Read an Excerpt
Recently my husband and I went to a coffee house to meet a man who was interested in becoming a student in our Wiccan study group. Like many Wiccans who lead teaching groups, we always arrange for our first meeting with a seeker-someone searching for his or her spiritual path-to be in a public place, for everyone's safety and comfort. Over tea, we asked the seeker why he wanted Wiccan training. We ask everyone who talks to us about training this question. If they tell us they are looking for a nature-based religion, a path of self-empowerment, a way to commune with deity, or something along those lines, we continue the conversation. If they tell us they want to hex their ex-lovers, brew cauldrons full of toxic stuff, make others fall in love with them, worship the devil, or fly on broomsticks, we tell them they're out of luck and politely suggest that they seek out a therapist.
When we asked the question of this seeker, he told us about how he had searched for information about Wicca in books and on the Internet, attended public Wiccan rituals, and visited metaphysical bookstores, but there was so much information available on the topic that he wasn't sure what was Wicca and what was not. He was also at a loss about how to separate the spiritual stuff from the rest. As he put it, "I know there's got to be a religion in there somewhere." He decided to find a teacher to help him sort it all out.
It was easy to understand why he was confused. During the last several years, Wicca and magic have stormed the American pop culture scene. We've been watching Bewitched for quite a while, but Sabrina the Teenage Witch, the Harry Potter films, The Lord of the Rings, Charmed, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer have spurred a new wave of seekers, despite the fact that most of these shows and films have precious little to do with real Wicca. It's gotten to the point where someone has coined the term "Generation Hex" for all of the teenagers and twenty-somethings who have been turned on to Wicca by the current magical media blitz. There are more Wicca books on the market than ever, and more than 6,000 Wicca-related Web sites on the Internet. There are Wiccan radio shows, Wiccan umbrella organizations, and state-certified Wiccan churches. And there's even Secret Spells Barbie, complete with glittery costume, cauldron, and "magic" powder. Okay, technically she's not Wiccan, but she definitely contributes to the confusion.
With all of this sudden popularity, you'd think that Wicca and magic had finally made it into the mainstream. For better or worse, this isn't true. The Wicca media glut has only given people more false, confusing, and contradictory ideas about what Wicca is. Although it's probable that more people are familiar with the word "Wicca" than ever before, there is no cohesive, accurate image of Wiccans in pop culture. Thanks to films and prime-time television, Wiccans may have "graduated"from the green-faced hag with the pointy hat to sexy women with navel rings in scanty clothes who help others with their "powers," but this is not a more accurate portrayal (there are plenty of male Wiccans, for one thing), and it's not an improvement.
Even Wiccans get confused about what Wicca is sometimes. In the Wiccan community there is a lot of discussion (okay, arguing) about what makes a Wiccan. I'm not going to jump into that fray here. Instead, I want this book to give you a broad-based understanding of Wicca so you can decide what the truth is for yourself.
