Tradition
Dianic Witchcraft
A goddess-centred branch of modern witchcraft founded by Zsuzsanna Budapest in 1971, distinguished from mainstream Wicca by its monotheistic focus on the Goddess (typically named Diana or Artemis) and, in its original branch, by women-only membership.
Dianic Witchcraft is a goddess-centred current of modern witchcraft, founded by the Hungarian-American writer and activist Zsuzsanna “Z” Budapest in Los Angeles in 1971. It differs from the duotheistic Wiccan mainstream (Gardnerian and Alexandrian) in two principal respects: it focuses worship on a single Goddess, often invoked under the name Diana or her Greek counterpart Artemis, rather than a goddess-and-god pair; and in its original branch it is open only to women.
The tradition emerged out of the early-1970s feminist movement on the West Coast of the United States, drew rapidly on the wider neopagan and witchcraft revival, and became one of the principal vehicles through which the women’s spirituality movement organised itself. Multiple branches now exist, some of which have moved away from the original women-only requirement and admit transgender women or have opened generally; Z Budapest’s own line has not.
