Print

[Tinevisce]

Hi EM, ES and DS! Thank you so much for the replies!

I understand this a lot better now. If part of being a good Christian is being generous, a supposedly good christian would be generous....but you don't necessarily have to be a Christian to be generous. Conversely, a generous person doesn't get to call himself a Christian unless they're initiated into the Christian tradition.

How far would you guys agree that the various trads (Gardnerian, Alexandrian, Celtic, Druidic and so on) are cultural labels more than spiritual ones?



Edited to add: This somewhat ties in with the original question/issue posed in this topic. Would you say that Wicca is a cultural term whereas shamanism is more of a highly specialised skill-set?

[earthmuffin]

Hi EM, ES and DS! Thank you so much for the replies!

I understand this a lot better now. If part of being a good Christian is being generous, a supposedly good christian would be generous....but you don't necessarily have to be a Christian to be generous. Conversely, a generous person doesn't get to call himself a Christian unless they're initiated into the Christian tradition.

How far would you guys agree that the various trads (Gardnerian, Alexandrian, Celtic, Druidic and so on) are cultural labels more than spiritual ones?



Edited to add: This somewhat ties in with the original question/issue posed in this topic. Would you say that Wicca is a cultural term whereas shamanism is more of a highly specialised skill-set?

Re. your first comparison, I view it more as a difference in training than any inherent quality a person may possess. I went to school and was trained (i.e., earned degrees) by experts in my field to become a wildlife biologist, whereas there are some people who may, out of their own interest in the subject, pursue learning about various wildlife species and ecology. They could attain a high level of knowledge on their own as a lay person but, without my same training, they would not call themselves a "wildlife biologist" or be recognized by others as that particular label or employed as one--- until they went through a similar degree program to earn the degree.

Re. the second point, Wicca is a religion in which certain skills and knowledge are passed down (talking traditional forms of Wicca here and not solitary path) whereas shamanism is a cultural and spiritual practice and is not tied to any religion in particular, though those who practice shamanism all share an animistic worldview. Like in Wicca, certain skills and knowledge may be passed down among shamans but there may also be acquired directly through experience with the spirit world.