This is an
interesting clip I found on YouTube. Austin Shippey has edited the old documentary "The Occult Experience" from 1985 and what you
can access above are the parts dealing with Wicca and Goddess-worship. (The full documentary is also available at another channel.)
What surprised me was that the actual rituals of Gardnerian Wicca are shown at some length, the only exception being the sexual intercourse between priest and priestess (which is only hinted at). Thus, we get to see an actual initiation into a coven, during which a sky clad young man is subject to a variety of trials and ordeals. There is also a “handfasting” ceremony, once again with almost everyone present being in the nude. A funny detail: the male Wiccan priest, who plays the role of the horned god, looks like Gerald Gardner! Is this some kind of shtick among 50+ male Wiccans? Another thing that struck me was the only Black Dianic Wiccan (Black as in African-American) describing her experiences of folk Catholicism in Louisiana. Wow. Even crazier than some Neo-Pagans, if you ask me.
“Wicca: The Occult Experience” also features Modern Pagans, including Wiccans, gathering on a street in New York City, carrying out one of their rituals quite openly. They sure seem to have a lot of fun!
In a final segment, we meet three groups which are not Wiccans, including the non-sectarian Fellowship of Isis (FOI). The Fellowship initiates new priestesses at a mysterious castle in Ireland and we get to see the initiation ritual (including the presumably “secret” part). Btw, one of the people commenting here is apparently a member of the FOI…
I admit that I got a bit more respect for Wiccans and Neo-Pagans after watching this, mostly because the rituals seem “really real” and the practitioners serious, in contrast to the more stereotyped witches and confused college kids I´ve seen in other corners of the media & entertainment industry. That being said, ritual sex with a Gerald Gardner lookalike really aint my thing, so I hope they never try to pull that stunt in *my* Scytho-Hibernian city-state, LOL.
Otherwise recommended.
What surprised me was that the actual rituals of Gardnerian Wicca are shown at some length, the only exception being the sexual intercourse between priest and priestess (which is only hinted at). Thus, we get to see an actual initiation into a coven, during which a sky clad young man is subject to a variety of trials and ordeals. There is also a “handfasting” ceremony, once again with almost everyone present being in the nude. A funny detail: the male Wiccan priest, who plays the role of the horned god, looks like Gerald Gardner! Is this some kind of shtick among 50+ male Wiccans? Another thing that struck me was the only Black Dianic Wiccan (Black as in African-American) describing her experiences of folk Catholicism in Louisiana. Wow. Even crazier than some Neo-Pagans, if you ask me.
“Wicca: The Occult Experience” also features Modern Pagans, including Wiccans, gathering on a street in New York City, carrying out one of their rituals quite openly. They sure seem to have a lot of fun!
In a final segment, we meet three groups which are not Wiccans, including the non-sectarian Fellowship of Isis (FOI). The Fellowship initiates new priestesses at a mysterious castle in Ireland and we get to see the initiation ritual (including the presumably “secret” part). Btw, one of the people commenting here is apparently a member of the FOI…
I admit that I got a bit more respect for Wiccans and Neo-Pagans after watching this, mostly because the rituals seem “really real” and the practitioners serious, in contrast to the more stereotyped witches and confused college kids I´ve seen in other corners of the media & entertainment industry. That being said, ritual sex with a Gerald Gardner lookalike really aint my thing, so I hope they never try to pull that stunt in *my* Scytho-Hibernian city-state, LOL.
Otherwise recommended.
Jag försökte posta här från Safari men plötsligt går det inte där. Men med Firefox går det fortfarande. Mystiskt. Kopi3erade inte vad jag skrev och jag orkar just nu inte skriva om det igen.
ReplyDeleteHar du sett Isis-delen av dokumentären?
ReplyDeleteThe full documentary can be seen here:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aevtHVs6LY
The quality is somewhat worse, though.
Jag ska kolla. Fick meddelande att jag skulle uppdatera Safari och efter att ha gjort detta kan jag inte lägre kommentera din blogg från Safari. Men från Firefox går det.
ReplyDeleteJag blev medlem i FOI februari 2000, vilket inte innebar något, mer än att man fick ett medlemsbevis via mail. Medlemskapet är på livstid, så de har nog många medlemmar vid det här laget. Man kan ansöka på nätet.
Jag har ju skrivit om det, och det har uppmärksammats i en inte alltför vänlig kommentar på en inte speciellt rolig sida, så jag får hoppas att FOI inte blir inblandad i någon otäck skandal... ;.)
Fast jag hittade för några år sedan påståenden att det begicks rituella övergrepp inom FOI, men sidan som sa det verkade väldigt oseriös, så jag kan nog strunta i det....
FOI är den mest sympatiska gruppen i dokumentären, både den kortare versionen och den längre. Den längre dito (d.v.s. originalet) inkluderar även Church of Satan, Temple of Set och sådant. Michael Aquino visar stolt upp en SS-dolk och säger sig ha utfört svartmagiska ritualer i Wewlsburg! (Samme Aquino skrev en trevlig kommentar till en av mina recensioner på Amazon, den av "Morlindalë", en bok han skrivit själv!) Wiccanerna verkar lite utflippade också, medan FOI är de enda som inte springer omkring nakna eller hötter med dolkar... Lite lustigt att de ville/fick vara med i denna dokumentär!
ReplyDeleteHåller med. FOI är den mest sympatiska, även i den korta versionen (som är den jag sett nu) . Deras invigningsritual skulle jag inte ha något emot att vara med om. Men jag skulle nog inte vilja vara med om den i (om jag minns rätt) Janet Farrars grupp. Man undrar hur många som fick lunginflammation efter att ha invigts... ;-)
ReplyDeleteHela det här om att vi alla är gudar retar mig lite. Har ingen som helst åstundan att se mig som en gud.
Förresten dog FOI:s grundare Olivia Robertson för bara några dagar sedan. RIP...