Indeed, there were some amazing personalities and egos at work in generations past, the fallout of their tempers and hostile attitudes, coupled with the ongoing rumors and innate defensiveness of some contemporary people, leave the fabled Chicago witches with a legacy that many wish would just die-off already.
In the last decade, some of the newer blood folks have extended olive branches towards groups that once harbored "the enemy faction"....and these people did respond favorably towards a truce, if somewhat hesitantly at first. I think the intervening generation of practitioners infused the area with more tolerance and perhaps fresh perspective on some of the former in-fighting, thus giving up some of those lingering ghosts which were the root-cause of the more ravenous debates.
And well, frankly, some of the old participants in the 'witch war' have left the pagan scene through their own choice to go underground with their pursuit of spirituality, a few have "changed teams" and become Christians, and a few have died, leaving their groups and downlines to make their own decisions about the importance of continuing old arguments. Thankfully, most of those left to pick up the pieces in the aftermath opted on the side of more peaceable, or at least less confrontational, agreeing-to-disagree stances on things. Some of the feuds may not be reconciled, but at least we didn't see the need to keep fighting long after the reasons which incited the war were obscured by time and the removal of the key personages involved.
So it has also been in recent years that our Chi-town answer to the Hatfields and McCoys have learned to mind their own business and grow, even flourish, within the context of their localized area. If time has taught us that trying to pull in too wide a net of people caused erruptions of ego, of too many would-be leaders jockeying for power and credit for mammoth events....then the best solution would be to live in our fractal, yet congenial serfdoms and pockets of paganism. The smaller scale afforded us a sort of regionalized team spirit. The city proper, the northern suburbs, the western suburbs, the south suburbs...each like mini hubs which have their own unique flavors and specialized offerings for types of pagans and witches.
This is how, in my opinion, the City of the Big Shoulders has morphed itself and learned to co-exist. With the advance communication of the internet, the rallying around of people attending local events and festivals or all converging on pagan-friendly stores in their neighborhood rather than journeying forth to other surrounding communities....this has led the way, surprisingly, towards less competition instead of greater.
The best part, as far as I have experienced it, is that the local community "leaders" or "spokespeople" tend to communicate with each other about their own little hubs, being more open to sharing info, giving referrals, etc. Occasionally you'll pick up on the faint whiff of stale attitudes and worries from the folks who had been on the Chicago scene during the 'war years'....but these are getting to be less and less as the newer blood sees no need to perpetuate things that happend in the 60's, 70's or 80's. Hell, some of the currently thriving groups weren't even in existence during those decades!!
Another tremendous outcome born from our shared, painful past, is the solidifying of family trees. The capturing of data and histories of how the greater Chicago metro area arrived at its present state with such a wide range of offerings for those who would seek out pagan and witchcraft avenues. A few of us have been collecting the stories and information of the origins of our spiritual factions. We're building a verifiable family tree of how Group A spun off of Group B or how High Priest Y and High Priestess Z founded Coven RST circa 1973 and that they had taught so-and-so who later moved to the western 'burbs and established Coven RTS in 1982, etc. We have the makings of an expansive and really illuminating.....and truly, pretty inbred!....Chicago family tree. We know who is/was lineaged, who came up through Pagan Way, who is a transplant of another tradition from another part of the US or elsewhere in the world, who created a thriving new denomination of Craft wholesale. We know which groups spawned others, who founded them, who left them to begin a tangentally related group somewhere else. We're learning....because those who do not learn from the past are destined to repeat it.
Plus, there have been some instances of "new blood" coming into the area as folks who were taught specific lineaged traditions arrived and began teaching their specific type of Craft, and these have added to the tapestry of our regional flavors. It is utterly amazing to see the generational impact that these influxes and progenerative waves have produced on the established schools of thought. Especially so when they are each adopted and absorbed by their smaller, local area and then later "announced to" the wider Chicago scene.
Where in the 'witch war' past this may have caused an uproar and a staunch prove you are legit or else we won't recognize your group as anything but a threat to our established ways, nowadays, most folks are delighted to see a fresh dose of folks arrive in their locale. Rather than acting out of fear, we tend more towards cautious curiosity, and if they are proved integritous, acceptance. Even welcome. This change in attitude, change of heart, has been remarkable to witness.
I myself was just coming into paganism at the tale end of the 'witch wars' and although I didn't know all the players first hand, I did know who they were and what each side was accusing the other one of perpetrating. It was daunting for me, newbie that I was at that time, to read about how magical and loving and powerful all this witchcraft stuff was supposed to be and then to have to witness such hostility and egotistically advantageous behavior from the supposed leadership in our fair city. However, taking to heart that bit about "let naught stop thee nor turn thee aside," I'd persisted in my pursuit of seeking out the Craft that I had read about, that I was sure was there somewhere beneath this awful veneer of ugly in-fighting, name calling, gossip and calculated bad press.
It took awhile, years in fact, and some hard lessons of pushing past the gossip, the storytelling for self-promotion, the lies which slanted views about "the other side" whom I'd never had the opportunity to meet. I had to remember what I'd come to paganism, to witchcraft, looking for....to follow the trail of what was ultimately important in my seeker's quest....and that was to find a group, a course of study, a coven family that was kindred of the spirit, even if they were human too.
In time, I have crossed paths with many varieties of pagans in my local community. Some of them have been quietly doing what they do and are most effective in their private work outside the ken of the rest of the City of Chicago. Others have been more vocal and active in the promotion of legal rights for pagans, or have hosted introductory classes or small teaching circles for those who would like to learn but who don't necessarily want the affiliation of a particular tradition. Others are teachers of specific lineaged paths, some publically known as elders of this trad or that trad and a few who remain "hidden" so that potential students can test their mettle by searching and discovering them in their midst.
It does my heart good to hear that the reputation of Chicagoland is improving, even if it is a slow process of re-educating the wider pagan populace. We're no longer the seat of all the heartache and drama that we once were......and we'd like some credit for having learned from our very painful mistakes of the past so that we can continue working towards a more conducive, honest future.
