Dianic Wicca

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Dianic Wicca, also known as Dianic Witchcraft and Dianic Feminist Witchcraft,^[1] is a tradition, or denomination, of the neopagan religion of Wicca. It was founded by Zsuzsanna Budapest in the United States in the 1970s, and is notable for its focus on the worship of the Goddess, and on feminism. It combines elements of British Traditional Wicca, Italian folk-magic recorded in Charles Leland's Aradia, feminist values, and ritual, folk magic, and healing practices learned from her mother.

It is normally practiced in female-only covens.^[1]

1 Beliefs and practices
2 Differences between Dianic and mainstream Wicca
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

Beliefs and practices

Most Dianic Wiccans worship the Goddess only, acknowledging that She is the source of all living and contains all within Her. There are Dianic witches who practice other forms of paganism (possibly including honoring a male deity or deities) outside of their Dianic practice. Some Dianics are monotheistic, some are polytheistic, some are non-theistic.

Most Dianics worship in female-only circles and covens, but there are mixed-gender Dianic traditions. Eclecticism, appreciation of cultural diversity, ecological concern, and familiarity with sophisticated concepts of psyche and transformation are characteristic. Originally lesbians formed the majority of the movement, however modern Dianic groups may be all-lesbian, all-heterosexual or mixed.^[2]

Some Dianic Wiccans as "positive path" practitioners do neither manipulative spellwork nor hexing; other Dianic witches (notably Zsuzsanna Budapest) do not consider hexing or binding of those who attack women to be wrong.

Differences between Dianic and mainstream Wicca

Like other Wiccans, Dianics may form covens, attend festivals, celebrate the eight major Wiccan holidays, Samhain, Beltane, Imbolc (or Imbolg), Lammas, the solstices and equinoxes (see Wheel of the Year) and the Esbats, which are rituals held at the full moon. They use many of the same altar tools, rituals and vocabulary as other Wiccans. Dianics may also gather in more informal Circles.

The most noticeable differences between the two are that Dianic covens are usually female-only while other Wiccan covens are usually mixed, some aiming for equal numbers of men and women, and that most Wiccans worship the God and Goddess, while Dianics generally worship the Goddess as Whole Unto Herself; or if they worship the God, it is as a consort of the Goddess, rather than an equal.

It should be noted many Wiccans do not consider the Dianic path to be Wiccan at all as they only venerate, and sometimes espouse only the existence of, the Goddess.

References

^ ^a ^b Falcon River (2004) The Dianic Wiccan Tradition. From The Witches Voice. Retrieved 2007-05-23.
^ Jade River (2004) The Dianic Tradition. From The Witches' Voice. Retrieved 2007-05-23.

Interview with Starhawk in Modern Pagans: An Investigation of Contemporary Pagan Practices, ed. V. Vale and John Sulak, Re/Search, San Francisco, 2001, ISBN 1-889307-10-6.
Adler, Margot. Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America Today. Boston: Beacon press, 1979; 1986. ISBN 0-8070-3237-9. Especially "Ch 8: Women, Feminism , and the Craft".
Budapest, Zsuzsanna. Holy Book of Women's Mysteries, The. 1980 (2003 electronic). ISBN 0-914728-67-9.
www.witchvox.com articles on Dianic Tradition, Dianic Wicca, MacFarland Dianic Tradition, and (for a non-friendly pagan reaction to women-centric paganism) http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usnv&c=words&id=10792.
On Starhawk, the Reclaiming Tradition and feminism, M. Macha NightMare http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usca&c=trads&id=3212. (A better citation from one of her or Starhawk's books will be provided in time.)
Ochshorn, Judith and Cole, Ellen. Women's Spirituality, Women's Lives. Haworth Press 1995. ISBN 1560247223. pp 122 & 133 referring to Z Budapest, Diane Stein, and Shekinah Mountainwater among others in a discussion of Dianic Witchcraft.