About inclusive Wicca
What is an inclusive coven? by Yvonne Aburrow
I think there’s a spectrum of inclusivity – so one coven might score 100% and another might score 80% – but I think we have to accept that different people will have different ideas and priorities. However, it would avoid a lot of heartbreak all round if people stated upfront how inclusive their coven actually is.
Why inclusive Wicca? by Yvonne Aburrow
Exploring the aspects of Wiccan ritual that led me to modify and expand my practice to be more inclusive.
Inclusive Wicca, by Yvonne Aburrow, Pagan Theologies wiki. (PDF)
So, your coven consists entirely of straight people. Why bother to modify your practice at all? Well, it will make you more aware that gender is an artificial construct and that sexuality is fluid. It will make you less likely to assume nonsensical things like men don’t knit, boys don’t cry, ladies don’t fart, blokes don’t like flowers, men drink pints and women drink halves, and so on, and that boys and girls always settle down together and make babies. Of course, you don’t think any of those things, right?
Aspects of Initiation, by Yvonne Aburrow, Pagan Theologies wiki. (PDF)
In my view, there are six separate aspects to initiation. There is the inner process of transformation; the initiation by the gods and goddesses (making contact with the numinous); experiencing the Mysteries (that which cannot be spoken, or Arrheton); being given the secrets of the coven (that which must not be spoken, or Aporrheton); joining the group mind of the coven; and the joining of the lineage or tradition of which the coven is part.
I think there’s a spectrum of inclusivity – so one coven might score 100% and another might score 80% – but I think we have to accept that different people will have different ideas and priorities. However, it would avoid a lot of heartbreak all round if people stated upfront how inclusive their coven actually is.
Why inclusive Wicca? by Yvonne Aburrow
Exploring the aspects of Wiccan ritual that led me to modify and expand my practice to be more inclusive.
Inclusive Wicca, by Yvonne Aburrow, Pagan Theologies wiki. (PDF)
So, your coven consists entirely of straight people. Why bother to modify your practice at all? Well, it will make you more aware that gender is an artificial construct and that sexuality is fluid. It will make you less likely to assume nonsensical things like men don’t knit, boys don’t cry, ladies don’t fart, blokes don’t like flowers, men drink pints and women drink halves, and so on, and that boys and girls always settle down together and make babies. Of course, you don’t think any of those things, right?
Aspects of Initiation, by Yvonne Aburrow, Pagan Theologies wiki. (PDF)
In my view, there are six separate aspects to initiation. There is the inner process of transformation; the initiation by the gods and goddesses (making contact with the numinous); experiencing the Mysteries (that which cannot be spoken, or Arrheton); being given the secrets of the coven (that which must not be spoken, or Aporrheton); joining the group mind of the coven; and the joining of the lineage or tradition of which the coven is part.
Same-sex initiation should be valid in Wicca, by Katie Gerrard (2020)
"I’ve looked hard at Gardnerian tradition and tried to work out why cross gender initiation was a thing in the first place; especially when Gardner clearly said mothers could initiate sons and father’s initiate daughters. He even said a woman could strap on a sword and play the role of the High Priest at any point. This suggests Same Sex Initiation can happen if it’s a woman initiating another woman."
Open your hearts and circles by Khristóphoros Hairetikós
A big part of being inclusive is knowing who you are dealing with. We are the officiating priesthood within our circles. Let us adjust them to be accepting of all those that are being welcomed into them. Know your participants, know their needs. Find working alternatives and be ready to adjust. Nobody should ever have to say “I am sorry, I can't do that” in the middle of your rites.
Invocation, by Yvonne Aburrow, Pagan Theologies wiki. (PDF)
Why do we do invocation? Who benefits from it? I would argue that both the deity and the practitioner benefit (and hopefully so do the other coveners). Human awareness is finite and local to one particular area of space-time, that is to say, here and now. Divine consciousness seems to be both spatially and temporally unfocussed, and potentially infinite. So deities can benefit by accessing our local, temporal and focussed consciousness, and we can benefit by accessing their atemporal, non-local and multiple perspective consciousness.
But what do you actually do? by Yvonne Aburrow
Wicca is not just about the words we use in ritual - many covens within the Gardnerian and Alexandrian communities use different words for casting the circle, calling the quarters, consecrating and so on. The point is that we are orthopraxic - we do the same actions and we use the same techniques.
Ritual safety, by Yvonne Aburrow
Making sure that your ritual is physically and psychologically safe for the participants.
The other Inclusive Wicca (a tradition in Australia)
There is already a tradition called the Inclusive Wicca Tradition which has no links with the inclusive Wicca tendency (note small i) in Gardnerian and Alexandrian Wicca.
"I’ve looked hard at Gardnerian tradition and tried to work out why cross gender initiation was a thing in the first place; especially when Gardner clearly said mothers could initiate sons and father’s initiate daughters. He even said a woman could strap on a sword and play the role of the High Priest at any point. This suggests Same Sex Initiation can happen if it’s a woman initiating another woman."
Open your hearts and circles by Khristóphoros Hairetikós
A big part of being inclusive is knowing who you are dealing with. We are the officiating priesthood within our circles. Let us adjust them to be accepting of all those that are being welcomed into them. Know your participants, know their needs. Find working alternatives and be ready to adjust. Nobody should ever have to say “I am sorry, I can't do that” in the middle of your rites.
Invocation, by Yvonne Aburrow, Pagan Theologies wiki. (PDF)
Why do we do invocation? Who benefits from it? I would argue that both the deity and the practitioner benefit (and hopefully so do the other coveners). Human awareness is finite and local to one particular area of space-time, that is to say, here and now. Divine consciousness seems to be both spatially and temporally unfocussed, and potentially infinite. So deities can benefit by accessing our local, temporal and focussed consciousness, and we can benefit by accessing their atemporal, non-local and multiple perspective consciousness.
But what do you actually do? by Yvonne Aburrow
Wicca is not just about the words we use in ritual - many covens within the Gardnerian and Alexandrian communities use different words for casting the circle, calling the quarters, consecrating and so on. The point is that we are orthopraxic - we do the same actions and we use the same techniques.
Ritual safety, by Yvonne Aburrow
Making sure that your ritual is physically and psychologically safe for the participants.
The other Inclusive Wicca (a tradition in Australia)
There is already a tradition called the Inclusive Wicca Tradition which has no links with the inclusive Wicca tendency (note small i) in Gardnerian and Alexandrian Wicca.
Most inclusive covens will explicitly mention that they are inclusive and welcoming.
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