Dead Frogs, Broomsticks and a Burning Cauldron

One may ask, what is Wicca? Is it a cult? Is it a religion? I am here to set the record straight; Wicca is the “religion that emphasizes growth through harmony in diversity, knowledge, wisdom and exploration” (wicca.org).

To start off my blog, I’d like to tell you a story: sliding the keys from his car, Jeremy quickly climbs out of his truck. He’s late but hopefully they already started without him. He traces the woods until he finds a worn path. It’s dark and slightly chilly, with nature chirping around him. When he starts to see a bright orange and red light, he knows he has found the clearing. As he approaches the others, he’s glad to see that they did start the ceremony without him. They have formed a circle around the fire and are chanting. Silently he approaches; they allow him to join in as well. Jeremy is a Wiccan and he is celebrating Beltane, the first day of summer. Jeremy’s ceremony with his coven is a peaceful one that involves worshipping the Horned God and the Moon Goddess. Although there are some that may believe that Wiccans worship the devil and cast dangerous spells, Wicca is actually a very peaceful religion that worships nature.

Founded by Gerald B. Gardner, Wicca is believed to be a part of Paganism. For followers, this can mean different things. They can see Wicca as “…a religion, a philosophy and a way of life” (Guiley 253-255). Under Gardner’s Wicca, he is believed to have combined many different practices such as the “…works of Margaret Murray, Charles Godfrey Leland, Rudyard Kipling, Aleister Crowley, the Key of Solomon and the rituals of Freemasonry” (Russell and Alexander 161). Today, witches follow their own path when celebrating Wicca and they believe that making their religion unique for each individual is one of their strengths. (History of Witchcraft).

For Jeremy, his coven wished to celebrate Beltane together but there are other witches who actually prefer to worship in their own ways. This may include “…a dash of Buddhism… or the feminist philosophy of Cixious or Irigaray” (167). But at the same time, these ways are not evil or destructive.

Reflect for a moment on the witches you may see in movies today. You may remember the witch in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, or Elphaba, her sister, maybe Glinda from the Wizard of Oz. You may also remember Sabrina, the Teenage Witch or Isabel Bigelow from Bewitched.

I’m afraid that these characters are horrible representations of what witches are really like. Hollywood glorifies witches and typically gives them very bad reputations. They’re often seen casting spells; curses or playing mean tricks on those who are not witches. They may be shown as having dark, cellar like homes with snakes and spiders. Some witches are shown with a large cauldron, a flying broomstick or a bright green face.

These fictional movies with their made-up characters don’t resemble what true witches really look like. Let’s focus throughout my blog on the witch from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. While this witch was a queen, she was known for her jealousy when her magical mirror did not name her as “the fairest of them all”. Her jealousy overcame her and she became an ugly, worted, crocked-nosed witch in a long black robe.

In reality, witches may decide to wear traditional black or possibly other colored robes. They may wear the Wiccan symbol: the pentacle, on a chain around their neck, and some may also wear traditional “witch” attire, a long black dress that is trimmed to look like a witch costume. But the majority are known to look like everyone we see day-to-day (What do Pagans Look Like).

While Jeremy, the peaceful witch, was following the Wiccan Rede (the laws of the Witches), the witch from Snow White was most certainly not. While Jeremy would consider “Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill; An’ it harm none, do what ye will” (Guiley 57) before he cast any spells, obviously the Queen did not follow the “An’ it harm none” part of the Rede since she was trying to poison Snow White. The Rede is supposed to influence witches’ spells, to make sure that they are always trying to do good, which the Queen wasn’t.

For Jeremy, since he is following the Wiccan Rede, there are many different ways to state it. On wicca.org there was a very long poem posted. The very end of the poem went like this: “True in Love ever be,/ Lest thy lover’s false to thee./ Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill: An ye harm none, do what ye will” (wicca.org). Jeremy could receive a lot of advice from this poem and parts may be easy to remember since it was written in rhyme.

Within the poem of the Wiccan Rede, the Threefold Law is also brought up. This Law states that witches should follow the Wiccan Rede because if they do, the spirits will grant them magic. But if Jeremy does not follow the Wiccan Rede, like the Queen, he is supposed to “…suffer a karmic boomerang effect and bring negativity or evil up themselves” (Guiley 359). The Threefold Law states that if a Witch does something wrong or against the Wiccan Rede, then their wrong deed will be brought back upon themselves three times. This may be the reason why the Queen is not able to first kill Snow White, and eventually ends up dying instead.

If the Queen were a true witch, she could have cast spells to instead help criminals be caught, find the true and perfect love, or for environmental concerns (Guiley 359). But, I guess we’ll leave that up to Jeremy.

While Jeremy worships the Horned God and the Moon Goddess, the Queen appeared to only worship her magic mirror. The Horned God and the Moon Goddess would have probably given the Queen from Snow White better advice than the mirror had. These figures mean special things. “The Horned God represents the male aspect of divinity: the Lord of Death, Winter, and the hunt, while the Moon Goddess represents the female aspect: the Mother Goddess, Summer, fertility and birth” (Russell and Alexander 188). Jeremy may have seen his High Priestess and High Priest possessed by these figures at his ceremonies. While they are not the typical figures that are worshipped in America, the Horned God and the Moon Goddess are not dangerous and they act as other religion’s godly figures when people pray or blame them in times of need and hope.

