#Yvonne Aburrow

[cavorta]

Interesting new book by Yvonne Aburrow: "Changing Paths" The blurb: Whether you are leaving religion altogether, or leaving one religion and joining another, Changing Paths aims to help you make sense of the twists and turns on your journey. 

How do you explain your new path to friends, family, former co-religionists, and yourself? How do you extricate yourself from your previous tradition and its associated ideas? How do you unpack your complex feelings about your path and why you are changing direction?

Individuals have many reasons for leaving a faith, including being in conflict with bad theology, bristling against a high-control religion, and disagreeing with conservative positions on gender, sexuality, and the body. Changing Paths offers resources for examining religious attitudes to gender, sexuality, other religions, and whether your religion supports you effectively through life’s ups and downs.

There are various routes into Paganism and Changing Paths offers resources on how to decide which tradition is right for you, how you know you’re a member of a group, and reasons for joining a group—or not. Exercises, journal prompts, and reflections explore how to deal with unexamined baggage from your previous tradition, the role of leaders, and how to find a beloved community.

You aren’t alone in your journey. A range of contributors who have trod this same path—from a former Christian who is now a Wiccan to a former Pagan who now avoids labels—also share their experience and wisdom. 

Link to the book: https://1000voltpress.com/changing-paths/

[davidjhiggins]

Not With a Frown But a Wassail

This coming Thursday is the Festival of Borrowed, a recognition of the connectedness of humans to the wider world and its future. Yvonne Aburrow, who created it, sees it as a reminder—which it is—but I see the celebration. Aburrow sets out some things one might do if one wishes to participate, some more expansive than others. And, in the way of synchronicity, I happened to receive an email about…

[dowsingfordivinity]

I’m on The Magick Kitchen

Check out my conversation with the wonderful Elyse Wells (writer and podcast host) on The Magick Kitchen podcast, series 5, episode 9. In conversation with Elyse at The Magick Kitchen (via the magic of Zoom!) Continue reading Untitled

[changingpathsresources]

Cover reveal

Changing Paths by Yvonne Aburrow will be published by 1000 Volt Press on 11 April, 2023. Stay tuned for preorder details.

[essence-of-wicca]

RECOMMENDED READING

Any title by Gerald B. Gardner, the founder of all of modern Wicca, which in turn has been influential on much of modern Paganism and Witchcraft in general.

Any title in the “Real WItches” series by Kate West - Titles contain information on the basics, the Sabbats, writing rituals, Covens, and more.

Principles of Wicca by Vivianne Crowley - A basic look at Wicca, similar to my series but more in depth.

Wheel of the Year by Pauline Campenelli - A deep dive into the Sabbats, including activities and folklore.

All Acts of Love and Pleasure: Inclusive Wicca by Yvonne Aburrow - Discussions about addressing sexuality, gender, and disability in Wiccan practice.

Traditional Wicca: A Seeker’s Guide by Thorne Mooney - An introduction to Tradition-based Wicca, illustrating differences from Eclectic/Solitary practices without degrading either approach.

[sovaghoul]

Roles

In this post I will not only explain the roles of Wiccan clergy and ritual participants, but also explore how sexual orientation and gender identity can sometimes affect these roles.

🕯🌒🌕🌘🕯

🔮 Role of Clergy

There is a difference between being a Priest/ess and a High Priest/ess. Every Wiccan is a Priest (P) or Priestess (PS) to the Gods, but in many Traditionalist settings, only those who have taken on the role, honor, and responsibility as Coven leader and teacher may be called High Priest/ess.

And what are those responsibilities? Well, what is the ideal role of a parent? To see that their child grows to happy healthy adulthood, with a strong sense of self but also of familial identity. So, the High Priest (HP) and High Priestess (HPS) hope to see to the continuation of the Tradition by passing it down to their Initiates, to teach the Tradition’s ways of ritual and practice, to facilitate the spiritual growth and advancement of their students so that they too may one day take on the mantle of HP/S. In this way (among others) do the HP and HPS serve the Gods that the Tradition reveres.

