Homosexuality and Wicca
Encyclopedia
Throughout most branches of Wicca
, all sexual orientation
s including homosexuality are considered healthy and positive, provided that individual sexual relationships are healthy and loving. Sexual orientation is therefore not considered an issue. Although Gerald Gardner
, a key figure in Wicca, was arguably homophobic this historical aversion is not now commonly held. Lesbian
, gay
, bisexual
and transgender
(LGBT
) people are almost always welcomed in individual communities, covens, study groups, and circles. Many LGBT Neopagans
were initially attracted to Neopagan religions because of this inclusion, in which their relationships are seen on an equal footing.
In support of this philosophy, many Wiccans cite the Charge of the Goddess
, which says "All acts of Love and Pleasure are My rituals". Therefore all forms and expressions of sexuality, as long as they are otherwise healthy and consensual, are accepted.
and other more traditional groups form their covens from male-female pairs. This practice may stem from the influence of Gerald Gardner
who wrote (ostensibly quoting a witch, but perhaps in his own words):
Gardner was rumored to be homophobic by Lois Bourne
, one of the High Priestesses of the Bricket Wood
coven:
However, the legitimacy of Gardner's rumored homophobia is disputable because Gardner showed much more evidence of an open and accepting attitude about practices in his writing which would not be characterized by the hatred or phobia which was common in the 1950s:
Most traditional Wicca
ns worship the god
and goddess
, and a central part of Wiccan liturgy involves the Great Rite
; an act of actual or symbolic ritual sexual intercourse between the two deities. This is traditionally carried out by a priest and priestess who have had the deities invoked upon them, and the conventional practice appears to be exclusively heterosexual. When performed 'in token' this involves the athame
(representing the masculine principle) descending into the chalice (representing the feminine). However, there is no evidence to suggest that a gay priest or lesbian priestess could not carry out this ritual for the sake of what it represents.
, which says "All acts of Love and Pleasure are My rituals". Therefore all forms and expressions of sexuality, as long as they are otherwise healthy and consensual, are accepted.
According to Ann-Marie Gallagher, a professor of women's studies and long-time author of many books related to Wicca, "there is no moralistic doctrine or dogma other than the advice offered in the Wiccan Rede... The only 'law' here is love... It matters not whether we are gay, straight, bisexual or transgendered – the physical world is sacred, and [we are] celebrating our physicality, sexuality, human nature and celebrating the goddess, Giver of ALL life and soul of ALL nature."
In addition, since Wicca focuses on the importance of male-female polarities, its acceptance of homosexuals is focused on the view that homosexual individuals embody (spiritually) aspects of both polarities. A view similar to that of the Native American
tradition of Two-Spirited individuals.
Historically, the Christian church and lay-people have believed that more women than men are involved in paganism and witchcraft, which can be seen as far back as 1487 with the printing of the Malleus Maleficarum
Several modern authors of Wiccan books state that, in current Wicca, the situation is the same.
An exception is Dianic Wicca
(also known as Feminist Witchcraft and/or Feminist Spirituality), a branch of Wicca practiced almost exclusively by women, most of whom are heterosexual, preferring to practice their spirituality with other women in pursuit of Women's Mysteries. Some Dianics, of course, are lesbians, just as there are lesbians in other Wiccan denominations. Dianic Wiccans worship a goddess
but not the god, and form female-only coven
s, for the most part. There are some mixed-gender Dianics, specifically the McFarland Dianic
s, who practice in either all female or mixed-gender circles, and who may or may not include the god in their workings.
Since the nineteen eighties, a number of all-male or "Mithraic" circles have been formed. These masculist circles worship both the god and the goddess, but tend to emphasise the role of the god in their lives. It is thought that these circles may have been formed In response to Dianic Wicca.
is a religion that welcomes lesbian pagans and celebrates their perspectives on feminism, sexism, and women's empowerment within patriarchal culture. However, many Dianic covens exclude transgender people, being solely for womyn-born-womyn.
