When Someone You Love is Wiccan

A Guide to Witchcraft and Paganism for Concerned Friends, Nervous Parents, and Curious Coworkers

Carl McColman

• Publisher: RWW New Page Books
• Year: 2008
• ISBN:
  9781632657947
• Topic: Théologie et religion
• Subtopic: Religion

The author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Paganism offers an accessible introduction to one of the world's most misunderstood spiritual practices.

Today, the spiritual traditions of Wicca and Paganism are enjoying a renaissance among the world's fastest growing religions. But for many years, these life-affirming belief systems have been tragically misunderstood. Especially since so many Wiccan newcomers are young, it is understandably a source of concern for many parents, friends, and associates of today's witches. In this accessible volume, spiritual scholar Carl McColman dispels the common misconceptions about Wicca and Paganism. McColman offers an objective, honest introduction to this newly popular old religion, while providing comfort to worried readers.

When Someone You Love Is Wiccan

Maybe it's your son or daughter, or your next-door neighbor. Maybe it's your best friend, or someone you work with. Whoever it may be, you have just learned that this person walks a spiritual path called by several names, including Wicca, Paganism, and even Witchcraft.

Thank you for making the effort to learn more about this little-known and often-misunderstood spiritual path. Your decision to learn, and not just pass judgment, shows that you are a fair and thoughtful person. It is my hope that this book will give you all the information you need to make an informed, balanced decision about this spiritual path and its role in the life of someone you love.

This book answers more than 80 different questions people commonly ask when trying to learn the basics about nature spirituality. Start with the nine questions here in Part One. These are the fundamentals, covering the most important and pressing issues.

Why would I want to read a book about Witchcraft?

This is a book about Paganism, Wicca, and... Witchcraft. Yes, Witchcraft. Go ahead, think about all the stereotypes. Ugly old hags riding brooms, and stirring cauldrons in which they're brewing their poisons. Cackling maniacally as they cast their spells designed to hurt people, or as they turn up the heat to cook poor Hansel and Gretel.

Maybe you have a more sophisticated view of Witchcraft. Perhaps you've seen the books about modern Witchcraft for sale at your local metaphysical bookstore. You know that it is a modern religion that began in England in the mid-20th century. It was inspired by scholars who believed that the so-called “Witches” who were burned at the stake in centuries past were actually practicing the old, primal religion of ancient Europe that existed prior to the coming of Christianity. That's much closer to the truth. But in all honesty, it's still not necessarily your first choice of a religion!

This book is an unusual book about Witchcraft. Most of the books about it are written either for college professors who are studying it, or for individuals who are interested in it for themselves. Well, the professorial books are generally expensive and hard to find, so your average bookstore is only going to have the books for people who actually want to be a Witch.

Some of those books are really good, intelligent books filled with thoughtful ideas and interesting perspectives on religion. Others are silly; they pander to the stereotypes of Witches, and promise the reader how to get everything they want out of life just by casting a spell. Real Witches often make fun of those because such books tend to lack spiritual depth.

The book you're holding is written for a different kind of reader. I'm assuming that you are reading this book not because you want to be a Witch, but probably because you're either curious, nervous, or fully alarmed because someone you know is a Witch. That someone might be a friend, a coworker, or—gasp! One of your kids. Teenagers are fascinated by the subject of Witchcraft. For some, it's just adolescent rebellion (hey, I bet they're the ones buying all the goofy books on casting spells). But for others, it is a thoughtful, serious interest in a spirituality that's based on nature. Witchcraft is nature spirituality. Witches believe that nature is sacred and holy. Well, in our day, with all the threats to the environment, we need more people to believe nature is sacred, don't you think?

Modern Witchcraft is related to a larger spiritual movement known as Paganism or Neopaganism. Many Witches also use the word Wicca to describe Witchcraft. Later in this book I'll explain the subtle differences between Paganism, Witchcraft, and Wicca, but for now I want to make sure you are familiar with each of these words. For the purposes of this book, I will be using them almost interchangeably. There are some nicknames for Witchcraft, including the craft, the craft of the wise, and the old religion. Just for variety's sake, I'll use those nicknames from time to time. Finally, Wicca can be called nature spirituality or Goddess spirituality, so I'll use those terms as well.

