orthopraxy vs. orthodoxy; traditional wicca discussion n.1 ~
𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑎 𝑠𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑡.
𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑤𝑖𝑐𝑐𝑎⸒ 𝐼 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎 𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑐𝑘 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛:
𝝄𝒓𝒕𝒉𝝄𝒅𝝄𝒙𝒚: 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑡𝑦𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑘 orthos (𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡⸒ 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑒⸒ 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡) + doxa (𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑜𝑛⸒ 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑠𝑒) 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 ❝ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑜𝑛❞ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛⸒ orthodoxus 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 ❝𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑒 𝑜𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡❞.
in reference to theological opinions or faith, this word indicates the set of ❝right and correct❞ believes that one has to hold in order to adhere to a religion, path, etc.
𝝄𝒓𝒕𝒉𝝄𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒙𝒚: 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛⸒ 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑘 ortho + praxis (𝑎 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔⸒ 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛⸒ 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒)⸒ 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑑𝑜𝑥𝑦⸒ 𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 ❝𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡❞ 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛⸒ 𝑟𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑓𝑠.
❝𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑒𝑡𝑦𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑦 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑑𝑜𝑥𝑦: 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡⸒ 𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑥𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑙𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡❞ [𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚: "𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑎𝑙 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟⸒" 𝑣𝑜𝑙. 𝑖𝑣⸒ 𝑛𝑜. ৪⸒ 𝑏𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑦⸒ 𝑣𝑖𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑎⸒ 𝑎𝑢𝑔𝑢𝑠𝑡 Ⅰ৪Ꜭ𐍈]
𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡⸒ 𝑤𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑 (𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑦) 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑤𝑖𝑐𝑐𝑎.
𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒⸒ 𝑖𝑓 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒⸒ 𝑑𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑧𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑠𝑒𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑓𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑⸒ 𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦⸒ 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑧𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔.
𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑐ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦⸒ 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑎 ℎ𝑢𝑔𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑚𝑝ℎ𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑑𝑜𝑥𝑦 (𝑤𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑑𝑜𝑔𝑚𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑠 𝑗𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑔𝑜𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑜𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒) 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔⸒ 𝑎 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒 𝑠𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟 𝑎 𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑝𝑎𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑐ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑙𝑢𝑐𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑒.
𝒏𝝄𝒕 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚⸒ 𝑒𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑤𝑖𝑐𝑐𝑎 (𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑒𝑏𝑜𝑟𝑎ℎ 𝑙𝑖𝑝𝑝 𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘 ❝𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑖𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑓𝑡: 𝑎 𝑔𝑢𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑑𝑣𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑐𝑐𝑎❞) 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠 ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑓𝑠 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒⸒ 𝑠𝑜 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑠𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜𝑛’𝑡 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙⸒ 𝑦𝑜𝑢’𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑤𝑖𝑐𝑐𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑠⸒ 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑦⸒ 𝑎(𝑛 𝑒𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑐) 𝑤𝑖𝑐𝑐𝑎𝑛.
𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 '𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑓' 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡⸒ 𝑖𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑓𝑠⸒ 𝑖𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 (𝑒𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑐) 𝑤𝑖𝑐𝑐𝑎 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑝𝑎𝑡ℎ.
𝑺𝑭𝑻𝜝*: “orthodoxy is concerned with the adherence to established beliefs”.
𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑢𝑠 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠; 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑙𝑎𝑤⸒ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑐𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑒⸒ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑜 𝑜𝑛.
𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑠 𝑒𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑤𝑖𝑐𝑐𝑎 𝑓𝑜𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑑𝑜𝑥𝑦.
𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠⸒ 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑤𝑖𝑐𝑐𝑎 𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑥𝑦.
𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑢𝑠 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔⸒ 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑓⸒ 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑟𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒⸒ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛; 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑠𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒⸒ 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑠⸒ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔.
