As for Sia’s comments, I wonder how she defines “Old Guard.” Is it, “anyone who has been around longer than I have?”Actually, I suspect the disease of wishing to found and operate religious institutions usually strikes people in their thirties. Most recover; some, however, remain infected and end up as bishops or operating “ministries” and the like. If, however, the disease strikes later in life (Gerald Gardner, for instance), it may completely take over the organism.In the joint interview, I am troubled by the rhetorical trope, “Wicans are dualists, not polytheists.” Where is this coming from? It sounds like a “straw man” argument to me, because I know lots of Wiccans who work with more than two deities. True, Dion Fortune said “all the gods are one god, and all the goddesses are one goddess, and there is one initiator,” but she was a ceremonial magician with (mystical) Christian sympathies.

re: DualismI think this attitude comes from a lack of direct interaction with many Pagans. I suppose you could get the impression that Wicca was dualistic if you only read a few select books.

Correction, I should have said, “duotheists, not polytheists.” Sorry.