In America, the Queen from Snow White is widely known, but her practices as well as Jeremy’s are not acceptable. I challenge you to look up Wicca on a common website, say YouTube. After you watch a short flick about Wicca, browse through the comments underneath. The majority will either be hateful comments or comments speaking against the haters. If Jeremy lived in England, however, his practices may be slightly more accepted there. Jeremy’s coven could have celebrated Beltane with other Wiccans and non-Wiccans and their coven would be accepted into the local parade as well. (National Geographic).

While the evil Queen was eventually chased away by her neighbors, the seven dwarfs, she is not the only one facing discouragement by her neighbors. Jeremy often faces discrimination as well. He has seen burning crosses in his coven members’ yards and their outdoor circles. Their outdoor circles, the place where Wiccan ceremonies are celebrated, have been destroyed before as well (Shook). Jeremy has also faced opposition from people who want him to change his beliefs to an “acceptable religion.”

For those that do oppose Wicca and witchcraft practices, they typically believe that Wiccans are actually worshipping the devil and that Wiccans are just doing the devil’s work of spreading curses and evil deeds. While the Queen was the one actually spreading curses and evil deeds, not even she was worshipping the devil. Some may believe that Witchcraft is a ridiculous belief full of fantasy and lies and that witches deserve the bad reputation Hollywood gave them. But Jeremy has done nothing wrong. He does not worship the devil, he believes strongly in his witchcraft and the Horned God and Moon Goddess and he is not spreading curses or bad spells. Jeremy, along with the rest of the witches, worship nature, the Wiccan Rede and the Horned God and the Moon Goddess, not the devil. They are forbidden by the Wiccan Rede and the Threefold Law to cast evil deeds or curses on other people. Hollywood created the horrible reputations for these witches, as seen by the Queen from the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. As for the religious aspect, Wicca is no more ridiculous than any other religion’s beliefs are. This can be demonstrated by the belief that a person can “absolve” everyone’s “sins” by dying, or that a person should be buried with many expensive and special belongings and their organs should be separated and placed into jars, or believing that eating pork is a sin. Each religion has its own practices that every other religion declares as “ridiculous” or “silly.”

Wicca is the “religion that emphasizes growth through harmony in diversity, knowledge, wisdom, and exploration” (wicca.org). While the fictional characters throughout Hollywood may cast evil spells, curses and worship objects like their mirrors, Wiccans obviously do not. The Queen may become ugly, cranky and evil, but Jeremy-a true Wiccan- is very peaceful with his coven. They celebrate specific ceremonies together and worship the Horned God and the Moon Goddess. With the evidence I provided, it is obvious that the myths and ignorant beliefs against Wicca are wrong and that Hollywood is a main cause for Wiccans bad reputation. The majority of Wiccans practice peacefully and do not worship the devil or cast evil curses or spells. So be sure to keep in mind the next time you’d like to ridicule a Wiccan, what you do to others is supposed to come right back to you three times.

Works Cited

“Basic Tenets of Wicca Craft.” Wicca.org. Ed. Church and School of Wicca. Church and School

of Wicca, 26 Sept. 2006. Web. 9 Apr. 2010.

"Dianic Wicca Interview with Byron Ballard." Interview by Anna Shook. InterFaith Online.

Warren Wilson College. Web. 4 May 2010.

wilson.edu/~religion/newifo/religions/paganism/index/dwicca/interviews.shtml>.

Gibson, Marion. Witchcraft Myths in American Culture. New York: Routledge, 2007. Print.

Guiley, Rosemary E. “Church and School or Wicca.” The Encyclopedia of Witches and

Witchcraft. Second ed. New York: Facts of File, 1999. 57-58. Print.

Guiley, Rosemary E. “Council of American Witches.” The Encyclopedia of Witches and

Witchcraft. Second ed. New York: Facts of File, 1999. 65-66. Print.

Guiley, Rosemary E. “Paganism.” The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft. Second ed.

New York: Facts of File, 1999. 253-255. Print.

Guiley, Rosemary E. “Wiccan Rede.” The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft. Second ed.

New York: Facts of File, 1999. 359-360. Print.

National Geographic, prod. “Wicca.” National Geographic. National Geographic. NGC,

Washington, D.C. YouTube.com. YouTube,LLC. Web.

Russell, Jeffrey B., and Brooks Alexander. A History of Witchcraft: Sorcerers, Heretics and

Pagans. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2007. Print.

What Do Pagans Look like. YouTube, LLC, 9 Aug. 2008. Web. 4 May 2010.

Reflection #8

For this reflection, I am going to be posting and giving a description of all the extra things I am hoping to post for my final blog paper.

http://www.geraldgardner.com/images/default//intro.jpg This is a picture of Gerald B. Gardner.

http://www.wicca.org/church/rede.html This is the very long poem of the Wiccan Rede.

http://www.magicalomaha.com/Horned%20God%202.JPG This is a sculpture of an artists vision of the Horned God.

http://www.celticjackalope.com/images/Horned_God_and_Moon_Goddess_Herm_Altar_Statue_Set.jpg This is a sculpture of an artists vision of the Moon Goddess.

http://www.important.ca/images/wicca-coven.jpg This is supposed to be a picture of a Wiccan ceremony.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nPsyZJBTeQ This is the video I found of Wicca.

http://www.thegreenhead.com/imgs/wicked-witch-of-the-west-2.jpg This is a picture of Elphaba (In the Wizard of Oz).