Why would anyone want to call themselves a Witch?

Remember the movie The Wizard of Oz, where Glinda asks Dorothy if she's a good Witch or a bad Witch? Dorothy immediately insists she's not a Witch—how could she be, since Witches are old and ugly? Laughing, Glinda points out to Dorothy that she, Glinda, is herself a Witch. Glinda is neither old nor ugly, and Dorothy soon realizes Glinda is indeed a good Witch.

The first lesson Dorothy learns in Oz is that goodness and Witchcraft can coexist. Even though Dorothy has to overcome a particularly nasty bad Witch while in Oz, the distinction has been made: not all Witches are bad, therefore, some Witches can be good. It's important to understand this distinction, for this is the key to understanding why hundreds of thousands of intelligent, mature, spiritually motivated people are today embracing Witchcraft. They are not motivated by Witchcraft's “bad” stereotype, but rather by the goodness that they have found in the craft.

Let's acknowledge the traditional stereotypes. To many people, the words Witch and Witchcraft conjure up images such as:

Ugly old hags stirring cauldrons with noxious fumes spilling out of them.

Spiteful sorceresses who cast magic spells meant to hurt people.

Some biddy with a wart on her nose who rides a broomstick.

If that's all that Witchcraft is about, why would anyone in their right mind ever want to be a Witch?

These caricatures have more to do with Hollywood than with reality. Real Witches are like most human beings. Some are beautiful, some are plain, most are average. Some are highly evolved individuals with an almost saint-like sense of ethics and compassion, while others are ordinary people who just want their fair share of what life has to offer. In other words, real Witches just don't match up with the Hollywood stereotypes.

Instead of being ugly hags who like to eat children, modern Witches are mostly educated, intelligent, ethical people with an avid interest in the ancient wisdom traditions of Europe and other parts of the world. Modern Witches believe that we can learn to live life in accordance with the inherent wisdom of nature, based on the primal traditions of ancient Europe. And far from eating babies, many Witches are strict vegetarians who insist on consuming only organic produce!

An ethical person dedicated to wisdom certainly sounds better than the Hollywood stereotype of the bad Witch. Still, you may be wondering, why use the words Witch and Witchcraft at all? Why don't Witches find a less controversial word to describe themselves? The answer is disarmingly simple. Some people like the idea of being a good Witch. They like the aura of mystery, magic, and spiritual power associated with Witchcraft. They study and practice Witchcraft for good reasons, such as learning to be a healer or to become more loving and trusting people. If it's used for good, why not be a Witch?

Some (but not all) modern Witches also use the words Wiccan and Wicca as alternative names for Witches and Witchcraft, respectively. These words come from the Middle English word for a male Witch (the female variant is Wicce, but that doesn't get used nearly as much). Others prefer the words Pagan and Paganism, based on the idea that Witchcraft originated in the Pagan religions of ancient Europe. Over the past 50 years, the words Witchcraft/Witch, Wicca/Wiccan, and Paganism/Pagan have all come to mean slightly different things, distinctions that we'll explore more closely in Part Two. For the purposes of this book, however, these terms are used more or less interchangeably. Which means that there are several words available to describe this spiritual path. If someone likes the words Witch and Witchcraft to describe nature-based religion, they can use them. If they prefer language that's less controversial, they can identify themselves as Pagan or Wiccan.

So Witchcraft isn't about ugly hags riding on brooms?

We looked at how Hollywood plays a role in shaping the stereotypes that persist about Wicca. Believe it or not, what most people think about Witches, Witchcraft, and similar subjects come to us primarily through movies, TV, and popular culture in general.

Who hasn't felt a chill at the cackle of the Wicked Witch of the West as she flew through the air on her broom, painting “Surrender Dorothy” with infernal smoke across the clear blue sky? Who hasn't lumped Witches together with ghosts, monsters, and goblins, thanks to the marketing of kiddie costumes every year at Halloween? If you live in the United States, you get exposed to plenty of images of Witches, but these images are created by Hollywood and Madison Avenue. They are meant not to teach or enlighten us, but simply to entertain us and make a few bucks.

It's n...