The P and PS of any ritual, Traditional/Oathbound or not, are also the representatives of the God and Goddess on this plane of existence. They are responsible for acting with Divine Will. They perform most of the physical actions of Casting the Circle, and leading and directing the ritual. In very large groups, or very small spaces, they may ask participants to assist, usually before the ritual begins so no one is blindsided by the request.

Some (H)P/Ss choose to become legally ordained, but this is rarely, if ever, a Coven requirement. However, legal ordination then empowers the (H)P/S to legally perform weddings, funerals, and other rites of passage that require such an officer.

🕯🌒🌕🌘🕯

🔮 Role of Initiates and Other Participants

In the most general terms, participants in any rite are there to lend their presence and energy to the work at hand, whether that is welcoming a season or sending healing to someone who is ill. Initiates of a Coven are also there to learn the Tradition’s specific ways of ritual, etc..

It is important to further note that even though these other participants may not be acting as the (H)P/S in a particular rite, that does not mean they are laity; there are no bystanders in Wicca. Everyone is an active participant, in terms of their presence and energy adding potency and strength to the rite, if not more directly by performing a part of the ritual themselves if asked to do so.

Members of established groups are often asked to contribute food to drink to feasting, and help defer costs of materials like candles and incense, by donating money or the items themselves. However, there should be no charge for the actual learning, whether the payment is monetary or servitude.

🕯🌒🌕🌘🕯

🔮 Regarding Gender and Sexuality

One’s personal sexual orientation or gender identity/expression has NO bearing on whether one may be Wiccan, so long as one has the ability to see worth in, and at the very least, understand and respect the symbolism of heterosexual pairings; that is, the coming together of different pieces to create a balanced whole. Some Coven/group leaders may insist that whether one can act as a Priest or a Priestess is determined by external/physical sex rather than gender identity/expression, but that is something that varies between Covens/groups and is usually determined on a case-by-case basis.

Additionally, a group or teacher may be comfortable with not anthropomorphizing the Gods. They may simply use the balances of light vs. dark, Summer vs. Winter, life vs. death, etc., without naming known Gods specifically, and instead identifying Them with concepts rather than gender or even names. They may be willing to adjust some ritual symbolism away from the heterocentric as well. One suggestion from Yvonne Aburrow, a Gardnerian Initate and author, is calling Them, “the Lover and the Beloved.” This removes gender, but maintains the idea that this is an intimate pairing.

If you identify outside the traditional gender binary and/or feel your Queer orientation is in conflict with Wiccan symbolism, but still wish to practice with a group, honesty with potential groups and establishing an open dialogue on the topic is highly recommended. Some established Covens/groups will work to accommodate you by adjusting their practices and symbolism, others will not. Some view it as akin to a person walking into a synagogue and stating they want to be Jewish, but then asking the Rabbi to perform the Christian Communion sacrament, lead Zen Buddhist meditation sessions, and build a Native sweat lodge in the parking lot. The Jewish religion is an established one, with codified practices and symbolism that define and differentiate it from other paths. For some, Wicca is the same way. But one cannot know unless one asks, so this is where open and honest communication is vital.

On the reverse side of that opinion, though, in one of Gardner’s own books, he discussed the practice of a woman acting as the Priest when one wasn’t available. He believed that a woman can “switch roles” and/or “do double duty” when needed, and serve as both Priest and Priestess at the same time, their gender identity/expression and physical sex being no barrier to their ability to perform the rites. This, to me, speaks to trans and non-binary people having a very real place in Wicca. Gardner also talked about this situation as rendering the Priestess “bi-sexual,” which he meant as having more than one gender/sex. This to me not only supports trans and non-binary people as mentioned, but is also approaching the inclusion of those who are intersex. Additionally, having a woman serve as Priest, dissolves some of the heterocentricity out of necessity. These, however, are again only my opinions and interpretations, and I’m not claiming that I know Gardner’s thoughts or intentions.

