Dianic Wicca, also known as Dianic Witchcraft, and, to some also as "Dianism," "Dianic Feminist Witchcraft," or simply "Feminist Witchcraft"' is a

modern pagan Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, spans a range of new religious movements variously influenced by the Paganism, beliefs of pre-modern peoples across Europe, North Africa, and the Near East. Despite some comm ...

goddess tradition focused on female experience and empowerment. Leadership is by women, who may be ordained as priestesses, or in less formal groups that function as collectives. , a
Archive.org
/ref>Budapest, Zsuzsanna. ''Holy Book of Women's Mysteries'', The. 1980 (2003 electronic). . While some adherents identify as

Wicca Wicca (), also known as "The Craft", is a Modern paganism, modern pagan, syncretic, Earth religion, Earth-centred religion. Considered a new religious movement by Religious studies, scholars of religion, the path evolved from Western esote ...

n, it differs from most traditions of Wicca in that only goddesses are honored (whereas most Wiccan traditions honor both female and male deities). While there is more than one tradition known as ''Dianic'', the most widely known is the female-only variety, with the most prominent tradition thereof founded by

Zsuzsanna Budapest Zsuzsanna Emese Mokcsay (born 1940) is a Hungarian-American writer, activist, playwright and songwriter living in America who writes about feminist spirituality and Dianic Wicca under the pen name Zsuzsanna Budapest or Z. Budapest. She is the ...

in the United States in the 1970s. It is notable for its worship of a single,

monotheistic Monotheism is the belief that one God is the only, or at least the dominant deity.F. L. Cross, Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. A ...

Great Goddess Great Goddess is the concept of an almighty goddess or mother goddess, or a matriarchal religion. Apart from various specific figures called this from various cultures, the Great Goddess hypothesis, is a postulated fertility goddess supposed ...

(with all other goddesses—of all cultures worldwide—seen as "aspects" of this goddess) and a focus on egalitarian matriarchy. While the tradition is named after the

Roman goddess Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans, and is a form of Roman folklore. "Roman mythology" may also refer to the modern study of these representations, and to the ...

Diana Diana most commonly refers to: * Diana (name), given name (including a list of people with the name) * Diana (mythology), ancient Roman goddess of the hunt and wild animals; later associated with the Moon * Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–1997), ...

, Dianics worship

goddess A goddess is a female deity. In some faiths, a sacred female figure holds a central place in religious prayer and worship. For example, Shaktism (one of the three major Hinduism, Hindu sects), holds that the ultimate deity, the source of all re ...

es from many cultures, within the Dianic Wiccan ritual framework. Diana (considered correlate to the Greek

Artemis In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Artemis (; ) is the goddess of the hunting, hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, transitions, nature, vegetation, childbirth, Kourotrophos, care of children, and chastity. In later tim ...

) "is seen as representing a central mythic theme of woman-identified cosmology. She is the protector of women and of the wild, untamed spirit of nature." The Dianic Wiccan belief and ritual structure is an eclectic combination of elements from

British Traditional Wicca Wicca (), also known as "The Craft", is a modern pagan, syncretic, Earth-centred religion. Considered a new religious movement by scholars of religion, the path evolved from Western esotericism, developed in England during the first hal ...

, Italian folk-magic as recorded by

Charles Leland Charles Godfrey Leland (August 15, 1824 – March 20, 1903) was an American humorist and folklorist, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was educated at Princeton University and in Europe. Leland worked in journalism, travelled extensivel ...

in ''

Aradia Aradia is one of the principal figures in the American folklorist Charles Godfrey Leland's 1899 work '' Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches'', which he believed to be a genuine religious text used by a group of pagan witches in Tuscany, a claim t ...

'',

New Age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...

beliefs, and folk magic and healing practices from a variety of different cultures.

Beliefs and practices

Dianic Wiccans of the Budapest lineage worship the

Goddess A goddess is a female deity. In some faiths, a sacred female figure holds a central place in religious prayer and worship. For example, Shaktism (one of the three major Hinduism, Hindu sects), holds that the ultimate deity, the source of all re ...

