Contemporary Pagan · branch
Wicca
A Goddess and a God immanent in the turning year, honoured in ritual that participants write themselves, with no scripture and no central authority. The most affirmative position on the body anywhere in the matrix.
What makes it unusual
The axes on which this tradition sits furthest from the middle of the matrix — which is to say, the positions that actually distinguish it.
- A3 Pluralityleaning many powers and spiritsFurther toward "many powers and spirits" than most traditions in the matrix.
- D3 The bodyto be celebratedFurther toward "to be celebrated" than most traditions in the matrix.
- B3 Institutional authorityleaning individual conscience decidesFurther toward "individual conscience decides" than most traditions in the matrix.
- C2 Shape of timeleaning cyclical returnFurther toward "cyclical return" than most traditions in the matrix.
All seventeen positions
Each cell carries a centre, a dispersion — how much internal variation the tradition genuinely tolerates — and the source the position rests on. Disagree with one? Say so; corrections are public and recorded.
The same seventeen values as a single shape, read clockwise from A1 at the top. The outline is where the tradition sits; the wider band around it is the variation it genuinely tolerates, so a tight outline is a tight tradition.
- position
- tolerated variation
A · The divine
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Divine realitynothing beyond the natural → a divine reality certainly exists | a divine reality certainly existsGardner, Witchcraft Today (1954); Valiente’s Charge of the Goddess | 0.88 | 0.12 |
| A2 Personhoodimpersonal principle or order → a personal being one can address | between impersonal principle or order and a personal being one can addressGardner, Witchcraft Today (1954); Valiente’s Charge of the Goddess | 0.58 | 0.20 |
| A3 Pluralitystrictly one → many powers and spirits | leaning many powers and spiritsGardner, Witchcraft Today (1954); Valiente’s Charge of the Goddess | 0.78 | 0.14 |
| A4 Locuswholly beyond the world → fully present within it | fully present within itGardner, Witchcraft Today (1954); Valiente’s Charge of the Goddess | 0.92 | 0.06 |
B · Knowledge and authority
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| B1 Source of truthrevealed and fixed → reason and direct experience | reason and direct experienceGardner, Witchcraft Today (1954); Valiente’s Charge of the Goddess | 0.88 | 0.08 |
| B2 Reading of sacred textliteral and binding → metaphorical, or no text at all | metaphorical, or no text at allGardner, Witchcraft Today (1954); Valiente’s Charge of the Goddess | 0.92 | 0.06 |
| B3 Institutional authorityclergy and tradition decide → individual conscience decides | leaning individual conscience decidesGardner, Witchcraft Today (1954); Valiente’s Charge of the Goddess | 0.82 | 0.10 |
C · Self and destiny
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| C1 Survival of the selfends at death → continues in some form | leaning continues in some formGardner, Witchcraft Today (1954); Valiente’s Charge of the Goddess | 0.78 | 0.15 |
| C2 Shape of timeone life, then judgment → cyclical return | leaning cyclical returnGardner, Witchcraft Today (1954); Valiente’s Charge of the Goddess | 0.78 | 0.15 |
| C3 The human conditionfallen and in need of rescue → ignorant but fundamentally sound | ignorant but fundamentally soundGardner, Witchcraft Today (1954); Valiente’s Charge of the Goddess | 0.88 | 0.08 |
D · Practice
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| D1 Mechanism of the ultimate goodgiven as grace → achieved by effort or insight | leaning achieved by effort or insightGardner, Witchcraft Today (1954); Valiente’s Charge of the Goddess | 0.70 | 0.15 |
| D2 Centrality of ritualessential and prescribed → optional or absent | leaning essential and prescribedGardner, Witchcraft Today (1954); Valiente’s Charge of the Goddess | 0.18 | 0.12 |
| D3 The bodyto be disciplined → to be celebrated | to be celebratedGardner, Witchcraft Today (1954); Valiente’s Charge of the Goddess | 0.88 | 0.08 |
E · World and others
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| E1 Exclusivityone true path → many valid paths | many valid pathsGardner, Witchcraft Today (1954); Valiente’s Charge of the Goddess | 0.92 | 0.06 |
| E2 Origin of the cosmosan intentional act → beginningless or natural | between an intentional act and beginningless or naturalGardner, Witchcraft Today (1954); Valiente’s Charge of the Goddess | 0.55 | 0.22 |
| E3 Locus of belonginga people, inherited → an individual choice | an individual choiceGardner, Witchcraft Today (1954); Valiente’s Charge of the Goddess | 0.88 | 0.08 |
| E4 Standing of naturecreation, given for use → animate and itself sacred | animate and itself sacredGardner, Witchcraft Today (1954); Valiente’s Charge of the Goddess | 0.95 | 0.04 |
Further reading
- Valiente, The Charge of the Goddess — The liturgical text behind D3 and E4.
- Hutton, The Triumph of the Moon — A historian’s account of where all of this actually came from.
Compared with
The questionnaire places your own answers on these same seventeen axes and reports how close you are to this tradition and to 64 others. Take it — eight to fourteen questions, nothing transmitted.