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070203150621/disney/images/thumb/2/24/Snow_white_witch.jpg/200px-Snow_white_witch.jpg This is a picture of the witch in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

http://www.wiccansupplier.com/images/black_scrying_mirror_pentacle_necklace.JPG This is a picture of a pentacle necklace.

http://www.flagshipfancydress.co.uk/ekmps/shops/flagshipenterp/images/classic-black-witch-costume-343-p.jpg This is a picture of a “traditional” witch costume.

http://images.starpulse.com/Photos/Previews/Sabrina-Teenage-Witch-tv-06.jpg This is a picture of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.

http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2005/10/04/lead_bewitched_0509091143_wideweb__375x500.jpg This is a picture of Isabel Bigelow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AGyNVWVHiM This is the video about what Pagans look like.

http://www.warren-wilson.edu/~religion/newifo/religions/paganism/index/dwicca/interviews.shtm This is the website for the interview with Anna Shook.

I haven’t decided how many photos, videos and links I’d like to put in my blog post. But I wanted to be sure to get as much as possible so I’d have ideas.

Reflection #7

Lately I’ve been finding that reflections are getting harder and harder to write each week. I’ve feel like I’ve run out of things to write about! Right now, it’s easier to write about how I don’t know what to reflect on than it is to actually reflect on something involving Wicca and class. Well, let’s see… This week we’re meeting for conferences and our rough draft for our blog paper is due this Friday. I spent the weekend cutting down my original paper so I’m hoping to find out that that is okay. If it’s not, things will become a lot more difficult but I’m keeping my fingers crossed. With my topic I mostly used a lot of books, which I had to give back to the library after renewing them twice. The majority of sites on Wicca that I was able to find were discontinued or no longer a website, or they were a personal website that someone had created. While these sites were colorful and full of people’s opinions, they did not look like very credible sites. This is the main reason why I’m hoping what I’ve done for my blog paper will be okay.

On Wednesday I am supposed to have my conference. I’ve been trying to decide if I would like to buy anything from Starbucks and if I did, what would it be? I’m not a very big coffee fan. Love the smell but the taste is just gross no matter what I put in it. Some people get those iced coffee things, which look yummy, but they have coffee in them so I’m hesitant. How do people decide? Is there a Starbucks sample store where you can just try little sample cups of different Starbucks products like they do at Sam’s? (Not for Starbucks but for other foods). I usually go with a strawberry banana smoothie just because I know what that is and that I like it. But because it is a coffee place, there is sometimes I hint of coffee in my smoothie. I’m sure you can imagine that fruit and coffee beans don’t necessarily mix well together usually. All of this is very important because it is Starbucks and if your going to spend the money there then it’s got to be on something you actually like. This long discussion is also very important because when I go to Starbucks, and possibly decide if I want anything to drink, I will be discussing Wicca and the class. So it is good to inquire over Starbucks drinks in my reflection.

Reflection #6

Every week I watch one show for one hour religiously. It has become my ritual on Thursdays at 8pm to watch Bones. Last Thursday I was so excited because the Bones for the evening was about a murder of a Wiccan, so the entire show was about Wiccans. Because they are in need of viewers they of course had to point out that some covens may undress during their ceremonies, but they also had some other interesting points. Sorry if you like Bones or had wished to watch it on your own, but I'm going to spoil it. The Wiccan that was murdered was actually doing "evil deeds" and had dug up a great grandmother that was a victim of the Salem witch trials. This "witch" was very particular because she was the only witch to have been stoned. The Wiccan doing this deed dug up the Salem witch, dressed her in another woman's wedding dress and locked her away in a safe cabinet that was not destroyed when I fire broke out on the house. I was a little disappointed with the show only because of all the research I have done on Wicca. They did not show the Wiccan group favorably and in the end, the "evil Wiccans" coven were the killers. But, it was made known that the deed was not done on purpose. They had been burning incense and the particular incense they had been burning produced LSD. THIS produced hallucinations apparently and the "evil Wiccan" was apparently not being very nice. They claimed that she was cursing and shouting at them, and the Salem witch was the relative of one of the other girls in the coven. They had wanted to help her, but ended up stabbing her in the design of a pentacle. It was an interesting story, but I really wish that they would have made Wicca appear more peaceful and interesting. The next episode is, sadly, not about Wiccans but I will still watch it.

Why I Write?

