking. Why? Because I am not a mind reader. Or, if you want to get all swanky you can use this wonderful little contact form I have.
May the Gods watch over you,
Snow Wolf
Being a man in Wicca
Let me start off by saying, wow! 52 page views in just four days! That’s just awesome! I want to thank you for just dropping by folks, it means a lot to me! Now, on to the insanity!.....
BOOM! You’re in circle and you’re the only man in the room, what goes through your head? No, seriously, stop reading, think about it for a few minutes and come back, I’ll wait.
*pours myself some Bourbon and puts on the Jeopardy music….promptly deletes the MP3 after three seconds of music and shudders*
Never, never again! Anyway, back to the topic at hand.
So, how did you feel? Alone? Outnumbered? Isolated? Or did you like being the only man in a room full of women? If the latter, then this post is not for you, that’s next week.
Keep in mind that this blog is about being a Pagan Man, not a Wiccan man. What’s the difference?
Oh, Oh, I know! I know!
The hell? Who let you back in?
A modern day Pagan is, roughly, someone in an Earth based religion. While as, a Wiccan is someone in the Wicca religion. Wicca it’s self is considered an Earth based religion. Therefore, all Wiccans are Pagans but not all Pagans are Wiccans.
Man I got to get a lock for that door. Anyway, yeah, he’s right. So, what does that mean? Well it means that there are other religions than Wicca that we will cover in this blog. But for now, on to the circle!
Wicca, the religion of the Goddess. Why? Sure, Wicca recognizes Goddesses, but is it strictly a Goddess worship religion? Well, that depends on who you talk to. There are many, many, many branches of Wicca. Some actually are Goddess only, and most aren't.
I know, as a man, this can seem a little intimidating. I mean being in a Goddess religion and keeping your masculinity in tact....
Hey, wait a minute! You just said it wasn't a Goddess religion.
Yeah, you sit through a Wiccan ritual and see how many times the God is talked about as compared to the Goddess. If its actually more than the God I will bake you a friggin cookie. All I am saying is that if your going to be in Wicca you have to be able to realize that you don't have to be anything less then what you are to worship a Goddess. By that I mean you can keep being a manly man all you want and still be part of a religion that honors a Goddess. Also, that's not to say that you have to only worship a Goddess and not a God as well.
So, why would a man feel uncomfortable surrounded by women that have probably been jaded by a male oriented and dominated religion that also have immediate access to sharp pointy things at the ritual space?
Geez, I have no idea.....
Yeah there is a lot of resentment in the Wiccan community for the Christian religion. That also translates into a lot of resentment and sometimes outright hate from Wiccan women towards men in general. I have seen such women completely run ram-shot over men in ritual. Its ranged from correcting them about something trivial during the ritual, making a male bashing joke and expecting us to not take it personally, and all the way to telling the man to sit down and shut up. In the most extreme case I was once told that I couldn't do anything but stand in the circle as I was a man and could not invoke the Gods or the elements. I wonder what some jerk did to her?
Yeah, so your going to run into some man hating on various levels here and there in the Wiccan community.
To those that say that this is untrue; screw you. Yup, that's right, screw you. I know that man hating happens because I have been to enough events and circles to see it first hand.
Now that I have that out of the way, what can you do about it?
Smile. Yeah, that's about it. There is little you can do except sit down with the man hater and point out how you feel. If they continue to act like an ass, it's time for you to move on from that poisonous environment. And yes, it is poisonous if its hurting your self esteem and making you feel bad about yourself.
I have met some men that practice alone because they say their masculinity makes the women in the circle feel uncomfortable. One man said that he has noticed that Wiccan women feel more comfortable circling with effeminate men. To be honest I have noticed this as well but I can't say anything because I am Pansexual. Not to say that I am effeminate at all, but still.
Stop, now look around. How many non-effeminate or purely straight Wiccan men do you know? If your community is anything like mine that's not too many. Sure there is a small number of them but not all that many that I have seen. But hey, that's a whole other topic.
Why do you feel intimidated? Because there are more of them then you? Weird feeling isn't it? Makes you wonder how they must feel sometimes.
Maybe your not intimidated, maybe you feel left out. Do you ever feel like your on the outside of circle looking in?
"Okay go sit in the next room while we set up for ritual and then come invoke the God." - Random High Priestess
That ever happen to you? Makes you feel like a commodity doesn't it?
Man this blog post is alllll over the place.
