"Learn Your History" Is Not A Battle Cry To "Abandon Your Practice"

The point of older and / or better researched, more historically oriented, practitioners (often Reconstructionists who get demonized for doing so) pointing out the historical inaccuracies in modern lay information, and encouraging people to learn the legitimate academic history of their religion and its traditions? Is not meant to say “you can’t practice them because they’re not ancient; you’re just a pretender if you’re not celebrating the real ancient stuff” ...

It’s to say that you don’t need to manufacture fake histories for your holidays, your traditions, and your Spirits in order for them to be considered valid in the first place; the main point is that you don’t have to continue believing (for example) the historical lie that Eostre is an ancient Goddess in order to continue celebrating Ostara, or for that celebration to be perfectly valid in its own right. The false myth of Eostre doesn't have to factor into it at all.

It's also to say that whether it's a genuine 2,000 year old tradition (incredibly rare by the way), a 300 year old one (much more common), 50, 10, or even just a 1 year old tradition that you just started? They can all be as equally valid and spiritually fulfilling as one another. It ultimately doesn’t matter if it has significant meaning to you.

What does matter, however, is that we’re always transparent about the truth of things: Where what we practice comes from, how old it actually is, what its origins actually are, and how we came about this information (personal creation, gnosis, or historical record; etc). And more importantly: That we make concentrated efforts to continuously do better; that we continue to try and right the wrongs of our predecessors and Elders- especially when those wrongs are still causing blatant and provable damage both inside of, and outside of, our communities (and to the cultures from whom many of these vestiges originate or are pinned to in some form).

If you want academically aligned proof of this, one should really look no further than Professor >Ronald Hutton himself for validation, in an interview titled 'Ronald Hutton: Wicca and other invented traditions'; according to Wikia alone:

Interviewing Ronald Hutton for an article in The Independent, journalist Gary Lachman commented that Hutton had “a very pragmatic, creative attitude, recognizing that factual error can still produce beneficial results”- for instance noting that even though their theories about the Early Modern Witch-Cult were erroneous, Margaret Murray and Gerald Gardner would help lay the foundations for the creation of the new religious movement of Wicca.

If you somehow have no clue who Ronald Hutton is, and have never heard his name before: He’s a Professor of History at the University of Bristol and is considered one of the leading experts on Pagan studies in the world, with a specialization in Early Modern Britain (which extends into some Celtic* areas of the UK by proxy). You’d probably better know him as the author of works such as 'Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft', 'Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain', and 'Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain'.

Several other (far more questionably sourced) articles I’ve stumbled across- including some interviews- have likewise referenced Professor Hutton’s seemingly enthusiastic views about, essentially, just making things up yourself without the need to pass your creations off (falsely) as being ‘ancient’- or far older than they are- in order for the practices to be spiritually or otherwise “valid”. So if one of the leading experts on European Paganism in the world is telling you to make things up all you like, but just don’t make things up about history? Then I think it’s pretty safe to say that us more historically oriented practitioners correcting you about said historical fallacies genuinely shouldn’t rock your spiritual boat too badly.

Honestly, if anything, learning the true history of things and correcting any misinformation you were given at any point in time (wherever it came from) should further deepen your ability to connect with and celebrate these things- not destroy them. If your knee jerk reaction to finding out that you’re wrong is ever “now I have to completely abandon everything I hold dear, and give everything up”, your faith was never very solid in the first place. More importantly, it speaks mountains about how toxic (subconsciously or not) your mentality is surrounding "being wrong", and how you've incorrectly moralized the process of growth and learning. Which means you have a lot of internal work you desperately need to do. Because that’s neither healthy, nor appropriate, and is a significant stumbling block to maturing as a practitioner.