And, if one considers the monist Deity view, that all Divinity stems from a single, all-encompassing, transcendent source that includes all gender and sexuality, then having a Queer identity is of course a valid part of that Source. And, there must logically be a counterpart, to re-achieve the initial balance in the same way the other dualistic expressions and divisions do. Figuring out what that counterpart is and how its energies feel and function in a Wiccan context could be an interesting and potentially powerful exercise. If you are trans, non-binary, intersex, or any other stripe of Queer, and decide to join an existing group, discuss your concerns and ideas with the group leaders.

There are also an increasing number of Pagan and Witchcraft groups that are specifically devoted to Queer gender and orientation Mysteries. So, if Wicca’s Mysteries irreconcilably clash with your identity, there are still paths available to help you connect with the Divine in a personal, meaningful way. There are Gods and practices that represent and focus on the broader spectrum of gender and sexuality. In a poem written by Doreen Valiente, a Traditional Wiccan herself, the Goddess states that, “All acts of love and pleasure are My rituals.” There is space for everyone in the love of the Gods.

Next post: Tools

[tyetknot]

Hi so, do you think there's going to be a wiccan revival in the mainstream occult scene?, I mean let's be real the "totally not wicca guys I swear this is trad craft" wave has been slowing down lately I think, and I for one have been catching myself revisiting some wiccan books trying to mix the magical traditions of my homeland with modern witchcraft has been on my mind lately,and on that note do tou know any good modern wiccan authors who you can recommend??

I have no idea what future trends will be, in all honesty. I think a lot of things come in waves. I've been around on witchcraft Tumblr long enough to have seen a lot of bandwagoning, where someone popular picks something up and then other people start doing it in imitation (or because they find it useful but hadn't known about it before!).

I haven't seen quite so much of the "Oh those mean Wiccans are so terrible, unlike us pure and virtuous trad crafters" discourse here on Tumblr in a while, so it's either run its course, isn't as popular as it used to be, people grew up, or maybe people just started shutting the fuck up. I have a suspicion that an awful lot of it was reheated from the old days in the early aughts when people were loudly yelling that these fluff-bunnies, all of whom were presumably spawned by Silver RavenWolf in some foul brood that was incubated in a nest of Llewellyn books, all of whom would surely be the death of the Wiccan religion, because they were destroying it by being insufficiently edgy, or something.

The thing to remember here is that Wicca and trad craft are sisters, whether we like it or not. They both spring from weird revisionist interpretations of the European witch hysteria and now-dubious understanding of folklore and anthropology. They don't look exactly alike, and they both have lives of their own, but they both came from the same place.

I haven't been reading a lot of new Wiccan material these days, in all honesty. This isn't because I don't read, it's because I've been doing this since 2001 and am pretty well established in my Craft and in my community, and most books being written don't really cater to what I'm looking for or what I need. There aren't a lot of books out there aimed at people who run public temples and organize pagan festivals - I can think of two and both of those are more than fifteen years old at this point. I like Thorn Mooney's Traditional Wicca because it paints a far more realistic picture and sets reasonable expectations. Yvonne Aburrow's Inclusive Wicca is also pretty decent, I think.

[jarredlharris]

I think it's important to interrogate the worthiness of our deities

I’ve been reading an advance reader copy of Pagan Roots by Yvonne Aburrow.1 One of the things Yvonne covers in the book is a list of terms and concepts that they believe (and I concur with them) that we Pagans should reclaim from how they’re used in Christianity. One of the words they talk about is “worship,” which Yvonne also covered in their “Reclaiming Pagan Words” series on YouTube: To…

[leeharrington]

