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Wicca mostly misunderstood
By Annmarie Mallon
People normally base their opinions on Wicca on the stereotypical view of witches meanwhile they don’t know the ideology and practices that the religion entails.
Contrary to popular belief the religion is not a tool used to justify hurting others or the worship of Satan.
Although many other occults that derived from the Pagans include religious practices that aren’t ethically acceptable in society, Wicca is very different from all of these with their beliefs. They do practice spell work and witchcraft but in a more ideal way, they believe that the power of the mind is greater than any of us may realize. Even science shows that we only use a very small percentage of our brains; Wicca says that by becoming spiritual you begin to tap into that unused brain power and when you focus a lot of your energy on obtaining a goal, it will happen.
In Wicca the biggest and most abstract ideal is energy, it is what most other religions are based loosely upon and also is the best explanation for a Wiccans rituals, practices (such as magic), and their other beliefs. The most effective way of exemplifying it would be when upon walking in a room, if a person has felt the ‘vibe’ of the people in there. When walking into your friend’s house with people you know and trust you begin to feel more comfortable and somewhat elated and happy to see them. This is completely unlike walking into a place where you aren’t very familiar with your surroundings and you see people fighting, in this situation you would feel uneasier, uncomfortable and overall you can feel the tension fill the place. This is a widely accepted idea of energy that everyone has felt at one point or another. We are able to recognize these feelings because in today’s social society, this is what is acceptable and expected of us, so we are familiarized with it all through our lives.
In Wicca it is believed that all things give off vibes including people, plants, animals, and even inanimate objects. The idea of this becomes even more abstract as it gets deeper; if you begin to train and focus your mind on noticing these feelings, you could actually get vibrations or other sensations from what Wiccans label energy. When compared to science it relatively makes sense; all objects contain energy potential and kinetic energy both impacts the things around it.
Scott Lunningham, a respected Wiccan author divides energy into three main groups: personal, divine (God or the Greater being) and earth. These different sources of power are said to all contain give off and use energy. This idea can be connected to other opinions of energy “It binds the galaxy together” this opinion was projected in the 1977 version of the movie Star Wars. “The force” this movie speaks about could even be related to religion.
Personal energy can be divided into three sub categories, subconscious, conscious and super-conscious. Wiccans believe that through every action we do, we tap into these sub categories. The subconscious is the personal part of our mind that accepts everything that enters it. The conscious state deals mostly with the material world and since it has seen everything occurring around it its very skeptical which is why it controls our continence ethics, and knowledge of reality. Super-conscious focuses on the idea of a higher power.
Deity is a Wiccan’s representation of God. Unlike most religions it is composed of two halves; the Lady and the Lord. Separate, the Lady is the mother figure, creator of the night and represented by the moon. Often referred to as the Spirit, when in junction with the Lord, the creator of the Earth represented by the sun. This is justified by the belief that the higher being is to un-tangible for people to fully comprehend and that is why it is broken into facets that people can relate to. The “sacred dynamic of Wicca” as explained by Thea Sabin, a Wiccan woman who taught the religion for more then fifteen years and practicing for more than twenty she is a high priestess who has written books on the religion as well, is that those halves are connected by polarity and neither can exist without the other. This idea is also shown in other practices (yin and yang). We even see it every day, we would not know light was bright if it were not for the existence of dark. The idea of the different facets of the spirit shows that deity is not there just to be accepted but also understood and felt because it contains energy just as everything else.
Through the ideal that the earth is a manifestation of deity; we must take care of the Earth and give back to it. Wiccans are supposed to live with the Earth and not against it (littering and pollution are not condoned).
Through the three sources of power Wiccans create magic. Defined as “the science and art of causing change to occur in conformance with will” by Aleister Crowley, a man who was Wiccan at a point but because of his addictions and desires turned to other occults. Unlike Crowley (who put a spell on his doctor because the doctor wouldn't give him prescriptions he asked for, soon after this Crowley died and his doctor died about two or three days later), Wiccans practice magic to better the lives of themselves, the world and people around them too. If you get caught up in the concept of magic it sounds corny and ridiculous but the ideal is the bending of energy to bring about desired change. With this, Wiccans also believe psychic abilities exist and through magic, meditation, ritual and divinity people can gain powers like ESP and telekinesis.
But if there’s no moral code or ethics in the religion everyone would be running around doing harmful acts that they would justify with the excuse of “it is for the better of mankind” and overall there would be chaos. Wrong. There’s no set of rules like other religions, no Ten Commandments, therefore giving people freedom to base their actions on the particular situation. Running alongside this freedom comes responsibility and since we all have a conscious mind we all have a conscience. The responsibility Wiccans take on is; understanding that freedom carries the “Wiccan Rede” and the “Threefold Law” The Wiccan Rede states “An it harm no one, do as you will”. This also goes hand in hand with “Ever mind the rule of three what you give out comes back to thee”. Basically everything, just by its existence harms or disables the advantages of something else and because of this people are incapable of being perfect and not hurting anything but the threefold law explains that if you are meaning to put out negative energy, you will receive negative energy and putting out positive energy will bring you positive energy. This karma- like ideal shows that you’re responsible for yourself and you must accept the consequences for your actions.