Well maybe if you were sober...
Oh hush you, your not even real.
If you are having trouble feeling like a man in a Goddess oriented religion well, get over it.
That's right, you heard me, get the heck over it. Your a man, period. Nothing can change that. Its up to you how you behave and how you feel. Just because you worship a Goddess doesn't mean you can grunt, scratch, and spit as much as you like. Just, don't do it in public, or in front of women, that's just wrong.
The simple fact is that you are now a minority. That's right, there are more of them then there are of us and you just have to get use to that. Some women are going to be upset that there are men in the religion of the Goddess, as they see it, and they will take that out on you.
Anyway, these are my ramblings. They aren't always coherent but I think I got the point across.
Have something to add?
I do! I do!
Not you!
*Cough, Cough* As I was saying, leave your thoughts down in the comments.
Later folks,
May the Gods watch over you all,
Snow Wolf
BOOM! You’re in circle and you’re the only man in the room, what goes through your head? No, seriously, stop reading, think about it for a few minutes and come back, I’ll wait.
*pours myself some Bourbon and puts on the Jeopardy music….promptly deletes the MP3 after three seconds of music and shudders*
Never, never again! Anyway, back to the topic at hand.
(You will earn 10 Pagan Man points if you can tell me who that is on my shot glass in the comments below)
So, how did you feel? Alone? Outnumbered? Isolated? Or did you like being the only man in a room full of women? If the latter, then this post is not for you, that’s next week.
Keep in mind that this blog is about being a Pagan Man, not a Wiccan man. What’s the difference?
Oh, Oh, I know! I know!
The hell? Who let you back in?
A modern day Pagan is, roughly, someone in an Earth based religion. While as, a Wiccan is someone in the Wicca religion. Wicca it’s self is considered an Earth based religion. Therefore, all Wiccans are Pagans but not all Pagans are Wiccans.
Man I got to get a lock for that door. Anyway, yeah, he’s right. So, what does that mean? Well it means that there are other religions than Wicca that we will cover in this blog. But for now, on to the circle!
Wicca, the religion of the Goddess. Why? Sure, Wicca recognizes Goddesses, but is it strictly a Goddess worship religion? Well, that depends on who you talk to. There are many, many, many branches of Wicca. Some actually are Goddess only, and most aren't.
I know, as a man, this can seem a little intimidating. I mean being in a Goddess religion and keeping your masculinity in tact....
Hey, wait a minute! You just said it wasn't a Goddess religion.
Yeah, you sit through a Wiccan ritual and see how many times the God is talked about as compared to the Goddess. If its actually more than the God I will bake you a friggin cookie. All I am saying is that if your going to be in Wicca you have to be able to realize that you don't have to be anything less then what you are to worship a Goddess. By that I mean you can keep being a manly man all you want and still be part of a religion that honors a Goddess. Also, that's not to say that you have to only worship a Goddess and not a God as well.
So, why would a man feel uncomfortable surrounded by women that have probably been jaded by a male oriented and dominated religion that also have immediate access to sharp pointy things at the ritual space?
Geez, I have no idea.....
Yeah there is a lot of resentment in the Wiccan community for the Christian religion. That also translates into a lot of resentment and sometimes outright hate from Wiccan women towards men in general. I have seen such women completely run ram-shot over men in ritual. Its ranged from correcting them about something trivial during the ritual, making a male bashing joke and expecting us to not take it personally, and all the way to telling the man to sit down and shut up. In the most extreme case I was once told that I couldn't do anything but stand in the circle as I was a man and could not invoke the Gods or the elements. I wonder what some jerk did to her?
Yeah, so your going to run into some man hating on various levels here and there in the Wiccan community.
To those that say that this is untrue; screw you. Yup, that's right, screw you. I know that man hating happens because I have been to enough events and circles to see it first hand.
Now that I have that out of the way, what can you do about it?
Smile. Yeah, that's about it. There is little you can do except sit down with the man hater and point out how you feel. If they continue to act like an ass, it's time for you to move on from that poisonous environment. And yes, it is poisonous if its hurting your self esteem and making you feel bad about yourself.
I have met some men that practice alone because they say their masculinity makes the women in the circle feel uncomfortable. One man said that he has noticed that Wiccan women feel more comfortable circling with effeminate men. To be honest I have noticed this as well but I can't say anything because I am Pansexual. Not to say that I am effeminate at all, but still.
