Types of "Wicca"?

Types of "Wicca"?

At some point or other some sweet soul will ask you about your path. This means this label-less connection to what is Divine to you will be judged on the words that next come out of your mouth.

I'd like to say that pagans are less judgey than other faith but that just isn't true. 

The thing is before the internet (was there such a primitive time?), exploring this meant finding a teacher, a pagan book shop, or a moot.

You would chat over tea, coffee or beer, explore some open circles and decide from there what felt right. 

You might work with a group or even a coven with slightly different beliefs because they were the only people practicing in your area.

It wasn't perfect or ideal. It was no less judgmental, I can promise you that! However it gave seekers something invaluable.

Experience.

You can not simply say "I don't like people so I can't be a Gardnerian or Alexandrian."

For a start most folks of these two branches of the Wiccan tree are not people people either. Secondly you can not get your brain around what a circle or coven is like, especially an Alexandrian one, if you have never been in one.

In my experience (and I walked a Gardnerian path first) I found that it is very inclusive and works very well. It works with the idea of balance, seasonality and has a broad and inclusive acceptance of personal Divinity. I have known Gardnerians who were hard polytheists, soft polytheists, an even atheists (who believed that the circle, Goddess and God were internal psychological constructs) working well and friends together.

Alexandrians are also a mixed bag. Again they are quite happy to work with folks who might be Fae, Hecitite or any other "faith" so long as the codes and rules of a circle are adhered to. 

This sounds restrictive, and it is.

However it is restrictive the same way a martial art is. The rituals are like patterns, or kata practiced over again. Knowing the steps of the dance perfectly allows something to happen, something that doesn't happen often. Something transcendent and Divine happens.

Some paths are like dancing in a club or bar. Some are like a jazz solo. Some are like contemporary dance companies. Alexandrian is like ballet.

While the idea of meeting people, in the flesh, can be terrifying you simply can not learn the steps by reading about it in your armchair. I am aware that Gardnerian and Alexandrian currently are "not cool". The idea of having something formal and communal is seen as stuffy or difficult. It is difficult but that doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. Even if it is terrible. Even if you find it really isn't your thing, then at least you know. Magick and faith are especially quite a physical as well as a spiritual experience. To smell the incense. To feel the world and circle spin as you dance. The energy of people open-heartedly working together. 

To say a path "isn't for you" when you have never experienced it is like people who do eat certain foods. 

"Oh  I'd hate it."

How can you never know if you don't taste it?

Or even if you only try it once?

My husband had a long list of "food he hated". I and do mean long. 11 years into the marriage ( we will have been married 15 years this May) and I finally got him to try my scrambled eggs.

"Oh, these are great! Oh I don't like shit eggs!" 

So sometimes it's not the path, but those who were there, or even who you were at the time.

Humans are social animals and group ritual work is important.

There are lots of good resources for people exploring their paths now. A Witches Bible by Janet and Stewart Farrar is a good and intelligent place to learn about the Gardnerian path, but you could also read books by Gerald Gardner himself. Anything by Louis Borne is pretty good too.

I am blessed enough to have a full Alexandrian book of Shadows. Typed in the sixties I think. My teacher passed it down to me and I will pass it on too. 

These are precious links now. To things and a past that seem dated but are valuable. I also have my teachers, mentor and teacher's ring. 

You can't get that from a book.

You can only join the dance.

Bright Blessings xxx