Goddess Spirituality and Wicca

This chapter focuses on a very few threads that have made the most significant contributions to Goddess Spirituality. The label of Feminist Spirituality is every bit as misleading. Although there are strong elements of feminism in the practice and writings, there are women who believe in the Goddess and are not feminists. On the Winter Solstice of 1971, a year after she arrived in California, Budapest and six other women created the Susan B. Anthony Coven Number 1, a group of separatist feminist Witches. Budapest simply called it Wicca until the mid-70s, after which time it became known as Dianic Witchcraft, probably after the Goddess of the witches in Leland's Aradia. The fact that the Goddess Diana avoided contact with men made the name especially appropriate. There is a genuine danger in reifying gender roles, as is done too often in Goddess Spirituality Wholeness implies developing our full potential, not just the socially constructed part assigned to us.