Although not specifically Wiccan, one branch of traditional Witchcraft has provided a home for many Neo-Pagan LGBT men and women. The Feri Tradition
is very open to all sexual orientations and some sources encourage bisexuality
during rituals to reach states of ecstasy. The Feri Tradition
should not be confused, however, with other spiritual traditions bearing the name Faery (including the Radical Faeries
as well as branches of Wicca that focus on fairy/faery lore.)
Faery Witch covens of gay men only have been formed and are readily accepted among the larger group of Faery Witches. Both heterosexual and LGBT couples are married and handfasted in Faery Witch ceremonies every year.
The Minoan Brotherhood was founded in 1977 in New York
by Edmund Buczynski, an elder in the Gardnerian, WICA and New York Welsh Traditions, in order to create a Craft tradition for gay and bisexual men—one that would celebrate and explore the distinctive mysteries unique to men who love men. The Minoan Sisterhood was founded as the Women's counterpart to the Brotherhood soon thereafter by Lady Rhea
and Lady Miw-Sekhmet in collaboration with Buczynski, based on his work with the Brotherhood. Legitimate Minoan initiations and elevations are all conducted in same-sex only circles. Both traditions continue to this day. The Brotherhood and Sisterhood are oath-bound, initiatory mystery religions which use a ritual framework descended from Gardnerian Wicca.
The Brotherhood of the Phoenix was founded in the summer of 2004 by seven gay men from diverse traditions such as ceremonial magic
, shamanism
, and pre-Gardnerian witchcraft in order to create an ecumenical Neopagan tradition which serves the community of men who love men. The mandate of the Brotherhood is to help gay, bisexual, and transgender men overcome the burden of societal labels. The Brotherhood rejects the limiting beliefs and prejudices of modern culture and religions that preach intolerance and hate. Instead of didactic teaching, they stress a simple Neopagan principle: "Find the Divine within your own experience." To impart this principle, they hold public rituals near the eight common holidays of Neopagan tradition where they celebrate the embodiment of the gay male divine through the life-cycle of human experience.
There is another predominantly gay group called the Radical Faeries
, which emphasizes queer
spirituality. Certain branches are exclusively focused on gay male spirituality; others are open to all genders and orientations.
Wicca
Wicca , is a modern Pagan religious movement. Developing in England in the first half of the 20th century, Wicca was popularised in the 1950s and early 1960s by a Wiccan High Priest named Gerald Gardner, who at the time called it the "witch cult" and "witchcraft," and its adherents "the Wica."...
, all sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
s including homosexuality are considered healthy and positive, provided that individual sexual relationships are healthy and loving. Sexual orientation is therefore not considered an issue. Although Gerald Gardner
Gerald Gardner
Gerald Brousseau Gardner , who sometimes used the craft name Scire, was an influential English Wiccan, as well as an amateur anthropologist and archaeologist, writer, weaponry expert and occultist. He was instrumental in bringing the Neopagan religion of Wicca to public attention in Britain and...
, a key figure in Wicca, was arguably homophobic this historical aversion is not now commonly held. Lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
, gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
, bisexual
Bisexuality
Bisexuality is sexual behavior or an orientation involving physical or romantic attraction to both males and females, especially with regard to men and women. It is one of the three main classifications of sexual orientation, along with a heterosexual and a homosexual orientation, all a part of the...
and transgender
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
(LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
) people are almost always welcomed in individual communities, covens, study groups, and circles. Many LGBT Neopagans
Neopaganism
Neopaganism is an umbrella term used to identify a wide variety of modern religious movements, particularly those influenced by or claiming to be derived from the various pagan beliefs of pre-modern Europe...
were initially attracted to Neopagan religions because of this inclusion, in which their relationships are seen on an equal footing.
