A Wiccan’s Rant on “Wiccans”

Author: Sunbear

I’m a young, American, teenage Pagan raised Christian and brought up going to church every Sunday. When I was in 9th grade my parents found out (I was outed by a friend’s dad) . My dad almost cried and my mom wanted an exorcism performed. Over the years they’ve grown more used to the fact and my mom has pretty much adopted paganism too. Sound familiar?

Almost every Pagan I’ve met since I began my spiritual journey was raised Christian, but most of the Pagans I’ve met are teenagers as well. Converting from one religion to another is something I feel is important, because religion should be something you choose yourself and not something chosen for you. But, and I’m sure there are plenty of you who agree, there are quite a few teenagers who are converting (and I use the term loosely) for the wrong reasons.

Go to the mall, to the movies, the boardwalk, anywhere where there are lots of young people, and you’ll see them. Dark clothes, black eyeliner, maybe some bright hair colors, and it’s very likely that one or more will be wearing a pentacle without any grasp or knowledge of what the symbol, and the religion they are representing, means.

Now, let me make one thing very clear, because I’m sure that I just ticked a lot of people off. I’m not in any way shape or form putting down the gothic subculture. I’ve met many pagans who considered themselves goth and were very committed to the craft. There are many wonderful books on gothic Paganism, Gothcraft and Nocturnal Witchcraft, to name only two.

The only point I’m trying to make is that sometimes young teenagers will want to be rebellious and disappoint mommy and daddy for a laugh, or try to make themselves look cooler or more “hardcore”, so not only will they go to Hot Topic and outfit themselves with the latest goth clothing, they’ll strap on a pentacle and change their religion thing on MySpace to “Wiccan”.

I go to a technical school for Advertising Art and Design, and in the Cosmetology (makeup and hair) shop in my school, there’s a girl who will remain unnamed. She is in the middle of her own rebellious phase, and about a month or two ago, I looked on her MySpace and saw that she was supposedly a “Wiccan”. Surprised, I sent her a message and said I had never known before, I’d been practicing for a while and if she ever needed any help or advice to let me know.

When I got around to logging back in about a week later, she had replied my message and said this: “Well I actually don’t kno 2 much bout it i keep lookin stuf up bout it on the internet but all i get is stuff on witches! Lmao!”

I had two very strong urges at the same time. The first was to laugh as hard as I could; the second was to drive over to her house and shake her. I’m sure you all know the feeling.

Then, about three weeks ago I was at Wal-Mart with my boyfriend. We were checking out when the clerk asked me if I was “into that gothic stuff”. I checked myself over. Blue jeans, green, flowered T-shirt, and a brown hoodie.

I guess I looked confused, because he pointed at my chest and said, “You’re wearing a pentagram. Aren’t gothic people normally into that type of thing?”

I quickly explained that it was called a pentacle, that it didn’t have anything to do with devil worship (I know he didn’t ask, but it just starts to slip out after a while, you know?) , and that it was a religious symbol and not a fashion statement.

These two incidents are not isolated. I’ve spoken to a lot of people who were wearing a pentacle necklace who clearly described themselves as either Pagan or Wiccan, who gave explanations of their spiritual path as things like “I don’t believe in God” or “I wanted to explore the darker side of religion”, and I can’t help but wonder where these people are getting their information!

I mean, I know that we all have a different view of our spirituality — that’s what modern Paganism/Wicca is — but it kind of offended me that someone said he/she was a Wiccan because he/she didn’t believe in God. That’s just furthering the stereotype that we are a godless religion that worships a satanic figure.

I hate to think that a Christian person could ask these people about Wicca or Paganism and get an answer like that! I know that sometimes when I’m asked about my spiritual path one of the first questions is “Why don’t you believe in God?”

When that kid told me he was a Wiccan because he didn’t believe in God, I asked, “Do you mean you don’t believe in the Christian God?”

To which he replied, “No, I don’t believe in any God.”

I asked him where he got his information on Wicca, and he said that somebody told him about it and he thought it sounded cool because he could do magick! I immediately told him that that person obviously didn’t know what they were talking about and I gave him a run-down on what Paganism/Wicca really is. And he said that the Einstein who gave him the information didn’t tell him anything at I had just said. After our conversation he was no longer interested in the religion at all.

There are so many misconceptions about us as a group already that it scares me a little bit that there are people who walk around with no idea what they’re talking about spewing false information into the world.