We'll start with a very basic definition:

Dianic Wicca
n.
A Tradition of Wicca that concentrates mainly on the Goddess aspect, and downplaying or not acknowledging the God. There are two types within Dianicism:

1. Old Dianic Wicca- Places greater importance in the Goddess, and honours the God as merely her consort. Covens include both women and men.
2. Feminist Dianic- Worships the Goddess alone, in her triple-goddess aspects: Maiden, Mother, and Crone. Only women are allowed in the covens. Most are accepting of any sexual orientation, but a few covens consist of only lesbians.

As with any Tradition, there are always exceptions to the definition. There are many lesbians involved in Dianic Wicca, and a few man-haters. But it is far from the truth to say that all are. I know many straight and bisexual women who are Dianic, whom also adore the male half of the human species.

Zsuzsanna Budapest is one of the pioneering mothers of Feminist Dianic Wicca. As the definition above states, they worship the the triple Goddess, alone. The Maiden, symbolising youth and beginning sexuality; the Mother, symbolising nurturing, fertility, and female power; and the Crone, symbolising wisdom, experience, and guidance. Contrary to the Tradition's name, they do not worship only Diana. Some do not include her in their personal 'pantheon' of deities at all. As with many Traditions in Wicca, the faces practitioners choose to view as the Goddess' aspects are gleaned from everywhere- from the Ashanti to the Zulu, from Aja to Zywie.

Old Dianics sometimes keep the same Wheel of the Year as other Traditions, but the Wheel that Feminist Dianics often use is slightly different from that of other Traditions. They also place great importance on the rites of passage in which women take on aspects of the Goddess; first menstruation, childbirth, menopause, etc. Fem Dianic covens do not have a particular High Priestess. Things are a group effort, and decisions are come to upon group discussion.

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The following article excerpt has been edited for spelling and punctuation. It is a fairly good explanation of the prejudices against Dianicism, and why they're untrue. Original document can be found about three-quarters of the way down this website.

Dianism In A Nutshell
by: Inanna Seastar

Recently, I got back in touch with my teacher after nearly two years and dropped a couple of bombshells on her; I had changed gender identity and had come together with two other women to form a Dianic coven. When the initial shock wore off, Rita sent me a complete run of Protean Synthesis and a solicitation for this article.

Several years ago, I subscribed to several stereotypes regarding ‘those peculiar Dianics’. They were theologically unbalanced, they hated men, they denied that men had souls, they were all lesbians, they couldn’t spell (in the orthographic sense- no one has yet accused Dianics of inability to work magick), etc. When I came together with my covensisters, I realised that these notions were at most partially true and some cases were patently false.

I believe there are only three valid generalisations that can be made about Dianics; 1) We are all feminists. 2) We all look to the Goddess(es) far more than to the God(s). 3) We are all eclectics. Note as well that there are plenty of non-Dianic feminist witches, non-Dianic eclectics, and non-Dianics who are primarily Goddess-oriented. There are also doubtless a good many feminist, Goddess-oriented eclectics who do not choose to call themselves Dianic. In my own case, I use the ‘if it quacks like a duck, is probably is a duck’ argument, as well as the fact that my High Priestess learned the Craft as a Dianic and runs Dianic rituals.

Some of the stereotypical generalisations I can dismiss out of hand. I don’t know of a single Dianic who denies that men have souls. Even Z. Budapest doesn’t believe that piece of tripe anymore! It is true that Dianism is particularly attractive to separatists, and many separatists actually hate men. Many Dianics are lesbians. Some misspell words like ‘woman’, ‘women’, ‘egalitarian’, and ‘holistic’ on purpose. Not all fit these, however, and I think that Z. Budapest in her younger days represents an extreme and small minority. There are a number of males involved in Dianism.

Theological and magickal imbalance are not so easily dismissed and need to be addressed further, as that is the most valid objection that thoughtful witches have to Dianism. The apparent imbalance comes from the Dianic emphasis on Goddess-worship, often to the complete exclusion of God-worship. This upsets many witches’ sense of polarity balance. The resolution of this apparent imbalance lies in the consideration of other polarities than sexual and/or gender as the primary polarity. There are indeed many other polarities to consider; true-false, dark-light, rational-mystical, creation-destruction, and order-chaos, to name but a few. One problem with masculine-feminine polarity is that there is a strong tendency to express all other polarities in terms of it. The Chinese were particularly fond of this, and mapped everything they liked into the yang side, and everything they disliked or feared into the yin side. The patriarchal no-accounts!

One thing I have discovered is that if you look hard enough, you can find goddesses to fit both ends of most polarities. Some even occupy both ends simultaneously. Inanna, my matron goddess, is a good case in point. She is the Sumerian goddess of love, war, wisdom, adventure, the heavens, the earth, and even of death (in the guise of her dark aspect, Ereshkigal). A very busy lady indeed is Inanna. At this point, it becomes largely a matter of personal preference rather than of polarity, whether one chooses a goddess or god to occupy a particular place in a ritual.