One of the cute little idiosyncrasies of being a Seeker of traditional witchcraft is changing thought processes.
Now, some things are pretty inherent, that you can't really change in your outlook. Other things can be tweaked to fit a thinking process.
I know that didn't make much sense, but let me explain.
For ages, I have been using a ceremonial knife. Before, if asked, I'd have said, "Yes, sweetie, that's my athame. Please don't cut yourself." But after observing the highly secretive and eccentric BTW groups roaming about, athame is how I'd probably explain it, but I've been corrective in my mind set, calling it a ceremonial or ritual (magical) knife.
Does that make a difference? I think so. Most people would have taken offense to it, or even might (by some of the things I'm saying) still. The easiest way it was put to me was, "Are you Gardenarian?" "Uh, no." "You realize the concept of an athame is from BTW, is it not?" "Uh...a lot of cultures religiously use knifes for things-" "But do they call it an athame?" "Uh, no." "SO...is your knife an athame?" "Uh, no?" *pat on the head*
Okay, maybe it was a little more elaborate than that, but I got it. The fact of the matter is that most people that practice 'Wicca' practice a magical system that was jacked from a religion, and they liberally slap whatever the hell they want into it, with a semi-structured ritual and gobs of other bullshit.
That does not, in essence, make what any of the little fluffy pagans do specifically 'Wicca'.
I ran into a concept the other day by accident. It was a concept that I'd never encountered reading some of the books that I've read regarding Wicca, so I was surprised to see it. However, it made oodles of sense, and I didn't understand why it's never surfaced before for me. But...you don't see it in a lot of 'modern books' because people either didn't know about it, or it smacked too much of monotheism for a religion with a lot of gods.
Omission doesn't make something better, it changes. Restructuring doesn't make something modern, it changes it. Wicca doesn't equate to 'do what you feel is right for you'. Maybe you have it confused with the New-Age White-Light mumbo jumbo that has been breeding like rabbits. But it's definitely not Wicca.
Not that things DON'T change...but there are some things that remain unmovable. We don't omit the sun because we like pale skin. The sun is there regardless.
So...consider what you are doing and why. How far are you from actuality?
Who are you really?
