Wiccans, Pagans, and Fluffy Bunnies

Paganism is entering the mainstream and becoming more popular, much to the horror of old-school Christians. And as more people embrace old (and new) traditions, typical human nature is giving rise to petty politics and rivalries in the pagan community. Today, paganism finds itself divided into two factions (with a lot of grey areas in between): Wicca, and "traditional" paganism. Wicca is seen as the brainchild of Gerald Gardner, who supposedly knew a number of ceremonial magicians and initiates of the Golden Dawn. He investigated the history of witchcraft in England and allegedly found several "covens" existing in Britain, including the New Forest Coven. (Notice how I use the term "supposedly" and "allegedly" a lot - there's a lot of controversy over what Gardner really did and said. Apparently the truth has been embellished in the retellings.)

Gardner took a lot of the teachings uncovered in his research, put them all together, and filled in the gaps with his own stuff and a lot of Golden Dawn excerpts. He then presented it to the world as "British Traditional Wicca." (He was also into nudity – a lot of the modern-day pagan "skyclad" folks owe him a debt.) Traditional Wiccans are supposed to trace their origins back to Wicca; however, when Wicca came to America, a number of Wiccan groups decided to break away and do their own thing. Hence, the politics and infighting.

Gardner's additions and original writings are the basis of least fifteen books out there devoted to picking the original, traditional "craft" from Gardner's inventions. "Traditional witchcraft" is seen as based upon the original folklore, mythology, mojos, magicks, superstitions, and other traditions from days of yore. Many "traditional" Witches don't like Wicca, don't like the rules, and don't like Wicca's emphasis on "ceremonies." They especially hate the way it appeals to mallrats and "goth" kids, though this hasn't stopped it from spreading into the mall culture so that there is at least one "New Age" kiosk or store in most major malls these days.

AvatarSearch

A search engine for paganism and occultism.

COGWEB Home Page

One of several mainstream attempts to bring paganism and Wicca into the mainstream, to make it look nice and wholesome and bland.

Church of All Worlds

A religion based on Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land. Well, it's better than Dianetics…

Faery Gold

Dedicated to exposing plagiarism and outright theft of copyrighted materials among pagan authors.

IMBAS

Lucky Mojo

Museum of Witchcraft

Pagan Bullies

The Pagan Prattle

Problematic Pagans

These guys are keeping records of known sexual predators and criminals in the pagan community.

PUC: Pagan Unity Campaign

Pagans attempt to enter politics! BAA-hahahahaha!

RealMagick

Sacred Text Archive

Salem Love Spells

This "white witch" will cast spells for you, if the price is right.

Sourceryforge

Wikipedia for pagans!

Starwood

Taking place near the end of July of each year, Starwood is the biggest pagan festival on the East Coast. It happens at Brushwood, the final destination of X-Day.

Why Wiccans Suck

A point-by-point deconstruction of the myths and urban legends surrounding Wicca (as opposed to true "paganism," of course).

Wicca Sucks

A LiveJournal community created by pagans, for pagans, dedicated to bashing Wicca. Cool!

The Wild Hunt

Examining and commenting on how pagans are viewed by mainstream news media.

Witch School

A genuine school for witches, pagans, and similarly inclined folks.

Witches Sabbats

Witchvox

Notable Pagan Personalities

Robin Artisson

This guy is notorious for spamming and mailbombing nearly every pagan-oriented mailing list and discussion group in existence.

Isaac Bonewits

Kevin Carlyon

When even pagan "fluffy bunnies" call this guy a kook, you know he's got some serious issues…

Lady Karris

Not only does she moderate dozens of pagan-oriented mailing lists…she's also my beautiful wife!

Wade MacMorrighan

R.J. Stewart

Robin Wood