Every now and then, I hear various eclectics throw around the phrase “a year and a day.” And to be honest, I somewhat cringe when I hear it. It’s one of those cases where they’ve taken a phrase that came out of Traditional Wicca, taken it somewhat (if not completely) out of its original context, and changed what it’s all about.

In the context most eclectics use it (and I suspect it can be traced back to some author somewhere, though I’m not sure which one), the idea is that one must study for a year and a day to become a Witch. It’s also often assumed that one must study at a certain degree for that amount of time when for a year and a day before you can move on to the degree. In either case, it’s not entirely correct.

First of all, “a year and a day” was not originally a hard and fast rule. In fact, I’m not sure it’s a hard and fast rule today, but more a “rule of thumb.” But before a certain time (sometime in the 1980’s, if I’ve pieced together my information correctly), it wasn’t even that. You see, back in the hay days of the 1950’s, 1960’s, and possibly even the 1970’s, it was not unheard of to initiate new Witches on the spot. It also wasn’t unheard of to Initiate new Witches into all three degrees in the same weekend. This was done for various reasons, all of which I doubt I’m even aware of. However, the basic reason boiled down to the fact that those who were doing these initiations felt it was the necessary, correct, and proper to do things at the time. (At the time, I believe it was primarily motivated by the feeling that it was necessary in order to ensure the survival of Wicca.)

At some point, the various High Priests, High Priestesses, and Elders slowly came to the conclusion — both individually and collectively — that this was not such a good idea anymore. They found that it didn’t give New Witches the chance to truly come to grips with the Mysteries they were being introduced to, nor were they getting well prepared to run their own covens before being thrust into the position of High Priest or High Priestess. In effect, they got “fly by the seat of your pants” style training. Also, as they felt that the survival and continued propagation of Wicca was now assured, they decided that it would be more appropriate to slow down the training process and give Initiates a chance to truly grow in the Mysteries before thrusting them to the third degree and all of the responsibilities it entails. So Witches, covens, lines, and traditions began to set up systems of training to guide their Initiates (and in some-cases, their candidates for Initiation) through what they needed to properly experience the Mysteries of Wicca and work its magics (both big and little).

In addition to this, some of those Witches, covens, lines, and traditions considered the Mysteries. Recognizing that (1) a Witch’s experience of the Mysteries gets deeper in each degree (or in some traditions, each degree involves slightly different Mysteries) and (2) to experience the full range and subtleties of the Mysteries requires the observance of the full Wheel of the Year, they decided that it would be wise for each Witch to experience the full spectrum of Mysteries at each degree by spending a minimum of one turn of the Wheel before moving on to the next degree. And hence, “a year and a day” was born.

It is important to note that, to the best of my knowledge, this is not a unilateral requirement among all lines and traditions of Wicca. This is just what some — and probably even many — have determined is a good thing. It is also important to note that this is often considered a minimum. It is not unusual at all for the teacher or student to decide that more time is needed, for whatever reason. One common example of this is in a case where a student does no live close enough to the covenstead to attend all of the rituals in the year. In such a case, the student may find it necessary to take a few turns on the Wheel in order to experience all of the rituals and their particular aspects of the Wiccan Mysteries. Or there may simply be a matter in the Witch’s personal life that makes a longer timespan necessary.

You see, I think that’s what bothers me. Eclectics seem to think that “studying a year and a day” guarantees one’s Witchiness in some sense. It doesn’t. No amount of studying — either a year and a day or a decade and a year — will ever accomplish that. The only thing that does that is the processes that makes one a Witch.

I also balk at the idea that “a year and a day” is always associated with studying. It’s as if studying was what it’s all about. It’s not. Don’t get me wrong here. I think studying is extremely important. But studying alone accomplishes nothing. It is the process of experiencing the Mysteries that make Wicca what it is that is important. And that’s what “a year and a day” was originally all about.

I was introduced to something new today. I was a bit surprised. Not a lot, but a little. It seems that another school is out to abandon all Halloween activities. But unlike most schools — who seem to make this decision to please uberconservative “Christians” with propagandistic views of the holiday, this one is actually cancelling due to what can only be described as “political correctness gone terribly wrong.” You see, this school is concerned about “offending real Wiccans with the stereotypes about witches.”

Now, I should point out that this isn’t the only reason mentioned. It’s just the reason that the article is focusing on. The school board actually cited three different reasons according to the article. And personally, I don’t think any of them hold water. (And I find myself wondering what the primary reason is or if this is just a matter of trying to find any reason that will stick for a decision already made.)

