I think I am about to drop the term 'wiccan' from my self description.
I feel wiccan, I follow the sabbats and esbats, I'm polytheistic, the Rede makes sense to me and probably because of my upbringing I am more comfortable with some structure than without.
On the other hand, for a long time my path was a faint set of footsteps that I followed without much looking around but now it is getting wider and I am picking up things along the way.
I am definitely a witch. My practice is decidedly wiccan.
But some days I am a wiccan witch and some days I am a green witch and some days I am a druid witch and some days I am a shaman witch and some days I am a secular witch.
Do I have to have a name for it? I'm afraid that 'pagan' won't do. There are too many alien forms of pagan that I can't relate to at all. If I have to have a label it has to be more accurate than that.
Maybe I don't need a name for it. I can always use wiccan so that Homeland Security knows which file cabinet I go into....I'm sure that one's a mess anyway, they will never get it sorted out.
Do I have to have one name? Perhaps I could have little cards made up with a diagram on them. Like we were taught to diagram a sentence back in grade school, it could show all the descriptors.
I'm still thinking about this.
Would a Rose by any other name smell as sweet?
ReplyDeleteI don't like labels. It leads to all of that awful political correctness that is so rampant in the states. To be specific, I would have to label myself as a Polish, Scottish, Irish, HillBilly, Biker, Caucasian, ex-smoker, male American. Who wants to say all of that! Spiritually, I am eclectic. I'm don't even feel like a witch all of the time. Lately, just barely Pagan. So... yeah, I agree. What do we call ourselves when people ask? I usually say Eclectic Witch just to have a label, but like you, it differs daily.
Great post! For myself personally I see myself an Eclectic Wiccan Witch. My philosphies and beliefs vary so much but feel so right that the only thing that fits for me is Eclectic~
ReplyDeleteI don't think I *need* a label, I just feel with my heart and feel connected to all that is around me, whether it's people, environment, etc.
I've never done well with having to follow *rules* when it comes to my Spirituality which is a very personal choice so I decided I wasn't going to bog myself with labels but when people ask, I tell them I am very Eclectic in my beliefs :)
Hiya. Been following your blog for a little while here, so I thought I would finally say hello.
ReplyDeleteLabels suck. At best they are useful for snap descriptions about oneself (or others) but at worse they are stifling, restrictive and often inaccurate. And TBH, the problem with Wicca as a label is that people have set ideas of what it means and they don't always agree. It is a lot easier to say Eclectic Witch which covers most things, and if the need arises to get into more detail as you go.
So if I was you, I'd drop the labels and just be you.
Mousedemon, thanks for you first comment. I hope to hear from you again.
ReplyDeleteGypsy, love your comment as always and agree totally.
'dog...my 'real' label is dirt loving tree hugging daughter of the goddess.
But it doesn't fit on one line. :-)
I love this post, Celestite.
ReplyDeleteI don't care what you call yourself; you are a treasure, and a spark of silver light in the night sky!
Personally, I am a witch. I always have been and always will be. I think I was just born this way. I would be a witch regardless of any initiations, traditions, training or pagan community.
I love your blog!
A.
Labels are pesky things. They have a nasty tendency to restrict you, and you find that, like it or not, you are trapped in the labelled form. Do away with labels! Or choose a new one every day, and don't let one stay long enough to mould you.
ReplyDeleteOr maybe I just do that to justify being so changeable ....
MouseDemon seems to have nailed the problem. For some reason Wicca seems to have taken on the meaning of "witchcraft lite". Perhaps it's the crazies people have seen on reality shows, or the growing amount of people who read one book or visit one website, believe that they are then a witch, then pop up all over the Internet of media and share their incorrect wisdom with the rest of us.
ReplyDeleteI think that Wicca is much more broad than the name now seems to represent. But as we practitioners are constantly barraged with what others think of Wicca, perhaps it makes us sensitive to calling ourselves Wiccan.
The Rede seems to have come to represent a certain wholesomeness (for lack of better word) that it doesn't necessarily represent. After all, Gardner was influenced by Crowley, and we KNOW he wasn't exactly a choir boy.
Wicca seems to be equated to fluffy, and it's not a fair assessment.
I think the inclusion of 'witch' in every descriptive up there tells me that what you are, my darlin' dear, is a witch!
ReplyDeleteMe, too. :D
I have to agree with DarlyFey, Witch seems to be the popular tag you've given yourself. I totally understand what you mean. My path has been through many roads, some more similar to each other than others... but they all lead to basically the same direction. I think that's why I like the label "pagan", it's a rather vague, all encompassing title that means so many different things depending on who you talk to and what day it is. Whatever we decide to call ourselves is not struck in stone and can be changed whenever we feel like it. Which is nice sometimes, and frustrating other times!
ReplyDeleteExcellent post. I hate labels too and, if anyone asks, not that many do, I tend just to say hedgewytch which is the nearest to my particular journey.
ReplyDeleteI too have a problem with labels ~ but then I'm rebellious, I don't like being categorized and I don't like being judged. I consider myself just me, whoever that is at the moment, Eclectic, bohemian, eccentric ~ I'm always Beverly
ReplyDeleteSuch great comments! Much thanks to everyone who took the time to post a comment, both here an on my other pagan blog (I double posted this one.) I think we get hung up on labels, it is sometimes how we define ourselves, but obviously pagans don't get too worried about labels and I agree. Whether I call myself witch, wiccan, pagan or purple people eater, it does not change my relationship with the goddess.
ReplyDeletethanks again everybody!