Dianic questions

[chenoa]

Hi,
I've tried clicking the links that have been regularly suggested on Witchvox on Dianism, and it seems the majority of them aren't working because their authors no longer have accounts with Witchvox. So I'm hoping I can still get some questions regarding Dianism.
Is there a particular version of the wheel of the year that's used?
Can the God be represented on the altar even if He's never called upon? I'm not really drawn to the God at all, but it doesn't feel right to completely ignore everything he represents.
Is there any good Dianic fiction?
For those of you who don't acknowledge or work with the God aspect and follow Wicca, how do you accomplish this?
How do non-Wiccans practice Dianism or Goddess worship?
Thanks
Chenoa

[Caelestis ♥ Raven]

Hello Chenoa

I will attempt to be of some assistance. The Dianic tradition can kindof be a catch all for Goddess Worship & as such can be quite open to interpretation and differing opinions. You will often find a very eclectic group around the core of Goddess Worship & feminine mystery traditions. So I can not speak for all Dianics but I can give you some information

There is not one specific Wheel of the Year but generally the most specific one used is one that follows the more traditional Wheel of the Year but instead of following the story of the dying/reborn God it focuses on women's mysteries & the life cycle of the Goddess/woman.

http://shekhinah.net/The%20Goddess%20Year.htm
Shekhinah Mountainwater's book Ariadne's Thread is an amazing help for this:

Thus the Goddess casts the ultimate spell of Life itself, through the magical passages of the mystical body of Woman. These passages are celebrated at the eight cardinal points of Gaia's circle dance around her Mother, the Sun: Equinoxes, Solstices and the four points between. Briefly, these mysteries can be called Birth, Blood, Passion, Milk, Menopause, Death, Renewal, and Quickening (or Inspiration). Herein we find our myth of creation, the story of our lives and spirits as Maidens, Mothers, and Crones:

The Goddess/She/Woman is born into the physical realm (Kore) as a bright and beautiful Daughter, enfolded in Her Mother's arms. She grows from Child to Woman, becoming whole-unto-Herself and has Her first bloods (Diana). As Her womanhood waxes, She becomes Lover and knows the mysteries of passion (Aphrodite). Now swelling with life and babies of Her own (and these can be understood as metaphors of any number or types of creations), She pours forth Her Milk or bounty as the heat of summer culminates in harvest time (Habondia). She begins to wane towards the year's decline, growing old and wise at Autumn Equinox (Persephone). She ceases to bleed, "holding the wise blood within," and descends for Her magical journey into the spirit world. (Thus we have the dual aspect of creation within the embrace of triplicity, shown in the images of Bright Maiden Ascending at spring, and Dark Maiden Descending, across the Wheel.) Having achieved Cronehood, She now knows death (Hecate) and divination. She embraces Her immortality as eternal spirit (Lucina), rebirthing the solar cycle of light at Winter Solstice. Now She enfolds Herself as seed beneath the earth, to dream and remember (Aradia or Musea) and become inspired for spring's rebirth.

For those of you who don't acknowledge or work with the God aspect and follow Wicca, how do you accomplish this?

Well personally I would not consider Dianic Wiccan. I believe that one of Wicca's core beliefs is a balance between the God & Goddess & Dianic would not fit in with that. But to each their own... Z Budapest does call Dianic Wiccan. As do a good number of Dianics. So it is more a personal call.

Either way they share many qualities and are similar. Witchcraft, focus on the moon & changing seasons, and much of the practice can be changed enough here or there. The biggest differences would be focus on the Goddess & the different wheel of the year as I showed above.

Can the God be represented on the altar even if He's never called upon? I'm not really drawn to the God at all, but it doesn't feel right to completely ignore everything he represents.

You can have anything you want on your altar. But I think the question would be more about why? I would ask why are you interested in the Dianic path? Why if you are not drawn to the God want an image of him? It would be like putting a statue of Isis on your altar if you only work with the Greek Goddesses. If you are worried about leaving off a specific deity for their energy and are polytheistic you are going to need a pretty large altar lol! I find it makes more sense to have only that which is important to you and has meaning to you & your path.

A common misconception is that Dianics ignore or deny the masculine and are unbalanced and that is just not true at all. I could write a lot of info on the topic of balance and masculine & feminine and how it all relates to the path, infact I have recently been writing a page on this very topic for my site but haven't had the chance to put it up yet lol.

But I will say that we believe in a very different view of balance we do not view it as up and down, left and right or masculine and feminine but instead view it as a sphere a whole. The Goddess is all. All is the Goddess. Everything comes from Her. Men are of the Goddess same as women. I do not need anyone to be my other half or complete me because I am already whole and balanced within myself. And so is the Goddess.

We do not toss aside everything that symbolizes the God & masculine within Wicca. We just see it as from the goddess as well. Right now as its summer the Sun is playing a huge role on my altar.

How do non-Wiccans practice Dianism or Goddess worship?

that is a big question Each practice is certainly unique to the woman. If there is something specific you are looking for I can try to help more.

But it is fairly close to Wicca in some ways. It depends on if you are solitary or with a group. We honor the Wheel of the Year, there is usually alot of emphasis on the moon. I personally see the sabbats as celebrations and then do magic & divination on the different moon phases.


I would recommend the books to learn more about Dianic tradition:
"The Holy Book of Women's Mysteries"
by Z. Budapest

"Ariadne's Thread: A Workbook of Goddess Magic"
by Shekhinah Mountainwater

Women's Rites, Women's Mysteries: Intuitive Ritual Creation
by Ruth Barrett

"The Witches Goddess"
by the Farrars

"The Spiral Dance"
by Starhawk

"Book of Shadows: A Modern Woman's Journey into the Wisdom of Witchcraft and the Magic of the Goddess"
by Phyllis Curott

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

I am sorry I don't really know anything specifically Dianic in fiction.

I hope that was of some help. If you have any other questions I would be happy to help.

[chenoa]

Thanks a lot for your help so far! I was thinking about my feeling like the God aspect should be represented even if I don't feel pulled toward it necessarily. It feels like more of a socially constructed thing, like it's just "not nice" to just "leave out the boys," you know? Lol. But, then again, I'm engaged to a man and have a lot of male friends, so maybe just addressing my and other women's spirituality isn't necessarily neglecting them, since men, for the most part, don't experience life in the same way that women do. It's kind of like women have been socialized, from a Western perspective since I'm most familiar with it, to always include or otherwise acknowledge men. Whether we want to deal with them or not, they're there. Lol. We don't leave the house at night because we're afraid of what a man might do, not, necessarily, another woman, at least that's the impression I've gathered from every other woman I've talked to. I also think there's been much more emphasis placed on men and the standards they seem to set for everyone in general, women especially, since we've had to measure up to what the men were doing to be taken even halfway seriously. It occurred to me, too, that women, generally, have been relegated to second-class or marginal positions, except the few dinominations of Christianity that I know of as well as other religions. I think we've been taught to tink on some level that men and their affairs are more important than our "women's issues," and, after all, what do women have to celebrate about their lives? We and our bodies are seen as a disgusting but necessary means for the all-important process of procreation or recreation. Even though I'm mostly past all that myself, I think I still have some resigual baggage; on one hand, I want to see myself as sacred and a manifestation of Goddess, but on the other slowly shrinking one it still feels somewhat presumptuous. Did you or anyone else experience any of the same problems? Hopefully, I didn't ramble too much, but it's so nice to have like-minded people to share things like this with and not have to worry about being judged. And, yes, I do think that something like Dianic paganism might fit me better. More questions about that later. But, anyway, thanks so much for your help so far!
Chenoa