What Wicca Is Not

Its interesting.  Back when I first started to study Wicca, I was filled with a lot of notions of what Wicca actually is.  Now that's important because one needs to understand what something they are pursuing is so they do it right.  But often with the young crowd, they have some crazy notions of what Wicca, witchcraft and neo-paganism is.  So in that vain I think its appropriate to talk about a few things that Wicca is not.

First and foremost:  Wicca Is Not An Easy Out of Life's Problems.

I think that statement is important to focus on here, because I sense that many people believe that those of us who practice different forms of Wicca and Paganism, believe we are looking for an easy way out of life's problems and issues.  That reasoning couldn't be further from the truth!  As a matter of fact, sometimes practicing any form of paganism brings a little more hardship than anything else.  For instance I actually had someone once call me pathetic because I had stopped believing in biblical religion and was practicing Wicca.  Now that's certainly not the harshest treatment that's ever been received by a Witch, but it gives you an idea of the continued rhetoric that people still grasp on to, even though our religion is federally accepted. 

Now anyone who actually does believe that Wicca and other forms of paganism is an easy way out of their problems I would say firmly, stop it!  Sit back and really put some effort into learning what Wicca actually is.  You think that practicing Wicca and casting spells is fun and that easy out I keep repeating?  Actually Its not.  Learning and working toward a practicing witch, whether affiliated with a coven or what we call a Solitary Practitioner, actually adds to the responsibility on top of what we were already responsible for.  In fact, I think it adds even more responsibility than even following the Christian Bible does in many respects, which I will go into why that is in a later post.

Next:  Wicca is neither Charmed nor is it "The Craft"

Remember that wonderful show that ran from 1998 to 2006?  It was an awesome series that I recently thoroughly enjoyed, it was a lot of fun, exciting, hip, emotional and sadly, nearly 100% inaccurate compared to the reality of Wicca.  But that's the media view of it.  As is the 1996 movie the craft (which interestingly the main antagonist is actually Wiccan in real life and at one time owned a metaphysical store). In fact most of the entertainment media out there is just that, nothing more than glamorized entertainment.  So if you think your making progress by following Hollywood's version of Wicca or any form of Paganism for that matter, you might find yourself spinning your wheels.

This is why I get irritated when I start hearing people try to feed me lines of reasoning that are clearly formed from the entertainment world.  That's their version and I think for a lot of newer people its really bastardized their first brush with the world of Wicca, and kept in a place where the lines of reality are blurred.  Wicca is a beautiful belief system, very rich in history from modern day versions (non Hollywood versions mind you) to the ancient Celtic beliefs where modern day Wicca largely evolved from.

Next time:  What Wicca Is!