I am not a “gotta write” person or a “gotta-be-paid-to-write” either. I would instead say that I am a “gotta-write-for-a-good-grade-or-to-make-a-plan” writer. For those that don’t know me, I am the queen of post-it notes, lists and unless it’s for a grade, short and simple bits of writing. At the beginning of each school year, I buy the “grande” package of post-it notes and hope they’ll give me extras as a special. The back of my bedroom door is full of post-it notes ranging from good books to read, what I need to be sure to grab for the next morning or a list of things I need to purchase. I also keep post-it notes in my planner and computer. These lists may include the tests for the week, a grocery list, a stress list, a list of classes I’m taking, a list of classes I should take, the dates of tutoring listed, the “what I need to do for the week” list or a list of the books I need for my classes. If there’s a will, my way is to post-it or list it. When I do write my lists, it’s not in a lovely paragraph with fancy wording and correct punctuation. No, my lists are messy, scratched out, doodled on sometimes and made to let me see what needs to get done and feel a great sense of accomplishment and selfish pride when I get to scribble it out. When I get something done that was especially difficult I take a lot of time to cross it out so I can feel the overwhelming relief of accomplishment. I may desire this so much that my scratching out goes through the post-it and onto a few pages of my planner. When I make a post-it note on my computer, the delete button is my way of crossing out. When I delete a task that I especially didn’t enjoy, it’s almost like I’m deleting it from existence. I imagine that the delete button will be the first to stop working on my laptop. I would say that I am a “gotta-write-for-a-good-grade—or-t-make-a-plan” writer because of all of my post-it notes, either literal or just a “stickie” on my computer, the majority of them typically have something to do with school and schoolwork, or making a plan for my next move. The few post-it notes I do have that don’t cover these two categories receive special highlighting, placement and constant re-checking. But for the most part, I am completely content with being a writer who either writes essays or papers for class, or plans out her life with post-it notes, lists and short, simple writing that can be crossed out and doodled over.

Reflection #5

This week we have to turn in our final eight-page paper and I will admit I am not only nervous I am very stressed as well. This week is going to be a very crazy week for me; shall I describe it for you? I think I will. Today (Monday) I had to wake up at 5:20 so I could leave my house early and get a parking spot on "free street" Martin Luther. I had a slight scare when all of the spots were already taken, but I did find one a Bishop so that was a good start. I worked out in the morning, went to class and had to rush home to go to work from 3 until 8:15. After that, I came home to do my English homework, work on the study guides for a midterm and type up my reflection. Tuesday (tomorrow) I must wake up at 4:30 to leave by 5:20 so I can be at work by 5:45. I will work at UC’s Recreation Center from 6 until 11am. Then it’s class, home, pick up my sister at 5 and get my homework done. This is when I am hoping to fix up my English paper. Then on Wednesday, I will be most likely waking up around 6:15 (I get to sleep in!), dropped off around 7:30, work out, class and then I have to head home and study rapidly for a 12 chapter midterm I have in a very important class: Survey of Communication Disorders. (I’m told that I must pass this class to continue for my major so how about another order of pressure to add to my main course of stress?) After I study I’m going to bed to wake up around the same time, get dropped off at the same time but instead of working out or just working, I have tutoring. I will be tutoring at Hays Porter for two hours, heading back to UC, going to my two classes for the day and I am hoping that I can stop by the Writing Center this day to get my paper double-checked over. After that, I head home to quickly fix up any changes that need to be done, have dinner and then watch the one show that I religiously watch every week: Bones! (I only watch about one hour of television of week, so this moment is cherished) After that, it’s a quick visit with the sandman because I’m up again at 4:30 for work down at UC’s Recreation Center. This weekend, my sister’s school’s musical is going on and she got the lead part! She’s Beauty in Beauty and the Beast and we’re all very excited for her. So as you can see, this week is going to be awesome for me. Especially because besides this paper I have to study for that 12 chapter midterm, write an Honors “I believe statement”, deviance homework, and keep my sanity long enough to survive week six. Luckily, I have this reflection finished though.

The Homeless Guy

http://thehomelessguy.blogspot.com/

-The blogger is responding to the May 2010 issue of The Contributor and how happiness is not very well known for those that are homeless.

-The blogger feels that happiness should be spread throughout homeless people because it is an energy that is needed for people to eventually get out of homelessness. He wishes that we could form a community with homeless people to help spread happiness, instead of hope.

-The blogger appears to be agreeing that The Contributor was supposed to be filled with “happy stories”, even when people are homeless, but it still was depressing for others.

-He really wants everyone to understand that “hope” is not the word for what needs to be spread towards the homeless. “Home is a static word. Hope is about waiting, and expecting something better to come along, later. Hope is expecting someone else to deliver. Hope goes no where, hope gets you no where.” He really wants “happiness” to be what we try to spread. He is doing it just by stating how hard homelessness is on a person. He states that “Homelessness is death, and no one should be resigned to that.” He believes happiness is welcoming and caring for everyone as well as sharing life. He really sounds very motivational and impacting. I feel almost inspired to spread joy and cheer around.

-This appears different from an essay in a book, or something I might read in class because it is not a paper written about other characters or the autobiography of an author. It doesn’t sound formal and I didn’t have to use a dictionary to understand what is going on. It really relates to everyone even though he is specifically only talking about the homeless. A book or essay normally has other characters, while this just has a general character: the homeless. Books and essays are normally really formal and some may be difficult to understand, this one is very “down to earth” and written for the average person who owns the Internet to read.