, who they see as containing all goddesses, from all cultures; she is seen as the source of all living things and containing all that is within her. Dianic covens practice

magic Magic or magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces ** ''Magick'' (with ''-ck'') can specifically refer to ceremonial magic * Magic (illusion), also known as sta ...

in the form of

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique to train attention and awareness and detach from reflexive, "discursive thinking", achieving a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state, while not judging the meditat ...

and visualization in addition to spell work. They focus especially on healing themselves from the wounds of the

patriarchy Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of authority are primarily held by men. The term ''patriarchy'' is used both in anthropology to describe a family or clan controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males, and in fem ...

while affirming their own womanhood. Rituals can include reenacting religious and spiritual lore from a female-centered standpoint, celebrating the female body, and mourning society's abuses of women. The practice of magic is rooted in the belief that energy or 'life force' can be directed to enact change.Smith, Brandy and Sharon Horne. "Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered (GLBT) Experiences with Earth-Spirited Faith." The Journal of Homosexuality, 52.3/4 (2007): 235-248. However it is important to note that rituals are often improvised to suit individual or group needs and vary from coven to coven.Warwick, Lynda L. "Feminist Wicca: Paths to Empowerment." Women & Therapy 16.2-3 (1995): 121. Some Dianic Wiccans eschew manipulative spellwork and hexing because it goes against the

Wiccan Rede The Wiccan Rede is a statement that provides the key moral system in the new religious movement of Wicca and certain other related witchcraft-based faiths. A common form of the Rede is "An ye harm none, do what ye will" which was taken from a ...

. However, many other Dianic witches (notably Budapest) do not consider hexing or binding of those who attack women to be wrong, and actively encourage the binding of rapists.

Differences from mainstream Wicca

Like other Wiccans, Dianics may form

coven A coven () is a group or gathering of Witchcraft, witches. The word "coven" (from Anglo-Norman language, Anglo-Norman ''covent, cuvent'', from Old French ''covent'', from Latin ''conventum'' = convention) remained largely unused in English lan ...

s, attend

festival A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

s, celebrate the eight major Wiccan holidays, and gather on

Esbat An esbat is a coven meeting or ritual at a time other than one of the Sabbats within Wicca and other Wiccan-influenced forms of contemporary Paganism. Esbats can span a wide range of purposes from coven business meetings and initiation ceremonie ...

s. They use many of the same altar tools, rituals, and vocabulary as other Wiccans. Dianics may also gather in less formal Circles. The most noticeable difference between the two are that Dianic covens of Budapest lineage are composed entirely of women. Central to feminist Dianic focus and practice are embodied Women's Mysteries—the celebrations and honoring of the female life cycle and its correspondences to the Earth's seasonal cycle, healing from

internalized oppression In social justice theory, internalized oppression is the resignation by members of an oppressed group to the methods of an oppressing group and their incorporation of its message against their own best interest. Rosenwasser (2002) defines it as b ...

, female sovereignty and agency. Another marked difference in cosmology from other Wiccan traditions is rejecting the concept of duality based in gender stereotypes. When asked why "men and gods" are excluded from her rituals, Budapest stated: Sociological studies have shown that there is therapeutic value inherent in Dianic ritual. Healing rituals to overcome personal trauma and raise awareness about

violence against women Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence (GBV) or sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), violent, violence primarily committed by Man, men or boys against woman, women or girls. Such violence is often considered hat ...

have earned comparisons to the female-centered consciousness-raising groups of the 1960s and 1970s.Foltz, Tanic G. and Wendy Griffin. "Ethnographic Journeys of Self Discovery", ''Composing Ethnography: Alternative Forms of Qualitative Writing''. (1996): 301–330.Lozano, Wendy G. and Tanic G. Foltz. "An Ethnographic Study of Witchcraft and Death", ''Qualitative Sociology'', Vol. 13, No. 13. (1990): 211–234. Some Dianic groups develop rituals specifically to confront gendered personal trauma, such as battery,

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...

incest Incest ( ) is sexual intercourse, sex between kinship, close relatives, for example a brother, sister, or parent. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by lineag ...

, and partner abuse. In one ethnographic study of such a ritual, women shifted their understanding of power from the hands of their abusers to themselves. It was found that this ritual had improved self-perception in participants in the short-term, and that the results could be sustained with ongoing practice.Jacobs, Janet L. "The Effects of Ritual Healing on Female Victims of Abuse: A Study of Empowerment and Transformation". ''Sociological Analysis'', 50.3 (1989): 265–279.Jacobs, Janet L. "Women, Ritual, and Power". ''Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies'', 11.2–3 (1990): 39–44. Dianic Wicca developed from the

Women's Liberation Movement The women's liberation movement (WLM) was a political alignment of women and feminist intellectualism. It emerged in the late 1960s and continued till the 1980s, primarily in the industrialized nations of the Western world, which resulted in g ...

and some covens traditionally compare themselves with

radical feminism Radical feminism is a perspective within feminism that calls for a radical re-ordering of society in which male supremacy is eliminated in all social and economic contexts, while recognizing that women's experiences are also affected by other ...

