Dancing Down the Moon

Reader-Inspired Topic #6 - Definition Soup

I recently had a very interesting and thought-provoking question posed to me via email (yes, I checked my email, don't be so shocked).  The submitter expressed that she was pleased to see panentheism included in my definition of Wicca, and mentioned that it was a pretty rare phenomenon, as was the idea of focusing on the Wheel of the Year as a personal journey and relationship with the environment instead of as a myth cycle.  She mentioned that most writers emphasize Wicca as an immanent (pantheistic or polytheistic) religion.

Her question was, in essence, where do I draw the line between Wicca and more general NeoPaganism?  At what point do a person's beliefs stray so far off into left field that they no longer really qualify as Wiccan?

Well, it depends on who you ask.  If you asked some hardcore traditional Wiccans, they'd probably tell you I'm not a "real" Wiccan, and neither are most of my American Eclectic brethren, for reasons ranging from not having the proper lineage to not practicing in the nude.  To those narrow-minded folk I say "Get over it, Wicca's evolving and it's too late to stop it." 

Still and all, we do have to have some generally-accepted guidelines, otherwise any nutcase with an athame can call himself a Third Degree Priest and start a coven that exists specifically to get him laid...

Oh, wait.  People already do that.

Building a Daily Practice

As busy as we are, how do we find time for all the worthwhile pursuits of the spirit? Most of us like the idea of meditating, of doing devotional rituals, of spending time outdoors--but most days I'm doing well if I make it home from work and collapse on the couch without having killed anyone, and there are a thousand things to do in those few hours we are permitted between work and sleep.