Post by Senbecc on May 5, 2006 4:29:05 GMT -5
Zsuzsanna E. Budapest and three friends founded the Susan B. Anthony Coven in 1974, calling their tradition “Dianic”. In 1975, Z Budapest was arrested for reading Tarot cards. She wrote the book The Feminist Book of Lights and Shadows to share her “criminal” religion.
Morgan McFarland founded her own tradition in the Dallas area. McFarland took the name “Dianic” from a reference to an ancient European nature-religion called the Dianic Cult mentioned in Magaret Alice Murray’s book The Witch Cult in Western Europe. McFarland was familiar with Z Budapest and admired her courage. McFarland’s version of Dianic Witchcraft includes both men and women (it is very unusual for any form of Dianic Witchcraft to include men).
www.thissideofsanity.com/dianic/dianic.html
Dianic tradition ("Dianic" as in "of Diana") is a branch of the Wiccan religion. It is a feminist, earth-based neo-pagan religion revived by Zsuzsanna Budapest in the 1970s.
Dianic tradition is difficult to define, because it is a spiritual tradition that encourages creativity and celebrates diversity. There are few Dianics who see themselves allied with or involved in a specific lineage, though most acknowledge Z Budapest as the founder of the tradition, even if they don't acknowledge her as their foremother or base their practices on her ovarian book, The Holy Book of Women's Mysteries.
For some, Dianic tradition is folk religion. It's about hedge-witchery or kitchen-witchery. For others, Dianic tradition is more formal, with highly developed liturgy and cosmology. For most, in its essence Dianic tradition is a Women's Mysteries tradition, linked to such traditions across time and across cultures. These practices and beliefs are not a rejection or dismissal of men and male gods. They are a celebration of women's bodies, women's experiences: the biology and culture of womanhood.
Most Dianics conceive of and experience the pagan Wheel of the Year in terms of both seasonal reality and also the life stages of women and of the Great Goddess: maiden, mother, queen, crone and hag.
Dianic tradition, like most Wiccan traditions, focuses on large-group ritual and on the sabbats (seasonal holy days). Some traditions focus more on the esbats (full-moon days) and on spellcrafting. Many Dianics are solitary practitioners, either preferring to work solo or dismayed at the politics and process of women's struggles to embody their power in a world where patriarchy has defined power in terms of oppression rather than empowerment.
www.economicexpert.com/a/Dianic:tradition.htm
Several different flavors of Wicca are self-named "Dianic." This article describes the most widespread, that is, the Neopagan Feminist Dianic tradition. Most Dianics worship in female-only circles, but there are mixed-gender Dianic traditions. Eclecticism and appreciation of cultural diversity are characteristic. While some Dianics self-identify as Wiccans, some prefer the term Witch or priestess of the Goddess. Most Dianic Wiccans are heterosexual, though some are lesbian.
Dianic Wicca can be very similar to traditional Wicca in practice (see section below for a discussion of their differences), but differs significantly from it in beliefs. Dianic Wiccans worship the Goddess only, acknowledging that She is the source of all living and contains all within Her. There are Dianic witches who practice other forms of paganism (possibly including honoring a male deity) outside of their Dianic practice. Some Dianics are monotheistic, some are polytheistic.
Many Dianic Wiccans believe that before recorded history there were widespread or universal matriarchy or matrifocal cultures which worshipped the Goddess, had matrilineal family structures, had social equality between the sexes, and did not practice war. These cultures were slowly supplanted by violent patriarchal groups; the original myths of the Great Mother and goddesses were subsumed into mythology honoring the conquorors and war gods.
www.economicexpert.com/a/Dianic:Wicca.html
Morgan McFarland founded her own tradition in the Dallas area. McFarland took the name “Dianic” from a reference to an ancient European nature-religion called the Dianic Cult mentioned in Magaret Alice Murray’s book The Witch Cult in Western Europe. McFarland was familiar with Z Budapest and admired her courage. McFarland’s version of Dianic Witchcraft includes both men and women (it is very unusual for any form of Dianic Witchcraft to include men).
www.thissideofsanity.com/dianic/dianic.html
Dianic tradition ("Dianic" as in "of Diana") is a branch of the Wiccan religion. It is a feminist, earth-based neo-pagan religion revived by Zsuzsanna Budapest in the 1970s.
Dianic tradition is difficult to define, because it is a spiritual tradition that encourages creativity and celebrates diversity. There are few Dianics who see themselves allied with or involved in a specific lineage, though most acknowledge Z Budapest as the founder of the tradition, even if they don't acknowledge her as their foremother or base their practices on her ovarian book, The Holy Book of Women's Mysteries.
For some, Dianic tradition is folk religion. It's about hedge-witchery or kitchen-witchery. For others, Dianic tradition is more formal, with highly developed liturgy and cosmology. For most, in its essence Dianic tradition is a Women's Mysteries tradition, linked to such traditions across time and across cultures. These practices and beliefs are not a rejection or dismissal of men and male gods. They are a celebration of women's bodies, women's experiences: the biology and culture of womanhood.
Most Dianics conceive of and experience the pagan Wheel of the Year in terms of both seasonal reality and also the life stages of women and of the Great Goddess: maiden, mother, queen, crone and hag.
Dianic tradition, like most Wiccan traditions, focuses on large-group ritual and on the sabbats (seasonal holy days). Some traditions focus more on the esbats (full-moon days) and on spellcrafting. Many Dianics are solitary practitioners, either preferring to work solo or dismayed at the politics and process of women's struggles to embody their power in a world where patriarchy has defined power in terms of oppression rather than empowerment.
www.economicexpert.com/a/Dianic:tradition.htm
Several different flavors of Wicca are self-named "Dianic." This article describes the most widespread, that is, the Neopagan Feminist Dianic tradition. Most Dianics worship in female-only circles, but there are mixed-gender Dianic traditions. Eclecticism and appreciation of cultural diversity are characteristic. While some Dianics self-identify as Wiccans, some prefer the term Witch or priestess of the Goddess. Most Dianic Wiccans are heterosexual, though some are lesbian.
Dianic Wicca can be very similar to traditional Wicca in practice (see section below for a discussion of their differences), but differs significantly from it in beliefs. Dianic Wiccans worship the Goddess only, acknowledging that She is the source of all living and contains all within Her. There are Dianic witches who practice other forms of paganism (possibly including honoring a male deity) outside of their Dianic practice. Some Dianics are monotheistic, some are polytheistic.
Many Dianic Wiccans believe that before recorded history there were widespread or universal matriarchy or matrifocal cultures which worshipped the Goddess, had matrilineal family structures, had social equality between the sexes, and did not practice war. These cultures were slowly supplanted by violent patriarchal groups; the original myths of the Great Mother and goddesses were subsumed into mythology honoring the conquorors and war gods.
www.economicexpert.com/a/Dianic:Wicca.html