Re-riting woman
Subtitle: Dianic wicca and the feminine divine
By: Kristy S. Coleman.
Series: The pagan studies series
Publisher: Lexington Books
Published: 2009
Place of publication: Lanham, MD
Language: eng
Number of pages: 257
ISBN-13: 9780759110021
Subjects: Wicca; Goddess religion; Women -- Religious life
Description: An ethnographic study of Dianic Wicca. Its subject, Circle of Aradia, is a branch of the religion based in the Los Angeles area. This religion--of, by, and for women--conceives the Divine as exclusively female, and has infused feminism into Wicca worldwide. Coleman combines ethnography with theory to present a full account of what Dianic Witches' lived practice looks like and what it means. The theorist of focus, Luce Irigaray, asserts that women must reclaim their own space and imagine the Divine as female to achieve full emancipation. Moreover, Irigaray's critical analysis of Western culture creates a subtext that clarifies what is at stake in this practice. Coleman employs ritual theory to suggest why and how these rites wield such meaning-altering possibilities. Practitioners' statements that describe a shift in worldview and self-conception elicit Coleman's proposal that Dianic rituals re(w)rite the valuation and meaning of woman. Dianic women's stories reveal both the transformative power of the tradition's practice and the organization's challenges related to power politics.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: The circle of Aradia Dianic witches : organization and her story; title: The Dianic religion : philosophy, thealogy, ethics, and practice; title: In their own words : circle of Aradia and the goddess; title: The Dianic seasonal rituals; title: Luce Irigaray's Le féminin; title: Ritual efficacy and symbolic alternatives; title: Problems and potentials : circle of Aradia's Dianic rites; title: Power : Dianic philosophy and ethics, theory versus practice.