Fertility:

What is it

One of the things that has often come up in any of my posts that deal with Wicca has been a mention of fertility as a focus of the religion.  In many ways you could day that all forms of religious witchcraft have an emphasis on fertility.  Yes.  I said witchcraft in a religious sense has to deal with fertility.  For many the very mention of fertility rites brings up images of mass orgies and ritual sex parties, and to be blunt yes sexuality is an important aspect of fertility.   This is also a common image associated with witches and their rites due to the idea that they have sex with the devil in their rites.

Many of the books out there geared towards new witches and new pagans tell their readers to avoid covens which require sexual acts and symbolism as a part of their membership rites.  Unfortunately if the seeker is truly looking for Wicca and they find out about the sexual symbolism and nature of  true Wiccan rites they may decide that based on the advice of authors such as Silver Raven Wolf, D.J.Conway and Edain McCoy in their intro books that for that reason they should not inquire any further even if it feels right.

Here is the thing.  With the exception of the Second and Third degree in traditional Wicca (Alexandriean, Gardenariean, Mohsian, Central Valley [a collective term for the following traditions-Silver Crescent-Kingstone-Daoine Coire-Assembly of Wicca-Majestic .] ) no imitation of elevation ritual should require sex as part of it.  Sexual symbolism is another thing.  Sex for a requirement simply as a requirement without any symbolism is simply not something you should do for initiation unless you are of age and you choose to.  If you are not of age than any sexual rite should not be required.

Ok.  So by now you must be sick of me mentioning that fertility is something to important.  You may be thinking that yes I have mentioned that it was important but you  (as in me) have yet to explain why fertility is so central to Pagan religions or as you have mentioned many times religious forms of witchcraft?  So you are asking What the hell is so important about fertility. The answer is simple and will be explained with in the next paragraph.  I was just waiting for you the reader to be asking the question.

 The first thing I have to do is explain exactly what fertility is to me.  Fertility to me is the ability to create or produce as well maintain or support life in some form.  I leave it produce or create and maintain and support and life in some form for many reasons.   The first of which unfortunately is related ultimately to the effect the popular form of feminism has had on the idea of woman required to be mothers and subordinates.

Before I continue I must say that I am a woman and I am proud to be an embodiment of feminine energy in this world.  I am also a feminist and I do believe in woman’s rights.  I for example firmly believe that all woman should have the same equal opportunity in the world of construction as men.  If a woman can handle the work than she should be able to have as much respect and right to hold the job as a man.  However she should also be held to the same performance level as men.  That would go with the job.  For me equality in the work place means equal pay and equal expectations.

Now that I have gotten that out of  the way I can continue with my post on fertility and the first reason why I see fertility as an important part of witchcraft religions.  One of the major complaints that I have seen among women when the idea of fertility rites and religions has come up is that not all women are interested in creating life and being a mother (ie giving birth).  The same argument goes for the reason why the MMC is not an accurate form any longer for the roles and parts of a woman’s life.  This goes into the heart of  why I believe fertility comes in many forms and is important in many ways

So if I define fertility as the ability to create and maintain life of some sort how does that not relate to being a mother and having a baby and raising children?

Let’s start with the first way that I see fertility as working in my life.  This is the form it takes for me.  It is important for me to be fertile in this way if I am to have a successful future to be able to help provide income for my fiance and myself.  That fact there is the central theme in my view about fertility, producing (productive/successful) and providing for a life of some sort (myself and my fiance).

I am not ready or in a position t have children.  That doesn’t mean I can’t perform or be involved in any fertility rites.  As a college student my education success is a type of fertility.  This is the way that fertility in my rites for myself has primarily taken form.  The idea here is that my brain and thus my mind be open to all the new information that will come my way.  That I have the determination and discipline to put the time and effort into my study and education to be successful and that I be willing to ask and be open to help when I need it.

My rites have also had to deal with financial and economic fertility.  This gets into the second way that I view fertility as important to pagan and witchcraft religions.  Here my rites have an effect not only on my self and my family but also on the local economy and eventually the national economy which in turn will have an effect on the global economy and thus everyone in the world will have some benefit.

In my life this has involved asking that the company my fiance belongs to continues to grow and he continues to be able to expand his training and thus general availability and interest to the computer field at large.  It also involves when I am looking for work me being able to find a job which will work out with me any my disabilities.

In both cases by insuring that we both have jobs, we are both able to spend more money on things that we enjoy such as videos, games, clothes, vacations, nights out, ect.  In this way us having employment insures that there will be money to go to local businesses.  That will encourage job growth and thus stimulate the local economy further.

With more income taxes the government has more money.  They can put this money towards technological developments and other areas of interest.  This again creates more jobs.  The success of those developments will create more jobs which will then increase tax flow and ultimately will increase local, national and global economies.

