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Permalink Reply by 3equ3cp1fsw0n on January 14, 2011 at 6:07pm

I have enjoyed learning about Wicca in this thread. I have a close family member who is into it but I did not want to ask her about it because I was afraid I would not be able to keep a straight face as she explained it to me.

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Permalink Reply by Aaron on January 14, 2011 at 6:49pm

I posted a similar thread in r/atheism recently here. Some of the folks there pointed me to some helpful resources, such as the Skeptic's Dictionary, which has some good wicca-related entries. My sense is that a lot of these folks are disaffected Christians (not necessarily ex-Christians), but what's most striking is the lack of any sort of structure to the belief system. It's kind of an "anything goes" approach to spirituality. But perhaps this lack of structure is in itself an attraction.

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Permalink Reply by Allen Sneed on January 14, 2011 at 7:18pm

I think the lack of structure can be attributed to the fact the religion was all but destroyed by Christianity and so modern adherents are trying to piece it back together.

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Permalink Reply by Isaac on January 14, 2011 at 10:30pm

Wiccans and New Agers can easily be as batshit insane as Creationists. Leaving a religion certainly does not necessitate being more rational. I think I might have a slight, very very slight amount of respect for Creationists over New Agers because Creationism is making a testable scientific claim, which is that when one looks at the earth for clues of how it was formed that it should match the bible. Of course, that claim has been utterly disproven, but it's way more clear and concise than New Age bullshit.

 

What's the name of the forum? I have no problem whatsoever going over there and giving them a piece of my mind.

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Permalink Reply by James on January 14, 2011 at 10:30pm

My wife is actually Wiccan, and one thing she has told me is that their beliefs vary greatly as it is more personalized to the individual. Some believe in faeries, some have a familiar, some practice candle magic, some herb magic, the select their own god and goddess, and some just worship nature. My wife is mainly just the nature type, and likes researching pagan histories. One thing she can't stand is what she calls the ' wannabe witches'. Basically, people who claim to do all these spells to look/sound cool, or be like the witches in movies. She equates it to when the goth scene was just the outcasts, and then it became overblown and popularized.

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Permalink Reply by 3equ3cp1fsw0n on January 14, 2011 at 10:53pm

Hee hee, you made me think of the South Park goth kids, which were so hilarious.

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Permalink Reply by Jon Heim on January 15, 2011 at 1:44am

"their beliefs vary greatly as it is more personalized to the individual. Some believe in faeries, some have a familiar, some practice candle magic, some herb magic, the select their own god and goddess, and some just worship nature."

 

That's another point that I forgot to mention.

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Permalink Reply by James on January 15, 2011 at 5:12pm

Ialso forgot to add that external magic isn't really Wiccan. What 'actual' Wiccans will practice is more like an internal 'magic'. Meaning that they may do a spell to be happier. The thought is then that they will be more positive and that may rub off on those they com into contact with. Simply due to a placebo effect/frame of mind/power of suggestion.  But anyone who claims to do love spells, spells on another or curses is not actually Wiccan. More often than not, it's someone who is like "Cool! I want to be a witch!" and really has no understanding for what Wicca actually is.It really is mostly about nature.

 

I will say that although I don't believe some of the thing my wife believes in, she is still much more rational than your average theist. She is not afraid of science one bit and actually embraces new findings.

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Permalink Reply by Jon Heim on January 15, 2011 at 1:43am

um....not all wiccans are like that at all. Like all beliefs, you shouldn't judge the whole religion based on those that are extremist or in you're words, kooky.

My fiance is wiccan, and I see more logic in the way that she practices her beleifs then that of a fundamentalist christian.

Wicca IS about nature.

the "Magic" that you speak of isnt what you think...it mostly has to do with the power of sugestion. "healing" is real. there are herbal remedies that are scientifically proven to be effective.

as far as the deities that they beleive in, they usually take figures of ancient pagan gods..such as Greek or Egyptian in my fiance's case, and only use them as symbolism of what their God and Goddess are like.

wicca is considered a neo-pagan belief, which means it's a newer take on ancient pagan traditions and rituals. Most Wiccans reject other gods in favor of the god and goddess, because these pagan beliefs pre-date other modern religions. While they DO practice differently, it all has ancient roots.

Traditions and rituals that most wiccans practice have to do with the earth, and the minerals that make it up. well, that and spirit, but we'll let that one go because it could be a lot worse.

You mentioned the moon in you're post. The moon's phases represent the life cycle of the goddess. unlike modern belief systems, there takes a man AND a women to create everything in Wicca.

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Permalink Reply by Jon Heim on January 15, 2011 at 2:41am

I agree with the morality part. the three fold law is something that jesus should have talked about. lol

 

I also agree about transferring energies to a point...i think that if someone is susceptible to the power of suggestion enough, it could have a placebo effect.

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Permalink Reply by Zombie Atheist on January 15, 2011 at 2:13am

Like some people when I fell away from my 'faith' (its arguable that I ever really had eny but lets ignore that for now.) I looked into other religions. Wicca was one of them. I was (and am) one of those 'weirdo gothy gorls' or however youd like to describe me and a lot of other kids my age who were like that were into wicca so it wasn't hard to find a coven.

 

At first I really liked it. I LOVE nature and the woods. I liked the female empowerment and how it didn't shy from sex. But I NEVER took it literally. The spells were more of an advanced meditation for me and the gods and godesses merely neat symbols. I dropped it when I realized some of these people believed in fairies. Like serious. Fairies.

I know I didn't really answered your question but I wanted to share my bit. :)

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Permalink Reply by Jon Heim on January 15, 2011 at 2:46am

"The spells were more of an advanced meditation for me and the gods and goddesses merely neat symbols"..i cant say that most wiccans are like this, but my fiance is and it doesn't seem all that crazy to me.

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