Reflection #4

This week I started to put more into my paper. I was surprised that the outline we had made in class actually really helped me come up with what to put in my paper and all of my thinking felt like it was already done, I just needed to put more support and words behind it. I was very shocked and happy by this because everything seemed to come easier and I already knew what I planned to cover in each paragraph. I know that if we had not done this as an assignment or not in class, I know that I wouldn’t have made an outline by myself and if it was assigned outside of class I probably wouldn’t have worked as hard on it when I got back home. We were assigned to only do five pages, but I actually ended up doing seven including the Works Cited page. It’s kind of funny because I told my boyfriend this and now he’s concerned that my paper is going to be way over the maximum amount of pages. I’m hoping that he will be wrong, but I do have a tendency to just keep writing. A big goal of mine for this class is to stay within the page limits and to be sure that I keep myself within those page limits so I hopefully won’t have to fight with myself on what needs to be taken out.

I guess that after doing so much research on Wicca, I feel that I am constantly repeating myself, but not actually in my paper. I think I’m just repeating myself on the assignments and my plans and ideas for the paper. I was having some issues with this while writing. I would start to type something but then question myself on whether I have already written that point somewhere else in my paper or if I just remember writing the point down for another assignment. That made it a little more difficult to write, but I guess at least I feel like my paper is going to be very thorough.

Outline for Research Paper

Thesis: Many believe that Wicca involves worshipping the devil and dangerous spells, I

have found that Wicca is actually a peaceful religion that worships nature.

Background:

Major Points:

I. Some Wiccans believe that what you do will eventually come back to you three times.

a. Opposition: This is a ridiculous belief, similar to karma or sinning and it doesn’t really matter.

b. A2

c. This idea has been repeated in many different sources, there is also the Wiccan Rede

II. Each witch makes Wicca their own. Some tag in other religion’s practices.

a. Opposition: Because witches are able to make the religion their own, they can worship Satan.

b. E1, E2

c. They could worship Satan, but Marion Gibson, author of Witchcraft Myths in American Culture, believes they tag in religions like Buddhism, feminist philosophy of Cixous or Irigaray.

III. Wicca is becoming more well-known, especially in other countries, and it is becoming more accepted into socities.

a. Opposition: I don’t know and haven’t heard anything about Wicca so this must be untrue.

b. F1

c. In America, Wicca hasn’t been as widely practiced as in other countries but in London the witches are becoming so accepted that the Beltane ceremony was openly celebrated and shared with others and the witches were able to be a part of the parade.

IV. Wiccans do not worship the devil or Satan.

a. Opposition: Does a “Horned God” sound like a peaceful man to you? I picture the devil.

b. B1, D1, F3

c. The “Horned God” represents the Lord of Death, winter and the hunt, supposedly male divinity. The Moon Goddess, on the other hand, is the Mother Goddess, Summer, fertitlity and birth, which is supposed to be feminine. They do not mention a devil, just seasons and things each sex is believed to need a blessing for.

V. Hollywood glorifies witches, but also give them a bad reputation.

a. Opposition: Witches deserve bad reputations for their evil deeds.

b. B2

c. Hollywood has created bad witches like Alphaba in the Wizard of Oz and the witch in Snow White, but in reality people don’t look or act like these characters. No one is colored green permanently from birth, has a face covered in worts or a big crooked nose that looks sinister. Unless the person made it widely known, it would be difficult to pick out the witch in a group of people.

VI. Conclusion

Intro and Conclusion

Sliding the keys from his car, Jeremy quickly climbs out of his truck. He’s late but hopefully they already started without him. He traces the woods until he finds a worn path. It’s dark and slightly chilly, with nature chirping around him. When he starts to see a bright orange and red light, he knows he found the clearing. As he approaches the others, he’s glad to see that they did start the ceremony without him. They are chanting and as he silently approaches, they allow him to join in as well. Jeremy is a Wiccan and he is celebrating Beltane, the first day of summer. Jeremy’s ceremony with his coven is a peaceful one and it will always be a peaceful ceremony because he does not practice Satanism, a common myth about Wicca.

When this paper was started, Jeremy was celebrating a peaceful Beltane ceremony with his coven in hopes that their prayers will bring good fortune. With the evidence provided, it is quite easy to have a better understanding of Wicca and to see that the majority of the myths are wrong about Wiccans. While there may be some that go a little overboard with their beliefs, which can and does happen in any and every religion, the majority of Witches are nice, natural and peaceful when they practice Wicca. So be sure to keep in mind, what you do to others is supposed to come right back to you three times.

Reflection #3

Over the weekend, I had a feeling that writing our actual papers/rough drafts was going to be the next step that we took with our eight-page research paper. I was feeling pretty motivated, I guess, so I started to write my paper. I am shocked that it actually isn’t as bad as I was dreading. My creativity appeared to be really on the rise because I was able to open up my paper with a story, that is completely my own. From there I began with Wicca’s history and explained how this guy, Gardner, is believed to be “the one” who first started a certain “type” of Wicca. He had his own type of practice and one of his practices or realizations was the Wiccan Rede. He had apparently come up with the shortened version, but I was able to find a really long, rhyming poem that wicca.org appeared to really appreciate. I decided to include the poem in my paper and was happily surprised that it takes up a lot of room. I definitely believe that the poem was a wise decision. I think that I have decided to either mention or slightly give an idea about the other main leaders practices of Wicca. Apparently Witches are supposed to make Wicca there individual religion, but it sounds like they get ideas from other Witches and covens. It’s all so interesting to me but yet still everything seems very vague. I’m not sure if it’s because each of the Witches practice Wicca individually or if people are afraid to write and show that they know about Wicca or may even practice Wicca but everything I’ve found seems to be just giving me an idea of what is going on without really telling me the details.