Now, some people who have seen this article have commented that it doesn’t mention any actually complaints from “real Wiccans.” (The closest thing to it is merely a soundbite from an unrelated news program made by a Wiccan High Priestess while explaining her religion.) And it’s a valid point. But sadly, I have no doubt that some “Wiccan” somewhere really is offended. (Heck, in my brash and younger days, I complained about such things myself. Fortunately, I’ve grown since then.) After all, there are some rather hypersensitive Wiccans (and Pagans of other persuasions, for that matter) out there. And it wouldn’t take much to see some of them get their panties knotted.

Me, I find the whole thing silly. Then again, I find the stereotypes silly. But that’s what makes them fun. I like playing with them. If I was in the middle of my town rather than off on some hill where no one sees me, I’d meet every trick-or-treater at the door in a painty hat and a fake wart on my nose. (Heck, I’d even cross-dress to be the traditional hag.) I think it’s fun to do such things. And besides, I think that playing with the stereotypes reminds us not to take ourselves too seriously.

I will occasionally use the word “Wicca” in my diary. Due to the state of affairs in the world, I figured I should probably make it clear what I mean when I say this word. You see, I don’t use the word as it’s generally used in the general Pagan community. In fact, if you hear my say “Wicca” and you immediately start thinking about anything that’s been written in a book published by Llewellyn or a similar author, you’re on the wrong page. For that reason, I would like to give my explanation of what I mean when I say “Wicca” so we all stay on the same page when reading my diary.

I believe that Wicca is an Oathbound (that means it involves solemn vows which include vows to keep certain secrets), initiatory (“only a Witch can make a Witch”), mystery (the core of the religion must be experienced through ecstatic revelation rather than academically believed) religion that originated in the New Forest region of England. The Wicca (which is the collective term used to refer to all initiates of this religion) are those people who can trace their initiatory lineage back to that region (usually through Sybil Leek or Gerald Gardner).

Anything else may be a form of witchcraft (after all, there are other forms of witchcraft than Wicca). It certainly might be Paganism. But it is not Wicca. Silver Ravenwolf is not Wicca. Scott Cunningham was a Wiccan initiate, but his books are not about Wicca. They are about Paganism and witchcraft. And they have some great gems of insight in them. His “Guide for the Solitary Practitioner” was the first Pagan book I ever read and I still cherish where it brought me. But what it described has some remarkable difference from the Wicca I’m coming to discover and love.

I think it would also be good to point out that by my own definition, I’m not one of the Wicca. It’s my goal to eventually develop the necessary bonds with a coven and become an initiate, and I believe it will happen in the gods’ good time. But for now, I’m content to be a generic, non-Wiccan witch. (I bring this up just to hopefully mitigate the accusations of “elitist bastard” that will be coming my way.) Because of this, I try to be very careful when I talk about Wicca. Because I am speaking as an outsider. An outsider that’s trying to get on the inside, but an outsider nonetheless. As such, my statements about Wicca — while as accurate as I can make them in my careful research — should not be considered entirely authoritative. (They will also be apt to change as I get my butt kicked by the gods and/or those who are initiates and I learn my errors. Ah the joy of learning a path!)

For those who wish to know what Wicca is — and to get a close idea of how it differs from the Neo-Wicca that many authors write about these days — I would encourage you to pick up a copy of Gerald Gardner’s two books. They are “Witchcraft Today” and “The Meaning of Witchcraft.” These two books tell a lot about the Craft of the New Forest region than most other books combined. (I particularly encourage people to note Gardner’s descriptions and discussions of the God of Wicca and compare it to what most modern authors have to say. I sincerely believe that a careful reading of this will demonstrate one of the largest differences between Wicca and Neo-Wicca.) Another book I’d recommend is Vivianne Crowley’s “Wicca: The Old Religion in the New Millennium.” She’s written a delightful book on Wiccan ritual. In her writings, her education in psychology really shines through.

Now, I’m not going to argue with people who call themselves Wicca despite not meeting my definition. My intent is not to invalidate anyone’s beliefs (though I find myself wondering how calling one’s beliefs by a name that doesn’t fit in my opinion serves to “validate” those beliefs” anyway.) And I’m not here to start playing the “definition police.” However, this is my diary, and as such, I intend to use words as I understand them. And as such, I felt it important to make it clear what I mean when I talk about Wicca.

One of the Wicca I know has studied the historical practices of various crafts. Most notably, he’s studied the craft of blacksmithing, and under the right circumstances, he can talk about the practice at some length.

