Dianic Wicca & Transgender Pagans QUOTES

Hey, Readers!

I really don't like posting so many things so close together, and I just published my blog about Enlightenment yesterday, but I have some supplemental materials to post that go along with my Tuesday Pagan Perspective video (which, unfortunately, took so long to upload due to our recent internet connection issues that it is now Wednesday).

Watch the video here.

This post outlines some specific quotes I looked at for my quick research. The previous post is the script of my notes for the video.

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The following information is from Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianic_Wicca

In the section "Differences between Dianic and mainstream Wicca":

When asked why "men and gods" are excluded from her rituals, Budapest stated:"It’s the natural law, as women fare so fares the world, their children, and that’s everybody. If you lift up the women you have lifted up humanity. Men have to learn to develop their own mysteries. Where is the order of Attis? Pan? Zagreus? Not only research it, but then popularize it as well as I have done. Where are the Dionysian rites? I think men are lazy in this aspect by not working this up for themselves. It’s their own task, not ours."—during a 2007 interview[2]

(There are also men-only groups out there. Women are not the only ones to form single gender groups, though Dianic Wicca is certainly more often named than the male groups. I'm not sure I could name multiple all-male groups without referencing the lists in Drawing Down the Moon.)

In the section "Family tree":

"Other related traditions:

• McFarland Dianic, a Neopagan Faerie Faith lineage tradition started by Morgan McFarland; one of relatively few Dianic traditions which accepts male members.
• The Living Temple of Diana, founded by Devin Hunter; accepts members of all genders. Stems from 'The Cult of Diana' a Diana-centered form of traditional witchcraft. Not affiliated with Temple Of Diana or McFarland Dianic Traditions."

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From Witchvox - "The Dianic Wiccan Tradition" article by Falcon River

http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=uswi&c=trads&id=8451

"The Dianic tradition is celebrated in exclusively women-only circles.

Being a Women's Mysteries tradition, Dianic religion is for women, not against men. We support the right of males to their exclusive celebrations of Men's Mysteries in recognition of their unique rites of passage and spiritual journey to the Goddess. Many Dianic circles welcome male infants and toddlers with their mothers providing that the ritual itself is age-appropriate for a child to attend.

Dianics support all people in finding their path to the Goddess. However, we do not recognize hormonally or surgically altered men as women, and therefore exclude these men, or men who self-define as women, from our tradition. Women's Mysteries cannot be understood nor experienced through chemical or surgical alterations to our human bodies. As women, we honor the ways that we are informed by our female physiology, cellular memory, and work power from our wombs outward. Even if a woman has had her womb removed later in life, her body of wisdom has been informed by her physiological experiences of girlhood and womanhood. She will continue to work power from the cauldron in her center all her life. The Dianic tradition focuses on rites to heal women from the effects of personal and global oppression as we deal with growing up female in woman- hating cultures worldwide. The depth to which patriarchy has shaped and impacted our lives as women cannot truly be understood unless one has experienced it from birth. In light of these bases of our tradition, it is simply not appropriate for hormonally/surgically altered males to attend our events. Our tradition is simply not about them, and does not address nor include their unique experiences. Exceptions to this exclusion are those true hermaphrodites, who have been raised female in our culture. The vast majority of other Wiccan traditions do not share this fundamental requirement, and most often welcome transsexual persons as participants. Women-born- women who self-define as male would, by their own definition, exclude themselves from Dianic circles."

Bold is original formatting, not mine. This source was the most useful in outlining the reasons for who is allowed and why. While this idea is clearly exclusive, I have to admit understanding where the idea comes from. At least, this source explains it in a way that is easier to understand than other things I had previously read or heard from new Dianic practitioners.

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From The Temple of Diana

http://www.templeofdiana.org/dwt.htm

"Our practices include celebrating and honoring the physical, emotional and other life cycle passages women and girls share by having been born with a female body."

Again, this source just further emphasized the importance of the body in Dianic belief, rather than the mind of the female, or the personal experiences. Those things are part of it, but it's the body portion that really makes the difference, it seems.

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Personal blog on an individual's experiences with Dianic Wicca. This individual follows Dianic Wicca but does not align with Z. Budapest's specific beliefs about gender.

http://dropoutdilettante.blogspot.com/2012/02/my-experiences-as-dianic-wiccan.html

In this post, the same author talks about how Z's comments about trans women lead to her no longer considering Z. a personal elder. It includes links to other resources if you'd like to learn more, which I'll be checking out later on.

http://dropoutdilettante.blogspot.com/2012/02/pantheacon-and-z-budapest.html

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Obviously, I am not a Dianic Wiccan. I don't personally know any Dianic Wiccans, though I have briefly communicated online with a couple new practitioners and asked them about it. I don't have much research into the topic, or into Z. Budapest herself, other than things I learned when reading Drawing Down the Moon, in which Z. makes several appearances. So do forgive the language of "seems" and "appears," as I am only taking an outside look at this information, doing what we all do when we know nothing of a subject and want to gain a basic working knowledge--looking it up online.

These sources are here just to show what I used to prepare for my video, and to pinpoint the exact quotes I looked at, since some of the sources are longer and finding the part I talked about might be more difficult at first glance.

That said, thank you VERY much for watching and reading. Now, if you will excuse me, it is 6am here and now that all my links are linked, I am finally turning in. Goodnight. Erm, morning.

Blessings~

-C-