On one of the sites I currently frequent, there is an influx of teen wiccans – some mature sensible types and many not so. One person there is adament that a Warlock is any witch who is not wiccan, that has “gone against their teachings” and subsequently gone down a bad path. Oh dear. Has every wiccan been specially schooled in magic, everyone gone through a pure light and good coven-type taught year-and-a-day of witch classes? I’ll admit, that would be pretty cool, but no. Another dude claims to be a really cool wiccan-type, and from his posts I assumed he was about 15 instead of the mid twenty-something he really is, and he 100% does not embody the wiccan principles of helping others and being polite (which I always think of as an unwritten wiccan principle). He is terribly rude and confrontational, and makes it out that this is OK because his Matron goddess is the Morrighan. Who I have learnt (although admittedly I don’t know a lot about her) she stands for personal strength and courage, rather than picking fights and being rude.
It saddens me to see this kind of thing, because so many authors and witches have tried to guide people and potential young witches to get the messages of witchcraft – wicca=pagan+witch, all wiccans are witches, not all witches are wiccan cos they would rather do stuff a different way, wicca is about respect for all life and looking out for it, and ultimately personal responsibility.
Sigh.
Bah! People will use any old excuse to be rude and unpleasant. Sounds like yon chappie needs a good slap around the head (this isn’t on WW is it?) and why not do so? You do, after all, have a grumpy old curmudgeon to model yourself upon!
No worries there, its not WW! No, I feel ridiculous trying to correct them or tell them they are not getting it. People like believing stuff – good versus light, they are better than everyone, it’s not really something I can change. They will grow up and in a few years look back and say “What was i thinking?!?”
Being one of those “teen wiccans” you refer to, I agree with you completely! There are many wiccans whom I know who don’t know the bsic principles of wicca, and just say they are Wiccans to be cool. It makes me sad and occaisionally angry, but in a few years time, when they’ve given it up, I’ll still be a Wiccan, and that is what matters most to me.