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| On Religion and Gender... From a Witch's Point of View |
| What you read here is strictly, once again, my own personal views as they pertain to me. I am not speaking for the GLBT community and/or the pagan community. I am a Witch. Wow, now that was blunt. But, then again, so am I. I am also polygendered. What do these two aspects of my self have to do with each other? Well, a lot, to be honest. Both are integral to my sense of self - I am a very spiritual person who happens to be polygendered. (If you're wondering what that means, please refer to the My Views page.) I began my spiritual journey in earnest when I was about 13. My parents divorced when I was 9, and I lived with my mother the entire time. We went from church to church, searching for a spiritual home. We found that home, for quite some time, at a little Episcopal church. My mother is back with the Episcopal church, but in Maryland now. When I was 13, she knew I wasn't quite fitting in anywhere, in terms of churches and religion. I didn't have any interest whatsoever in Christianity. Then one day, she handed me a book by a woman named Starhawk. That book, The Spiral Dance, changed my life. I read it cover to cover, and realized that I wasn't alone and that there was a name for what I felt myself to be: Pagan. For the first 5 years, I was Wiccan; not any particular tradition, just Wicca. However, over the past several years, I gravitated to something in between. I soon realized that Wicca wasn't quite what I felt to be me. I now identify as an Eclectic Solitary Witch. I do practice magick, but not unless it's absolutely needed. (And no, I don't practice magick for others. And no, I don't teach others how to cast spells.) I am, to be more exact, a Grey Witch. We as a whole tend to be on the outside, as a lot of people don't really understand that, to a Grey Witch, balance is EVERYTHING. You cannot have night without day; light without dark; good without evil. That is the way that a Grey Witch (or this one, at least) thinks, feels, and acts. We do not curse people, but we do protect ourselves and our loved ones using defensive/offensive magick, if needed. We don't do this to make ourselves seem high and mighty. We are (at least I am) humble and do not flaunt our beliefs and practices. How does this pertain to my gender issues? Simple: balance. Balance is something that is incredibly important to me. It is in the very core of my being. That is why I cannot, in truth to myself, be a 'man' or a 'woman.' I must be both, and nothing at all. (Pronouns are tricky at this point - as neither 'he' nor 'she' really fits.) Balance within myself is paramount to balance within my world - I thrive on it. It helps me to center. That is how my gender and my religion coexist in perfect harmony - for the first time in my life. |