Wiccan Religion: Witchcraft In The United States

Interestingly enough, while not only being one of the fastest growing religions, it is also a religion that most find their selves staying with if it what they were raised in (Banerjee, 2007). One criticism I would have for this is that it is a very new religion, so by saying that people are more likely to stick with Wicca compared to any other religion is swayed due to the age gap of religions. Another would be that

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.

* How do different social groups act as part of the ritual? Do men and women have different roles? Do younger people and older people have different roles? Buddha-lama-effigy-patron

It is difficult to pin point when and where witchcraft originated, but there are multiple claims that it has been around since 500B.C and is said to have been in Europe. Attitudes towards this ‘magic’ changes depending on era and area, but in ancient Egypt where some of the earliest examples originated, magic was something that only gods and kings possessed, therefore civilians had a great respect for the practice. This is different to early modern Europe. Christianity was a large part of their society and witchcraft was often seen as ‘the devil’s work’ thus meaning those who practiced witchcraft were ‘Satanists.’

Considering the number of rituals and the depth of history and beliefs that come with them, it takes years before one can truly become proficient in all the ceremonies involved. A progressive line is followed as every Mason ascends to each chair in the lodge. And with each level, a new series of rituals is to be learned and memorized as well.

One of the many old belief systems is witchcraft and sorcery. It is often believed that

Witchcraft in the 1400s going on to the 1700s gained massive popularity due to several factors. Some of these factors included hallucinogens contained in the “oyl” women used to anoint themselves, manipulating the hysteria and using it as a form of social control to make people conform to the norms of the society and lastly, using it to explain misfortunes that afflicted the people of the community and the neighboring ones.

Some rituals serve as rites of passage or markers of main life proceedings, at the same time as others are prayers or ‘spells’ for everyday blessings & relieve in life, such as money, strength, closeness, care for, or superior conclusion in production or other deeds. Wiccan rituals often-engage ‘casting a circle’ - to is, sketch a circle on the ground or define it in a collection by everybody rank & asset hands. The circle might be marked with candles at the points of the cardinal instructions, or with the 5 points of the pentacle. Everyone rank in the circle will face inner on the way to single another.

The Reclaiming Tradition started in the 1980's in Northern California, specifically in the San Francisco Bay area. Reclaiming is a contemporary American witchcraft tradition that was started by Diane Baker and Starhawk. They both believed in “reclaiming” the word witch because words have power.

Witchcraft stemmed from European roots around 560 B.C. and was originally focused on being united with nature, but has come to be associated with evil and the devil. Witchcraft and Wicca have different historical backgrounds, which leads them to have different beliefs and

A spell can involve incantations, visualizations, herbs, candles, amulets, talismans, and many other objects or actions. Magic spells are a way to communicate with and influence the spiritual energy that exists all around us. This same spiritual energy is the blueprint for the physical world that we live in, and when we affect the spiritual, we will soon see changes in the physical. It is important to note that not all Wiccans practice magic, and not all who practice magic are Wiccan.

From my understanding witchcraft is what is basically used to explain situations that human kind believe is unexplainable in terms of science or nature; or simplified reasons of human understanding of the world around us. These understandings of which most are found in rural or secluded areas, and in places where wealth is distributed unequally. I also gather from the readings of; Evan Pritchard, that witchcraft explains functionalism in primitive though lines and in contrast to Fraser McNeil and Daniel Jordan Smith’s readings witchcraft in another context explains structuralism.

From research articles via Dr. Dominquez we find the following references to “Wicca” and “Witchcraft” meanings:

In most Wiccan covens, there is some form of initiation and a degree

Witchcraft exists. Whether we choose to believe or not, its existence in worldwide cultures is undeniable. Its form takes many shapes that can be determined by the religion, economics, politics, and folk beliefs in each individual culture where it may take place. Its importance in our own, American, history should not go understated: Witches were a major dilemma for people who lived in 1692 Salem, Massachusetts, and as a result women (and men) were hanged due to undeniable belief in the power of Witchcraft. Today, belief in magic and witches has diminished with the increasingly secular nature of our culture, but we must accept there was a time when witches “existed”. While American culture has drifted away from ideas such as witchcraft, others have certainly not, with the primary example being Africa. Witchcraft in African culture accounts for many of the issues found within many of the continents communities. Correcting these issues, at least for a time, usually results in a community being “fixed” (examples are made in Adam Ashford’s account of witchery, Madumo, a Man Bewitched and the anthropological accounts being used for this essay). What is fascinating; however, are the parallels that can be made between witchcraft in different cultures. In a previous essay I touched on this topic by incorporating my definition of witchcraft as “a cultural means of being able to create particular moral boundaries by means of ‘magic’ thinking” (Brian Riddle, 2015). In this essay, I