Post by jadedsage on Aug 10, 2004 13:33:58 GMT -5
Composed by: Europa
Email: info@artemisian.org
History:
To begin our history with that of the Artemisian Faerie Faith (AFF) line seems a bit presumptuous. Instead, we will begin with the original lines from which our Tradition has evolved and work our way forward.
Witchcraft. Steeped in the lore and the magick of the European Witches we strive to follow a non-homogenized version of the ancient Craft of the wise. While not the exact Craft practiced in the past, we are not the standard of what is practiced in America today. Modern Neo-Paganism has borrowed and re-borrowed from so many of the popular practices of various cultures that we have forgotten many of the central roots and ideas of the original Craft that we claim as our heritage. Eastern thought has permeated many of the fibers of the Wiccan movement and Kabalistic practice too has had an immense influence. The result has been the more even keel practice known as Wicca, to which we as the AFF do not belong.
Somewhere down the line Witches were taken from the outskirts of the villages, cleaned up, and sent to finishing school. The Witch of centuries past was a truly unpredictable creature. S/he worked with the cycles of the Earth and the spirits of the plants and animals, with the essence of the Goddess. S/he harnessed the power of the moon, the sun, the winds, and the sea and wielded them as s/he saw fit. S/he was a spirit that threw itself to the power of the four winds and laughed as they whipped about her/him. There was love, purity of love, in all her/his work, regardless of the task at hand. And this love, this coalescence of spirit, is the key.
To move forward in time, much forward, the AFF descended from a path in the Neo-Pagan tree of life known as Dianic. Entire dissertations have been written on what it was, is, and will mean to be "Dianic" and there is no reason to restate those arguments here. To summarize the salient points, the Dianic Tradition has been divided into two main categories.
1. Those that choose to honor the Goddess as deity. Some branches claim to include an actual "God" portion that is seen as the Goddess' consort but in truth this is rarely as grand as it seems in print. The Goddess is the central focus and deviation rarely if ever occurs. The God is mentioned mainly in regard to certain myths/lore within the Tradition's structure or ritual system. Many of these groups allow for mixed-gendered circles upon the High Priestess' discretion. Many within this group, in most literature, mention Morgan McFarland and Mark Roberts as examples of this type of Dianic Craft, which in 1999 renamed itself The McFarland Dianic Tradition. While many belonging to this very broad branch of mix-gendered Dianics are not McFarland Dianics it is best to mention them as one of the oldest Formal Dianic Traditions in the United States and an integral part of the shaping of these ideas.
2. Those that are comprised of a strong woman-only structure and see the inclusion of male deity or men as contrary to their belief system. These women are usually included within the feminist arena of the Dianic Craft and are strong and nurturing co-leaders that choose consensus over hierarchy. With regard to many in this group, Z. Budapest is credited with a strong influence in this wide and growing branch.
The Artemisian Faerie Faith Tradition was founded by a group of High Priests and High Priestesses (and input from a unique hereditary witch who jokingly referred to herself as a low priestess) who realized a need for something more in their magickal lives than what was currently being offered in Traditions in their field. These founders, while primarily Dianic in their leanings, had come together over many years and circled using a hybrid of ritual techniques during the 1990s. Each offered something new and unique to these burgeoning new practices.
Over the years of practicing together there was a melding of different ideas. One of the early agreements was that Witchcraft should always be based upon an ever-emphasized love and respect with the Divine Goddess. Another was that through their past practices it was obvious that they did not fall into the larger "Wiccan" sub-category. Through the mix of Formal Traditional training, hereditary knowledge, and Scottish Witchcraft the Artemisian Faerie Faith was born.
Core Beliefs:
The basis of all training in the AFF is centered upon the love and respect of Goddess. It is instilled within each new initiate that magick without balance through love of deity can only become inherently unbalanced and in the end unfulfilling.
Unlike many other Traditions within the Neo-Pagan umbrella the AFF has distinct views upon and with regard to gender. We see little difference between male and female other than the obvious outer packaging. This packaging of the vessel neither hinders nor helps one gender over another. It does not give special dispensation to either gender. It is our strong belief that the soul, the essence of life, is sexless, containing both masculine and feminine within the innate genetic makeup. Just as a woman alone needs no one else to make her whole, so too is a man. We each strive for completeness within ourselves and when striking that balance we are more than our collective genders. We are again in touch with the primal force of deity.
In many Traditions propagation of the line must come through a High Priestess. In this Tradition once one is of proper degree and knowledge they are free to make another Witch, regardless of gender. It is by this simple and complex act that we affirm the equality of both man and woman. For anything one gender can do, spiritually, the other can as well. It is at the core of our belief system that a balance must return between the genders so that the soul can evolve to a higher plane of existence.
While it is difficult to put into a short essay what deity and the combination of female/male and feminine/masculine means to us, and how we see it, we will try and describe it as best we can. We see deity much in the same way as we see ourselves, being as we are part of divinity. Deity holds both the aspects of masculine and feminine, good and evil, light and dark within itself. Being from Dianic backgrounds we use the name Goddess. Our language, unfortunately, leaves little room for gender- neutral nouns. Other than calling Deity the "All" or "It" we feel it resonates strongest to use the feminine form of the word.
When the founders of the Tradition expound upon why we choose to use the word "Goddess," it becomes even more than what has been mentioned above. To blend the scientific with that of the magickal is the only way to explain the complicated idea. All life is inherently female. It is the addition of the Y chromosome that creates a male in our species. Many staunch feminists would argue that this makes women naturally superior. We disagree. We, both men and women, hold the genetic structure of a female. Males are a further evolution on the line to insure a healthy DNA variety. But at their core they still are the same, and female. Therefore there is no need or reason to differentiate between the two in order to separate or place one sex above another.
