There are a great number of different religions in the world today. Some are well known, such as Christianity or Catholicism, but some are not as widely known about as others. One of these “unknown” religions is Wicca. There are quite a lot of people that are followers of Wicca, but there are not a lot of other people that know much about it. They are labeled as “witches”, “evil”, or as Satanists, which is a completely different religion on its own. I have always had somewhat of an interest in Wicca because it is not taught about and it's more difficult to find out information about Wicca than it is to find out about Christianity, or Mormonism, or any other common religion. In saying that, I will know more about it at the conclusion of this report, and hopefully the same can be said about you.
The origin of Wicca is somewhat unknown as well. It is difficult to tell when exactly it started because so many of the followers practiced in secret because of the consequences they would have faced for being Wiccan openly. That goes back to those labels I mentioned. Many still do practice in secret and there could be a number of reasons for this. Maybe they do not think that their religion is anyone's business, or they might be fearful of what other people would think about it or how they would be treated; again, I am going back to those labels. Anyway, Wicca either started in the 20th century somewhere in New England, or it was derived from some ancient religion that pre-dates Christianity. This is because some members claim that this religion has been continuous since the ancient religion, but kept a secret. Others claim that this is not true and that this form of Wicca is new and originated in the 1950s in England.
The person that I interviewed for this is Shaun Bass, which is an old friend from high school. When I knew him, he was atheist. So, it's somewhat ironic that back then, he did not believe in any god, and now he believes in several within Wicca. The first subject that we touched on was the different holidays that they celebrate throughout the year. There are eight main holidays within Wicca. In order, they are Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lughnasadh (pronounced Loonasaw), Mabon, Samhain, and Yule. All of these holidays basically follow the growth of the year's crops. Imbolc is during the first of the year when the frost is still on the plants but is beginning to thaw.
Ostara, which is around Easter and the Spring Equinox, celebrates the life beginning again. Beltane is raising the crops and the food that is provided and Litha celebrates the continued growth and the preparation for harvest. Lughnasadh is basically a Wiccan's Thanksgiving, or harvest time. Mabon represents the preparation for the coming year and gathering the harvest for the coming winter. Samhain is the celtic “end of the year” in some traditions and it takes place around Halloween; this is the most popular and well-known of the Wiccan holidays. Yule comes last, and is basically their Christmas before Christmas, the last holiday of the year.
Mr. Bass also mentioned the founder of Wicca, which is Gerald Gardner. Apparently Gardner “has written that he joined an existing Wiccan coven in 1939, taking the (then) usual vows of secrecy” (Robinson, 2006. Writings that formed the basis of Wicca, para. 3). He has also written quite a few books on the subject: High Magic's Aid (1949), Witchcraft Today (1954), and The Meaning of Witchcraft. Many believe that these books that Gardner wrote were the beginning of the resurgence of Wicca. Today, it is one of the fastest growing religious groups in North America and Europe.
Wicca is one of the largest of the minority religions in the United States. There are no reliable estimates of the number of Wiccans in this country. Our best estimate is on the order of 750,000. That would make Wicca about the 5th largest organized religion in the United States, behind Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Hinduism.
(Robinson, 2006. Recent Wiccan History, para. 2).
There were other authors who published things before Gardner. One is Charles Leland who wrote Arcadia: Gospel of the Witches in 1899. Margaret Murray also wrote some; she wrote The Witch Cult and The God of the Witches (Robinson, 2006). These books were not well-accepted during their time by society due to their fear and lack of knowledge of the religion.
When I asked Mr. Bass how religion has shaped his life, he basically said something that I already mentioned, that he was atheist at one point in time and now he believes in many Gods or Goddesses. He believes this to be a good thing because it forced him to pursue understanding and knowledge of all the religions and the ways that they are similar or different. He says that the best lesson that Wicca teaches is to be willing to be free of restraints, but always mindful that every action has a consequence. In other words, be wise in all pursuits. As with any other religion, he did say that there are some challenges. His was a different kind of challenge though. He said that Wicca, basically, is too simplified for him. Wicca, in his words, has been watered down over the years so that almost anyone can do it. Because of this, he takes bits and pieces of other similar religions and studies different things in order for it to fulfill his religious needs. You have to understand that Mr. Bass is a very intelligent individual, and when I say that he was forced to study other religions, he really did do just that. He not only owns and has studied the Bible, but he has also done the same with the Torah (Jewish Bible), the Qur'an (Islam), and the Satanic Bible (Anti-religious).
