What does the term "Wiccan" bring to your mind?

[Troy Spiral (13)]

How do you feel or what do you tend to think when you hear talk about "wicca" or "Wiccans"?

[TronRP]

I generally associate that term with individuals who are connected to nature and surround themselves with enhancers of natural forces and positive energies. 

It also brings to mind individuals who are greatly misunderstood by those who are overly influenced by misrepresentations in media and movie genres.

[sekhmet2002]

I think of people who are generally very welcoming and love to tell people about their beliefs. Not to try to get them to become wiccan, just because most are very proud of their belief system. They like to share their knowledge with open minded people. I was wiccan for several years actually. 

[Michael8402]

I believe that wicca is the closest term to describe the belief structure I was raised with.  It is very earth based and focuses on helping others and gaining knowledge.  Everything this considered sacred in it's own way and nothing is truly good or evil.  The reason for things not being good or evil is because it all depends on perspective.  What is good for me may be evil to you and visa versa.  Wicca also tends to be very feminist in some ways but also focuses on equality.  It is sort of hard to explain one here but it makes sense when you can explain it in person.

[Troy Spiral (13)]

I had a "hardcore" wiccan GF when I was recently out of high school.  I kind of had the impression that she had originally gotten into it just to piss off her parents, but slowly started to actually "believe".  I do like the back to nature idea/ideals  but I feel like there is a strong bias against males in "The Old Religion" , thats just been my experience, not that its true for anyone else.  

As for the actual common to most all wiccans belief system , I do like the "do good" concepts very much.  But sometimes I feel like, granting that these things are (mostly) true, its as if anything "negative" is just sort of ignored.  

I think the spirit realm (if its really there) has a much darker side to it than I've ever seen any dyed in the wool wiccans pracicing or even contemplating.   Myself I'm a pretty huggy/feely guy, but even I have to admit it just feels  to me to be a bit to much on the what I call "Pathological Optimist" side.  Not that thats a horrible thing, just seems a little bit unrealistic somehow.   /ponders

[Neo]

I kinda think the same way as you Troy.  Biased towards men.  I like to refer to myself as being Pagan with tendency  towards the Norse and Egyptian gods.

[Troy Spiral (13)]

On 1/10/2016 at 9:46 AM, Neo said:

I kinda think the same way as you Troy.  Biased towards men.  I like to refer to myself as being Pagan with tendency  towards the Norse and Egyptian gods.

 think you mean "against" men.  =D

[Vater Araignee]

I became a wiccan at about twelve. I started turning against it when I realized that it was part of the programming that caused my low self esteem. What was the basis of my low self esteem? Why, it was simply because I am male. Odd that I recognized wicca before feminism. Interesting thing is, if you dig into pre 60's writings on the subject there is no feminine superior. No incestuous universal mother birthing her son who is her husband and the universal father, therefor her inferior. No Priest that is always secondary to the Priestess even if he knows more and has many many more coincidences backing him up.

With feminism and the woo of the feminine divine came the concept that man is lesser. Funny first Abrahamic religions make male pagan gods "The Enemy" then wicca makes the divine male a "Necessary Evil" poor Pan, he just can't catch a break.

[Troy Spiral (13)]

On 3/11/2016 at 10:59 PM, Vater Araignee said:

I became a wiccan at about twelve. I started turning against it when I realized that it was part of the programming that caused my low self esteem. What was the basis of my low self esteem? Why, it was simply because I am male. Odd that I recognized wicca before feminism. Interesting thing is, if you dig into pre 60's writings on the subject there is no feminine superior. No incestuous universal mother birthing her son who is her husband and the universal father, therefor her inferior. No Priest that is always secondary to the Priestess even if he knows more and has many many more coincidences backing him up.

With feminism and the woo of the feminine divine came the concept that man is lesser. Funny first Abrahamic religions make male pagan gods "The Enemy" then wicca makes the divine male a "Necessary Evil" poor Pan, he just can't catch a break.

Impressive  bold obervation. 

I don't think ALL wicca has this anti-male undertone, but it sure seems common.  This is not me just pulling this out of my ass, I did not have the close relationship with it like you did.  But I've been studying wicca "for fun" for a few decades and have been friends / involved with wiccans for almost as long and that tone is  super common.  

 

Early on though most of the wiccan's I knew were just wiccan to piss off their parents.   hah.    (half joking half serious, that really was true for the ones I knew circa  1990-25-6.   XD

[Vater Araignee]

On 3/14/2016 at 0:43 AM, Troy Spiral said:

Impressive  bold obervation. 

I don't think ALL wicca has this anti-male undertone, but it sure seems common.  This is not me just pulling this out of my ass, I did not have the close relationship with it like you did.  But I've been studying wicca "for fun" for a few decades and have been friends / involved with wiccans for almost as long and that tone is  super common.  

 

Early on though most of the wiccan's I knew were just wiccan to piss off their parents.   hah.    (half joking half serious, that really was true for the ones I knew circa  1990-25-6.   XD

Wanna know what else it did to me? Well not exactly it, but it made me persecuted where there was no persecution. Yup, I was a Special Snowflake. Good thing I didn't have the internet echo chamber until I had started my true path or I would be a proto social justice warrior just like these scumbag social science professors.

[Scary Guy]

I think of fluffy bunnies and the whole "Why Wiccans Suck" rant (which was written by an ex-wiccan witch.).  Rational Wiki has tons of information on it with a link to the original WWS page: http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Wicca  The page has moved since those early days.  I'm not sure how much editing it has but it certainly has had editing: http://www.oocities.org/whywiccansstillsuck/  I remember loving the original so look that up first I guess.  I always thought the author didn't go far enough but I suppose those are the same issues different sects of Christianity get into with the whole "you're doing it wrong" and making their own denominations (and then trying to kill the others off in their case.)

My own personal experience was I liked a girl in HS who was into it (who gave me my nickname BTW) and she had a friend who was sick.  She wanted me to help in a ritual.  Ritual was running around in a circle in her back yard looking like an idiot (whatever, I was horny.) Her friend got better because it wasn't a serious illness.  The only thing that made me happy was hanging out with friends and "helping" them out.

Side note, being pro-women isn't being anti-men any more than being pro-white is being anti-black (or vice versa).  We were all young and stupid though so there was no real hate yet toward anything.

[Troy Spiral (13)]

I'm still young and stupid,  but I REALIZE i'm young and stupid and can learn from others.  That's where the hope comes in.  Many say they are open minded (hell who doesn't) but in reality they know (pretty much) everything and are on "send" not "receive". 

 

So Wiccans.... 

Yes built into it is sort of "males are second fiddle"  not in all forms and in all cases, but if your being clear headed and have had enough experience with it, and have done your homework,  this is obvious.

 

I'm going on 25 years now in around and studying wicca.  This is not to say its mean or ill intentioned or you can't support wicca if your male (that's just silly).  Its just the same thing as say reporting, its what ISN'T focused on that can make as strong a point as what is focused on.  

I LIKE wiccans (usually) I like the 'little bunny fu fu' as one satanist friend I know calls it aspects of it (which frustrates me , but I take it with a grain of salt - her down-the-nose look at wicca that is) , rather than distain it.  But I'm also not blind, its there. Along with the odd MAN out aspect.