Stop, now look around. How many non-effeminate or purely straight Wiccan men do you know? If your community is anything like mine that's not too many. Sure there is a small number of them but not all that many that I have seen. But hey, that's a whole other topic.
Why do you feel intimidated? Because there are more of them then you? Weird feeling isn't it? Makes you wonder how they must feel sometimes.
Maybe your not intimidated, maybe you feel left out. Do you ever feel like your on the outside of circle looking in?
"Okay go sit in the next room while we set up for ritual and then come invoke the God." - Random High Priestess
That ever happen to you? Makes you feel like a commodity doesn't it?
Man this blog post is alllll over the place.
Well maybe if you were sober...
Oh hush you, your not even real.
If you are having trouble feeling like a man in a Goddess oriented religion well, get over it.
That's right, you heard me, get the heck over it. Your a man, period. Nothing can change that. Its up to you how you behave and how you feel. Just because you worship a Goddess doesn't mean you can grunt, scratch, and spit as much as you like. Just, don't do it in public, or in front of women, that's just wrong.
The simple fact is that you are now a minority. That's right, there are more of them then there are of us and you just have to get use to that. Some women are going to be upset that there are men in the religion of the Goddess, as they see it, and they will take that out on you.
Anyway, these are my ramblings. They aren't always coherent but I think I got the point across.
Have something to add?
I do! I do!
Not you!
*Cough, Cough* As I was saying, leave your thoughts down in the comments.
Later folks,
May the Gods watch over you all,
Snow Wolf
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
What the? I'm Back? How? Oh Gods no...
Four years. Has it been four years since I tried to make this project work? Well, since then I have been running two other blogs about my experiences going through renal (kidney) failure over at WordPress.com. They aren't the most popular blogs either but I have my small cult following.
*Holds my fingers like Mr. Burns* Excellent *evil laughter*
"The Pagan Man Blog!" Just the name conjures so many images, doesn't it? When I hear it I think about a stereotypical lumberjack with his foot up on a log, in a Captain Morgan pose, holding an axe over his shoulder with one hand and oddly enough a jug of maple syrup in the other. I guess since he is suppose to be Pagan he can have a pentacle, or something. Shouldn't I be thinking of, I don't know, The Green Man, or a Druid, maybe even a Shaman? Well, *takes a deep breath*, SCREW THAT!
*exhales*
Alright, I have been holding that one in for years. Feels good to get it off my chest! Labels....they kinda suck, don't they? Yeah, they do, they totally do. I mean come on, a Pagan man could look like any man....though some women I have met think we should all look like this guy.
Do a Google Image search and see what you come up with. I loved this one.
Though I can't really look at this without speaking in a high pitch voice and saying, "You shall bring me a shrubbery!"
"The Pagan Man", what the hell is a Pagan man?
Oh! Oh! I know! I know! Pick me! Pick meeeeeeee!
Okay fine, geez, the annoying guy in the front with the rapis....er....coke bottle glasses..
Yes! *coughs* er, um......a Pagan Man, by definition, would be an adult male who belongs to an earth based religion or any religion claiming to be Pagan. This could include Pantheism, Wicca, Druidism,and a whole host of religions. *beams with pride over reciting this fact so well*
Riiiiiight. Well, I suppose that is true. A Pagan man would just be a man, who is in fact, a Pagan. Awesome, well this blog is done, good work everybody!
*shakes hands, tosses confetti, passes out the bonus checks, and opens the champagne while humming "Gonna Party like its 199..*
Hey, wait a minute!
*For some reason a record is scratched as the music stops....that's an odd MP3 player pause feature...*
Yeah?
Well, just because we know that being a Pagan and being a man makes one a male Pagan, does it really explain what it is to be a Pagan man? Does that really explain what a man goes through in the Pagan community? What is expected of a Pagan man by his peers? The milestones one should go through, and all of the other important things that make up the sum of a Pagan man.
*grumbles as he takes back the bonus checks and keeps the bottle for himself*
Alright, alright, back to work you lazy bums....seems we have a blog to write, thanks to the "scholar" in the front row. * mumbles: "I just haaaad to open up the first post in four years to an audience."*
Well, you heard the man. We have more work to do. So sit back, strap in, and grab a beer, this are about to get weird. Because, I am done with trying to be the neat and proper little blog writer everyone says I have to be. It's time to just be a guy and say screw it! Yeah, I'm keeping it PG-13 too.
