Dissent and Reclaiming

The following was a column that was published in the Reclaiming Quarterly, Spring 2002.  Everything remains the same except the faith I had in Reclaiming was shaken deeply when my teacher's guild - The Independent Craft Teachers -put forth a  proposal about transparency and accountability at witch camps. The fight against transparency and accountability was ugly and all of us but one do not remain in Reclaiming leadership or teaching.  What does remain is my love for the Principles of Unity.

Meeting On The Field


From as far back as I remember, I have questioned why things are the way they are. This has worked out well for me as psychotherapist, as much of my job entails having a questioning attitude, exploring with curiosity why my clients are emotionally structured the way they are.

However, the questioning attitude has not been received so well in other parts of my life. Questioning the dress code as kindergartner by wearing my beloved red velvet toreador pants to school resulted in me being sent home. Of course, it did not help that when the teacher informed me that pants were not allowed for girls, I immediately took them off. As a teenager I spent nights alone in my room without dinner after questioning my father as why he continued being part of the war machine.

I was tear-gassed at 15 while protesting the Vietnam war, and again at age 45 on the streets of Seattle. As a young feminist, I confronted rapists and as an anti-nuclear activist risked arrest time and time again. All of this has been harrowing, but nothing has been quite as personally challenging or confounding as being a voice of dissent in Reclaiming.

There are lots of hazards to voicing dissent. One of the perks of using this voice, of questioning authority, can be the lovely rush of self-righteousness, of being one of the good guys who are speaking up against all bad things.

As a Witch, I struggle to let go of this simplistic position of good versus evil, believing that this splitting of the world into two parts - heaven and hell - is what helped us get into the big mess we are currently in. It is one of our biggest challenges as human beings to move beyond our sense of a split world, to move away from seeing ourselves as good guys fighting the "axis of evil".

Challenging and paradoxical, as one of Reclaiming's own principles of unity is to work for all forms of justice. How easy it is when invoking justice to also invoke ourselves as being on the side/scale of good, while others are on the side/scale of evil! If we become invested in seeing ourselves as some sort of Witchy magical superheroes, we make it harder to question and examine our own shadow.

Shadows desire recognition, when not acknowledged they swell in size, eventually blocking out light in their demand to be seen. Our principles of unity provide us with worthy tools for looking at shadow. Fostering the questioning attitude is one of them, as is employing a radical analysis of power. These tools have become somewhat rusty in Reclaiming, as we have fallen into the habit of when employing them, dividing ourselves into camps of right and wrong.

I have been a Reclaiming Witch for 20 years. I have seen us change from a small circle of Bay Area Witches into an international tradition. We strive to be non-hierarchical in a hierarchical and celebrity conscious over-culture. One of our core principles is that our ultimate spiritual authority is within and we need no other person to interpret the sacred to us. In spreading that message, we have created a thriving Witchcamp culture in which teachers have rankings, there is a pay scale, and teachers are treated like rock stars. We have a inspiring famous writer who draws people to us with her work and words.

We have challenges and many of our blessings are also curses as well. Like any community, we ourselves are a microcosm of the culture at large, with all the human foibles that entails. What sets us apart is our idealistic strivings, our belief in magic, and our beautiful principles of unity. In order for us to reflect these principles we need to truly foster a questioning attitude.

In the past 20 years I have put myself and been thrust by others onto one side or the other of the good and bad polarity when the voice of dissent has been raised, hidden hierarchies have been revealed, or questions have been asked as to whether the structures we are creating reflect our values. It is difficult in Reclaiming to question structures without this being construed as a personal attack on those who participate in the structures. Fro a community that prides itself on being an alternative to the culture at large we have proved capable of fostering the same "if you are not with us, you are against us" attitude.

For many, becoming a member of the Reclaiming community is like falling in love. We are struck by the extraordinary beauty and exquisite individuality of Reclaiming. The magic is intoxicatingly transformative. We feel home at last. Witchcamp, our public rituals, Starhawk's writings, and local classes are constantly courting and winning new lovers of Reclaiming. As in love, many leave with the initial rush of infatuation turns to something more mundane.

As we go to meetings, plan rituals, and begin to work in community, we begin to relate to the shadows in both our community and ourselves. As a community, we encourage individuals to do their own shadow work , but as a community we are not so prepared to have the shadow revealed. Like in relationships, many also leave Reclaiming a this point, feeling disgruntled and disillusioned.

The shadow dancing that is required in healthy relationship cannot be done if one partner refuses to acknowledge the dancesteps. In Reclaiming community these are the many unspoken hierarchies and some downright unpleasant politics. Sometimes we function more as a fan club than a community striving to model shared power and open leadership roles.

Many times when the disillusioned lover of Reclaiming speaks out it is not in a loving tone. The voice of dissent is also the voice of disappointment. It is not reasoned or compassionate. It is often bitter, angry, frustrated, and hurt. This makes it easy for us to dismiss this voice as mean, jealous, attacking, or symptomatic of a personality defect if not downright disorder. We rarely view this voice as containing the questioning attitude we purport to foster.

According to Victor Naasy, publisher of The Nation, "The squelching of dissent happens in many ways, one of which is self-censorship. Another is attacking people who dissent by stigmatizing them. A third is attacking people who dissent by misrepresenting what they said. A fourth is where the government says you can't say something, and a fifth is where the government punishes you for saying it".

The first three of these definitely operate in Reclaiming. I know because I myself self-censor out of fear.  I also recognize I have participated in creating climates where others feel afraid to speak. There are times I have breathed into the fear, stated my opinion, and watched the stigmatization and misrepresentation fly. In the past 20 years, I am sure there are those I participated in dismissing who I could have listened more deeply to. I have learned through the years to take responsiblity for how I voice my dissent and watch out for the pesky varmint of self-righteousness. I also try to listen for the questioning attitude that lies under the irritating self-righteousness of others.

I am currently making an attempt to not take the squelching and stigmatizing all too personally. This is easier for me to do than a newcomer to Reclaiming. My marriage to Reclaiming has been long and rocky, but I have the deep and abiding faith that no other spiritual community would be a better match. My sense is that those who make it in a long-term relationship with Reclaiming are those who find a group they have affinity with who can support them when they get blasted for the questioning attitude.

My circle of friends are blessed with a sense of humor and enduring patience. As a therapist, I believe that individuals healing themselves is a revolutionary act. To create a community based on Reclaiming's Principles of Unity is hard and arduous work. Wedding vows rarely mirror the quality of the marriage, but they do give us something to aspire to. We want to create a culture where dissent is allowed and the questioning attitude is fostered.  Of course we have trouble with this ourselves!

As Witches, we say "What happens between the worlds, can change all the worlds." By this, we mean that what we do in sacred space, in that place we create between the worlds, will ripple out and change the world at large.  If we can learn to embrace the questioning attitude and invite different radical analyses of power into our own place between the worlds -this circle called Reclaiming - without reducing each other to good and evil, this would be a true feat of magic. The world needs changing, and we can start at home.

Rumi says "Beyond good and evil, there is a field. I'll meet you there."  Let's meet on that field and talk openly about the problems we have as a community. I will wear some red toreador pants for the occasion. It's time.