Lately, I’ve seen a growing and, let’s face it, a disturbing trend. It’s the perception of Wicca being an evil, diabolic cult that worships satan. This perception is, apparently, being fueled by propaganda and out and out lies perpetrated by fundamentalist Christian groups. These groups accuse Wiccans and pagans of being devil worshipers, drug addicts, child molesters, of kidnapping and killing children and household pets, of practicing wild, naked sex orgies where children are encouraged to get involved and have even taken steps to deny the basic, inalienable rights, afforded to all citizens of the united states by the constitution, to American soldiers who have fought and bled for this country just because they are Wiccan or pagan. Our children are being denied the right to wear symbols of their faith in public schools or suffer punishment, while Christian children are allowed to were symbols of their faith and receive no punishment. Fundamentalist Christian ministers have even declared, openly in the public media, war on Wiccans and pagans, and have even encouraged violence towards Wiccans, pagans and other non-Christian paths. The list goes on and on.
Wicca is not satanism
First of all, Wicca is not satanism They are two separate, although somewhat similar, paths of practice. This misconception is due to the fact that, upon the creation of the satanic church in the mid-twentieth century, many of the practices, already in use by established Wiccan covens, was borrowed and adapted for use in the practice of modern satanism.
Modern satanism cropped up in the united states sometime in the 1970s. Gerald gardener, the “Father of modern Wicca”, had already established the Wiccan path in the late 1930s and, sometime in the early 1940s had brought his “New” ideas to the western world. So, by the establishment of the modern satanic movement in America, Wicca was already a little over 30 years old.
As far as satan; it is a Christian deity, the opposing archetype of the Christian God, Yahweh. Satan has no association with Wicca whatsoever. In fact, the very word, satan, does not even imply an actual entity. Translated from the Hebrew, “Satan”, quite literally, means “Adversary”. This word was used very often in the bible in association to several different characters, many of those characters being advocates for the Christian path, not against.
Wiccans do not condone the use of illegal drugs
The use of illegal substances is in direct violation of the most important law of the craft, harm none, as pretty much all illegal drugs are harmful in some way, and even some legal drugs such as cigarettes.
Wiccans do not encourage suicide
Once again, harm none. This also means yourself. Also, most, if not all, Wiccans believe in reincarnation, rendering suicide pointless. You’ll just have to come back and do it all over, so you might as well get it done right the first time.
Wiccans most certainly do not condone harming children, through molestation, kidnapping, ritual sacrifice or any other means. Not only does this go against the first law of Wicca, but also known as the Wiccan Rede, but the very idea of harming a child in any way is also absolutely abhorrent!
The reasoning behind the rede, “As it harms none, do what you will”, is that anything you do, whether for good is ill, will return to you threefold. This is known as karma, or the “Law of three”, an idea borrowed from ancient eastern traditions. It dictates that, if you do something to harm someone else, you will be harmed in some way by the universe itself three times worse. Same thing for doing good. This rule also applies to animals, therefore there is no animal sacrifice in Wicca.
Wiccans do not practice naked sex orgies
In fact, most Wiccans I have met were happily married individuals with absolutely no desire to stray. Wiccans simply recognize the inherent sexuality of all beings and do not perceive sex or sexuality as being “Bad”, “Evil” or “Sinful”, as most Christian paths do. Wiccans believe sex to be one of the most natural processes of life and necessary for the continued propagation of the species.
Wiccans are not anti-Christian
They are non-Christian. They follow a nature-based path of love and enlightenment. They do not wish to usurp the Christian church, but instead wish to live peacefully with all other paths of love and light, and often work very hard toward this end. Wiccans do not harbor any animosity or hatred toward Christians or their beliefs.
Wiccans do not hover in dark caves, plotting death and chaos, casting curses or spells of enslavement.
That is pure Hollywood nonsense. If a Wiccan “Casts a spell” at all, it is for the benefit of another and is, in no way, intended to harm anyone. Shall I repeat the Wiccan rede again?
In short, whatever negative information one has heard about Wicca, or “The craft” as we so lovingly call it, is false information planted by fundamentalist Christians who think everyone is wrong but them, even other Christians! They do this to scare people into running to them for protection from “The bad ol’ witches” in order to establish control over a larger following, thus producing more revenue and political power for their church. This is not only ridiculous but flat out wrong. Fear should not be a motivation for faith. Faith should be based on communion with one’s chosen deity in a loving, nurturing environment; one chosen by the individual, not the majority.
Thank you for your time, and blessed be!