Well it's 7:20 AM, you know what that means? Mini-Doughnuts and Mt. Dew for breakfast over South Park reruns before I get back to work on the Book of Shadows project. Yeah, that's right I'm cross topicing baby! Trying to keep my online identities separate is hard enough, so here I say screw it!
Huh, I think we alright have a blog saying. How about this for a title: "The Pagan Man Blog; Screw It!"? Too in your face? Too edgy? Nah, it just sucks.
Okay, I'm off to enjoy my mini-doughnuts.
Mini-doughnuts you say?
~sigh~ Come on, let me introduce you to a little something called a sugar and caffeine coma.
Sugar!
Later folks.
May the Gods watch over you all,
Snow Wolf
*Holds my fingers like Mr. Burns* Excellent *evil laughter*
"The Pagan Man Blog!" Just the name conjures so many images, doesn't it? When I hear it I think about a stereotypical lumberjack with his foot up on a log, in a Captain Morgan pose, holding an axe over his shoulder with one hand and oddly enough a jug of maple syrup in the other. I guess since he is suppose to be Pagan he can have a pentacle, or something. Shouldn't I be thinking of, I don't know, The Green Man, or a Druid, maybe even a Shaman? Well, *takes a deep breath*, SCREW THAT!
*exhales*
Alright, I have been holding that one in for years. Feels good to get it off my chest! Labels....they kinda suck, don't they? Yeah, they do, they totally do. I mean come on, a Pagan man could look like any man....though some women I have met think we should all look like this guy.
I mean come on! How the hell are we suppose to live up to that!? I mean geez, I would have to go on a high protein diet and workout all the freaking time! I mean come on, look at him, with his rugged yet neatly trimmed beard. His hairy yet trimmed chest, his um....perfectly formed chest....wait, what was I saying?
Do a Google Image search and see what you come up with. I loved this one.
Though I can't really look at this without speaking in a high pitch voice and saying, "You shall bring me a shrubbery!"
"The Pagan Man", what the hell is a Pagan man?
Oh! Oh! I know! I know! Pick me! Pick meeeeeeee!
Okay fine, geez, the annoying guy in the front with the rapis....er....coke bottle glasses..
Yes! *coughs* er, um......a Pagan Man, by definition, would be an adult male who belongs to an earth based religion or any religion claiming to be Pagan. This could include Pantheism, Wicca, Druidism,and a whole host of religions. *beams with pride over reciting this fact so well*
Riiiiiight. Well, I suppose that is true. A Pagan man would just be a man, who is in fact, a Pagan. Awesome, well this blog is done, good work everybody!
*shakes hands, tosses confetti, passes out the bonus checks, and opens the champagne while humming "Gonna Party like its 199..*
Hey, wait a minute!
*For some reason a record is scratched as the music stops....that's an odd MP3 player pause feature...*
Yeah?
Well, just because we know that being a Pagan and being a man makes one a male Pagan, does it really explain what it is to be a Pagan man? Does that really explain what a man goes through in the Pagan community? What is expected of a Pagan man by his peers? The milestones one should go through, and all of the other important things that make up the sum of a Pagan man.
*grumbles as he takes back the bonus checks and keeps the bottle for himself*
Alright, alright, back to work you lazy bums....seems we have a blog to write, thanks to the "scholar" in the front row. * mumbles: "I just haaaad to open up the first post in four years to an audience."*
Well, you heard the man. We have more work to do. So sit back, strap in, and grab a beer, this are about to get weird. Because, I am done with trying to be the neat and proper little blog writer everyone says I have to be. It's time to just be a guy and say screw it! Yeah, I'm keeping it PG-13 too.
Well it's 7:20 AM, you know what that means? Mini-Doughnuts and Mt. Dew for breakfast over South Park reruns before I get back to work on the Book of Shadows project. Yeah, that's right I'm cross topicing baby! Trying to keep my online identities separate is hard enough, so here I say screw it!
Huh, I think we alright have a blog saying. How about this for a title: "The Pagan Man Blog; Screw It!"? Too in your face? Too edgy? Nah, it just sucks.
Okay, I'm off to enjoy my mini-doughnuts.
Mini-doughnuts you say?
~sigh~ Come on, let me introduce you to a little something called a sugar and caffeine coma.
Sugar!
Later folks.
May the Gods watch over you all,
Snow Wolf
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