Invoking Brock’s Law and Wicca’s Almighty Creator
It’s somewhat rare to see Witch/Wiccan profiles during the winter, a time usually reserved for explorations of Christian and Jewish themes, but two papers have done just that. While most of these “meet the Witch” articles are exactly what you’d expect (We don’t eat babies or wear pointy hats!), you can often accidentally learn some interesting things about what prominent Pagans believe. For instance, the Great Lakes Advocate interviews author and reality television star Stacey Demarco (who, for the record, doesn’t like me all that much). In the piece Ms. Demarco invokes Brock’s Law and claims that us Pagans had it far worse than the Jews did.
“Witches have had a bad PR day for thousands of years. There were more people killed in the inquisitions than the holocaust.”
That is a sentence that needs some unpacking. First off, the different Inquisitions that spanned different eras mostly targeted Jews, and if she was mistakenly referencing the witch hunts of Early Modern Europe (aka “The Burning Times”) the modern scholarly estimates for deaths are far lower than the much-touted “9 million” (think 100,000 tops) of early feminist/Pagan lore. Add in the fact that the “barbarian conversions” of Europe were far more peaceful and gradual than most people think, and the myth of a “Pagan holocaust” becomes self-serving and pernicious. It is a meme that needs to be stamped out, and serves no purpose to the thriving modern Paganisms of today.
Turning from Ms. Demarco’s interview, we head to Miami and a profile of Sandra Cheryl Richardson, manager of Celestial Treasures Network in Coconut Grove and “Grand Elder High Priestess” of the Circle of Isis Rising. Richardson’s profile isn’t all that controversial or outside the norm for this kind of piece, but I did think one of her comments was worth taking note of.
“Richardson describes Wicca as a nature-based religion honoring seven holy powers, including an almighty Creator, gods and goddesses and the four elements.”
While Gerald Gardner did acknowledge a “Prime Mover”, he also said such an entity was “unknowable” and of “little concern” to the Witches, who preferred their “tribal” God and Goddess. An “almighty Creator” figure isn’t something I’ve encountered much in modern Wicca, which seems increasingly polytheistic in orientation and outlook. Perhaps Richardson was merely talking about her particular tradition and not for Wicca as a whole? That could be likely. Subtle theological distinctions can often get lost in journalistic translation. It does make me curious to know which Wiccan and Pagan traditions acknowledge a “Prime Mover”/”Unknown God”/”Almighty Creator” in their rites. Feel free to weigh in on this subject in our comments section.
As always, journalists don’t often get religion, and this goes double for faiths outside the mainstream. It is imperative that modern Pagans are as clear and accurate as possible. A throwaway line or passing thought could be misinterpreted as a central truth of your faith. Remember to keep it simple, steer clear of controversy (unless that’s your thing, then hey, go for it), and (if you can) vet the reporter asking for an interview before sitting down with them.
9 responses so far
I take a pantheist view of God. I believe that there is a “Prime Mover”, but that God is very busy being the Universe. Therefore I tend to focus on tribal deities that I can better relate to, remembering that the Prime Mover is present in them as well as me.
Very insightful article. While it is difficult to pin down everyone’s exact beliefs in pagan circles, it always seems like the people who get highlighted espouse ideas completely outside the norm of what I hear from people I normally interact with.
Someone should write a Pagan PR manual to help aid us in working with non-believers, ESPECIALLY the press.
“Someone should write a Pagan PR manual to help aid us in working with non-believers, ESPECIALLY the press.
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Someone did – it’s “The Truth About Witchcraft Today,” by Scott Cunningham. While that particular book is getting a bit dated, it is still in print. (Last I checked at Amazon.) I think most Wiccans need to have a case a copies of that book to hand out to people, on hand at all times. Such a thing would save me sooooooo much time in my life.
Anyway, I do always preface my views on ultimate divinity by stating to people that my personal beliefs are heavily influenced by Oriental mythology, particularly Taoism. I see the divine as the animating life force that exists within all of creation (chi) that is made manifest in male and female deity (Yin and Yang). Usually this combined with a description of Wicca as similar to Native American spirituality but with a European mythological basis, tends to back people off. Rarely, I have had to get into an explanation of the “all gods are one god” concept.
I know that not all Wiccans and Pagans and Neo-Pagans… view these things the same way, and I do try to state that my own personal beliefs are my own personal beliefs. Just my thoughts.