. Dianics pride themselves on the inclusion of

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

and

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

members in their groups and leadership. It is a goal within many covens to explore female sexuality and sensuality outside of male control, and many rituals function to affirm lesbian sexuality, making it a popular tradition for lesbians and bisexuals. Some covens exclusively consist of same-sex oriented women and advocate

lesbian separatism Feminist separatism or separatist feminism is the theory that feminist opposition to patriarchy can be achieved through women's sex segregation from men.Christine Skelton, Becky Francis, ''Feminism and the Schooling Scandal'', Taylor & Francis, ...

. Ruth Barrett writes,

History

Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches ''Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches'' is a book composed by the American folklorist Charles Godfrey Leland that was published in 1899. It contains what he believed was the religious text of a group of pagan witches in Tuscany, Italy, that docum ...

claims that ancient

Aphrodite Aphrodite (, ) is an Greek mythology, ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, procreation, and as her syncretism, syncretised Roman counterpart , desire, Sexual intercourse, sex, fertility, prosperity, and ...

, and

Herodias Herodias (; , ''Hērōidiás''; c. 15 BC – after AD 39) was a princess of the Herodian dynasty of Judea, Judaea during the time of the Roman Empire. Christian writings connect her with the Beheading of John the Baptist, execution of John the Ba ...

cults linked to the

Sacred Mysteries Sacred mysteries are the areas of supernatural phenomena associated with a divinity or a religious belief and praxis. Sacred mysteries may be either: # Religious beliefs, rituals or practices which are kept secret from the uninitiated. # Belief ...

are the origin of the all-female

and many witch myths as we know them. Z Budapest's branch of Dianic Wicca began on the

Winter Solstice The winter solstice, or hibernal solstice, occurs when either of Earth's geographical pole, poles reaches its maximum axial tilt, tilt away from the Sun. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere (Northern Hemisphere, Northern and So ...

of 1971, when Budapest led a ceremony in Hollywood, California. Self-identifying as a "hereditary witch," and claiming to have learned folk magic from her mother, Budapest is frequently considered the mother of modern Dianic Wiccan tradition. Dianic Wicca itself is named after the Roman goddess of the same name. Ruth Rhiannon Barrett was ordained by Z Budapest in 1980 and inherited Budapest's Los Angeles ministry. This community continues through Circle of Aradia, a grove of Temple of Diana, Inc.

Denominations and related traditions

* Traditions derived from Zsuzsanna Budapest – Female-only covens run by priestesses trained and initiated by Budapest. * Independent Dianic witches – who may have been inspired by Budapest, her published work (such as ''The Holy Book of Women's Mysteries'') or other woman's spirituality movements, and who emphasize independent study and self-initiation.

McFarland Dianic

McFarland Dianic is a Neopagan tradition of goddess worship founded by Morgan McFarland and Mark Roberts which, despite the shared name, has a different theology and structure than the women-only groups. In most cases, the McFarland Dianics accept male participants. McFarland largely bases their tradition on the work of

Robert Graves Captain Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was an English poet, soldier, historical novelist and critic. His father was Alfred Perceval Graves, a celebrated Irish poet and figure in the Gaelic revival; they were b ...

and his book ''

The White Goddess ''The White Goddess: a Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth'' is a book-length essay on the nature of poetic myth-making by the English writer Robert Graves. First published in 1948, it is based on earlier articles published in ''Wales'' magazine ...

''. While some McFarland covens will initiate men, the leadership is limited to female priestesses. Like the women-only Dianic traditions, "McFarland Dianic covens espouse feminism as an all-important concept." They consider the decision whether to include or exclude males as "solely the choice of member coven'sindividual High Priestess."

Criticism for transphobia

Dianic Wicca has been criticised by elements in the

Neopagan Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, spans a range of new religious movements variously influenced by the beliefs of pre-modern peoples across Europe, North Africa, and the Near East. Despite some common simila ...

community for being

transphobic Transphobia consists of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender or transsexual people, or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger towards people who do not conform to social ...

. In February 2011, Zsuzsanna Budapest conducted a ritual with the Circle of Cerridwen at PantheaCon for "genetic women only" from which she barred

males Male (symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or ovum, in the process of fertilisation. A male organism cannot reproduce sexually without access to ...

. This caused a backlash that led many to criticize Dianic Wicca as an inherently transphobic lesbian-separatist movement. The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' wrote that:

References

Works cited

* * * * *

External links

Dianic Wicca, Official Website

Dianic Tradition, Official WebsiteDianic Wicca, WebsiteZ. BudapestInternational Goddess ConferenceSusan B. Anthony Coven, Dianic Wicca WebsiteTemple of DianaThe McFarland Dianic Tradition
{{WiccaandWitchcraft Monotheistic religions Feminist spirituality Modern paganism in the United States Wiccan feminism Diana (mythology) 1970s in modern paganism Lesbian separatism