"Inclusive Wicca is not for people who want to stay safe and cosy in their heteronormative cisgender worldview, pretending that oppression is not happening and that racism is a thing of the past. Being inclusive means becoming aware of others’ pain, and supporting the oppressed and the marginalized. It means doing some work to make your rituals inclusive and healing for everyone, and understanding your own privilege - the degree to which your reality and worldview is considered ‘normal’ and ‘natural’ by ‘mainstream’ culture or a given subculture; the degree to which you are safe from oppression; and the extent to which your right to existence is not constantly questioned and undermined. Inclusive Wicca is about being inclusive for everyone. There isn’t a competition over who is more oppressed. There is no queue for liberation. We can work on small issues and large issues at the same time. Not all of the concepts and populations mentioned here receive the same degree of oppression in society. They are included in the list because at some point, they have been excluded from some Wiccan circles for reasons related to prejudice. Inclusive Wicca is not a new or separate tradition. It is a tendency within existing Wiccan traditions." Get your copy of Queer Magic here: https://www.amazon.com/Queer-Magic-Power-Beyond-Boundaries/dp/1942733798/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=pass-20 [Description: The cover of "Queer Magic: Power Beyond Boundaries" edited by Lee Harrington and Tai Fenix Kulystin, is shown to the right of the quote, "Inclusive Wicca is not for people who want to stay safe and cosy in their heteronormative cisgender worldview, pretending that oppression is not happening and that racism is a thing of the past. Being inclusive means becoming aware of others’ pain, and supporting the oppressed and the marginalised. It means doing some work to make your rituals inclusive and healing for everyone.... YVONNE ABURROW"]

[laparosdivinos]

Manifesto da Wicca Inclusiva de Ivonne Aburrow - Tradução por Sirius Cor Leonis - PARTE I

Devocional do Tradutor aos Deuses:

Aos queridos deuses, deusas e deusus, especialmente aos três arqueiros (Oxossi, Hu Tianbao e Apollo) e ao Deus da luta pela transformação positiva Oxaguian, entrego esta divulgação de tradução livre.

Aos Leitores:

Conforme o prometido, nesse post trago o "Manifesto da Wicca Inclusiva" da maravilhosa Yvonne Aburrow completo em uma humilde tradução própria. O texto está presente no Livro Queer Magic e seu conteúdo está melhor trabalhado e discutido no livro "Inclusive Wicca" da Autora.

Compartilho, pois essa é uma bruxaria na qual acredito. Uma bruxaria realmente inclusiva que celebra e cultua a diversidade para além da mera aceitação condicionada da presença dos diferentes. Uma bruxaria na qual os ritos e rituais em si são diversos e realmente inclusivos. Uma bruxaria na qual todos podem se ver e serem realmente celebrados tanto na teoria quanto na prática. Onde o cis e hétero não é normativo e o "resto" é só variante ou deve se adequar. Deuses queer sendo cultuados e mostrados enquanto queers, praticas novas, diversidade.

Nessa bruxaria, embora o coração ressoe, as palavras da autora vão além da Wicca e da própria bruxaria para a própria visão sobre o que é o caminho para inclusão de verdade e o que ainda precisa muito mudar e que a maioria ignora. Garanto que não se arrependerão da leitura.

O Manifesto em si:

Manifesto da Wicca Inclusiva - Parte I (devido ao limite do tumblr)

Por Yvonne Aburrow

A Wicca Inclusiva não é para pessoas que querem continuar seguras e aconchegadas em suas visões de mundo cisgêneras e heteronormativas fingindo que a opressão não está acontecendo e que o racismo é coisa do passado. Ser inclusivo significa estar ciente das dores dos outros e apoiar os oprimidos e marginalizados. Isso significa ter algum trabalho para tornar os rituais mais inclusivos e curativos para todos, entendendo seus próprios privilégios – o grau que sua realidade e visão de mundo são consideradas 'normais' e 'naturais' pela cultura da maioria ou por uma dada subcultura; o quanto você está a salvo da opressão; e o quanto o seu direito a existir não é constantemente questionado e enfraquecido. A Wicca Inclusiva é sobre ser inclusiva para todos.