In support of this philosophy, many Wiccans cite the Charge of the Goddess
Charge of the Goddess
The Charge of the Goddess is a traditional inspirational text sometimes used in the neopagan religion of Wicca. Several versions exist, though they all have the same basic premise, that of a set of instructions given by a Great Goddess to her worshippers...
, which says "All acts of Love and Pleasure are My rituals". Therefore all forms and expressions of sexuality, as long as they are otherwise healthy and consensual, are accepted.
Anti-homosexuality
Gardnerian WiccaGardnerian Wicca
Gardnerian Wicca, or Gardnerian Witchcraft, is a mystery cult tradition or denomination in the neopagan religion of Wicca, whose members can trace initiatory descent from Gerald Gardner. The tradition is itself named after Gardner , a British civil servant and scholar of magic...
and other more traditional groups form their covens from male-female pairs. This practice may stem from the influence of Gerald Gardner
Gerald Gardner
Gerald Brousseau Gardner , who sometimes used the craft name Scire, was an influential English Wiccan, as well as an amateur anthropologist and archaeologist, writer, weaponry expert and occultist. He was instrumental in bringing the Neopagan religion of Wicca to public attention in Britain and...
who wrote (ostensibly quoting a witch, but perhaps in his own words):
The witches tell me 'The law always has been that power must be passed from man to woman or from woman to man, the only exception being when a mother initiates her daughter or a father his son, because they are part of themselves' (the reason is that great love is apt to occur between people who go through the rites together.) They go on to say: 'The Templars broke this age-old rule and passed the power from man to man: this led to sin and in doing so it brought about their downfall.'However, The above quote is in the context of a section in Gardner's book examining why the Templar were executed by the Christian Church, so it is entirely possible that the reference is not to Gardner's own opinion of homosexuality but that of earlier Christians. Gardner goes on to defend the Templar by saying that the charges against them were "trumped up".
Gardner was rumored to be homophobic by Lois Bourne
Lois Bourne
Lois Bourne is an influential figure in the Neopagan religion of Wicca, having been involved in it from the early 1960s, and has written a number of books on the subject...
, one of the High Priestesses of the Bricket Wood
Bricket Wood
Bricket Wood is a village in the county of Hertfordshire, England, approximately 4½ miles from St Albans. It is part of the parish of St Stephen. Its railway station is served by a London Midland service that runs between St Albans Abbey and Watford Junction stations.Close to the village stands...
coven:
Gerald was homophobic. He had a deep hatred and detestation of homosexuality, which he regarded as a disgusting perversion and a flagrant transgression of natural law....'There are no homosexual witches, and it is not possible to be a homosexual and a witch' Gerald almost shouted. No one argued with him.
However, the legitimacy of Gardner's rumored homophobia is disputable because Gardner showed much more evidence of an open and accepting attitude about practices in his writing which would not be characterized by the hatred or phobia which was common in the 1950s:
Also, though the witch ideal is to form perfect couples of people ideally suited to each other, nowadays this is not always possible; the right couples go together and the rest go singly and do as they can. Witchcraft today is largely a case of "make do".
Most traditional Wicca
Wicca
Wicca , is a modern Pagan religious movement. Developing in England in the first half of the 20th century, Wicca was popularised in the 1950s and early 1960s by a Wiccan High Priest named Gerald Gardner, who at the time called it the "witch cult" and "witchcraft," and its adherents "the Wica."...
ns worship the god
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
and goddess
Goddess
A goddess is a female deity. In some cultures goddesses are associated with Earth, motherhood, love, and the household. In other cultures, goddesses also rule over war, death, and destruction as well as healing....
, and a central part of Wiccan liturgy involves the Great Rite
Great Rite
In Wicca, the Great Rite is a form of sex magic that includes either ritual sexual intercourse or else a ritual symbolic representation of sexual intercourse....