Most interesting about his knowledge of and love for the smith’s art, however, is a particular pet peev he’s expressed a few times. And that’s his pet peev about how some perceive the blacksmith’s trade. You see, most people (myself included, I’m afraid) who start thinking about the art of ironwork immediately think of images of swords burning in teh furnace and being pounded out to strong, cutting blades between the anvil and hammer. Or they see the creation of shields, armor, or other instruments of war. However, after listening to talk of such image, B always manages to remind us to keep perspective. As he rightfully points at, the craft of armor and weapons has historically been a tiny part of the smith’s trade. Much more of his time was spent forging daily items that one would need for their lives. The smith would build far more iron cooking utensils, nails, and other such daily necessities in a month than the number of swords and breastplates he’d pound out in years. Isn’t it funny how we tend to forget things like that? We focus on the weapons and armor because we find the “flashy” or “fantastic,” while forgetting the real work — the work that most likely kept him fed on a regular basis — of the blacksmith.

As I thought about this memory today at lunch, it occurred to me that Pagans on the whole (and here I go stereotyping again) tend to do this with more than the blacksmith’s craft. We spend a lot of time looking at the “goodies” of our religion while ignoring the “daily necessities.” How often do we talk about the spells we do or know, yet don’t talk about the daily devotion or self-discipline that we place upon ourselves? How often do we speak of our Sabbats, and yet never discuss the careful planning, preparation, and other work that we endure before and after that make them so great? How often do we focus on the fantastic — such as the experience we had when we came into contact with a spirit that one day — while completely ignoring the changes in diet, exercise, and our general lifestyles that we need to make to better prepare our bodies for such experiences?

I’m as guilty as anyone. I’m doing my best when I have those “flash in the pan” kinds of experiences. I get on a spiritual high and I can do all kinds of things. And yet, I have yet to manage to get my meditation schedule to be as regular as I feel it should be. And my daily religious devotion needs a lot of work, there’s no denying it.

I think that’s what I like about the Wicca I know. They’re so down to earth. I have sat in some of their homes and had incredibly ordinary discussions. Oh sure, we have our discussions that involve “witch stuff.” But it’s interspersed with discussions about pets, work, politics, and the fact that they need to clean and winterize the pool out back. And none of these discussion topics are treated as particularly more “special” than the others. It’s a completely different attitude that I don’t always see elsewhere, even in my own life.

This entry may become a bit controversial, but it’s something that’s been on my mind for awhile. I was hoping to make it coherent, but I’m not sure it will be. Because things don’t want to seem to fall into any “perfect order” in my mind, I decided to just dump out the stream of my thoughts without any particular order. So if you’ve read me in the past and find that this doesn’t have my usual well-structured eloquence, please forgive me. But hopefully, it’ll still have some valuable reflections in it somewhere.

Traditionally, the rites of Wicca have required ritual nudity. And I think that this is a good thing. In fact, I think that these rites should involve ritual nudity. It seems to me that it’s a central component to the practice of this particular form of witchcraft. In fact, I often find it odd that (Neo-)Wiccans often will dogmatically cling to the words “harm none” in the Wiccan Rede (something which by its very name suggest it’s merely advice) and yet completely ignore or discount the phrase “ye shall be naked in your rites” which occurs in the Charge of the Goddess (which by its very names suggests that it’s a direct command). It’s one of those strange oddities in Neo-Wicca that convinces me that it (1) has completely divorced itself from the true Wicca it tries to masquerade itself as and (2) has become an “anything goes religion.”

Of course, ritual nudity in Neo-Wicca doesn’t really make sense, I suppose. After all, Neo-Wicca is too “open.” It wants to have public rites. It wants to be able to invite practically any random person into its celebrations. Because of this, the level of trust and intimacy that is required to make mandatory ritual nudity safe is simply not present. One cannot foster the safety that such vulnerability requires. As such, it’s understandable why Neo-Wicca wishes to distance itself from ritual nudity.

However, in Wicca, ritual nudity still makes sense. After all, in Wicca, the rites are not open. Random strangers cannot be invited to the celebrations. Heck, not even friends of those participants in the rites are welcome. But because Wicca is an oathbound, initiatory (and initiates-only) religion, it fosters an atmosphere that makes ritual nudity both possible and wholly appropriate.

If you stop and think about it, it makes perfect sense. In Wicca, one joins an established coven. Membership is not guaranteed, and the seeker must approach the leader and members of the coven to seek initiation. Initiation is not an immediate process, and the seeker spends time with the leaders and members of said coven. There is a (usually extensive) period of relationship-building that takes place prior to any group magical work. It is during this time that both the seeker and the current members of the coven get to know one another and decide if there’s a “good fit” here. It is only once it is determined that the “good fit” exists — which includes the simple questions of whether everyone can trust each other and feel comfortable working with each other — that the person is initiated into the coven and participates in the rites. (I’m ignoring the practice of filtering seekers through an “Outer Court” for the time being for simplicity, but the idea still applies to this as well.)

