Technocrone's Pagan Path . . .

I have long been drawn to the gentle spirituality of earth religions, and I have been a practicing solitary witch for nearly three decades. I use Tarot cards as my preferred divination tool. I like the rhythms of nature, because they match my own rhythms as a woman -- waning and waxing, ebb and flow, death and rebirth. I am connected to the Earth through my body, and I draw great strength from her. I have some peculiar beliefs about my practice, and I seldom see them reflected in "new age" spirituality, or in most forms of contemporary paganism. There is a lot of material on the internet about paganism and witchcraft, some good, some so-so, some downright scary. If you are a neophyte, my advice is to be very careful. If it feels creepy, it probably is. The books I use most often are the older ones, by Zsuzsanna Budapest, Barbara Walker, and other women who follow a Dianic path which is woman-centered. (No, I'm not a Scott Cunningham fan.) Wicca should make you feel uplifted and empowered. It's not particularly other-worldly or mysterious. There's only one rule -- "An' it harm none, do as ye will" -- but that's a pretty strict moral code if you think about it. It's that "harm none" part that gets sticky sometimes. This page has been under construction for quite a while. I'm still not sure how much I want to say about this. I have been a private, secluded solitary for many years. The Burning Times are not all that long ago. I wonder sometimes how safe it is to be "out" as a pagan in these repressive times. (Someone recently pointed out to me that the people who got burned at the stake weren't really witches at all, which gave me food for thought.) I am still in the process of looking at some of the better pagan sites, and I might later include my own book of shadows, or links to spell crafters, or maybe even start an online store for occult supplies on one of my other sites. Sometimes materials can be hard to find, especially for new witches. It has long been my belief that men could not be true witches, or at least could not practice the kind of magic that does no harm. They are too enmeshed in the patriarchal model of power-over, and are seldom able to trust their instincts and draw upon their inner knowing to the extent necessary to practice successfully. I spent a couple of years thinking about this, after my son and a dear male friend asked me about my practice. After long deliberation, I have come back to my original position, that only wimmin can be true witches. It isn't so much that there aren't gentle, compassionate men who could practice without causing harm -- I think there probably are a few. But men are always taking valuable things from wimmin and claiming credit for them and twisting them into unrecognizable shapes. I can't willingly hand them wicca, for who knows what diabolical purposes. It would be a violation of my ethics. Dianic practice is womon-focused and womon-centered -- that's exactly why it appeals to me. It's an area of my life (one of many) that I'm not willing to share with men. I had planned to add links to pagan sites long before now; the problem is, I haven't found many sites I'd be willing to link to. I'm seeking ONLY womon-focused sites, preferably dyke-maintained. Male-identified wimmin don't seem to have the same ethic, and my own path is not one which would appeal to them -- and vice versa. But I'll keep looking, as time permits.