; an act of actual or symbolic ritual sexual intercourse between the two deities. This is traditionally carried out by a priest and priestess who have had the deities invoked upon them, and the conventional practice appears to be exclusively heterosexual. When performed 'in token' this involves the athame
Athame
An Athame or Athamé is a ceremonial dagger, with a double-edged blade and usually a black handle. It is the main ritual implement or magical tool among several used in the religion of Wicca, and is also used in various other neopagan witchcraft traditions. It is variously pronounced or...
(representing the masculine principle) descending into the chalice (representing the feminine). However, there is no evidence to suggest that a gay priest or lesbian priestess could not carry out this ritual for the sake of what it represents.
Pro-homosexuality
In support of this philosophy, many Wiccans cite the Charge of the GoddessCharge of the Goddess
The Charge of the Goddess is a traditional inspirational text sometimes used in the neopagan religion of Wicca. Several versions exist, though they all have the same basic premise, that of a set of instructions given by a Great Goddess to her worshippers...
, which says "All acts of Love and Pleasure are My rituals". Therefore all forms and expressions of sexuality, as long as they are otherwise healthy and consensual, are accepted.
According to Ann-Marie Gallagher, a professor of women's studies and long-time author of many books related to Wicca, "there is no moralistic doctrine or dogma other than the advice offered in the Wiccan Rede... The only 'law' here is love... It matters not whether we are gay, straight, bisexual or transgendered – the physical world is sacred, and [we are] celebrating our physicality, sexuality, human nature and celebrating the goddess, Giver of ALL life and soul of ALL nature."
In addition, since Wicca focuses on the importance of male-female polarities, its acceptance of homosexuals is focused on the view that homosexual individuals embody (spiritually) aspects of both polarities. A view similar to that of the Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
tradition of Two-Spirited individuals.
More recent beliefs and practice
According to the Pagan Federation of Canada: 'Over the last few decades, many people have thought that the emphasis on male/female polarity in Wicca excludes homosexuals'. However, this source goes on to make the case for the validity of LGBT orientations even within traditional Wicca, suggesting that gay men and lesbians are likely to be particularly alive to the interplay of the masculine and feminine principles in the Universe.Historically, the Christian church and lay-people have believed that more women than men are involved in paganism and witchcraft, which can be seen as far back as 1487 with the printing of the Malleus Maleficarum
Malleus Maleficarum
The Malleus Maleficarum is an infamous treatise on witches, written in 1486 by Heinrich Kramer, an Inquisitor of the Catholic Church, and was first published in Germany in 1487...
Several modern authors of Wiccan books state that, in current Wicca, the situation is the same.
An exception is Dianic Wicca
Dianic Wicca
Dianic Witchcraft and Dianic Feminist Witchcraft, is a tradition, or denomination, of the Neopagan religion of Wicca. It was founded by Zsuzsanna Budapest in the United States in the 1970s, and is notable for its focus on the worship of the Goddess, and on feminism...
(also known as Feminist Witchcraft and/or Feminist Spirituality), a branch of Wicca practiced almost exclusively by women, most of whom are heterosexual, preferring to practice their spirituality with other women in pursuit of Women's Mysteries. Some Dianics, of course, are lesbians, just as there are lesbians in other Wiccan denominations. Dianic Wiccans worship a goddess
Goddess
A goddess is a female deity. In some cultures goddesses are associated with Earth, motherhood, love, and the household. In other cultures, goddesses also rule over war, death, and destruction as well as healing....
but not the god, and form female-only coven
Coven
A coven or covan is a name used to describe a gathering of witches or in some cases vampires. Due to the word's association with witches, a gathering of Wiccans, followers of the witchcraft-based neopagan religion of Wicca, is also described as a coven....
s, for the most part. There are some mixed-gender Dianics, specifically the McFarland Dianic
McFarland Dianic
The McFarland Dianic tradition was founded by Morgan McFarland and Mark Roberts in the early 1970s. It is distinguished from the feminist traditions of Dianic Wicca begun by Zsuzsanna Budapest, Starhawk, and others....
s, who practice in either all female or mixed-gender circles, and who may or may not include the god in their workings.
