Oof: is there anything more tiresome than Wicca-bashing?
Funny thing is, many Wicca-bashers seem to spend more time talking about Wicca than most Wiccans do. They invariably remind me of those bitter people who can't manage to talk about anything but their exes. (Not to mention those tedious Wiccans whose favorite topic is the evils of "Christianity.") Gee: if your new relationship is so good, why are you still obsessing about the old one?
Many of us first come to the Old Ways through Wicca. This makes perfect sense: it's the oldest, largest, and most widespread New Paganism in the English-speaking world. It's certainly not perfect, and for many of us it's not, ultimately, a good fit.
It's characteristically adolescent behavior to define yourself by who (and what) you're not. But in the end, we all need to grow up and start defining ourselves by who (and what) we are instead.
Remember all the self-pitying whinging about “Wiccanate” (how this infelicitous coinage differs from "Wiccan," I'm not sure) privilege a few years back? Tedious, tedious, tedious.
If Wiccans are privileged in Pagandom—which hardly seems axiomatic to me—it's because they've been the first to do the long, hard work of breaking virgin ground. They've tilled the soil in which the rest of us are now planting our pagan garden. Surely a more fitting—and honorable—response from those of us who have come through Wicca would be one of gratitude instead.
So, for me, let me say: Thank you, Wicca, for everything that you've given me.
You didn't end up my life-long love, but you did help me take my first steps in the art of loving.
For that I am—and will be—forever grateful.