Não é uma competição sobre quem é mais oprimido. Não há uma fila para a libertação. Nós podemos trabalhar em grandes e pequenas questões ao mesmo tempo. Nem todos os conceitos e populações mencionadas aqui possuem o mesmo grau de opressão social. Eles estão incluídos na lista porque em algum ponto eles foram excluídos de alguns círculos Wiccanos por questões relacionadas ao preconceito. Wicca Inclusiva não é uma tradição nova ou separada. É uma tendência existente dentro das tradições Wiccanas.

A Wicca inclusiva começou como uma forma de assegurar que pessoas LGBTQIA+ fossem incluídas em rituais Wiccanos, mas se transformou num ethos inclusivo que abrange mais do que a sexualidade. Ela também significa que nós temos uma abordagem inclusiva da teologia ao abraçar visões politeístas ou panteístas e incluindo deidades queer em nossas práticas. Um ethos inclusivo e igualitário deve incluir todos os membros, assegurando que todas as práticas sejam inclusivas, incluindo ritos de passagem queer. Isso também abrange uma posição anti-racista e a inclusão de pessoas com necessidades especiais e especificidades mentais e cognitivas.

Uma dos problemas centrais é o foco da Wicca na polaridade, que é um princípio energético composto por quaisquer pares de opostos. Há outras forma de gerar energia, como a ressonância (gerar energia entre duas pessoas que são similares) e sinergia (gerar energia com a harmonia de um grupo de pessoas). Bolos e vinhos, chamado dos quadrantes, invocações e consagrações devem todos ser respeitosos e inclusivos. O ethos inclusivo abraça todos os aspectos da identidade e a abordagem igualitária é um colorário necessário dele. Todos devem ter sua voz, sejam novos exploradores com novas perspectivas interessantes ou um praticante com muitas estações e mais experiência na sua história. Todos os aspectos do EU incluindo, mas não se limitando a orientação sexual, identidade étnica, neurodivergências e diferenças físicas são bem vindos num círculo Wiccano inclusivo. Portanto, ao abraçar teologias e práticas que celebram e incluem a diversidade, nós rejeitamos todas as tentativas de excluir qualquer pessoa baseando-se em nas diferenças.

Muitas pessoas parecem pensar que 'inclusivo' significa “eu tenho algumas pessoas gays no meu coven”. Isso é certamente bem-vindo, mas não necessariamente inclusivo. Existe um espectro da inclusão. Um coven talvez pontue 95%, enquanto outro pontue 75%, mas é importante notar diferentes pessoas tem diferentes ideias e prioridades. Nós podemos evitar erros de comunicação e dores de cabeça se covens individualmente declararem de quais formas formas ou o quão são inclusivos e também de quais formas e o quão não são inclusivos.

Continua...

[tyetknot]

Strongly repeating what Tea has to say here, although I'm also gonna point out that 1) "Wiccanism" isn't a word and 2) 'A Witches' Bible' isn't about the Gardnerian Tradition as much as it is Alexandrian. Thank you so much OP for understanding that a book written in the early 80s may not reflect current attitudes! That is a level of understanding that is wretchedly uncommon on this social media platform.

This whole male/female duality thing was very progressive for its time but the truth is that in this day and age it has aged like raw milk and now comes across as a bit rancid. Modern attitudes are, and should be, more relaxed than things were back when the Farrars wrote this book.

OP asks how communities are adjusting to our more current understanding of orientation and gender and I am very confident in asserting that they will either change and adjust, or they will die. There's a lot of people who I will describe as very old-fashioned in their thinking and they really do seem to hope that this whole LGBTQ+ thing will Go Away. In this hope they are deluded.

I was formerly a member of a public-facing Wiccan community that paid lip service to inclusivity but really had very little. It started to burn down back at the end of '18 when its High Priest decided it was perfectly ok to go on an online tear about how really, if a woman is sexually assaulted it's her fault, did some internal ideological purging of people who did things like stand up for women and warn vulnerable people about predators in the community, and now it is dying. This is the kind of slow, horrible, inevitable death-spiral that is essentially impossible to get out of.