Since the nineteen eighties, a number of all-male or "Mithraic" circles have been formed. These masculist circles worship both the god and the goddess, but tend to emphasise the role of the god in their lives. It is thought that these circles may have been formed In response to Dianic Wicca.
Gay- and lesbian-oriented traditions
Dianic WiccaDianic Wicca
Dianic Witchcraft and Dianic Feminist Witchcraft, is a tradition, or denomination, of the Neopagan religion of Wicca. It was founded by Zsuzsanna Budapest in the United States in the 1970s, and is notable for its focus on the worship of the Goddess, and on feminism...
is a religion that welcomes lesbian pagans and celebrates their perspectives on feminism, sexism, and women's empowerment within patriarchal culture. However, many Dianic covens exclude transgender people, being solely for womyn-born-womyn.
Although not specifically Wiccan, one branch of traditional Witchcraft has provided a home for many Neo-Pagan LGBT men and women. The Feri Tradition
Feri Tradition
The Feri Tradition is an initiatory tradition of modern traditional witchcraft. It is an ecstatic, rather than a fertility, tradition stemming from the experience of Cora and Victor Anderson...
is very open to all sexual orientations and some sources encourage bisexuality
Bisexuality
Bisexuality is sexual behavior or an orientation involving physical or romantic attraction to both males and females, especially with regard to men and women. It is one of the three main classifications of sexual orientation, along with a heterosexual and a homosexual orientation, all a part of the...
during rituals to reach states of ecstasy. The Feri Tradition
Feri Tradition
The Feri Tradition is an initiatory tradition of modern traditional witchcraft. It is an ecstatic, rather than a fertility, tradition stemming from the experience of Cora and Victor Anderson...
should not be confused, however, with other spiritual traditions bearing the name Faery (including the Radical Faeries
Radical Faeries
The Radical Faeries are a loosely-affiliated, worldwide network and counter-cultural movement seeking to reject hetero-imitation and redefine queer identity through spirituality. The Radical Faerie movement started in the United States among gay men during the 1970s sexual and counterculture...
as well as branches of Wicca that focus on fairy/faery lore.)
Faery Witch covens of gay men only have been formed and are readily accepted among the larger group of Faery Witches. Both heterosexual and LGBT couples are married and handfasted in Faery Witch ceremonies every year.
The Minoan Brotherhood was founded in 1977 in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
by Edmund Buczynski, an elder in the Gardnerian, WICA and New York Welsh Traditions, in order to create a Craft tradition for gay and bisexual men—one that would celebrate and explore the distinctive mysteries unique to men who love men. The Minoan Sisterhood was founded as the Women's counterpart to the Brotherhood soon thereafter by Lady Rhea
Lady Rhea
Lady Rhea has been a Wiccan High Priestess in the Gardnerian tradition since 1972. She is known as the "Witch Queen of New York" and has been an occult shop owner since 1982, when she opened Enchantments Inc. with Lady Miw...
and Lady Miw-Sekhmet in collaboration with Buczynski, based on his work with the Brotherhood. Legitimate Minoan initiations and elevations are all conducted in same-sex only circles. Both traditions continue to this day. The Brotherhood and Sisterhood are oath-bound, initiatory mystery religions which use a ritual framework descended from Gardnerian Wicca.
The Brotherhood of the Phoenix was founded in the summer of 2004 by seven gay men from diverse traditions such as ceremonial magic
Ceremonial magic
Ceremonial magic, also referred to as high magic and as learned magic, is a broad term used in the context of Hermeticism or Western esotericism to encompass a wide variety of long, elaborate, and complex rituals of magic. It is named as such because the works included are characterized by...
