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Silver Ravenwolf Answers a Few Questions
To bring some nationally known authors "home" for the readers, Quill and Frater S.P.R.V. compiled a list of questions, which were very kindly answered.
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G&C: Being seen as an "authority" on Paganism and Wicca because of the popularity of your many books, what type of pressure does that place on you, both personally and publically?
Silver: I don't consider myself an authority on alternative religions. To me, my books are popular because I don't view myself as an expert, just a fellow traveler. In keeping with that mindset, I concentrate on raising my spirituality rather than on the politics of the day - which boils down to no pressure in that arena. I think that all any of us can do is try to be the best we can, and try to help others as much as possible, while still attempting to maintain our personal space and continued studies.
G&C: What is your "day to day" life like?
Silver: I think it's much like anyone else's. I have four children, which keep me extremely busy. They are all teens these days. I've been married for about twenty years and my husband, Mick, helps me run the business of my writing career. My days are filled with writing (or the business thereof), the children, touring, errands, laundry (ha-ha), and studying. I run the Black Forest Clan, which has 13 covens in 11 states. That also keeps me hopping, plus the large hearthstone group we have here in Pennsylvania.
G&C: Having seen much of the "evolution" of Wicca over the past decades, do you see the proliferation of "traditions", covens and solitaries as making acceptance and/or tolerance of this religion (and other Pagan variations) more difficult to the "majority religions"?
Silver: I think, like any other religion, we have seen wildcard individuals, who because of their activities, reach the media in a negative way; however, I also feel that the preponderance of activity by hundreds of individuals and large Wiccan groups have helped to offset such unfortunate publicity, and push Wicca into the mainstream in a positive way. I don't have near the difficulty with the media today that we experienced... say... as little as seven years ago, and we can attribute that success to the combined work of the Pagan community.
Last October (the popular time for Witchy venues in the press) sailed by with unparalleled smoothness for most Wiccan interviewees. In many cases, our largest detractors during that season were made to look like idiots by the media. The press, in our world today, has an incredible impact (for good or ill) on the non-magickal community. As the press becomes more knowledgeable and experienced in handling Wiccan interviews, the information reaching the public raises in caliber. There are occasions where fundamentalist factions still control the voice of a particular television station or newspaper, but they are fast losing ground as our community as a whole continues to grow in a pro-active manner.
G&C: What do you see as the greatest "stumbling block" to Pagans striving for equality and an end to religious discrimination against them?
Silver: In all honesty? Pagans themselves. Their own fears. Their own egocentric infighting. We have discovered that once a Pagan gathers support from his or her peers, those in the outside world who don't understand us become enlightened, and those who seek to move against us lose momentum. This is not to say that there is "no real danger", because we live in the world of humanity, after all; however, we have experienced (time after time) that threats and propaganda, once met head on, fizzle into nothing... which leads us to concentrate objectively on the difficulties within our organizations, rather than those without.
G&C: What are a few of your best memories of practicing your faith over the past few decades?
Silver: The people. Always the people. The joy, the delight, the spirituality - those are the best moments.
G&C: Every religion, after enduring a period of persecution, seems to encounter a period of dangerous fragmentation. Do you think the modern Pagan movement is going through this? Are we in need of a period of reunification, for the sake of clarity in terms of information and education, or is this a natural step for a religion that stresses personal responsibility and the value of individual achievement and experience? What should be expected in the future?
Silver: I thought a long time about this question before formulating my answer. Religion, in general, is nothing more than the process of philosophical change. Without change, the theology dies. I think, with this question, we are also assuming that, at one time, Wicca was an "en-total" belief system, which we know through research, it was not. When we begin to trace the origins of modern Craft, we discover that our current belief system is an amalgum of various, new and historical practices, including Greek, Roman, Celtic, and Egyptian mystery traditions to name a few. Current fragmentation, then, is a moot point - The Craft has always been fragmented.
We know also that all current, popular religions also share such mutt-like heritage. I think the largest failing of any human mind is the belief that their personal relgion remains "unchanged" and is therefore "sanctified" because of its originality. The biggest enemy of any religious practice is the hidden agenda of its Pseudo-leaders, whether that agenda leans to self-fulfilling egoism, political power or monetary concerns. From what I can see, most religious doctrine at one time or another has stressed personal responsibility and valued individual achievement. It is only when that doctrine is incorrectly interpreted by its own practitioners that the breakdown begins. Therefore, the breakdown of any religion begins immediately.
Historically, unification occurs due to the human survival instinct and the need for the individual to be accepted by his or her own peers. These combined emotional needs lead to unification; however, within that unification grows an "us or them" policy that re-evaluates the original doctrine and then teathers to the comparison of the new doctrine with those that are pre-existing.
Both avenues of thought, then, cause conflict within and conflict without, demanding, once again, the change of the doctrine. With those thoughts in mind - where do we stand today? Is this a new doctrine? Is it an old one? Will the Pagan community choose to follow in the footsteps of other religions? Or, will their current fragmentation with the soft veneer of unification actually give them more means for survival? Only future historians will be able to tell us, granted, of course, that their historical assumptions are accurate and not tainted by their future religion in association with their past (and our present).
G&C: Do you think that the overwhelming practical focus of today's popularly-received traditions is eclipsing the mystical essence of the religion? Or is it merely a matter of a new, dynamic religion "filling out", if you will, into every aspect of daily life?
Silver: If the mystical essence is eclipsed, then the practitioner is blind.
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Silver Ravenwolf is a widely published author. Her works include Teen Witch: Wicca for a New Generation, To Stir a Magick Cauldron, To Light a Sacred Flame, articles in Llewellyn's Magical Almanac and various Pagan magazines. She is the Director of the International Wiccan/Pagan Press Alliance and National Director of the Witches Anti-Discrimination League.