There's a chapter on magical names. A lot of Wiccans adopt a magical name. Cunningham states that if you want to adhere as closely as possible to mainstream Wicca, then you should take one for a test drive.
Hmmm, I've considered it. I even tried it. I adopted a different confirmation name when I was 16. My aunt adopted another name when she took holy orders. It's not a policy with which I am unfamiliar and Catholics do it too which means other religions probably do as well.
However, when I was 16 I thought it was weird but I did it because that's what good Catholic girls do when being confirmed. Consequently I took Francis for St. Francis of Assisi which was not a huge stretch because Francine is my middle name. I took Francis because it was close to my name and because he's the guy who loves animals. Did it change how I went through confirmation? Not remotely. In fact I got annoyed with it. I got even more annoyed at some of confirmante who took ridiculous and antiquated names because of the humor factor. I really didn't get the point.
When I got married same issue. Why should I change my name because I'm getting married? I really didn't see the point other than tradition. Therefore why change it now? Cunningham would say to be true to conventional Wicca--sorry! I'm solitary so I already violated that notion. He'd also say some feel that it makes them more powerful and connected to their magical selves. I'm sure that's true. So I gave it whirl.
It still struck as unnecessary and ridiculous. There's something a little pretentious about adopting Morganne for example. Really? That's the name or variation thereof for a rather nasty mythical woman. Sorry, but no thanks. There's also something rather in-the-basement-rolling-20-sided-dice-in-a-cape-eating-Fritos-slurping-soda-while-playing-D&D about it. Again--this isn't a fantasy game, it's my spiritual path. Not playtime. But I tried it. It didn't stick. Shocker I know. I am who I am and if I can't connect to the energy of nature as I am--name and all--then what's the point?
I'm glad you mentioned the name changing thing; I've always found that off-putting whether it was Christian or Pagan. Prior to you, most Wiccans I'd ever had contact with had names like Lady Ariel of the Wheat, ran eclectic little candle stores that were only open when the moon was waxing and dressed like they'd seen too many Stevie Nicks' videos. They may have been very devout and sincere in their beliefs, but the persona they presented seemed so forced and staged that it turned me off.
ReplyDeleteLol! No need to be a pretentious priestess right?
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