Glossary - exWitch Australia (formerly 'Born Again Pagan')

FAMILY TRADITION

The Family Traditions in Wicca are a Tradition passed down through a Wiccan family. It involves the personal family rituals and Book of Shadows.

As there is no documentary evidence that Wicca existed at all prior to 1948, and is 20th Century 'construct' rather than a genuine continuation of pre-Christian beliefs and practices in the same way Britistish Traditional Witchcraft is, any claims of Wiccan Family Traditions stretching back before this time are highly dubious at best!

In contrast, certain forms of Stregheria (an Italian form of Witchcraft) may represent one of the few forms of genuine Western Hereditary Witchcraft found outside the UK.

see also: HEREDITARY CRAFT; WICCA; STREGHERIA

PLEASE NOTE:
One of the major problems with 'defining' Paganism and/or its beliefs and practices is that it is an 'organic' movement, in that it is undergoing constant change and re-evaluation from within, and as such any 'one-size-fits-all' approach to understanding Paganism will be found wanting.

Due to the very 'organic' nature of Paganism, and the many differing Paths and Traditions within it, in many cases no one definition may be universally accepted by all Pagans. Therefore, where such cases of possible conflicting and/or contradictory meanings of certain terms occur I have endevoured to give not only the generally accepted meaning, but also any major 'variations' in belief and/or practice.

Christians who believe this difference in meaning of certain key terms, beliefs and practices to be unique to Paganism need to remember that such conflicts also arise within the Body of Christ - the Church. Take for instance the differing practices amongst Christians concerning Baptism and the different attitudes towards women in the clergy.

- Jean-Luc