There is a danger within modern Paganism and Witchcraft that I believe we need to start talking about openly: the gradual erosion of our freedom to think, question and practise for ourselves.
There is one long-established Pagan organisation in particular that, in my opinion, has placed itself on an increasingly high pedestal over the years.
Its origins were honourable. Doreen Valiente was involved in its formation more than fifty years ago, and the intention was to protect and represent Pagans at a time when Paganism and Witchcraft were widely misunderstood.
I have enormous respect for what people such as Doreen Valiente and Gerald Gardner achieved. They helped bring modern Paganism and Witchcraft into public view and created something that has influenced generations.
The problem is not what they created. The problem is what later generations have sometimes done with their legacy.
An organisation established to protect Pagans should never become an organisation that appears to tell Pagans how they ought to think, speak or practise.
One recent example is the increasingly negative attitude towards people using artificial intelligence. We are apparently supposed to be embarrassed about using AI, or somehow made to feel that using modern technology makes our work less authentic.
Good luck with that.
AI is rapidly becoming integrated into computers, phones, search engines, software and countless everyday services. If avoiding AI completely becomes the new test of Pagan purity, we might as well switch off our computers, throw away our phones and go and live in a cave.
But AI is not really the important issue here.
The important issue is control.
Who decided that any Pagan organisation should become the moral referee of Paganism?
Who appointed anyone to decide which tools a Witch should use, which traditions are acceptable, which opinions should be expressed and what constitutes the “correct” way of being Pagan?
Nobody.
There is also a wider question that deserves asking. After more than fifty years, what exactly has this organisation achieved for the ordinary solitary Pagan or Witch who does not belong to Wicca or have any interest in organised Pagan religion?
People will have different answers to that question, and they are perfectly entitled to them.
My own view is that the organisation appears far more relevant to people operating within established Wiccan and organised Pagan structures than it does to the growing number of people following independent, eclectic or solitary paths.
And that matters.
Paganism is much bigger than Wicca.
Witchcraft is much bigger than any organisation.
Neither belongs to a committee, council, priesthood, federation or self-appointed collection of experts.
Your path belongs to you.
That does not mean ignoring knowledge, history or experience. We should learn from people who know more than we do. We should listen to historians, experienced practitioners and elders. We should challenge misinformation when we encounter it.
But listening to somebody is not the same as surrendering our independence to them.
There is a world of difference between saying, “Here is what I have learned” and saying, “Here is what you are permitted to believe.”
The first is teaching.
The second is control.
And Pagans and Witches should become extremely wary whenever that line begins to disappear.
An organisation that exists to represent Pagans should represent them — not rule them.
It should defend diversity rather than manufacture conformity. It should encourage discussion rather than discourage uncomfortable questions. It should accept that Paganism continues to change, just as it has always changed.
Most importantly, it should remember that it does not own Paganism.
Neither does Wicca.
Neither does any author, priest, priestess, academic, Facebook group or self-appointed authority.
Nobody gets to issue a licence telling you that you are Pagan enough.
Our freedom to explore, question, disagree and find our own path is one of the most valuable things we have.
We should be very careful about handing that freedom over to anybody — particularly those who appear convinced they know what is best for the rest of us.
Learn from others. Respect experience. Question everything.
But above all:
Think for yourself.
