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I am another word-addict, and
meanings, especially precise shades thereof, have much power for me...
as well as the fact that Naming is an act of Magick. So, how about...
Pagan - a follower of any Earth-based spiritual path, who believes
Deity is other than transcendent and dogmatic; not necessarily a
Witch - one who honors the God/dess/es and follows the Old Ways,
however they are presented to them, and seeks to learn the Ancient Mysteries;
not necessarily a
Wiccan - one who has become aligned with a specific tradition of
the Old Ways, whether British Traditional, Celtic Traditional, or some
other... one who honors a succession of teachers, and chooses to work
in a covened setting, or at any rate within a structure involving one
or several other people who may teach, grant advancement WITHIN THAT TRADITION,
and the like; not necessarily a
Priest/Priestess - one who (within ANY of the aforementioned classifications)
chooses to serve Deity by serving the children of the God/dess/es in providing
rites of passage, spiritual counsel, and the like, as do any clergy in
any other spirit path.
And scattered among all the above semantical distinctions, one may find:
Initiates - those who are "initiating" a study of the paths of
the God/dess/es; or
Craft Initiates - those who have been 'initiated" into the Craft
of the Wise... granted knowledge, insight, understanding, whether by human
or Deific means; or
Initiates of Wicca - those who have been admitted into a tradition,
handed down lineage and empowered by those who have the right, WITHIN
THAT TRADITION, to grant such; or
Eclectic Witches - those for whom the power of transmutation is
ever paramount, who "steal what works" (to quote Starhawk!!) and who are
not concerned with alignment with a particular lineage or Trad, but "initiate"
study where they will, choose freely what they may explore, and consider
themselves the richer for it, whether they do it alone or companioned
with others of like minds; or
Solitaries - those who, since they are "solitary" follow a path
delineated by themselves alone, which may grant them any attendant insight,
knowledge and blessing they choose to receive... including a personal
awareness of having been "initiated" into Mystery...
...and who is to say, among all this richness, that one blossom is sweeter
than all the others? But yet, the rose is not the violet, nor is either
the lilac... and it is well that it is so, or gardens, and the Craft community,
would be infinitely poorer and terribly boring!!
Much
love from Morwyn Aisling
"...that which we are, we are...
one equal temper of heroic hearts...
made weak by time and fate but strong in will...
to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."
Alfred
Lord Tennyson... "ULYSSES"
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