Have you guys heard of...

[TheStarlessSkye]

...Laurie Cabot and Christopher Penczack? They're two famous people who practice Paganism/Wicca. If any of you have lived in Salem, you'll know who Laurie is, since she's famous there.  

[Morgandria]

Azareas Aquarinus

...Laurie Cabot and Christopher Penczack? They're two famous people who practice Paganism/Wicca. If any of you have lived in Salem, you'll know who Laurie is, since she's famous there.

Neither of them practice Wicca - rather, it's neo-pagan witchcraft.

I don't care much for either of them, to be honest, although that's more on the part of Ms. Cabot, than Mr. Penczack.  

[ncsweet]

There is a thread on Laurie Cabot in the Reading Room, though there was one on Penczack as well, but can't seem to find it.

Some people I know have issues with Penczack in particular, not only for the misappropriation of the term Wicca, but also because he has a habit of publishing things that are not really for public consumption (his books on Reiki for example).  

[Esiris]

ncsweet

There is a thread on Laurie Cabot in the Reading Room, though there was one on Penczack as well, but can't seem to find it.

Some people I know have issues with Penczack in particular, not only for the misappropriation of the term Wicca, but also because he has a habit of publishing things that are not really for public consumption (his books on Reiki for example).

He also has a lot of cis-bias and he hops on a soapbox when writing paganism for the LGBT community which tends to undermine basic affirmations about our sexuality- like it's okay to have an sacred homosexual non-cis experience. stressed
It furthers heteronormative thinking- which is just fine for the people who live that way- but it's very exclusive and demeaning to the rest of us.  

[Sanguina Cruenta]

Laurie Cabot makes me headdesk. It's like she thinks witches can't be normal people and goes out of her way to be super special mega-witch. WTF WOMAN.

Penczak just gives me a wiggins. I don't even know what the issue is I have with him, I just don't like him and I stay away from his stuff.  

[Morgandria]

Sanguina Cruenta

Laurie Cabot makes me headdesk. It's like she thinks witches can't be normal people and goes out of her way to be super special mega-witch. WTF WOMAN.

My biggest issue is with her books - dodgy research, rampant revisionist history, lots of cultural appropriation in the name of soft polytheism. They're just too squishy and new-age for me - which is fine, I guess, since I'm not a witch of the Cabot Tradition.

Everything I've ever heard her say always seems to be said in a highly patronizing manner, very slowly, as if she's talking to idiots. Like you said, San, her "traditional black witch robes" and "traditional black witch makeup" that she says she wears in honour of her 'witch ancestors', is a bit much...especially now that she's getting on in years. I think she's lacking the dignity that I expect and want from my elders.

It's impossible to take her seriously. Frankly I think she, and the whole Salem lot, have done a mis-service to paganism and witchcraft as a whole, by playing up stereotypes and trying to make themselves seem intrinsically special, rather than normal people who have skills.

I sometimes wonder if she hears herself talk. She said in an interview with Stephen Fry that "Wicca is a colloquialism for witchcraft." According to her, people only use the word "Wicca" if they're afraid to be called a witch. Thanks a lot for clearing that up, Laurie! I'm sure the extra mud you just threw in the water will really help.  

[Sanguina Cruenta]

And it's a shame, because I highly respect Stephen Fry and can't help but hope faintly that he does his own research into the issue. I mean, I don't want him to think that because I identify as a witch, I'm anything as much of a twit as she is. >.>  

[kyndryana3]

I don't have much exposure to Penczak, but I recently acquired his "The Inner Temple of Witchcraft". I have noticed a few places where he seems to randomly slip in references to Wicca (although most of the book refers to it as the practice of witchcraft). So far, I have been enjoying the book.  

[TheStarlessSkye]

I must agree with you guys on the two of them. They both seem... dodgy. And like they don't know what they're talking about. I'm getting Witchcraft Today by Gardner, soon! biggrin