It's true: a number of Wiccans and Neopagans are, in fact, vegetarians. This is totally well and good. They care about the well being of animals, they want to assert their rights by way of boycott (an excellent way to protest, by the way) and they often do all of this because their Spirituality seems to dictate it so. It's this last point that I'm most interested in.
I was once in a Wiccan group online (the source of it long escapes me) which was a general Information and discussion group--nothing serious, but a nice, solid community. The moderator of this group was a very nice woman who exerted a reasonable amount of control. She was newly married and became pregnant, forcing her leave the group to make more time with her child. This was also reasonable. The person who became moderator next, however, ruffled more than a few feathers. She proclaimed that the group was henceforth to be vegetarian only, because (according to her) the only "real" Wiccans were vegetarians because they cared for the earth. Being an omnivore, I left the group out of respect for her wishes.
However, I take issue with the statement that only "real" Wiccans are vegetarians. Certainly, some very fine ones are, and I have no concern with that. However, I am an animist. I believe that everything alive has a life force, and plants are included. I don't believe that a cow has any more of a right to live than does a cabbage. Both the cow and the cabbage must be born; they must survive, grow, breed, and die. They must eat and drink, process thier inputs and produce thier outputs. Their young must then continue the cycle. The only difference I see between a cow and a head of cabbage is that the cow is somewhat cuter and the head of cabbage doesn't moo quite as loudly. I'm certainly not going to stop all consumption, as that would rather quickly lead to dehydration, malnourishment, starvation, and death. However, I see nothing wrong with being a "real" Wiccan and occasionally eating a steak. Perhaps I'm in the minority, but I personally feel as bad for the death of my entree as I do for my salad.
Even though this isn't an article, but an essay, I figure "better safe than sorry": In the light of a recent comment regarding copyright infringement, I would like to assert that all of the material in this article are my own unless they are appropriately cited. To use the standard book/movie resolution: Any resemblance this article has to any others of its ilk is purely coincidental and does not reflect on the authors of those articles or the quality of their production.
Downloadable books (free):
William Mansfield Groton - The Christian Eucharist And The Pagan CultsMourant Brock - Rome Pagan And Papal
Anonymous - Odinism And Asatru
Donald Mackenzie - Egyptian Myth And Legend