Conversely, after being purged from that former community I am now a founding member of a new organization that makes genuine effort to be inclusive and recognized that very heterosexist liturgy was harmful to some of our members and made some much-needed updates to the way we do things, and we are thriving.

I might suggest that OP reads something a little less hidebound and current. Cunningham's Solitary Guide is a much more realistic look at Wicca, but I will also suggest Yvonne Aburrow's Inclusive Wicca which takes a long hard look at these issues.

Uneducated: A Question for Modern Witches on Gender

So, hi. I'm learning about the practices and beliefs of Wiccanism as an intellectual curiosity. To do this, I've begun by reading "A Witch's Bible," written by Janet and Stewart Farrar. As far as I know, this is a relatively good source outlining "Gardnerian Wiccanism," which seems to be one of the most popular contemporary understandings of Wicca and Neo-Paganism (as far as I know? Forgive my ignorance, if I am mistaken).

As I read it, I have thus far found it to be a very illuminating read, that goes in depth on the largely progressive, naturalistic, and idealistic belief systems of the "modern" witch. However, as good a source as this book may be, there is one repeated aspect that feels dated by today's discourse-- the concept of gender, and how this topic is discussed.

Now, this book's major components were written in 1981 and 1984, then compiled into a single manual in 1996(?), so it's obviously somewhat dated. We've had four decades of growing social progress since.

In brief, let me explain my understandings thus far, to see if I am on the right track in following this book's vision of Wicca: there is a huge emphasis on "polarity," i.e. opposites. This includes man and woman, written in very binary black/white terminology. This book states that man and woman's nature is inherently different (but equal) on a level beyond physical. Women have a "cyclic nature" due to ovulation and menstruation; whereas men have a "linear nature." Women are afforded more psychic ability because they have the "gifts of the goddess," and can be a symbolic vessel and avatar for the Goddess. However they can also serve as the vessel for the God, if there is no man able to do so during a Sabbat gathering, ritual, or event. On the flipside, a man can only ever be a vessel for the God-- never the Goddess. The domain of Goddess is strictly a role afforded to the high priestess and women in an "ideal" Gardnerian coven structure. (Again, not stating that this IS 100% the case, just explaining how I've understood it thus far.)

So the question burning in my mind is simply this: how have Wiccan beliefs and communities adapted and changed in their thought processes on the relation between sex and gender, considering we live in an age where the topic is now more mainstream than ever? What are the psychic and spiritual roles of man and woman in modern day, considering the newfound greater questioning of what it even means to be "man" or "woman" in the first place?

To anyone in those communities who sees my long winded wall of text in the tags of your community and you actually read it, I hope you'll forgive my intrusion. I don't mean to espouse my ignorance of your religious beliefs. On the contrary, I find many of them to be engaging and very beautiful. However, I consider myself a pretty strong pro-trans ally in the LGBTQ+ community, and I just became too curious on the thoughts and attitudes of modern witches on the subject. I know there are a lot of trans people who are in wicca and neo-pagan circles, so I hope you wouldn't mind my probing. And while I could Google this topic, I feel an appeal to those in the community directly would be more engaging and personal.

[cavorta]

A pagan novella

January 6, 2024

I wish you a good new year with many blessings. Over the past few years, I have published some pagan and witchcraft non-fiction. Currently, I am working on a novella about a young queer woman who leaves a (fictional) conservative Christian cult. She starts a new life and eventually becomes a pagan and more specifically, a Lokean. The story is set in Germany. I have no idea if anyone wants to read that because the genre is neither romance nor a mystery or another typical genre. But anyway, I want to write it. My plan is to selfpublish it in German and English. I also use this as a sort of devotional work for Loki. Devotion for pagan deities can take so many forms, doesn't it? I have no personal experience with leaving a cult or Christianity, but I have researched cults for quite a bit now and heard/read accounts by people who left one and how they recovered from their experiences. For further research, I am also reading “Changing Paths” by Yvonne Aburrow at the moment and I also want to read “Leaving the Fold: A Guide for Former Fundamentalists and Others Leaving Their Religion” by Marlene Winell, Ph.D. I guess this will be quite a journey to write, but as someone said in the Facebook group “The Lokean Collective” when I posted about this novella, “This is a story that needs to be told. Do it!!” And so be it.😊