Proposal

For this eight-page research paper, I propose to research and provide a history of Wicca, provide the specific rituals that Wiccans may perform, describe the wrongful assumptions and myths against Wiccans all to prove that Wicca is a peaceful religion that does not in itself worship Satan. I will be hoping to accomplish a well-thought out research paper by using my time wisely I had a feeling that writing our actual papers would be coming up soon so I spent a few hours over the weekend writing my first three paragraphs and pages. I am not good when working under pressure so I will be spending a few hours each day I can manage to try and complete, revise and better my paper. This method has worked for me in the past so I hope it will work again. Fall quarter I spent a lot of time meeting with my professor so I may be trying to visit or leave a few emails. I'm also hoping to take advantage of the Writing Center as well.

Since I am the one doing the most research on my topic and because I will have spent so my time and energy into the project, I declare myself as the expert in the classroom on Wicca.

More Websites:

http://www.witchonthego.com/structure.html

http://ariannasmoon.tripod.com/wiccasite/index.htm

http://spells-witchcraft.org/book-of-shadows.html

Reflection #2

When I was researching Wicca, I didn’t realize that there were different kinds of Wiccan practices. I guess I’m used to being a Catholic so much where no matter what church you go to, the mass is held in the same order, with the same or similar songs and everything is traditionally repeated. But with Wicca, each witch is supposed to practice in their own fashion. So some may tie in Buddhism, the feminist philosophy of Cixous or Irigaray into their Wiccan practices. I was paging through one of my sources, History of Witchcraft, when I turned to page 168 and found a group of eight people running around a circle completely naked. It was very unexpected so I read the caption next to it: “Alex Sanders leading a ritual dance at the sabbat, which is often performed ‘skyclad’-naked- in order to reduce inhibitions that might impede the flow of magical power.” After I was taken by surprise with that photo, I started paying more attention to the photos in the book. I was surprised to see even more ritual practices that were each unique. For example, sometimes Wiccans may dress up like the Horned God and the Moon Goddess with a veil on the woman with a crown overtop that has a moon and the pentacle on it. The man wore a mask that had two horns and almost looked like it branched out like a triceratops, but the “branching out” part appeared to be leaves. There is another practice that apparently comes in different degrees because a picture was described as “The First Degree Initiation of Janet Farrar in a ritual conducted by Alex and Maxine Sanders” and it included “biding and blindfolding [as] a part of the death and rebirth symbolism embodied in the ceremony of initiation.” After finding out that there are different ways to practice Wicca, I’m trying to decide how specific I should make my paper on it. Should I describe each of the more commonly known and popular rituals or should I just state that each witch practices Wicca in their own way?

Annotated Bibliography

"Basic Tenets of Wicca Craft." Wicca.org. Ed. Church and School of Wicca. Church and School of Wicca, 26 Sept. 2006. Web. 9 Apr. 2010. In Wicca, they have a design which is a five-pointed star, each of the points is supposed to remind a Wiccan of the Wiccan Rede. These five points are Harmony, reincarnation, power through knowledge, law of attraction and Deity is supposed to exist in the center of the star. All five of these points reflect good natured, peaceful and self-fulfilling ideas that are the center of Wicca.“Wicca—Reaching towards Deity in spiritual growth is considered vertical. Craft—Magic and matters of this world are horizontal (pragmatic). Achieving growth in both matters is a way to find balance (harmony). Wicca-Craft.” “Law of Attraction: What I do to other living creatures, I will draw to myself. Shakespeare called this Measure for Measure. It can also be expressed as ‘birds of a feather flock together.’ We do not, however, ascribe to the commonly called Law of Three where what I do comes back to me three times.”

National Geographic, prod. "Wicca." National Geographic. National Geographic. NGC, Washington, D.C. YouTube.com. YouTube, LLC. Web. In this video, it featured a woman who lives in England and she just became a Wiccan. They were celebrating the next spring that was coming and they were performing a secret ritual to make incense and to get ready for spring. Wiccan practices appear to happen everywhere and they are, again, peaceful practices that are designed to celebrate life between the Goddess and the Earth and it this community in England, people are starting to be accepted. “Wiccans worships the gods and spirits of nature, in return for their faith the spirits grant them the power of magic.” (0:13-0:20) “I’m very careful about who I tell. Umm…I’m very careful about who sees my pentacle. There it is. That sits by me and I have a great belief that it should be next to my body as opposed to on show. There’s a lot of prejudice still.” (0:57-0:60)

Guiley, Rosemary E. "Church and School of Wicca." The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft. Second ed. New York: Facts On File, 1999. 57-58. Print. In her introduction, Rosemary’s thesis would probably be that there is a strong difference between the religious Witchcraft and the sorcerers kind of witchcraft which she is trying to distinguish and that Wicca (or Witchcraft) is becoming exceedingly more and more popular and understood. “The Church of Wicca, founded in 1968, is the oldest recognized church of witchcraft in the United States, achieving federal recognition in 1972.” “Founded by Gavin and Yvonne Frost.” “Gavin serves as archbishop and Yvonne as bishop. They obtained their doctorates of divinity from the church.” “…in 1985, Dettmer v. Landon, the District Court of Virginia ruled that witchcraft is a legitimate religion. The decision was appealed by Virginia prison authorities.” “In 1986, Judge J. Buther of the Federal Appeals Court affirmed the decision.”