Woman and men who are professionals that have no desire to have any children that perform fertility rites often have their rites directed in this way.  For people who wonder if the seasonal sabbats performed by witches and pagans have any effect on the world at large I have just given an example that is important for the future of the world economy and thus every one in general.

The third way that I see fertility as essential is literally related to ancestral practices and the ancestral rites.  Many people think that there is no reason to perform rites to ensure the fertility of the land as so much of our food these days is processed or handed to us pre-made on a plate.  In that way of thinking those people are right.  However it negates one important thing.  The one thing that with out which we could not survive.

 So what is that one thing you ask?

That one essential thing is food.  With out food we can not live.  I will agree that most of our food is processed.  I will agree that in general in the majority of the world as individuals we do not have to work the land for food, hunt or gather food or the like.    In general we do not have to kill the animals we eat (unless we hunt or fish for fun).  We can go to the supermarket or local store and buy our food  all gathered and killed for us and all we need to do is cook it.

Taking all of that in to consideration it is so easy to see why people in general would not understand the need for the rites of the land to be honored.  For many there is no consideration as to where the food comes from.  It’s just there and always has been.  Why think about it?  It’ll be there for me all my life right?  I just need to keep buying my food items and they will always be there.  This is a way of thinking I was guilty of for many years, but as a witch and as a pagan seeking to understand the ancestral ways it is a wrong way of thinking.  Why I shall explain.

If the lands are not fertile than the fruits and vegetables we eat along with the grains will not prosper.  If the lands are not fertile than the animals that we eat and hunt will not be able to eat so they will die and there will be no meat.  That is why I see the nature fertility rites to be as important today if not more so than they were in the past.

The fourth way I see fertility rites as found in the typical 8 sabbats of the wheel of the year as important in the lives of Pagans and witches (and this is one area I have been neglectful) is spiritual fertility.  That’s right spiritual fertility.  If a person is not open to the presence of the Gods and the mysteries experienced through performing the rites of their path and actually communicating with deity than they will get nothing out of the rites.  That is spiritual fertility.

Spiritual fertility is being open to the experiences given to us by the Gods.  Spiritual fertility is practicing and experiencing the mysteries.  In many ways it is continuing to practice and do the work even if you don’t feel or seem to have any deep experiences at the moment.  It means working to remove the rocks in the path and working hard to keep at your path.  It’s not easy to be a Pagan.

When I say I have been neglectful in this area I mean it.  Every post I have written comes from what my thoughts have gathered based on what makes sense to me after reading and finding my intuition.  I have not been doing the prayers and rituals that I would like to.  As such I have not opened myself to the mysteries and the Gods as much as I would like.  My relationship with deities is not as strong as I would like.

This means I need to work on it.  I am.  I am working on it.  I am going to be more mindful of the esbats and the sabbats.  I am going to do more meditation again.  I need to get back to my schedule where I did meditate and worship on regular basis.  When I did that on a daily basis I was plowing my spiritual fields and the flowers and plants blossomed better than I ever imagined that they actually would.  So that is why I can say from personal experience that plowing the spiritual fields with in us is full of work, but it is worth it.

Finally we get into the fifth and last reason why I see fertility as a central and important theme for seekers to consider.  I wanted to save the sexual aspect for last as in many ways this is the most important.  I didn’t want to start with it as I feel the other areas of fertility are as important to consider as this one.  This one is actually why all the other areas are possible to be fertile,

The Great Rite is the most important rite found within witch and pagan rituals.  This rite is where the Priest and Priestess are the embodiment the God and Goddess either physically or symbolically act out sexual intercourse or the ultimate act of creation.  Through the act of sex a new being is created.  That is why sexuality is sacred.  That is why life is sacred.

With out the male and female parts of a species (plants are asexual, but do have a male and female component) there can be no reproduction.  There can be no continuation of a species.  The Great Rites acts out the cosmic sexual act of the God and Goddess which ultimately lead to the creation of the universe as we know it.  Sex is sacred as it is the act of creation.

I mentioned that the second and third degrees of Wicca contain the actual act of sex.  This is what I have been told by elders of Wicca.  These are the initiation/elevation rites that make the initiates High Priests or Priestesses.  The third degree is what allows an initiate to hive off and form their own coven.  Second degree I have been told can allow the new high priest and or priestess to start teaching.  Because it is at the level if being a High priestess where they actually become the God or Goddess in ritual this is why the Great Rite is fully enacted.

There you have it.  I have explained what fertility is in my view.  I have explained why it’s important and I have gone into the roles fertility has in our life.  In many ways you could say that any nature religion should have an aspect of fertility in it, but fertility cults are not nature based.  They may go hand in hand but they are not the same thing.