[davidjhiggins]

Magic Spell

Betwixt some interesting pieces on intersectional faith and society, Yvonne Aburrow has started sharing Pagan Wordles. Being slightly fond of words, I’ve found them pleasingly diverting but also thought-provoking because the focus on a single area makes them harder. Continue reading Magic Spell

[dowsingfordivinity]

My books

[changingpathsresources]

Reblog: My religious deal-breakers

My religious deal-breakers: Exploring a journal prompt from chapter 5 of “Changing Paths.” Hello readers and happy Friday! Time to tackle another journal prompt from Changing Paths by Yvonne Aburrow. This week, we’re looking at chapter 5, … Before I start pulling out my “laundry list” and discussing it, I should note that this is today’s list of my deal-breakers. I’m not sure everything would…

[essence-of-wicca]

Part 10-

Roles

Here I will not only explain the roles of Wiccan clergy and ritual participants, but also explore how sexual orientation and gender identity can sometimes affect these roles.

🕯🌒🌕🌘🕯

🔮 Role of Clergy

There is a difference between being a Priest/ess and a High Priest/ess. Every Wiccan is a Priest (P) or Priestess (PS) to the Gods, but in many Traditionalist settings, only those who have taken on the role, honor, and responsibility as Coven leader and teacher may be called High Priest/ess.

And what are those responsibilities? Well, what is the ideal role of a parent? To see that their child grows to happy healthy adulthood, with a strong sense of self but also of familial identity. So, the High Priest (HP) and High Priestess (HPS) hope to see to the continuation of the Tradition by passing it down to their Initiates, to teach the Tradition’s ways of ritual and practice, to facilitate the spiritual growth and advancement of their students so that they too may one day take on the mantle of HP/S. In this way (among others) do the HP and HPS serve the Gods that the Tradition reveres.

The P and PS of any ritual, Traditional/Oathbound or not, are also the representatives of the God and Goddess on this plane of existence. They are responsible for acting with Divine Will. They perform most of the physical actions of Casting the Circle, and leading and directing the ritual. In very large groups, or very small spaces, they may ask participants to assist with such things as calling the Quarters.

Some (H)P/Ss choose to become legally ordained, but this is rarely, if ever, a Coven requirement. However, legal ordination then empowers the (H)P/S to legally perform weddings, funerals, and other rites of passage that require such an officer.

🕯🌒🌕🌘🕯

🔮 Role of Initiates and Other Participants

In the most general terms, participants in any rite are there to lend their presence and energy to the work at hand, whether that is welcoming a season or sending healing to someone who is ill. Initiates of a Coven are also there to learn the Tradition’s specific ways of ritual, etc..

It is important to further note that even though these other participants may not be acting as the (H)P/S in a particular rite, that does not mean they are laity; there are no bystanders in Wicca. Everyone is an active participant, in terms of their presence and energy adding potency and strength to the rite, if not more directly by performing a part of the ritual themselves if asked to do so.

Members of established groups are often asked to contribute food to drink to feasting, and help defer costs of materials like candles and incense, by donating money or the items themselves. However, there should be no charge for the actual learning, whether the payment is monetary or servitude.

🕯🌒🌕🌘🕯

🔮 Regarding Gender and Sexuality

One’s personal sexual orientation or gender identity/expression has NO bearing on whether one may be Wiccan, so long as one has the ability to see worth in, and at the very least, understand and respect the symbolism of heterosexual pairings; that is, the coming together of equal and opposite pieces to create a balanced whole. Some Coven/group leaders may insist that whether one can act as a Priest or a Priestess is determined by external/physical sex rather than gender identity/expression, but that is something that varies between Covens/groups and is usually determined on a case-by-case basis.