Because of the lengthy time between seeker introduction and ritual participation, there is plenty of time for trust to be built up to the point that everyone can become comfortable with being naked around each other during the rites. Certainly, there may still be some discomfort with the actual nudity at first, but there’s a level of trust there that enables those all involved to work past those fears and step out into the realm of vulnerability. As time goes by, the closed nature of the group and the level of closeness and trust that’s built up allows for the kind of safety that is required for proper and effective ritual nudity.

Gardner describes this in one of his books — “The Meaning of Witchcraft,” I believe — indirectly. At one point, he is discussing ritual nudity and mentions an amusing conversation he had with a Witch in his coven. He mentioned his own membership in a nudist club, when a witch commented that she could never get naked in front of other people. When Gardner pointed out that she did exactly that at every ritual they held, she simply explained, “That’s different. That’s family!” This underscores the very nature of the relationship-building process that I’m talking about. Indeed, I’d propose that another question for determining “good fit” between a seeker and coven is the simple question of “Are we all comfortable enough with each other to be naked?” And to be honest, from what I’m coming to realize about Wiccan magic, I’m not sure I’d want to work magic with a group of people who couldn’t answer that question yes, anyway.

Of course, a lot of people are probably screaming that it doesn’t make any difference whether your naked or clothed during ritual. I actually disagree with them, and I will give my personal best argument for that shortly. But first, I need to put my answer into context. I do not currently practice Wicca. I am not an initiate. However, I am currently seeking a coven and hope to become an initiate in the future. As such, I have given a lot of thought to this very issue in my own life. I have often thought about the fact that if I am to respond to what I believe is the call of my heart, I will have to participate in a coven that performs their rites nude. And I’ll be honest, the idea scares the crap out of me. I’m very self-conscious about my naked body. I have a hard time with the idea of letting my lover see me naked. So the idea of joining a small group of people and letting all of them see me naked scares the living crap out of me.

Surprisingly, that’s the exact reason I think ritual nudity does make a difference. The fact that the whole idea scares me and some part of me wants to resist the idea tells me its significance. If nothing else, there are psychological implications to consider when it comes to ritual nudity.

I think too often, we tend to forget about how our state of mind and psychological makeup takes a part in ritual and magic. How our minds work and how they react to situations has a deep effect on the effectiveness and “flavor” of our magic and the results of our ritual. Overcoming my fear, giving into (earned) trust, and disrobing in front of others to work magic with them has a definite psychological effect on my mind, and it seems quite obvious that such an effect on my state of mind during ritual will have an effect on the ritual and the resulting magic. Indeed, it’s people’s reactions (usually negative) to the suggestion of ritual nudity that belies their own claims that “it doesn’t matter.”

I have tested this in my own personal practice. I have done meditations, performed rituals, and practiced magic both clothed and naked. And I can say for certain that there is a marked difference in one’s state of mind at the time as well as the “feel” of the work at hand. And I would encourage anyone to experiment to this in their private work to see for themselves.

You know, some Pagan message boards really disappoint me at times. It seems to me that a lot of people you meet there are looking for ego stroking more than any real religious devotion. In fact, a lot of these people seem to be interested in showing off how incredibly “spiritual” or “magical” they are.

For example, today, one person was talking about how they had all these past lives they could remember. And of course, in every one of these past lives except one, this individual “had power.” The cynical, bastardly part of me just wants to scream “get over yourself.” And of course, then you have the discussion about self-Initiation. And when someone mentioned they don’t believe in it, someone threw out “well, who initiated the first witch, then?” I’m sorry, but that’s an old question. Who gave a medical degree to the first doctor? And yet, I doubt anyone would be interesting in hiring a heart surgeon who was “self-degreed.”

Of course, most people will scream that there’s a difference between a doctor and a witch. Well, that may be true to an extent. But it does beg the question. Isn’t being a witch more than a label to bolster one’s self-esteem? Doesn’t it actually mean something? To me, it does. To me, it means serving a god in a priesthood. To me, it’s about actually working towards something. But to a lot of people out there, it just seems to be another status label. There seems to be no duties or responsibilities that come with it. Just something to impress others with.

Me, I think the most incredible thing that I’ve had happen to me is to hear people I consider far smarter than I am refer to me as “intelligent.” To me, that made me smile from ear to ear. It also made me blush. Because I know that the person who said it doesn’t give out compliments willy-nilly. But it also made me realize that I had an expectation to live up to. Because of this person’s high standards, I suddenly had a compliment I needed to strive to live up to.