Jewitchery

Damien has been teaching a course of non-traditional or non-mainstream religions and other belief systems. Because my niece Rowan, who attends Philip Peabody Horton University where Damien teaches, has joined a Wiccan sorority, I have paid more attention to the Wiccan part of his researches.

I admit I don't always pay that much attention when he is babbling ... talking about the things that interest him and that he feels compelled to share with any and all. But among the things he happened to mention recently was one that did catch my attention because of my own background: the notion of Jewitchery.

Since I thought that Wicca was basically a [reconstructed] paganism, I was surprised to hear that Jews might be involved. Seems like it would be an oil and water sort of thing. But I looked it up and apparently I was mistaken. Of course, Wicca turns out to be a very fluid thing and able to accomodate all sorts of people and beliefs. Not, I must say, the Judaism of my upbringing.

Jewitchery [according to The Witchpedia] is the practice of Witchcraft by a Jewish person or the integration of Wiccan or another Witchcraft spirituality with Jewish culture. A Jewitch may consider Judaism to be their religion and Witchcraft a non-religious activity, or he or she may identify as a Jew in a cultural context only or may combine the two spiritualities into a synchretic whole.

Jewitchery may involve the practice or witchcraft using traditional Jewish symbols, such as the menorah and the kiddush cup or it may incorporate aspects of the Kabbalah, or it may not, depending on the individual. A Jewitch who identifies with Wicca may see the Jewish view of the male and female aspects of the Divine in the Wiccan ideal of the God and Goddess or they may take a more feminist view and focus on the shekhinah exclusively.

For what it's worth, Damien pointed out to me that there are also Christian Wiccans, Christian Druids, Christian Pagans -- or at least people who self-identify as such. Since my experience of Christian groups is that they are anything but fluid, I am not sure that traditional and mainstream Christians would agree that Wiccans or Druids or Pagans can be Christian. But then, from what I can tell, many Christians don't think that other Christians are necessarily Christians either.

Whatever. "An ye harm none, do what ye will." That is a Wiccan principle, Damien tells me.

Interesting. Maybe I am more Jewitch than I thought.