Deeper Studies
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Philosophy. If the very mention of the word causes you to yawn, flinch, or make desperate excuses...don't. This is not a series of ivory-tower theses, with incomprehensible vocabularies and thoughts so dusty-dry that you'd need a gallon of water to even consider them. Hopefully, this will be accessible to anyone who has passed First Degree without being "dumbed down" or oversimplified. I'll be the first to admit that most Wiccans can live a rich life without ever cracking the cover of a philosophy book, but perhaps these theses can offer some richness that may have been missing before.
A lot of people who have never studies philosophy seem to have some very strange ideas about it, and about philosophers. They seem to think that philosophy consists of sitting in a dusty ivory tower, contemplating the proper philosophical interpretation of a peach, or some such thing. Nothing could be further from the truth. Philosophy is about living, and many schools of philosophy not only encourage enjoying life, but living large. In that respect, philosophy is a series of questions.
What questions does philosophy try to answer? These are some of the fundamental questions that humanity has puzzled itself with since the beginning of recorded history. "What is real?" "What is right?" What is good?" "How do we know what we know?" "How does the world work?" "What is Truth?"
If we had the answers to these questions, humanity would be in good shape, right? The first thing to remember about philosophy is that it's not primarily about getting answers: although answers are important, the questions that are asked are just as important. If you look for answers in and of themselves, you "short-circuit" the process of philosophical inquiry, and change a method of inquiry into a form of mental masturbation. It's my theory that this is where philosophy gets "boring" for most people, when some teacher tries to spoon-feed you his answers, instead of asking the questions and allowing you to develop your own chain of thought.
The most serious problem with a systematic study of Wiccan philosophy is that, as with anything else, Wiccans are not all of a piece. The old joke comes to mind:
Q: What do you get when you ask twelve Wiccans what they want on a pizza?
A: At least fifteen different opinions.
In the light of such diversity, it seems that such a task as a "comprehensive" understanding of Wiccan philosophy is impossible. But it must be remembered that philosophy is not primarily a method of answering questions--the most important thing is that the questions are asked.
For many Wiccans, the great philosophical questions never have been asked--at least, not in a systematic manner. Few Wiccans have considered how these questions interlock, and how the answers to one can lead to insight with the next. Before we look at questions, there are a few things we need to look at: one parable, a brief discussions of the parable, and some introductory explanations of some of the vocabulary and concepts that are going to be used in the rest of the book.
The balance of this section will be treated like a series of "fireside chats." Take things slowly and simply. While I've tried to break each concept down into digestible blocks, it may be that one section is more than you can understand in a single reading: if so, take a break and come back later. If one section is too easy, go on to the next one.
One other note: from time to time, I'll be introducing you to other philosophers, and to the arguments they made, or to the theories that they held, or argued against. If this were a full-fledged introduction to general Western philosophy, these names would be some (but only some) of the folks that would be discussed. While for some, this may make the reading more difficult, it must be understood that Wiccan philosophy did not develop in a vacuum.
The philosophers that you will meet have also argued some of the same questions that we will wrestle with: some came up with answers that I happen to agree with, some I disagree with. Don't take my word for it: if you're interested in a particular philosopher, go beyond this book and start with that philosopher, and read.
Develop your own answers. That's probably the biggest advice I can give you when you start this book. Like I said before, you don't "need" to study philosophy to be Wicca, but I feel that, for those who enjoy it, philosophy can add to the richness of the experience.
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Copyright © 1997-2003 c.e., et seq., Justin Eiler. This text file may be freely distributed via computer, print, or other media, provided that no editing is done and this notice is included
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