I wouldn’t call it a crisis. That stuff has been going on for a while, and Reclaiming has already gone through several iterations of re-inventing itself.Granted, some of the problems are why I left. But I definitely don’t think that Reclaiming has “nothing to show for it”. It’s the most successful teaching tradition I’ve ever seen, period, and the quality of what is being taught is mostly very high.There are definitely, decidedly problems with the “illusion of non-hierarchy” though, both from the POV of someone who is low in the unacknowledged pecking order and someone who is trying to teach or organize or lead.

Well, I’m the messenger currently getting shot (non-violently, of course, in whatever way the person who is upset chooses to redefine the simple prefix “non” prepended to the word “violently”) on Reclaiming’s inter-WitchCamp list, rspider. It seems to me that a lot of people don’t like the idea of changing Reclaiming’s “Principles” of “Unity”, but at the same time neither regard them as principles nor are willing to surrender one iota of their own spiritual authority in the interest of unity.If we ran the US like that, states could reenact slavery and disenfranchise women.Don’t get me wrong – Reclaiming is absolutely great at teaching magic, and I have had some wonderful teachers at my home camp, SpiralHeart. But as a vehicle for non-violent political change, it seems to be a vehicle in which the occupants don’t agree in what direction North is in. This can make it very difficult to get -anywhere-.

Big changes are in the wind with regard to Reclaiming. With love and the help of the gods we will continue to engage respectfully about our problems. If elephants need naming, we will name them. It remains to be seen how public this reflection will be.

As a British Reclaimer working outside the limiting tag of ‘British Reclaiming’ – and what is that label supposed to be, anyway? Reclaiming in red, white and blue with a copy of The Times in our totem bags? – I wanted to thank you for bringing everything together for consideration in this great article.I actually think the problem is NOT being one’s own spiritual authority; the problem comes from that not being fully or even reasonably partly-realised in practice. There are too many sheep, too many shepherds for an organisation which (a) shouldn’t be an organisation and (b) repeats ad nauseum that it is non-hierarchical when it clearly is and to anyone who falls outside the walls is visibly dependent on those who look up and those who are looked up to.There seem a million and one issues to be looked at and hopefully addressed but for me the problem is that those doing the examination are those who fall within the walls and so all you’ll get is a core group of people making changes which others will have to choose to either accept or move on. You will still have ‘them and ‘us’ with some acknowledging that and others pretending otherwise.For my own part, I now consider myself a solitary Reclaimer – not that I work in isolation, as I find I now work with a wonderfully eclectic group within which are people following different traditions but working together, what a shocker! – and I feel somewhat resentful, I must admit, towards the tight ball of beliefs which make up Reclaiming today, many of which are bolted onto its original values. British Reclaiming, certainly, is making little if any difference to wider society. I believe it makes no difference whatsoever and if it grows, it grows so slowly as to make demands for it to be reappraised worthy of being listened to and acted upon. But they aren’t. There is no stomach for change. It’s too cosy, too much of a club.Ask most British pagans and witches, do you know what Reclaiming is? The answer is invariably, what? And, who? After so long a history, it is telling that Reclaiming – with so much to offer on paper, as it were – remains practically invisible here. There are more people involved in strange cults centred around science-fiction novels. Why is that?M Macha Nightmare is quite right in that damning line about Reclaiming being ‘great for ravers and other energy junkies’ – and the question is, can a religious/spiritual collective so dense, so compacted, so self-deluded into thinking it is non-hierarchical when it clearly has become so if it wasn’t always, ever stand a chance of renewing and refreshing itself? Reclaiming has become a starched monolithic organisation closer to a corporation in its outworkings than a vibrant spiritual tradition. My own take is that Reclaiming values and principles are sound enough and work for me as an individual. They resonate with truth. It is (some) people I have been disillusioned by. I doubt in the UK whether Reclaiming will ever become anything other than a marginal, near-invisible tradition within the pagan community here. The flaws with its structure are too apparent and sadly detract from the core values when presented to those who might otherwise be drawn towards it but find themselves running in the opposite direction.What’s the solution? Well, can any one person say? What I do know is that dissenting, arguing voices are stamped upon more often than not, often treated appallingly unjustly and inexcusably maligned, and while that climate of repression and bullying is condoned and promoted, there seems little hope of seeing an end to the navel-gazing which goes no deeper than the surface. x Light the blue touch-paper and back away slowly. Until all viewpoints are considered, there can only be an ongoing series of spectacular, and devastating, implosions with casualties on all sides. xx