Dianic Wicca, also known as Dianic Feminist Witchcraft, is a Goddess centered, neo-pagan and holistic religious system. Inspired in the early 1970’s by Hungarian immigrant Zsuzsanna Budapest, Dianic Wicca was formed at a time when the Women’s Movement was growing in public awareness. Budapest combined elements of Gardnerian Wicca, strong feminist values, folk magic and healing rituals learned by her mother to create a tradition that fosters feminine empowerment and honors the energy of the Goddess. What makes Dianic Wicca unique from other forms of Wicca is that those who follow this tradition typically worship the Goddess only, rather than the dual God and Goddess that is common in other Wiccan traditions. Like other Wiccans though, Dianics may form covens, celebrate the Wheel of the Year and the Esbats. Most Dianic covens are female only although some covens may allow male members. Many Dianics are eclectic in their practice, meaning that they follow a combination of several spiritual traditions and they may practice their tradition in solitary, within a structured coven or within a casual group setting.
Named after Diana, the Roman Goddess of the hunt and her Greek predecessor Artemis, Dianic Wicca honors and celebrates the life passages of women and is nurturing of a woman’s emotional well being and health. It provides and inspires many healing rituals to counter what is viewed as the effects of living under patriarchal rule and oppression. At the same time it celebrates the Goddess as it corresponds to a woman’s life cycle, along with earth’s seasons and the cycles of birth, death and re-birth. Dianic Wicca is not anti-male; rather it is pro-female. In other words it recognizes the unique path and life cycles that women experience in life and focuses on the strengths and creativity of women.
There is typically no strict liturgy or ritual in the Dianic tradition. Instead, creative expression is encouraged through dance, song, art and writing. Dianics do not focus on one Goddess exclusively but rather on She Who is all and Whole unto Herself who is seen as the source of life and to whom all will return to upon death. Many Dianics see the Goddess not as a separate entity, but rather as part of the whole web of life. When addressing the Goddess, Dianics address all of life with an awareness of a woman’s important part in this web of life.
Suggested Reading:
The Holy Book of Women’s Mysteries - Zsuzsanna Budapest
The Language of the Goddess - Marija Gimbutas
