Wiccans Archives — The Rational Heathen

Where Other Pagans Have it Wrong

September 10, 2018 The Rational Heathen Comments 1 comment

Today I’m throwing mud at another pagan religion, which probably will put me on their curse list. So be it. I don’t believe in that shit anyway, so cursing me won’t work.

I’m a full-on Heathen, regardless of the names the recons love to sling at me. Although I do think that most pagan gods are simply other manifestations of our gods, there are some gods that Wiccans and other pagans flirt with that I think are just not a good idea. I look at their veneration and maybe even worship of these gods and wonder how they could put a positive spin on what is considered demons and devils in Christianity.

Are You Really Pagan, or Are You Just Taking Crap from Judaeo-Christian Lore?

I’ve been reading about different pagan beliefs, especially Wiccan, and if I’m reading things right, a lot of current foundation of Wicca is from Gardner, who was heavily influenced by the book, Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches. The tl;dr version of Aradia is about the female messiah who is the daughter of Diana and Lucifer. All of which are supposedly wonderful and nice.

Does anyone see a problem with this? One writer on Patheos talks about who exactly the daughter of Cain is in this book. There are a number of issues with Aradia, the least of which is the racism and antisemitism in the book, itself. I’m willing to pass on it only because the book was written in 1899 and antisemitism and racism was strong then. I’m not, however, giving those modern day witches a pass on using this book, but that isn’t my point at the moment. My point is that Aradia is taking Judaeo-Christian beliefs and fitting them into its own narrative. It is treating the Bible and Christian lore as being factual or real.

Why this is a Big Deal

Okay, so why do I have my panties in a wad over this? Well, it’s derivative, for one thing. And it’s derivative not from pagan belief, but from a monotheistic belief. The exact monotheistic belief pagans are purportedly not believing in. It’s like saying, “I don’t believe in your god, but hey, we’re going to take the trappings and lore from your religion and use it however the hell it suits us.”

And you wonder why the Christians burned these people at the stake? Seriously?

Now again, burning people at the stake not something I’m even advocating, but when you start taking villains of a religion and make them your heroes, you’re bound to get some push back by the dominant religion. Yeah, you might say that your version came first, but really? Really? From where I’m sitting, I’m not seeing it. It looks like an offshoot of Christianity and even smacks of satanism. (Not the atheist satanism, but the image satanism conjures up for most Christians.) Aradia was published some 1899 years after the supposed birth of Christ. Claim all you want to that it comes from older texts, but there’s no proof in that. You just have one author/translator who is spouting some ugly antisemitic words that was pretty much the attitude at that time.

You Either Believe in it, or You Don’t

I don’t believe in the Jewish and Christian god. I think it is a construct that came from one sect of the Canaanites that eventually became Jewish. They put their patron god Yahweh above all the other gods and came up with monotheism.

Given that other religions have come up with monotheism seems to indicate that the idea isn’t that new. It’s just a way to say that your tribe and your god is better than anyone else’s to the point where you discount other people’s gods.

If you’re taking pieces from the Judaeo-Christian religions and putting them together in ways that are insulting to those who actually believe the stuff, you’re really just perpetuating the myth that all pagans are Satan worshipers and evil. Come to think about it, you’re perpetuating the belief that witches worship Satan.

Try Something Different

I get that the Wiccans may take some of their beliefs from other Middle Eastern religions like Zoroastrian, but honestly, aren’t you being a little narrow in your world views? I’ve heard that there were somewhere around 5000 different religions. Instead, you’re mixing Christianity, Zoroastrian, and Roman religions to come up with something you like?

Yeah, I’m a Heathen and I follow the Northern pantheon. But I don’t say Lucifer and Diana bore Odin, or some such nonsense. No, I have a celestial cow who licks the rime off a god who has children that slay a frost giant and build the world from his body. Totally logical.

Okay, maybe not.

But many Heathens, myself included, get that the stories we read are just stories. They may be metaphors for the actual universe coming into being, or they just might be good stories people told. Those who follow the tenets in Aradia may believe that as well, I don’t know.