Guiley, Rosemary E. "Council of American Witches." The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft. Second ed. New York: Facts On File, 1999. 65-66. Print. In her introduction, Rosemary’s thesis would probably be that there is a strong difference between the religious Witchcraft and the sorcerers kind of witchcraft which she is trying to distinguish and that Wicca (or Witchcraft) is becoming exceedingly more and more popular and understood. “[Carl] Weschcke believed that the formulation of a common set of principles and definitions would help dispel myths about witchcraft and distinguish it from Satanism in the eyes of the public and press.”

Gibson, Marion. Witchcraft Myths in American Culture. New York: Routledge, 2007. Print. In her introduction her thesis would probably be that Witchcraft has been present for many years, from the past with the Salem hunting, to the Wizard of Oz and Bewitched and that it will continue to be present for many more years.. She highlighted what each of her chapters will be covering and then she went on to list all of the people and places that helped her write her book. “Each generation innovated, and added to the eclectic traditions handed down to it. Each Witch tried to find a way of making the Craft work for her or him-a dash of Buddhism here, or the feminist philosophy of Cixous or Irigaray there.” Pg. 167 “Leo Martello wrote of American Wicca more generally that while European traditions say that a Witch is born, not made, Anglo-American covens say, ‘A Witch is made, not born.’ Although this distinction is not always true, it reflects perfectly the mythos of America and thus of her Witches, too: American Witches are generally self-made.” Pg. 165-166

Russell, Jeffrey Burton., and Brooks Alexander. A History of Witchcraft: Sorcerers, Heretics and Pagans. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2007. Print. Their thesis statement would probably be that no witch has ever probably fit the common stereotype of a “witch” with the warts, conical hats, broomsticks and evil, cackling laugh. They believe that “Witches exist-or don’t exist-depending on one’s definition of a witch.” “The Internet is another factor that has taken Witchcraft far beyond its esoteric sources. One of the real surprises of the 1980s was the emergence of a strong connection between witches, high technology, and the computer culture.” Pg. 178 “The Horned God and the Moon Goddess are the principle deities of Wicca. The Horned God represents the male aspect of divinity: the Lord of Death, Winter, and the hunt, while the Moon Goddess represents the female aspect: the Mother Goddess, Summer, fertility and birth. Within Wiccan tradition it is believed they can be ‘drawn down’ to possess the High Priestess and High Priest.” Pg. 188

Reflection #1

To find research on Wicca has proven to be slightly difficult, especially through the Internet. Most of the websites provided are not professional sites (ending in .com) and the articles I find are sometimes not available any longer. The ones I have been able to open have typically involved reporting on a recent piece of legislature that is allowing or not allowing Witchcraft in their area. When I started looking for my five sources, I found a YouTube video about Wicca and I was shocked to at the comments left under the video. There’s a lot of tension in the comments left. Most are saying how badly Christians or Catholics are acting with their YouTube comments and that the Wiccans deserve respect for their choice of religion. I agree with those that say that freedom of religion is key here. I may not personally be a Wiccan and I have grown up to be skeptical of tricks, magic and witchcraft but at the same time I find them interesting and really don’t want to inflict pain or harm on them. The majority of those who seem to be Catholic appeared to keep trying to find biblical verses that put down the idea of witchcraft. One person, steelersteve36, posted a Galatians verse “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery (witchcraft), enmity, strife…those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” After reading this I almost wish I had a YouTube account so I could point out that a lot of people are not making it to the kingdom of God by these standards. But even if they are not going to by the standards of the Bible, I really don’t think that posting biblical versus that point out the “wrong” of Wicca is going to necessarily “save” them. I’m becoming surprised that even though I am not a Wiccan and most likely will not join a different religion than the one I am already in, I am rather angry that people are trying to persuade people through YouTube to stop practicing what they believe to be a religion. As long as it is not doing any harm to themselves or others, I really don’t see why there is such a dispute against Wicca or Witchcraft.

