Skyclad: Wicca Religion

Wicca has always been a religion that I have always found interesting. I think when people think of Wicca, their minds automatically go to witches, magic, being against God, evil, satanic. I think there are a lot of misconceptions when it comes to the religion. I think Paganism and Wicca caught my attention with movies like The Craft or Practical Magic. I had cousins who were not allowed to watch things like that because it was “Evil.” I have never felt this way and I thought this was a religion I wanted to learn something more about. I think the negative misconceptions outway the actual truth when it comes to this religion. I think people tend to be afraid of the unknown and tend to learn what they know about religions from movies and Social Media.

The Watchtowers represents the four cardinal directions: North, South , East and West. In many traditions they are also associated with each of the four classical elements: Air, Fire and Water and Earth. These are the Elements of nature and are forces honored by Pagans and Witches.

Blessed Be has become a casual greeting between many, used in the same way as Merry Meet and Merry Part which Neo-pagans say in greeting each other, A form of Hello and Goodbye. This is unfortunate, Blessed Be is a sacred term, to be blessed. It’s roots go deep and well into many religions, it can even be found in the Christian Bible:, “"I will bless you, I will make your name great." : in Judaism "Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe..." this is a Jewish blessing for moments of joy.

In this book Carol Karlsen reveals the social construction of witchcraft in 17th century New England, and brings forth the portrait of gender in the New England Society.

To completely understand the history of New England witchcraft you have to understand the role of colonial women. The author of this book, Carol Karlsen, used a lot of Secondary and primary sources to support her thesis. She uses first hand accounts of witch

Witchcraft was defined for the masses by the publication of the Malleus Maleficarium also known simply as the Handbook. Written by two Dominican friars in 1486 it’s purpose was to be used as a handbook to identify, capture, torture, and execute suspected witches. Opinions stated as facts and written in the Malleus Maleficarium, “handbook”, were based their faith, church doctrine, and the Bible. No doubt a religious masterpiece in it’s time this handbook is a neatly woven together a group of beliefs, experiences, wisdom of ancient writers, religious ideas, and God inspired writings that justify it’s purpose. Written by and used by Catholics this handbook proved useful for Protestants as well. Based on biblical interpretation and ideas the handbook provided Protestant Church leaders biblical authority to prosecute witchcraft as well. Translated into today’s vernacular phrases such as, “everybody knows that women are feeble minded” or “everybody knows that women are more superstitious than men” and “all women have slippery tongues” are included in the handbook and presented to the reader as foregone conclusions. Specific

Kachowism is a religion based off of lightning. The religion is found wherever there is thunder forecasts all year round in villages, on mountaintops, but mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, especially in Australia, Brazil, and New Zealand.

For the most part, it remained hidden until very recently. With Gerald Gardner and others, some light has been shown on the origins of the Craft. With the new attitudes toward religious freedom, some covens risked becoming more open.

     Wicca and Pagan are two religions, which have many similarities as well as many differences within each area. Wicca is a sect of Pagan in which each has their own variations on the religion. A good way to put it; all Wiccans are Pagan, but not all Pagans are Wiccan. Witch is a term used for any practitioner of Wicca. The Webster's II Dictionary defines witch as 1. A woman who practices sorcery or is believed to have dealings with the devil, 2. An ugly, vicious old woman; hag. Wicca is described by the American Heritage Dictionary as the cult of witchcraft. Pagan is the religion under which many different religions are practiced. Webster's II Dictionary defines pagan as one who does not

The assigned readings present multiple occult beliefs, and describe potential causes and reinforcers. Alcock (1995) held the view that the brain and nervous system worked together to create beliefs targeting survival, while Singer and Benassi (1981) believed social, environmental, and cognitive factors acted in separate ways to reinforce occult beliefs. Parallels exist between contributing factors desccrive by Singer and Benassi (1981) and the seven units listed by Alcock (1995); however, Alcock (1995) described them as causes of the belief engine, while Singer and Benassi (1981) described them as factors contributing to the support and growth of occult beliefs.

When people hear about the Wiccan religion they think of potions, magic spells, and pointy hats. Wiccans have suffered through many tortures of non-pagan religions for thousands of years. Yet they never gave up on their rituals and beliefs. Wiccans are often depicted as atrocious beings who only wish to harm people. It is important for people with such prejudice beliefs to know about all of the common misconceptions, the origin, and the beliefs of Wiccans.

The following paper will talk about Wicca and Paganism as a religion within the United States. Wicca is a diverse community as a religion, but is not yet considered by any Supreme court case but some aspects such as traditions are recognized by the federal and state courts. This will be further touched upon further later on.

The Wiccan religion is one of the fastest growing religions in the United States as well one of the most misunderstood due to the controversies surrounding its history and mystery shrouding its beliefs and doctrines. Due to a series of popular TV series that have shown Witchcraft in a positive light, such as Sabrina, the Teen-aged Witch and Charmed, the popularity of Wicca has grown, especially amongst teenagers; but sadly this popularity has not been partnered with a growth in understanding and respect (Kaminer). Although Wicca offers a nature-oriented, egalitarian belief system with a rich collection of customs and rituals, ignorance and historically-rooted misconceptions still dominate public opinion.

A large proportion of society in England believed in witchcraft, but the reasons as to why a country which was developing a belief in

For nearly two centuries, witchcraft seemed to have disappeared. Although it was driven underground for a time, it is now the fastest growing religion in the United States. There are several reasons for its disappearance and now, for its return.