I was wondering whether or not to write another blog on Feminist Witchcraft. There just seems to be less information out there about it. As a solitary I can’t really paint an accurate picture of all Feminist Witches but I can certainly write from my standpoint about it. For me it’s not only empowerment but a life affirming path. Feminist Witchcraft is both a practice (of feminism and the Craft sometimes as one or separate from each other) and my own belief system. I would really have to say that my particular brand of Feminist Witchcraft is not completely from Dianic witchcraft. It has influenced me but not as much as any other path of Paganism. I also focus more on the future than the past via ancient pagans like most Dianic witches. In this blog I am going to write some of the beliefs and practices of my brand of Feminist Witchcraft and perhaps others.
The knowledge that we are all connected is a major belief in Feminist Witchcraft. The Gaia Theory is a theory that the earth has a conscience of some sort. That she knows what we are doing on her surface. Feminist Witchcraft has been associated with environmentalism and environmental protection. The belief that misogyny is intimately connected to the earth’s pollution is one of the biggest published beliefs of Feminist Witches. Regarding feminist spirituality and Paganism, my main focus right now is pro-choice but I would like to get into environmentalism soon. I would have to say that Eco-Feminists are the ones who carry this belief as well. Eco-Feminists are rarely talked about, too but Feminist Witches and Eco-Feminists are connected especially when they both have the same theories.
Feminist Witchcraft is heavily influenced by Wicca. Of course, at one point Wicca and Witchcraft was the same thing. Now Witchcraft is seen as a magical practice with or without the use of religion. Wicca is an earth-based religion centered on a Mother Goddess and a Father God. It has set beliefs, practices, tools, and holidays. Branches of Feminist Witchcraft do have the Wiccan Sabbats and Esbats has part of its belief system. Sabbats are a means of celebrating the seasons and Esbats are a means of celebrating female Divine. I tend to create my own celebrations apart from the Wiccan ones. I really detest the words "Sabbats" and "Esbats" I rather use "celebrating the seasons" and "celebrating the moons". The Wiccan Rede has also been adopted, ‘Do as Thou Will, Harm None.’ Meaning find you’re True Divine Will and the least amount of harm will be done.
The Goddess in Feminist Witchcraft is sometimes depicted as a replacement of the Father God in Christianity. I do not accept this. My view of the Goddess/Divinity is subjective and changeable similar to Nature Herself. Like most Witches Feminist Witches see the Goddess immanent within Nature. We don’t need to have faith if we have experience. I experience Her every day. We don’t need to believe when She is right there in front of us. Be it a weed or a bluebird or our family members She is all around us.
Many Witches and Pagans as do I honor death. Death gives meaning to life and life to death. Why fight it? The Sabbats mark each season with a stage of life. There is birth, love, joining in marriage, old age and then dying only to be reborn again. Almost all Pagans believe in reincarnation. We each have our own type of land to go to rest and then waiting for our next life. I really haven’t been thinking about my own place. I personally think that everyone creates their own resting place be it Christian Heaven or Hell, Wiccan Summerland, or Valhalla.
These beliefs are connected to each other. The Goddess is seen as the Earth via Gaia Theory. Witches celebrate the seasons through certain holy days therefore celebrating the earth. The Rede lets us understand Her Will and ours in this lifetime and in that simple belief we are honoring the earth and its beings. Honoring death not has the end but the beginning can bring a whole new awareness to life and Divinity/Goddess.
This is by far not the one and only definition of Feminist Witchcraft. This is mine for right now and I am well aware that it is incomplete.
Here is a link to the book Embodied Goddess: Feminist Witchcraft and the Female Divinty by Wendy Griffin
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