𝑺𝑭𝑻𝜝*: “an orthopraxic perspective demands that adherents take action. for traditional wicca, that means performing the rites of the tradition”.
𝑟𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦⸒ 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑤𝑖𝑐𝑐𝑎 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑡𝑜𝑜 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑖𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑟 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒⸒ 𝑎𝑠 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑠.
are orthodoxy and orthopraxy mutually exclusive?
𝑺𝑭𝑻𝜝*: “belief and practice are intimately linked things, as one implies the other. what we think and how we feel tend to drive us to action. meanwhile, our practices suggest underlying beliefs.”
𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑒 𝑗𝑢𝑚𝑝 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘⸒ 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑒𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒.
𝑎𝑠 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠⸒ 𝑖𝑠 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑥𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑓 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟.
the core point to bring home in these two terminologies is more about how the two religion, eclectic wicca and traditional wicca, see the ❝criteria for membership❞ and how the feeling of belonging is perceived within the religion.
why is important to recognise the orthopraxis nature of traditional wicca?
𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙⸒ ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑡 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑥.
𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑐𝑢𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑤𝑖𝑐𝑐𝑎 𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒⸒ 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑠.
𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑥𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒⸒ 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑡𝑦𝑝𝑒⸒ 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑡 𝑔𝑜𝑑𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑜𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠⸒ 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑔𝑜𝑑𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑡𝑦𝑝𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑔𝑜𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑡𝑦𝑝𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑔𝑜𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑜 𝑜𝑛.
𝑎𝑙𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑖𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑚 𝑎 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑝⸒ ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑓𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟⸒ 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑥𝑦⸒ 𝑓𝑜𝑐𝑢𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑠⸒ 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑓𝑠.
𝑜𝑛 𝑎 𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑒⸒ 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑝𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑗𝑜𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑤𝑖𝑐𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑛; 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑛⸒ 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑎𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛’𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑒𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛/𝑝𝑎𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑟𝑢𝑖𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 ⅠƼ 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑟𝑢𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑐 𝑝𝑎𝑡ℎ.
𝑦𝑒𝑡⸒ 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ 𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑤𝑖𝑐𝑐𝑎.
𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑟𝑢𝑖𝑑⸒ 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑧𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑤𝑖𝑐𝑐𝑎 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑖𝑠/ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛’𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝 ℎ𝑖𝑚/ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑑𝑟𝑢𝑖𝑑.
𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑑𝑟𝑢𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑐 𝑝𝑎𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑛⸒ 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑖𝑠/ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑑𝑟𝑢𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑐 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ ℎ𝑖𝑠/ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑖𝑐𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑛.
𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑢𝑠𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑢𝑝𝑜𝑛 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑓𝑢𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 (𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑜𝑐𝑢𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑥𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑦⸒ 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑢𝑠 𝑠𝑜 𝑓𝑎𝑟 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑐 𝑠𝑜 𝑤𝑒’𝑙𝑙 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑖𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒).
the core point to bring home is that orthopraxy in traditional wicca, change the common perception we have about a religion (which we usually think as a fixed structure based upon specific beliefs that can’t coexist with another path or religion).
one can “do right” as a traditional wicca initiated while still follow a personal practice.
𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒍𝝄𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆: 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑏𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝐼 𝑢𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑖𝑠 𝑀𝑌 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑤𝑖𝑐𝑐𝑎 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑀𝑌 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒⸒ 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑘𝑒𝑟.
𝐼 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦; 𝑎𝑠 𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟𝑠 (𝑎𝑙𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝐼 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑐𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛). 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒⸒ 𝑑𝑜 𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑚𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒.
𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠⸒ 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑟𝑜𝑝 𝑚𝑒 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡⸒ 𝑎𝑠𝑘 𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑒⸒ 𝐼 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑑𝑜 𝑚𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑙𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑙𝑙.
*𝑺𝑭𝑻𝜝: 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘.
𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒ᵎ
