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Misconceptions of Wicca and Witchcraft

© Karen Mitchell

It is a dark and stormy night. A lone figure, dressed all in black, slinks through the shadows and into the woods. Far in the distance, a bonfire burns and voices can be heard mingled with the steady pulse of a drumbeat. The figure, a woman, has a long knife strapped around her waist. Her black robe is hooded to conceal her features from passers-by. She enters the clearing where the bonfire blazes and removes her robes, dancing naked with the others around and around in a circle, raising a magical chant.

Ok, the above paragraph sounds like it was ripped straight from a B-grade movie or pulp paperback. It's one of many stereotypes of witches and what witches do, often perpetuated by Hollywood storytelling. And while we sometimes do dance naked around bonfires in the woods, it's certainly not the only way witches or Wiccans celebrate their religion. Those of us who are Pagan realize this now, but how many of us did before we set foot on a Pagan path?

I'll confess, I was a total believer in the witch stereotypes before I began looking into Wicca in the fall of 1996. All I'd had to go on were movies and the occasional 70s-era spell book in the public library. Since 1996 the amount of available information on Wicca has grown exponentially. As it's become more popular and more prevalent in popular culture the misconceptions have grown, too.

This article is written to debunk some of those stereotypes and misconceptions for people who really don't know anything about Wicca other than what Hollywood or the media shows. People who aren't necessarily interested in learning how to practice Wicca, but who are interested in knowing more this new religion their spouse or child has decided to pursue. It is by no means an exhaustive list of the sorts of misinformation and misconceptions that exist, but I've tried to hit the most common ones. If by writing this I can help smooth the way towards a better understanding of Wicca and Paganism then I've done my job.

Let's start with the big S word first: Satanism. Wiccans are NOT Satanists. Most Wiccans don't even believe in the Christian concept of the Devil or Hell. There may be Satanic Witches out there, since Witchcraft can work with many different theological systems, and Satanism can be considered a Pagan religion, but Wicca and Satanism are different paths. In fact, there are different types of Satanism, but that's another essay for another time. For more information, check out a FAQ on ReligiousTolerance.org at http://www.religioustolerance.org/wic_sa... There are several links in the FAQ for further research, but click at your own risk. I've not evaluated every link on the page.

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