Wicca 101-Setting Things Straight

By and large, Wicca is a very misunderstood religion. TV and the media tend to glamorize it, portraying practitioners as young and sexy people with special powers. Mainstream religions usually view Wiccans as Satan-worshippers, and overall unsavory people. The first option is more flattering, certainly, but just as inaccurate. Newcomers to the path of Wicca can be overwhelmed by the amount of information available to them in books and on the internet, and sometimes it can be hard to know what is reliable. I intend to set the record straight and ease the confusion for seekers and outsiders alike.

First of all lets adress the "glamorous" Wicca idea. Plenty of Wiccans are not young anymore, in fact all of my teachers/role models were around my grndparents' age. If you are looking for a religion which only allows beautiful people to join, Wicca isn't it. Wiccans also do not have special powers-everyone has the ability to practice magick if they will develop it, and furthermore one does not have to be Wiccan to do so. Wicca is a religion which provides a framework for using magick, if your goal is simply to practice magick there are many magickal systems without this religious context.

As to worshipping Satan: that would require believing in him. Wicca and Satanism are not one and the same. Satanism is a Christian heresy in which the roles of the deities are reversed, Wicca is a religion unto itself, with no relationship to Christianity. Every religion has its less-than-perfect practitioners, Wicca included, however, one bad example is not representative of the faith as a whole. I have known good charitable Satanists and I have known truly rotten Christians.

Now I will refer to questions I have been asked, or have heard asked of others:

Do Wiccans sacrifice people or animals?Absolutely not. Because of their belief that Deity is present within all things, Wiccans hold a deep respect for all forms of life and the Earth. There would be no reason for Wiccans to sacrifice anything, as it is not something our Gods ask of us, and would not bring about any positive results.

Is there any sex involved?This partly depends on what tradition is being discussed, as some include sex as part of their third degree initiation ritual. Apart from that, however, most of the sex in Wicca is carried out only symbolically, and any physical sex happens between established couples in private.

Do I have to be goth to be Wiccan? Of course not! "Goth" is a fashion statement, a style of dress. Wicca is a religion. Some goths are Wiccan, and some Wiccans are goth, but they are by no means one and the same. You can wear whatever you like and still be Wiccan.

I hope I've cleared up a few rumors and misconceptions about Wicca. In my next article I will be discussing some of the things Wiccans believe in.

FOR SEEKERS Writing Prompt-Why are you here?
For those just starting on the path, I highly recommend starting a journal to go along with your Book of Shadows, called your Book of Mirrors. I will be including writing prompts to help start entries in your BOM, this is the first.

Why are you reasearching Wicca? Does it appeal to you? Why are you drawn toward it? Are you still interested after reading this article? What are some of the things you hope to learn?

Blessed be, I hope you enjoyed the article.