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With the spooky times fast approaching, people begin to revel in the unknown by dressing up as ghosts, ghouls and all sorts of mythical creatures. An easy, go-to costume is a witch: it’s simple enough to put on a dark-colored dress and a pointy hat, but what actually is a wiccan?
Just like any organized religion, there are many interpretations and variations of wicca: a form of reconstructed Paganism. Although I would not directly categorize myself as a wiccan, I do engage in some of their practices and hold very similar, if not identical, core beliefs.
Below, I will discuss my personal interpretation and understanding of wicca that I’ve found in my personal journey to learning more about Paganism. This is by no means to reject any other views or to totalize the practice.
MYTH: Wiccans worship the devil
When people picture a witch, I imagine some might envision a wild woman skulking in the shadows at 3:00 a.m. and casting spins and spells on their enemies. This is far from true, aswiccans do NOT draw upon satanic practices or maliciously cast spells onto others. In fact, the wiccan rede is built upon the premise of, “An it harm none, do what you will.” The majority of wiccans believe in the karmic “threefold tule” — meaning anything one does will come back to them times three, positive or negative.
MYTH: Wiccans bend nature to their will
Many wiccans have a strong emotional and spiritual connection to the natural world and believe it to be sacred. I personally interpret wicca to hold an eco-feminism paradigm: which means it strays from the paternal split between that has formed between society and nature because of capitalistic greed and instead draws upon a more feminine approach of both respecting and nurturing mother earth.
FACT: Wiccans make magic happen
To wiccans, there is nothing supernatural about performing spells, as the act is simply a natural redirection of energy. Wiccans do not believe in heaven, hell, or sin. Instead, they recognize the divine to be both a male and female.