Talk:Skyclad (Neopaganism)/Archive 1

Dubious relevance
The following paragraphs are interesting, but are they relevant to an article about a modern English language term? -- 19:16, 16 Nov 2004 (UTC)


 * Occult rituals are also performed skyclad in some cases. However, this is just one of many symbols occultism uses, and not a general rule or custom. The origins of it can be traced back to before the upswing of Neopaganism, and appear to lie in Tantra.


 * The Digambara (skyclad) monks of Jainism, as well as other Indian saddhus ("holy men"), have been practicing religious nudity for at least 2500 years.


 * Fighting skyclad was also a battle practice of ancient celtic tribes who would go into battle with no clothes although made up with woad war paint.

I think it's relevant. put it back in why don't you? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.245.29.229 (talk • contribs)
 * I disagree. "Skyclad" is not, to my knowledge, a Tantric or Celtic term.  While these may be examples of nudity, they should not be placed under the entry "Skyclad".  The Jade Knight 04:42, 17 November 2005 (UTC)
 * In religious and comparative literature, skyclad primarily refers to the Digambara monks of Jainism. I have moved the neopagan page to Skyclad (neopaganism), and placed a dab notice on the Digambara page. &mdash;Viriditas | Talk 00:08, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

I think this needs some work.
I think more historical information needs to be added to this article. Ancient "Pagan" people have practiced ceremonies, rituals, etc. nude for thousands upon thousands of years. Gerald Gardner may have coined the term "Skyclad", but he definately did not create the practice of nudism within pagan rituals. Overall it seems to be a good article, but seems to applicate Witchcraft and Wicca to be the founders of practicing nude! Thats obsurd. That should be it for the most part. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.23.12.213 (talk • contribs)

To do
As a start... Jkelly 19:01, 27 June 2006 (UTC)
 * 1) Find a reliable source that explains where the word "skyclad" comes from.  There are plenty of random websites that say it comes from Jainism, without further explanation that isn't very helpful.
 * 2) Find a reliable source that explains that some people practice skyclad in order to "help the flow of magical energy".
 * 3) Find a reliable source for the "Gardner included it because he was a nudist" argument.  Has this been suggested by anyone who can be taken seriously?
 * 4) The current phrasing suggests more detective work from Hutton than is actually the case.  It's good to have Hutton as a source for the original Charge borrowing from Aradia, but he isn't the first person to make the connection.  Surely Valiente notes this somewhere (Eight Sabbats for Witches?  The Rebirt of Witchcraft?).  It would be good to find an earlier source for this and then just use Hutton to back it up as being reliable.
 * 5) Cite the Spiral Dance page.
 * 6) Include some more non-Gardnerian material.  Alex Sanders didn't practice skyclad, for instance.  Did he explain why not?

Removed image
I removed the above image because it is sensationalistic and, more importantly, irrelevant. Its a depiction of "witchcraft" rather than neopaganism by an artist who dies centuries before neopaganism began and whose, according to Wikipedia, "conception of human form is often very unpleasant,". Hyacinth 01:10, 3 August 2006 (UTC)
 * On the contrary, it's a classic image depicting the concept in question. I am replacing it in the article, although we can discuss it further if necessary. The caption could be better, though. -- nae'blis 18:38, 27 October 2006 (UTC)
 * We need to find a better image than this, Hyacinth raises a valid point that this is an inappropriate image for this material. Is there honestly no image in the free public sphere of a skyclad ritual that we could use? wrc_wolfbrother 16:51, 7 November 2007 (UTC)
 * I just sort of wonder if there needs to be an image at all. Not being a prude here-- I myself am a skyclad practitioner-- but this is not a concept that really requires illustration.  CatherS 06:02, 12 November 2007 (UTC)
 * I agree, although this would technically be "skyclad", this image is sensationalistic, and quite misleading (in the sense of a historical falsity). This is a Protestant's point of view of a witch's sabbath (ie. the "old hag", the contortionism of bodies, and lesbian sexual overtones).99.54.188.157 (talk) 06:14, 13 April 2010 (UTC)

Links
Does anyone have any links to neopagan websites? I think the article can use some links...Dreammaker182 02:33, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
 * What kind of links, and why? Articles don't automatically need external links, although in some situations they can be useful. As a longstanding wikipedia editor I have found myself removing inappropriate and unencyclopedic links far more than adding them. See WP:EL for more information. Fuzzypeg★ 21:05, 23 October 2008 (UTC)