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Dianic tradition

Dianic tradition ("Dianic" as in "of Diana") is a branch of the Wiccan religion. It is a feminist, earth-based neo-pagan religion revived by Zsuzsanna Budapest in the 1970's.

Dianic tradition is difficult to define, because it is a spiritual tradition that encourages creativity and celebrates diversity. There are few Dianics who see themselves allied with or involved in a specific lineage, though most acknowledge Z Budapest as the founder of the tradition, even if they don't acknowledge her as their foremother or base their practices on her ovarian book, The Holy Book of Women's Mysteries.

For some, Dianic tradition is folk religion. It's about hedge-witchery or kitchen-witchery. For others, Dianic tradition is more formal, with highly developed liturgy and cosmology. For most, in its essence Dianic tradition is a Women's Mysteries tradition, linked to such traditions across time and across cultures. These practices and beliefs are not a rejection or dismissal of men and male gods. They are a celebration of women's bodies, women's experiences: the biology and culture of womanhood.

Most Dianics conceive of and experience the pagan Wheel of the Year in terms of both seasonal reality and also the life stages of women and of the Great Goddess: maiden, mother, queen, crone and hag.

Dianic tradition, like most Wiccan traditions, focuses on large-group ritual and on the sabbats (seasonal holy days). Some traditions focus more on the esbats (full-moon days) and on spellcrafting. Many Dianics are solitary practitioners, either preferring to work solo or dismayed at the politics and process of women's struggles to embody their power in a world where patriarchy has defined power in terms of oppression rather than empowerment.

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