My point is that of all the religions it could take from, it took from Christianity. And not even the good parts. Cain and Lucifer and Lilith? Seriously? Certainly there are other religions with better beliefs and magic systems. While I, myself, don’t believe in magic, I can appreciate wanting to learn something like magic. Heathen magic is pretty minimal in comparison to Wicca and other systems, so I don’t recommend it for those who want to learn magic. But there are somewhere close to 5000 other belief systems to explore for that.

Just some thoughts.

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Wiccatru — Or Should We Take Another Look at the Other Pagans?

September 17, 2017 Tyra Ulfdottir Comments 0 Comment

I ran across this rather interesting post on Patheos entitled Wicca: A New Major Religion, and yeah, it got me thinking. If Wicca could be considered a major religion, are we doing Heathenism a genuine disservice by not occasionally courting it? Here are my thoughts and why we may want to consider a bigger tent when it comes to our religion.

The Article and Why the Numbers Might Be Important

If anything, the article reaffirmed my belief in the big tent model when it comes to Heathenism. If the numbers are correct (and I suspect they might be), we need to treat our pagan brethren with a little more respect. The tl;dr version is that Wicca may have, by low estimates, around 2 million practitioners in the United States, making it the third largest religion in the US, after Judaism. (Atheists and agnostics make up a larger percentage than Judaism, but since they are not a religion, they aren’t factored in.) Now granted, when compared to more that 300 million people, that may not seem like many, but the reality is that 2 million votes can sway an election quite handily. Which brings us to Heathenism.

Heathenism by the Numbers

I’m not going to tell you that the numbers I give you are definitive. For one thing, no one has done a completely accurate census and counted every single Heathen on the planet. The current census counts were done on a strictly volunteer basis and most required some sort of participation in social media. That being said, the Norse Mythology Blog came up with a number 16,700 in 2013. This seems a little low to me, undoubtedly because I suspect that some Heathens, for whatever reasons, don’t bother answering polls. I suspect the number is bigger because the piece I wrote, The Gods are Not Your Bitches, got a whopping 13,062 views. Now, granted, some folks may have gone back and reread it, and some folks may have read it who were not Heathen, but the idea that one of my posts reached nearly all Heathens is ludicrous.

I’ve seen likes on various Heathen groups on the web, and have seen numbers in the 60K to 100K. That to me seems more likely with a guessimation of maybe 150K to 200K total Heathens in the world at the top end, when you count crossovers from Wiccans and goosestepping moron Odinist Nazis.

Why We Need to Ally Ourselves with the Wiccans, or My Big Tent Belief

So, for argument sake, let’s say we have about 100K to 200K Heathens worldwide. Personally, I think it is around 100,000, but let’s go with that bigger number, for argument sake. That means that we maybe have a tenth of the numbers Wiccans have, if Wiccans have a conservative 2 million in the United States alone. And our numbers are worldwide, not the United States, alone. So, we have 2 million people who could easily be on our side because they’re polytheistic. Granted, they worship all sorts of gods and goddesses, but the reality is that they could strengthen Heathenism if we let them.

I’ve proposed this big tent belief in an earlier post which has met with some derision from the recon segment. Wiccans are not our enemies here. In fact, you’re likely to find allies from Wiccans who worship Freyja and Freyr, or any of our other gods and goddesses. We can find more Heathens there who will help us politically when it comes to issues we have. Plus, if we’re inclusive, we have a lot more Heathens who can help shape Heathenry.

To Those Who Want to Exclude Wiccans

Those who want to exclude Wiccans, even though they worship our gods, are being shortsighted. Heathenry should be open to bringing in others, not just those who are willing to do the homework and speak the gibberish some Heathens do. We need the Lokeans, the Rokkatru, and yes, even the Wiccatru.

Why? you may ask.

Do you really want Heathenry to stay small? Do you really want it to be taken over by racists? Do you really think it’s a good idea to stay exclusive and not inclusive? Look at the Wiccans. They really don’t have a lot of dogma, and thus have big numbers. Maybe Heathenry could learn something from Wiccans. And Hels bells, I don’t even believe in magic.