, shamanism
Shamanism
Shamanism is an anthropological term referencing a range of beliefs and practices regarding communication with the spiritual world. To quote Eliade: "A first definition of this complex phenomenon, and perhaps the least hazardous, will be: shamanism = technique of ecstasy." Shamanism encompasses the...
, and pre-Gardnerian witchcraft in order to create an ecumenical Neopagan tradition which serves the community of men who love men. The mandate of the Brotherhood is to help gay, bisexual, and transgender men overcome the burden of societal labels. The Brotherhood rejects the limiting beliefs and prejudices of modern culture and religions that preach intolerance and hate. Instead of didactic teaching, they stress a simple Neopagan principle: "Find the Divine within your own experience." To impart this principle, they hold public rituals near the eight common holidays of Neopagan tradition where they celebrate the embodiment of the gay male divine through the life-cycle of human experience.
There is another predominantly gay group called the Radical Faeries
Radical Faeries
The Radical Faeries are a loosely-affiliated, worldwide network and counter-cultural movement seeking to reject hetero-imitation and redefine queer identity through spirituality. The Radical Faerie movement started in the United States among gay men during the 1970s sexual and counterculture...
, which emphasizes queer
Queer
Queer is an umbrella term for sexual minorities that are not heterosexual, heteronormative, or gender-binary. In the context of Western identity politics the term also acts as a label setting queer-identifying people apart from discourse, ideologies, and lifestyles that typify mainstream LGBT ...
spirituality. Certain branches are exclusively focused on gay male spirituality; others are open to all genders and orientations.
Further reading
- Barrett, RuthRuth BarrettRuth Barrett is a Dianic Wiccan High Priestess in the direct lineage of Z Budapest.She was a member of the Moon Birch Grove coven before becoming the spiritual director of the Circle of Aradia in Los Angeles, from its founding in 1985 until 2000...
(2003), « Lesbian Rituals and Dianic Tradition » in Ramona Faith Oswald (ed), Lesbian Rites: Symbolic Acts and the Power of Community. The Haworth Press. - Conner, Randy P. Blossom of Bone – Reclaiming the Connections between Homoeroticism and the Sacred (1993). San Francisco: Harper.
- Conner, Randy P., Sparks, David Hatfield, and Sparks, Mariya (1997), Cassell’s Encyclopedia of Queer Myth, Symbol and Spirit. London and New York: Cassell.
- Ford, Thomas MichaelMichael Thomas FordMichael Thomas Ford is an American author of primarily gay-themed literature. He is best known for his "My Queer Life" series of humorous essay collections and for his award-winning novels Last Summer, Looking for It, Full Circle, Changing Tides and What We Remember.-Career highlights:Michael...
(2005), The Path of the Green Man: Gay Men, Wicca and Living a Magical Life. New York: Citadel Press. - Kaldera, Raven (2002), Hermaphrodeities, the Transgender Spiritual Workbook. Xlibris Corporation.
- Moon, T. (2005). Spirit Matters IV: Ten Queer Spiritual Roles. San Francisco Bay Times.
- Penczak, ChristopherChristopher PenczakChristopher Penczak is an author in the fields of paganism and magic.In 2000, he was ordained as a minister by the Universal Brotherhood Movement, Inc...
(2003), Gay Witchcraft: Empowering the Tribe. Newburyport (MA): Weiser Books. - Rodgers, B (1995), The Radical Faerie Movement: A Queer Spirit Pathway. Social Alternatives, 14:4 pp 34–37.
External links
- The Minoan Brotherhoood
- Gay Paganism: 26 articles on the Witchvox website
- Greek Mythology The secret Greek myths of male love, ancient coming-of-age rituals, uncensored and developed
- Article about Edmund Buczynski
- The Brotherhood of the Phoenix
- Short biography of Lady Rhea, co-founder of the Minoan Sisterhood
- Gay pagans? Links to reprinted articles and essays from The Wellhead.
- Pagan Theologies wiki: Sexuality articles
- Pagan Theologies wiki: Gender articles