| abstract
| - Christian Wicca: the Trinitarian Tradition is the name of the controversial self-published book by Nancy Chandler (Pittman) released in 2003. This is the first book that brought the practice of Christian Wicca out of the Christian broom closet, into print, and into the public’s eye. Unfortunately, it also brought anger, bias, and skepticism from both sides, but primarily a lack of acceptance from the Pagan Community. Since the onset of the ChristoPagan movement in the late 1990′s, the use of term Christian Wicca continues to be received with mixed emotion because the public seem to miss the actual name of the tradition, Trinitarian Wicca. The project started in October of 1999 and Christian Wicca was the term used in Yahoo-Groups to gather like-minded individuals. Author Nancy Chandler developed Trinitarian Wicca from her coven training in both the Dianic Tradition and Alexandrian Tradition. After being introduced to the Hebrew Goddesses (Dianic) and a Ceremonial Magick approach to the male aspect of God (Alexandrian), she found the juxtapositions to be obvious. A non-fundamental view of Christian Deity was easily inserted into Wicca rituals and theory. Most Pagan books make a point to illustrate the similarities to Christianity, i.e. Christmas is Yule, Easter is Ostara, Halloween is Samhain, Mary is the Goddess of Christendom, etc. So, reverse engineering this concept was not difficult. By 2002, this Wiccan tradition had developed its name, Trinitarian Wicca, based on the original Trinity of Ancient Christianity: the Father, the Mother, and the Solar Son Jesus. Regretfully, while the term Christian Wicca was more descriptive, it was inaccurate and became a serious albatross around the neck of the project for years in the making. Oddly enough, the intended name of the tradition has always been in the subtitle of the book, Christian Wicca: the Trinitarian Tradition, yet continues to be overlooked: The term Christian, was originally was intended to identify the pantheon of choice by Trinitarian Wiccans. When asked, the author explains, "Christian Wicca is used in the same manner as Celtic Wicca, referring to the Celtic deities called upon by the Wiccan practitioners. It is that simple. We have the same theology as other, set in Wiccan ritual structure, and honoring the same belief system as most other forms of Wicca." Trinitarian Wicca is not only the correct name of the path, but it is also far less controversial. However, by the time the book came out, the working title Christian Wicca had become popular in the magickal Christian community. The publisher wanted to take full promotional advantage of this trending name. From a marketing viewpoint, this was an understandable choice, as it was impossible to explain the concept of Trinitarian Wicca without using the term Christian in the definition. A decade later, Christian Wicca has now become the umbrella term for practitioners of eclectic Wicca mixing varying degrees of Neopaganism and Christianity; however, not all of them are truly Wiccan, nor are they associated with Trinitarian Wiccans. By 2012, many sects of magickal Christianity began to spring up, mostly solitaries who have opted for the term Christian Witch, reflecting a New Age approach to Jesus-magick that doesn't focus on reclaiming the Goddess, finding cosmic balance of Deity, the emphasis of the Wheel of the Year, and the Lunar Mysteries. Trinitarian Wiccans are polytheistic and work exclusively with a multi-Goddess inclusive Holy Trinity. Do not let the term Trinitarian confuse you with the Orthodox Christian definition. All Wiccans should understand the concept of the Triple Goddess and the Triple God. This trad simply features additional rituals that celebrates many Trinities. This approach is definitely reclaiming the Ancient Triple Powers, as well as approaches often described as Social Trinitarianism or Tritheism, which embraces the idea that the Holy Trinity consists of three seperate deities, each with individual wills, powers, personalities, and energy signatures. This Trinity is immanent, not transcendent, and capable of a personal relationship with humanity. This tradition is not eclectic, nor is it ChristoPagan; however, Trinitarian Wiccans are polytheistic MesoPagans. Trinitarian Wiccans are reconstructionists devoted exclusively to Deities of pre-Nicean Christianity. Due to patriarchal Christianity’s focus on eliminating the Feminine Divine from cultures worldwide, the Trinitarian Pantheon includes Kabballistic Deities, Gnostic Christian Deities, and significant Pagan Deities absorbed into the saints of Catholicism. Trinitarian Wiccans celebrate the Wiccan Wheel of the Year, observing the 8 Sabbats, the 13 Esbats, and upholding the Wiccan Rede. For Trinitarian Wiccans, there aren’t any trappings of patriarchal Christianity. The Christian Bible poses no conflicts for Trinitarians, because they work directly with the Gods and Goddesses, free of the dogma of organized religion. Concepts such as the original sin, salvation, baptism, heaven, hell, and satan are not sources of conflict for Trinitarians; these are fundamental Christian concepts not Wiccan concepts. There is nothing fundamental about Trinitarian Wicca.
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