Weblog
29 Dec 2006: Crafting the Craft: Foundations of the Temple
A religion is little different from a religious edifice in this regard. It must also be placed on sufficient foundations to offer support, and if it is not, it will crumble. The duration of its planned existence is the measure of the foundations needed. Even a personal religion, one that speaks to no one but the self, needs have to have solid foundations, least the faith collapse under the weight of hard times. And those hard times do come.
The foundations of the Craft must be made of very strong stuff. Our people will (and should be able to) come to rely on it for strength, for meaning. These foundational beliefs should not be wed to any particular time, place or politics, but should reflect timeless truths. For that reason, they should be simple, direct, unambiguous. What follows is, to the best of my understanding, after several years of thought, meditation and prayer, the foundational tenets of the Wiccan faith.
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12 Dec 2006: Crafting the Craft
The answer to that question, until very recently, has been a toss-up between "Haphazardly", and frankly, "Not very well." Generally speaking, the Craft of the Wise is being handled unwisely in most cases, with little regard for anything approaching consistency, no matter how you define that term. A religion is a method or system of relating to the Gods (by whatever name you call Them), and that method is ill-served by the "anything-goes" attitude brought to our religion by most of its practitioners.
There is certainly room for investigation and exploration by Wiccans. Although it sparked a mini-schism in the Gardnerian line back in the mid-80's, there has always been a place for serious exploration of variance in practice within Wicca, and many elements of our ritual and philosophy can be shown to have antecedents in other mystery cults as well as mainstream faiths. In an effort ot make a welcoming place for newcomers and visionaries, the attitude in the Craft community has been very laissez-faire, and from this, we have "Wiccan" sweatlodges, pipe ceremonies, pujas and so forth. I have written on this subject before, and I quote a piece from that earlier blog:
A religion's practices should support, explain and expand on the philosophies of that religion. Most Wiccan practitioners' practices are a hash of those of other faiths, chosen strictly for their "cool factor". For this reason, Dragon's Weave does not condone the pillaging of other faiths for their practices. There is nothing "Wiccan" about a sweatlodge, for example. If we Wiccans want to hold a sweat, we are free to do so, but we shouldn't be chanting Lakota prayers while we do it.
I have gathered by thoughts, and have decided to pursue them in a series of articles that will outline where I think the Craft should be going, and where I'm taking Dragon's Weave. There are other people out there working on similar creations... Dianne Sylvan's EarthDance tradition is a good example... But I see no reason to wait. Either this material will stand on its own, be absorbed into a different body of work, or fade to dust. No matter; I'll set the ball to rolling here.
A brief outline of what's to come:
- Wiccan Thealogy: The Foundation Blocks
- Wiccan Philosophy: The Edifice
- Wiccan Practice: The Structure of Our Temple
- Wiccan Rites: Holy Days in the Temple
- Wiccan Heresies: Temple Renewal