Possible 5 sources that I will use

When we did the starting research on our topics, for Wicca I was able to find a website completely dedicated to Wicca. This website, www.wicca.org, has a lot of information. For this assignment, I focused on just one of the tabs that they provided: the Basic Tenets of Wicca-Craft. In Wicca, they have a design which is a five-pointed star, each of the points is supposed to remind a Wiccan of the Wiccan Rede. These five points are Harmony, reincarnation, power through knowledge, law of attraction and Deity is supposed to exist in the center of the star. I guess the thesis of this article would be that all five of these points reflect good natured, peaceful and self-fulfilling ideas that are the center of Wicca. Their audience appears to be mainly for those that don’t already know or belong to Wicca. They have a link to describe what the Rede is, they don’t speak in a way that everyday people wouldn’t be able to pick up and they explain everything first in how they know it, then in a common way that most other people (those not involved with Wicca) would understand. I was able to find a video through YouTube that was done by National Geographic (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nPsyZJBTeQ). In this video, it featured a woman who lives in England and she just became a Wiccan. They were celebrating the next spring that was coming and they were performing a secret ritual to make incense and to get ready for spring. The thesis for this would probably be that Wiccan practices appear to happen everywhere and they are, again, peaceful practices that are designed to celebrate life between the Goddess and the Earth and it this community in England, people are starting to be accepted. The audience appears to be the general public, particularly those who do not know about Wicca. I think that National Geographic was trying to promote awareness about Wicca so the myths of Wiccans worshipping the devil could be shown as false. My last three sources are books that I found at UC’s library. One of the books I chose is The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft by Rosemary Ellen Guiley. In her introduction, Rosemary’s thesis would probably be that there is a strong difference between the religious Witchcraft and the sorcerers kind of witchcraft which she is trying to distinguish and that Wicca (or Witchcraft) is becoming exceedingly more and more popular and understood. Her audience would most likely be those that are curious about Wicca and would possibly like to “try it out” or research it more. Her audience could also possibly be for the Wiccans that are new, the encyclopedia points out people who are famously involved, Laws that are declared and the different aspects of Witchcraft and Witches. The next book that I was able to find and will probably use as a source is Witchcraft Myths in American Culture by Marion Gibson. In her introduction her thesis would probably be that Witchcraft has been present for many years, from the past with the Salem hunting, to the Wizard of Oz and Bewitched and that it will continue to be present for many more years.. She highlighted what each of her chapters will be covering and then she went on to list all of the people and places that helped her write her book. The last source that I will be highlighting is History of Witchcraft by Jeffrey B. Russell and Brooks Alexander. Their thesis statement would probably be that no witch has ever probably fit the common stereotype of a “witch” with the warts, conical hats, broomsticks and evil, cackling laugh. They believe that “Witches exist-or don’t exist-depending on one’s definition of a witch.” Their audience sounds like it would be the general public that is interested in reading about and educating themselves on not only the history of witchcraft but also the misconceptions with it as well.

Thesis and Research Question

Research Question: I want to understand Wicca and why people have such negative feelings towards the religion. Do people oppose Wicca because they hear the rumors and don't actually know about it or are there legitimate concerns against Wiccan practices?

Thesis statement: Although many would probably believe that Wicca involves worshipping the devil and dangerous spells, I have found that Wicca is actually usually a peaceful religion that worships nature.

Further Research

I was having a really awful time finding good articles on Wicca. There appears to be a ton of books and encyclopedias, which I will be sure to look into, but the articles and journals were not as plentiful. When I did find an article, sometimes it would show that I found the article but it wouldn’t actually give me the article. Others gave me a “small peak” at what was written in the article and after I got to the bottom of the web page I found that I needed to subscribe to read the rest. I believe that the majority of my information on Wicca will have to come from books for this paper, but I have already found three I can find at Langston Library so I am excited about that. These issues I was having were provided by UC's database and Googlescholar. So after going through UC’s database and Googlescholar, I eventually just decided to go with regular old Google. That’s when I found this website: http://www.wicca.org/. They claim to be the Church and School of Wicca so I took a look. Throughout the website they had different links that lead to even more links! I was able to find the development of Wicca, Literature of Wicca, the Rituals and Worship of Wicca and Ethics all under one tab. This website provided a lot of information that I believe will be really handing when I write my research paper. I also found another website: http://www.religioustolerance.org/wic_faq.htm. This website was mostly "frequently asked questions" about Wicca, but the information was very interesting. They answered what Wicca was, who the God and Goddess are, is Wicca a form of Satanism, the rituals Wiccans typically follow, what following Wicca involves, and how to make contact with other Wiccans just to name a few of the topics covered. I was happy to find one article that I was able to open on UC’s library website http://www3.interscience.wiley.com.proxy.libraries.uc.edu/cgi-bin/fulltext/122582759/PDFSTART. This article is about a case study that someone performed on 90 women that said they were witches. The author interviewed these women to see how they are affected by the media and it also explained a little what witchcraft and wicca was, but they focused mainly on Witchcraft and the Media. The author of this article does not appear to like how Hollywood and the media are portraying witchcraft and wicca. This article looks extremely helpful when bringing forth the controversial issues involving wicca and witchcraft.

Since I was having such large issues with the articles on UC’s website, I do intend to go to the library and hopefully get some help. Some of the articles that UC’s website mentioned on Wicca sounded very interesting, I just couldn’t find out how to open them. The articles I’d like to find would include “The A to Z of witchcraft” by Michael D. Bailey and Wicca: religion or witchcraft? We are used to examining the world's major faiths, but are often resistant to looking deeper into those that seem to run counter to the central beliefs of theism. Gordon Reid looks at the increasingly popular Wiccan faith, and asks whether it has been misunderstood.

My three possible topics:

My three possible topics for our paper will possibly be Wicca, Obesity or piercing and tattoos. I had not heard about Wicca until I read a book over spring break and it only gave hints as to what it is. I think that this essay may help me and my curiosity. Obesity has become a "hot" topic lately in the news and I thought that it could be interesting to read more about it. My third topic I actually found by searching "good essay topics" and it was the only one that didn't deal with illness or warfare and it just seemed like a relatable topic for someone who is in college.