What is Wicca? And What it Isn’t

Hexes, spells, magick – these words all bring one familiar image to mind: the witch. Usually, this witch is wearing a long, black cloak, a pentacle necklace (often confused with the pentagram) and is horribly ugly with a sharp, protruding nose and beady, black eyes. This witch might also be carrying a broomstick, chanting evil spells into the sky or stroking a midnight black cat. However, this image of a “witch” is extremely stereotypical and for the most part, ridiculous. A witch or wiccan, which is another name for a person, male or female, who practices the old pagan religion of Wicca, isn’t some crazy, mythical, evil creature. Witches are professors, doctors, lawyers, even the girl-next-door. In fact, Wicca’s popularity is gaining, especially in the where it is now the fastest growing religion. Nowadays, one person out of every five is either a practicing witch his or herself or knows someone who is (Ravenwolf 22). Even though Wicca is so popular today, it is actually a very old religion. It is even called the Old Religion because its’ teachings have their roots in the ancient religion of Paganism (Crowley 1). Many of the basic principles seen in other major religions today also received their inspiration from the Pagan traditions of the past. Witches are as normal as Christians or Jews; but what makes them unique are the practices in which they partake and the way they have been viewed by others over the course of time Wicca, unlike other religions, does not have a “book” or “concrete” set of rules in which the Wiccan is required to abide by (Crowley 5). The main principles of Wicca include the Three-Fold Law (which states that any energy put out into the world, good or bad, will come back to whomever put it out times three), the idea that “If it harms none, do what you will”, and the worship of the “Divine” which includes both female and male counterparts; a Goddess and a horned God (Ravenwolf 17).

Since Wicca is based mostly upon nature, Wiccans perform eight religious ceremonies throughout the year “based on seasonal phenomena as well as the course of the sun and the phases of the moon” (Grimassi 29). There are two types of ceremonies and rituals Wiccans perform: esbats and sabbats, including four crossquarter sabbats (Winter Solstice, Spring Equinox, Summer Solstice and Fall Equinox). During esbats, Wiccans take their communion, which consists of cake and ale. Esbats are the appropriate time for such events like handfastings (marriages) and also for Wiccan “christenings” called sainings (Ravenwolf 34). Wiccans also perform eight Sabbats a year: Samhain, Yule, Imbolic, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lunghnasadh, and Mabon. These eight religious events make up the year for the Witch (Grimassi 30). The most important of Wiccan sabbats is Samhain, which is celebrated between October 31st and November 11th, depending on the schedule of each individual coven. During Samhain, the main focus is to celebrate and remember the people who have passed on. Since Wiccans believe in reincarnation, Samhain is the time to embrace the souls of those once living on Earth and to recognize the fact that they have now become a part of the universe in a different way. The cauldron is often the main staple of the ceremony performed during Samhain. In fact, the Halloween party game bobbing for apples comes from an old Pagan tradition because of the high amount of respect witches have for apple magick and the belief that once a witch bit into the apple, part of their soul went into the apple (Ravenwolf 42). Many of these celebrations bear resemblance to Christian holidays and festivities. The difference, however, between Wicca and other religions does not seem to lie in these holidays, but rather in other solitary and group practices undertaken by witches during non-holy events. Most wiccans practice what is known as magick -with a “k”. Magick can most easily be described as “the art of causing change in ways not yet fully explicable to science” (Crowley 69). Magick is used only for good, positive change and is never used to control someone or cause someone to do something against their will (Ravenwolf 13). Wiccans practice magick by using a tool called the “magick circle” – which means nothing more than “a sacred space that represents Wiccan holy ground” (Ravenwolf 28). The art of magick includes chants and spells, where the witch will recite a certain affirmation or desire while sometimes using a certain object or scent to aid in the process, hopefully to acquire positive change from the spell.

Although wiccans can be solitary witches, most witches are a part of a group or coven. To become a part of a certain coven, witches partake in initiation rituals (Crowley 90). This is a ceremony in which other witches perform a ceremony of change for the soon-to-be witch; some covens believe “it takes a witch to make a witch” (Ravenwolf 37). Although every initiation ceremony differs from coven to coven, there are a few actions that remain the same. Sometimes, initiations are performed in the nude, or while the High Priest or Priestess is wearing certain colors on their robe (Crowley 98). The basic outline of an initiation ceremony are four aspects: “the purification, the challenge, the symbolic death and rebirth of the individual, and the oath” (Ravenwolf 38). Wiccans perform many ceremonies that may seem different from other religions, but are really quite similar in their main ideas.

Modern day Wiccans face many challenges from society. Over time, wiccans have been portrayed as a group of robe-wearing, spell chanting, sexually risquÃ?© people. Although witches do perform spells and magick, they are not the barbaric beings that many people believe they are. The persecution of witches has gone on since The Salem Witch Trials, where women were hanged if they were suspected of practicing Wicca. The common idea is that Wiccans participate in orgies. Although Wiccans do not view sex as a bad thing and don’t tell their followers not to engage in it, they realize the consequences that come with sexual interaction. This is quite different from the extravagant stories of Wiccan orgies concocted by other religions. Other common misconceptions of witches include that they take drugs, work black magick, eat babies, use animal blood and sacrifice in their ceremonies, break the law, work with demons, and cast crazy love spells. Witches, in fact, are highly against most of the activities they are blamed for taking part in. However, the most common misconception placed upon Wiccans is that they are devil worshippers. Wiccans do not believe in an “absolute evil” such as the Christian Devil. They believe that “to give evil name is to give it power” and that humans are responsible for their own actions, a “devil” does not cause them to do bad things (Ravenwolf 14). These crazy ideas of what Wiccans do have made it almost impossible for many witches to live and practice their religion until recent years. The general population has a horribly misconstrued image of the common witch. It is a continuous cycle: Wiccans are viewed wrongly so they stay quiet about their religion and since they are quiet about their religion, no one is setting the record straight. Over the years Wiccans have been persecuted and even killed because of the ignorance of people who have not taken the time to study the religion or learn the least bit about it.

If one is to think about and the people who inhabit it, the same image comes to mind for almost everyone. It is the image of a small suburban home surrounded by a white picket fence. It is the image of a family of four; one girl and one boy, a still married mother and father. The family is middle-class, white, and practicing Christians. The father wears a white-collar suit and tie and the mother stays at home to watch over her growing children. This image is the “American norm” and the modern day Wiccan in many American’s eyes, does not fit into this mold. Although a Wiccan and a Christian may look exactly the same, work the same job and even live in the same kind of home, the Wiccan is still considered an outsider. In today’s modern American society, Christianity seems to be the way of the world. Christianity is everywhere; on billboards, on bumper stickers, even in the White House. Frankly, one is not normal unless he or she is a Christian. Whether or not the Christian at hand actually follows the good moral law they are expected to follow or not, a Christian is still deemed more worthy and more respectable than a follower of any other religion would be. Wiccans take their religion just as seriously as any Christian would, but the bottom line is that Christianity is more widely accepted because it is “normal.”

There are many different groups, including religions, that are represented in society today. Wiccans are often mis-labeled, misconstrued, and misunderstood, like many other groups are. Although some of them are “inside” groups and some are on the “outside”, each group is equally respectable. Although Witches practice their religion and their prayer differently, they are no better or worse than any other religious group.