This idea is the exact reason why Wiccans might be stereo-typed as very sexual people. As long as a person knows the responsibility of having sexual intercourse it is completely accepted by the religion. They embrace sexuality instead of condemning it to the "only to reproduce" corner that many other religions have. They are very liberal on this subject because they feel life is meant to be celebrated.
Wiccans also celebrate death as much as life. Reincarnation is also a big part of Wicca, the idea of learning and growing and doing this until Summerland is reached (idea that is like a combination of the Buddhists Nirvana and the Christians heaven).
Wiccans do not denounce the beliefs or practices any other religion has formed. A Wiccan who has had years of training, formed eleven different covens in eight different states, written books and even has four Wiccan children defines the religion as “A nature based, life affirming religion that follows a moral code and seeks to build harmony among people and empower the self and others” says Silver Ravenwolf. When looking at this from a different point of view you see that this definition could loosely fit for almost all religions.
Many Wiccan beliefs correlate in certain ways with the ideas of other religions and peoples daily lives, as well. Magic could be what Christians view as miracles. People see nature and interact with it on a daily basis. Just by throwing out garbage in trash cans or "going green" and recylcling people are helping the Earth and therefore are in the same mindset as a Wiccan would have. Rituals performed in Sabbats (Wiccan holidays; there’s eight in total) are the celebrations of the Earth (phases of the moon, seasons, ect.) in Wicca. Rituals celebrate life and life would not be tangible if it were not for the Earth. Although an onlooker might be taken aback by the actions Wiccans take in these rituals, the only reason people may be shocked by certain practices (eg. after twenty one year old Wiccans dance and jump over a fire they run into the woods and have sex; kids are not allowed to participate in certain rituals) its mostly cause the traditions aren’t conditioned and set into our lifestyles but they're only a joyous celebration of life. The spirit is a higher being just as Islam’s have Allah, only the Wiccan deity takes on a different form. Saints are prayed to and asked for guidance in Catholicism which you could almost consider that its as if you were worshiping them. Therefore a polytheistic religion like Wicca isn’t so wrong when followers worship other gods and goddesses. Alters that are found in Catholic churches would be found in a Wiccans home but this makes sense for them because they believe everywhere is sacred space. What is known as the magic circle to Wiccans is simply a place to communicate with the higher power and focus your energy, just as Jewish people pray in temples. If all these comparisons align as correctly as they seem to than why do people think of the religion as a satanic cult?
Wicca derived from the Pagans; a group of people defined by the Christian church as someone who believes in nothing. Instead the real truth is Pagans are people who practice earth- based religions. “Wicca is a religion with a lot of theology (study of the nature of deity) and no dogma (rules imposed by religious leaders)” states Thea Sabin.
The earliest dated document on Wicca originates from the Christian church is believed to have originated in 906 A.D. The Canon Episcopi stated that practicing Wicca is a Christian heresy and it’s not real at all.
Then after many years, Pope Innocent VIII issued the Summis Desiderantes Affectibus which basically explained that witchcraft was real but the people who practiced it were performing a heresy. This papal bull was released in 1484 asa prefix to a document known as Malleus Maleficarum, a manual on the finding, torturing and the prosecuting of witches. This "how to guide" on murdering and suppressing others was spread by Dominican Inquisitioners and in little time led to the burning and killing of many people. One example is the trials in Salem, where Wiccans, as well as other Pagan descended occult practitioners were unfairly tried and always (with about two people being exceptions) sentenced to death. This document is also somewhat associated with ideas formed today on witchcraft. Most Pagan religions died out or became very discreet because of the serious consequences people faced otherwise.
Dr.Margaret Murray had a different belief from the one most of society had at this time. She believed that it was truly a Pagan cult that was very organized and not a heresy. She published this idea in 1921 in a book called The Witch-Cult in Western Europe" and the impact of this even affects the Wiccans of today.
People began to accept Wiccan ideals and eventually in 1951 England appealed their witchcraft laws. A man living there at the time named Gerald B. Garner met a coven (organized group of people who practice the religion together) of Wiccans while in search for esoteric teachings. Eventually he was initiated into this coven and wanted the elder Wiccans he was studying under to allow him to write a book on Wicca in hopes that the traditions would live on.
After much persuasion they agreed and a book called "High Magic’s Aid" was produced. They didn't allow him to portray Wicca quite the way he wanted to because of how against writing the books they were in the first place. Eventually Garner started a coven of his own and published more books. But in them he altered the religion somewhat to make it more aesthetically appealing and also filled in missing information using family folk magic and traditions. The publicity eventually served its purpose and Wicca became better known.
Originally people couldn’t accept Wicca simply because they didn’t fully understand it and from this fears were formed. The complete misconception of Wicca created stereo-types and violence that have been preserved for many years and will probably is around forever. These misguided assumptions were only fed to whenever an alteration was made to the religion. Thea Sabin states“…how Wicca works in a person’s life is heavily influence by that person’s experiences” in the book Wicca for Beginners.
Wicca is meant to pertain directly to a person’s life which is why certain elements in it may be emphasized by individuals and discarded by others. This in turn can change people’s perception of the religion entirely creating biased views and discrimination of Wiccans. These can all seem like faults in the religion but in the end it only makes the religion stronger. Facing ridicule for a belief but still having credence in the judgment only increases the credibility of how fervently Wiccans must feel about their religion. This all truly seems to come from a guileless and benevolent place and not a satanic dwelling.