Email: info@artemisian.org
History:
To begin our history with that of the Artemisian Faerie Faith (AFF) line seems a bit presumptuous. Instead, we will begin with the original lines from which our Tradition has evolved and work our way forward.
Witchcraft. Steeped in the lore and the magick of the European Witches we strive to follow a non-homogenized version of the ancient Craft of the wise. While not the exact Craft practiced in the past, we are not the standard of what is practiced in America today. Modern Neo-Paganism has borrowed and re-borrowed from so many of the popular practices of various cultures that we have forgotten many of the central roots and ideas of the original Craft that we claim as our heritage. Eastern thought has permeated many of the fibers of the Wiccan movement and Kabalistic practice too has had an immense influence. The result has been the more even keel practice known as Wicca, to which we as the AFF do not belong.
Somewhere down the line Witches were taken from the outskirts of the villages, cleaned up, and sent to finishing school. The Witch of centuries past was a truly unpredictable creature. S/he worked with the cycles of the Earth and the spirits of the plants and animals, with the essence of the Goddess. S/he harnessed the power of the moon, the sun, the winds, and the sea and wielded them as s/he saw fit. S/he was a spirit that threw itself to the power of the four winds and laughed as they whipped about her/him. There was love, purity of love, in all her/his work, regardless of the task at hand. And this love, this coalescence of spirit, is the key.
To move forward in time, much forward, the AFF descended from a path in the Neo-Pagan tree of life known as Dianic. Entire dissertations have been written on what it was, is, and will mean to be "Dianic" and there is no reason to restate those arguments here. To summarize the salient points, the Dianic Tradition has been divided into two main categories.
1. Those that choose to honor the Goddess as deity. Some branches claim to include an actual "God" portion that is seen as the Goddess' consort but in truth this is rarely as grand as it seems in print. The Goddess is the central focus and deviation rarely if ever occurs. The God is mentioned mainly in regard to certain myths/lore within the Tradition's structure or ritual system. Many of these groups allow for mixed-gendered circles upon the High Priestess' discretion. Many within this group, in most literature, mention Morgan McFarland and Mark Roberts as examples of this type of Dianic Craft, which in 1999 renamed itself The McFarland Dianic Tradition. While many belonging to this very broad branch of mix-gendered Dianics are not McFarland Dianics it is best to mention them as one of the oldest Formal Dianic Traditions in the United States and an integral part of the shaping of these ideas.
2. Those that are comprised of a strong woman-only structure and see the inclusion of male deity or men as contrary to their belief system. These women are usually included within the feminist arena of the Dianic Craft and are strong and nurturing co-leaders that choose consensus over hierarchy. With regard to many in this group, Z. Budapest is credited with a strong influence in this wide and growing branch.
The Artemisian Faerie Faith Tradition was founded by a group of High Priests and High Priestesses (and input from a unique hereditary witch who jokingly referred to herself as a low priestess) who realized a need for something more in their magickal lives than what was currently being offered in Traditions in their field. These founders, while primarily Dianic in their leanings, had come together over many years and circled using a hybrid of ritual techniques during the 1990s. Each offered something new and unique to these burgeoning new practices.
Over the years of practicing together there was a melding of different ideas. One of the early agreements was that Witchcraft should always be based upon an ever-emphasized love and respect with the Divine Goddess. Another was that through their past practices it was obvious that they did not fall into the larger "Wiccan" sub-category. Through the mix of Formal Traditional training, hereditary knowledge, and Scottish Witchcraft the Artemisian Faerie Faith was born.
Core Beliefs:
The basis of all training in the AFF is centered upon the love and respect of Goddess. It is instilled within each new initiate that magick without balance through love of deity can only become inherently unbalanced and in the end unfulfilling.
Unlike many other Traditions within the Neo-Pagan umbrella the AFF has distinct views upon and with regard to gender. We see little difference between male and female other than the obvious outer packaging. This packaging of the vessel neither hinders nor helps one gender over another. It does not give special dispensation to either gender. It is our strong belief that the soul, the essence of life, is sexless, containing both masculine and feminine within the innate genetic makeup. Just as a woman alone needs no one else to make her whole, so too is a man. We each strive for completeness within ourselves and when striking that balance we are more than our collective genders. We are again in touch with the primal force of deity.
In many Traditions propagation of the line must come through a High Priestess. In this Tradition once one is of proper degree and knowledge they are free to make another Witch, regardless of gender. It is by this simple and complex act that we affirm the equality of both man and woman. For anything one gender can do, spiritually, the other can as well. It is at the core of our belief system that a balance must return between the genders so that the soul can evolve to a higher plane of existence.
While it is difficult to put into a short essay what deity and the combination of female/male and feminine/masculine means to us, and how we see it, we will try and describe it as best we can. We see deity much in the same way as we see ourselves, being as we are part of divinity. Deity holds both the aspects of masculine and feminine, good and evil, light and dark within itself. Being from Dianic backgrounds we use the name Goddess. Our language, unfortunately, leaves little room for gender- neutral nouns. Other than calling Deity the "All" or "It" we feel it resonates strongest to use the feminine form of the word.
When the founders of the Tradition expound upon why we choose to use the word "Goddess," it becomes even more than what has been mentioned above. To blend the scientific with that of the magickal is the only way to explain the complicated idea. All life is inherently female. It is the addition of the Y chromosome that creates a male in our species. Many staunch feminists would argue that this makes women naturally superior. We disagree. We, both men and women, hold the genetic structure of a female. Males are a further evolution on the line to insure a healthy DNA variety. But at their core they still are the same, and female. Therefore there is no need or reason to differentiate between the two in order to separate or place one sex above another.