Path: typhoon.sonic.net!feed.news.sonic.net!sjc72.webusenet.com!news.webusenet.com!attbi_feed3!attbi.com!204.127.161.5!wnmaster11!wn11feed!worldnet.att.net!216.166.71.14!border3.nntp.aus1.giganews.com!intern1.nntp.aus1.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!nntp.comcast.com!news.comcast.com.POSTED!not-for-mail NNTP-Posting-Date: Sun, 28 Dec 2003 13:29:55 -0600 From: "Mike Gleason" Newsgroups: alt.religion.wicca References: <1vadndFUVP9nAHWi4p2dnA@comcast.com> Subject: Re: BOOK REVIEW - Spirit of the Witch Date: Sun, 28 Dec 2003 14:29:52 -0500 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1158 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1165 Message-ID: Lines: 32 NNTP-Posting-Host: 66.30.67.78 X-Trace: sv3-It8Q5vk5MFvzqbKxxRFq67nMI62Zi0TGOEDm1yy0eLaDoJzSWcyVib7wYhqOtVkLaYkdEVpylOeO5gz!d4ONdRJmIU3PzKREsZFBDi8E3PoE37RdPukO3WrfSrR+3dWC9tOHb6QY+VY= X-Complaints-To: abuse@comcast.net X-DMCA-Complaints-To: dmca@comcast.net X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Please be sure to forward a copy of ALL headers X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Otherwise we will be unable to process your complaint properly X-Postfilter: 1.1 Xref: typhoon.sonic.net alt.religion.wicca:795327 This is almost an apology to those of you who take offense at the Wicca/Streheria remarks I have made in some of my reviews. I was trained Alexandrian in the "Old Days" (late '60s and early '70s), and that makes me one of the "Old School". When I began my studies it was a truism that Wicca = Witchcraft. We used the word "Wicca" for a few reasons, among them the following: 1) We were trying to avoid the stigma associated with the perception that Witchcraft was Devil worship. We knew better, but didn't feel like spending time trying to convince others that their "understanding" was wrong. 2) "Wicca" sounded less threatening to most people. 3) Nobody outside the group knew what it meants, so it made us more mysterious. There were other reasons, I am sure, and not everybody necessarily subscribed to all of the above, but those were common reasons for the use of the word. To those of us who came up through the ranks at that time, there were certain concepts that we accepted. The equivalence of the two terms was one of those concepts. Consequently, I personally have never subscribed to the split between the two words, as it is currently understood. I know that puts me in a minority nowadays, but that is the basis of my training, and that is where I am coming from. As I am sure most will acknowldge, we are all entitled to our own opinions. Please bear the above in mind when reading any of my reviews.