When seekers ask about what Gardnerian Wiccans believe, they’re often told that Wicca is an orthopraxy, not an orthodoxy. Unfortunately, those terms carry connotations that may give people a misleading impression of Wicca. In this video, I explore why I dislike the “orthopraxy, not orthodoxy” line.
Read more "Video: Orthodoxy and Orthopraxy in Wicca"In a previous video, I talked about the “schmidentity” of deities–the way that two gods can be somehow distinct from each other and yet the same, especially in cases where their cults share a common historical origin. Here, I turn my eye to the Gods of traditional Wicca. I discuss a few figures from ancient […]
Read more "Video: Who Are the Wiccan Gods?"The Gardnerian Tradition of Wicca, like any other group, is vulnerable to internal politics that can be baffling from the outside. Lately, a few transphobic Gardnerians have been making a lot of noise about wanting to institute a distinction between “traditional” and “reform” Gardnerian Wicca–and well-meaning seekers who don’t know the context may not understand […]
Read more "Video: “Traditional” versus “Reform” Gardnerians?"I’ve just returned from a fabulous trip to the United Kingdom. While I was there, I had the opportunity to spend time with some online friends from the British Wiccan community, and doing so got me thinking about some of the broad cultural differences in Wicca between the US and UK. The three differences I […]
Read more "Video: Wicca in America Versus Britain"New on YouTube. In various religious and magical spaces, the concept of “tradition” is incredibly important. But what is tradition, really? Why is it valuable? And why do people get so weird about it? In this video, I talk through my thoughts on these questions, and provide my own proposed definition of religion: A set […]
Read more "Video: What Even is Tradition, Anyway?"Let’s talk a bit about the relationship between Wicca and Thelema. How was Thelema an influence on the early days of Wicca? In what ways are the two religions alike? And–just as importantly–how do they differ? In this video, I talk through some of the history of Gerald Gardner’s meetings with Aleister Crowley and his […]
Read more "Video: Wicca, Thelema, and True Will"Wiccan mythology (or at least, one strand of it) features a very specific kind of Goddess and God, and a particular understanding of the relationship between them. In this video, I talk about how this mythos is really modern in origin, how much of it can be traced back to James Frazer’s book “The Golden […]
Read more "Video: James Frazer and the Modernity of Wiccan Myth"I share some thoughts about the relationship between Wicca and sex, and the role that sex does and does not play in Wicca. The three main points I make: Sex is never, ever a requirement in the Gardnerian Tradition. Anyone who says differently is a predator. Our bodies are holy, and so are the things […]
Read more "Video: Wicca and Sex"In this video, I talk through the recommended reading list I give to seekers interested in Gardnerian Wicca. Different groups will have different recommendations, and some groups won’t have any suggested reading at all, but these are the texts that I, personally, think are the most helpful and informative for someone seeking traditional Wicca. The […]
Read more "Video: 13 Books for Gardnerian Seekers"In my previous post, I talked a bit about Erich Neumann’s book The Great Mother and how, despite the various problems with it and the need for context-sensitive critical reading, it can provide a great theoretical framework in which to understand the Wiccan Goddess. Wicca is about experience, not theory, and a theoretical perspective like […]
Read more "The Horned God, Schematized"
Jack Chanek 