Additionally, a group or teacher may be comfortable with not anthropomorphizing the Gods. They may simply use the balances of light vs. dark, Summer vs. Winter, life vs. death, etc., without naming known Gods specifically, and instead identifying Them with concepts rather than gender or even names. They may be willing to adjust some ritual symbolism away from the heterocentric as well. One suggestion from Yvonne Aburrow, a Gardnerian Initiate and author, is calling Them, “the Lover and the Beloved.” This removes gender, but maintains the idea that this is an intimate pairing. The website for Lycian Wicca addresses the issue in this way:

The Lycian Tradition represents Deity as God (male) and Goddess (female).  We also recognize that binaries combine in a variety of ways. For example:

1 = male

0 = female

11 = body male; spirit male.

10 = body male; spirit female.

00 = body female; spirit female.

01 = body female; spirit male.

The binaries have even more combinations, such as: 1010, 1101, 0101, 1111, 0000, etc,  where they represent body, spirit, mind, and emotions. Just because there happens to be a primary duality, does not mean that duality cannot combine in huge number of variations, representing all the varieties of human beings.  Because, science.

If you identify outside the traditional gender binary and/or feel your Queer orientation/identity/presentation is in conflict with Wiccan symbolism, but still wish to practice with a group, honesty with potential groups and establishing an open dialogue on the topic is highly recommended. Some established Covens/groups will work to accommodate you by adjusting their practices and symbolism, others will not. Some view it as akin to a person walking into a synagogue and stating they want to be Jewish, but then asking the Rabbi to perform the Christian Communion sacrament, lead Zen Buddhist meditation sessions, and build a Native sweat lodge in the parking lot. The Jewish religion is an established one, with codified practices and symbolism that define and differentiate it from other paths. For some, Wicca is the same way. But one cannot know unless one asks, so this is where open and honest communication is vital.

On the reverse side of that opinion, though, in one of Gardner’s own books, he discussed the practice of a woman acting as the Priest when a man wasn’t available to fill the role. He believed that a woman can fulfill both roles when needed, serving as both Priest and Priestess at the same time, their gender identity/expression and physical sex being no barrier to their ability to perform the rites. This, to me, speaks to trans and non-binary people having a very real place in Wicca. Gardner also talked about this situation as rendering the Priestess “bi-sexual,” which he meant as having more than one gender/sex. This to me not only supports trans and non-binary people as mentioned, but also the inclusion of those who are intersex. Additionally, having a woman serve as sole leader in a ritual dissolves some of the heterocentricity out of necessity. These, however, are again only my opinions and interpretations, and I’m not claiming that I know Gardner’s thoughts or intentions.

And, if one considers the monist Deity view, that all Divinity stems from a single, all-encompassing, transcendent source that includes all gender and sexuality, then having a Queer identity is of course a valid part of that Source. And, there must logically be a counterpart, to re-achieve the initial balance in the same way the other dualistic expressions and divisions do. Figuring out what that counterpart is and how its energies feel and function in a Wiccan context could be an interesting and potentially powerful exercise, such as using Lycian Wicca's binary models.

If you are trans, non-binary, intersex, or any other stripe of Queer, and decide to join an existing group, discuss your concerns and ideas with the group leaders. There are also an increasing number of Pagan and Witchcraft groups that are specifically devoted to Queer gender and orientation Mysteries. So, if Wicca’s Mysteries irreconcilably clash with your identity, there are still paths available to help you connect with the Divine in a personal, meaningful way. There are Gods and practices that represent and focus on the broader spectrum of gender and sexuality. In a poem written by Doreen Valiente, a Traditional Wiccan herself, the Goddess states that, “All acts of love and pleasure are My rituals.” There is space for everyone in the love of the Gods.