Blessed Be
Actually, Scott Cunningham’s book, however useful (I really like his stuff) is not really the same as good experience in P.R. I think Cherry Hill Seminary has at least talked about developing some course work in that area, which would be lovely.
But the best advice I ever got on this one is advice I still pretty consistently fail to take: when speaking to the press, keep it simple, keep to your talking points, and don’t worry about repeating yourself.
Because I so enjoy all the nuances in different traditions and theologies, my interviews have often been long and useless… or yielded sound bites and quotes that I’ve felt distorted my real position on something.
It’s what I get for enjoying the process enough to forget the product: something short, sweet, and to the point.
Yeah, journalism–even when it’s done well–can be a painful process!
Thank you for working to debunk the “burning times” myth. I have heard it a lot, and it does us no service to repeat it.
The “Seven Holy Powers” reminds me somewhat of the “Seven African Powers” honored in some versions of Santeria by the African diaspora. Perhaps what she was actually trying to express was a belief in “One Power”, its expression in Female and Male form plus the elements. That adds up to 7. Still, one must be careful when trying to express our personal or coven views of Divinity. (Like they say, “been there, done that” on local radio programs here in Puerto Rico.)
“Actually, Scott Cunningham’s book, however useful (I really like his stuff) is not really the same as good experience in P.R. I think Cherry Hill Seminary has at least talked about developing some course work in that area, which would be lovely.”
This is true a book is not the same things as experience which is by far more useful. I would love to see what Cherry Hill Seminary develops as course work for dealing with the press, though. Unfortunately, it seems the the actual belief structure of Wicca doesn’t lend itself well to sound bites as so much is up to individuals to figure out for themselves. Since we have to give long answers when questioned it also makes it easy for words to get taken out of context.
Blessed Be
Dragon Daddy
I must admit to being a little alarmed by the fact that Richardson also has an “18 pound leopard” as a “pet.” This strikes me as a bit… irresponsible. No less so than the smuggled monkey from the other day. It raises questions about the environment she has for the cat.
re: the 7 powers: It looks to me like the journalist may have just tallied up the mention of a creator, gods and goddesses and four elements and said, oh. that’d be 7.
While I acknowledge that there’s some sort of ultimate power in the universe, like Gardner and others, I work instead with tribal deities. Though like others have said, I acknowledge theologically that that power informs part of my essence and the essence of everything else.
Greetings all,
A good friend linked me to your site and I got to read the comments about the article, which was written about me in the Miami Herald. I would like to give you some insight as to my beliefs. My comments are not intended to challenge anyone else and their beliefs.
I learned about the 7 Holy Powers from my teacher, mentor, and friend in the Craft, Lady Nicole Everett (she passed away 4/00). She taught that, from a human perspective, we seek a beginning point. To be polytheistic in nature doesn’t make sense to a lot of people because they don’t understand how there could be 2 or more Gods and Goddesses. Where did they come from? So, according to Nicole, there is the Almighty, the Lady, the Lord, the Earth, the Air, the Fire, and the Water.
Taking this a step further, the Almighty, Lady, and Lord come from the spiritual area of life, that “unknowable” force. In Wicca, that is our true trinity: the Almighty, Goddess, and God. The 4 Elements are manifestations of Divinity.
After a lot of soul searching, and philosophical questions from my family, I have decided that (in my definition of the world, at least), there is an Almighty Creator of All. Part of this Almighty Creator is Feminine and part is Masculine. The Christian concept of a male God creating everything and giving birth to the Universe is illogical. Nowhere, ever, do men give birth. That is a feminine function. Therefore, the Universe was “birthed” by that feminine aspect of the Almighty (known by many names and many faces). The projection of light (as the first manifested creation, if you believe that) into the Universe means that fire is the basis of life, because fire is the basis of any light. This is why fire is associated with the spiritual. Fire is also a masculine element, which is why the Goddess gives birth to the God of Light.
Symbolism upon symbolism. I could go on for a long while.
By the way, we own a Bengal cat, not a leopard. Someone gave him to us and he is 10 years old. His name is Johnner and he is very beautiful. There are lots of cool stories I could tell about him!
Thanks for the opportunity to post my comments.
Merry Yule!
Blessings,
Sandra Richardson