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Basic information on wicca - word up the ignorant...

04:35 / 24.11.04

i am trying [oh so very trying...] to write a novel and it appears that one of my characters (on a reality tv show about cooking) will have an avid interest in / may be a practicioner of wicca. but i know nada...

can someone please point me in the direction of some good basic info on just what wicca is, does it have to be female (and if so, what is a male wicca called?), what are some core practices & beliefs, who are some in/famous wiccas abroad today [i know fiona horne in australia has some presence] and what is this sigil i hear so much about? is that a part of it?

it'll prob'ly only end up being a paragraph or two in the book, but you never know these things, the character might write themselves much more than i anticipate and i don't want to appear ignorant.

with barbelith help, that will be impossible!

muchos gracias in antici............................................pation! : )

07:51 / 24.11.04

Perhaps put the word Wicca in to google or visit a wicca message board?

13:26 / 24.11.04

Awww, G.L., ze didn't want to actually have to do any research...

Googling would probably be your best bet, though, if you don't want to do a lot of heavy reading - otherwise people will probably be wanting you to read "The Spiral Dance" or something. However, I'd advise you to do some deeper research and not just rely on a thumbnail sketch.

Given that caveat: No, Wicca is not just for women, and practicioners are generally known as Witches, regardless of sex. Core beliefs are a bit nebulous, and there are different varieties of Wicca. When most people say "Wicca" they mean Gardnerian Wicca - you may want to do some research on Gerald Gardner. Common, but not universal, tenets include a form of pantheism, belief in Goddess(es) and God(s), belief in magic, the rule "An ye harm none, do as ye will", and the Threefold Law - that any action for good or ill will return to you three times over (sort of an imminent karma effect). Not all Wiccans necessarily subscribe to all these ideas, and this is certainly not all there is to Wicca. Keep in mind that Wicca is a religion, not just a magical system. Try not to treat it too superficially, people get sensitive about that.

Some "famous" practicioners and authors you might want to look into: Fiona Horne, Oberon Zell, Starhawk, Silver Ravenwolf, Laurie Cabot, Janet and Stewart Farrar, Isaac Bonewitz, Scott Cunningham, and Ray Buckland. Please keep in mind that "famous" does not necessarily mean "authoritative", "reliable", or even "good".

And sigils are generally associated more with chaos magick or pop magick, which isn't the same thing as Wicca, though there's some overlap.

There's your thumbnail sketch; don't shoot the messenger, and for the love of the gods don't quote me. I strongly suggest you use this information as a starting point only, and do more research on your own. You might even learn something useful.

Good luck with the book...

14:11 / 24.11.04

Margot Adler (of NPR Fame) wrote a pretty decent book on the subject called Drawing Down the Moon. As I understand it, Ms. Adler is a practioner herself.

Depending on how intrinsic this stuff is to your storyline, you may have to do some deeper reading. Your character will have read these books, it's only fair that you read them too. You might also want to look into tarot and runes.

A lot of people who practice magick disparage writers like Starhawk and Silver Ravenwolf, but some of the most effective spells I have ever cast were adapted from their books.

As for sigils, it's my understanding that they are more of a Chaos Magick thing. Your Wiccan may also have an interest in Chaos, however, so you may want to read up on that as well.

Good Luck!

15:21 / 24.11.04

Top 8 Wicca Books for Beginners

Im not one but have many wiccan / pagan friends so I would recommend numbers 4 and 8.

15:29 / 24.11.04

a little tidbit you might want to add is that there is substantial evidence gardner cribbed the rituals and symbolism of 'wicca' from thelema due to his extensive association to aliester crowley right before his death. there is actually next to no evidence that paganism as a religion ever existed in anything even vaguely resembling the form it does now. hence the moniker of 'neo-paganism'.

16:08 / 24.11.04

Rrrk, I forgot Margot Adler. That's a big one.

Basically, astrojax, you're poking into something immensely complex that's connected in many strange ways to many other complex things. It's up to you how much you want to find out.

19:50 / 24.11.04

No, Wicca is not just for women, and practicioners are generally known as Witches, regardless of sex.

Which,(hehe) is just wrong, IMO. One can be a witch who is also wiccan, but being a wiccan does not make one a witch.

Again, just my opinion.

Whatever you do, just don't call anyone a warlock.

03:22 / 25.11.04

i thought barb' was research. hee hee - heeeeee......

err, but really, thanks everyone - so prompt and so comprehensive. i'll set to on google and the other sites and tomes and word me up! do me some gen'wine research on the topick at hand.

watch that bookstore now....

so, what is a warlock?? (and why is it something bad?)

06:04 / 25.11.04

Here's the Wicca section of Textfiles' occult texts.
Bon appetit, devilkin!

10:53 / 25.11.04

Warlock just doesnt seem to be a tag they like. The trouble with wicca like a lot of things is there are many flavours and they all have different views. Check out hedge witches on google. Basically they are people who follow the path on thier own without the need for moots or covens (my partner is one) that way you will avoid the need to get into, for example, the Pagan Federations headspace. Plus any inconsistancies will be put down to that not your research!

Indolent yes but as the other mighty one says 'Choose slack!'

19:19 / 25.11.04

"Warlock" apparently means "oath-breaker". Wiccans and witches as well as magicians, generally do not like to be labelled in this manner. So, I wouldn't make it a practice of calling any male witch friends, warlocks

However, if the shoe fits...

05:18 / 26.11.04

But "Warlock" sounds so sexy, in a seventies-Marvel cloak-and-no-shirt, buff-to-the-max, rhyming spells and backwards-talk way.

ONLY NICE THINGS

07:46 / 26.11.04

It means, or rather is etymologised to, "waerloga" - which does indeed mean "one who belies his oath". However, more immediately, it means "the Devil", he being the original and still the best breaker of oaths.

Maybe one could reclaim the term?

08:53 / 26.11.04

I quite like the idea of reclaiming the word "Warlock" and inventing a whole 70s Marvel inspired tradition of magic around it. I think it could easily rival the popularity of Wicca. Maybe I could pass it off as a family tradition or something. Instead of working skyclad, a Warlock must always work with his shirt unbuttoned to mid-chest revealing an arcane amulet.

trouser the trouserian

09:28 / 26.11.04

well chaps, it's the Pagan Fed conference tomorrow in Croydon, why don't you pop along and do a quick poll amongst the assembled wiccariti about what they think of warlocks?

Unconditional Love

10:09 / 26.11.04

do they all look like julian sands?

and their words flow out like ham and spam.....

Unconditional Love

10:23 / 26.11.04

hes one of them gnostic nihilists me thinks.....

10:32 / 26.11.04

do they all look like julian sands?

Nah, they all look like Burt Reynolds playing Dr Strange.

Unconditional Love

14:36 / 26.11.04

are you sure it was burt reynolds?

that film was terrible, i hired it twice thou at the time or was it thrice, may be it will return on me.....

ONLY NICE THINGS

14:50 / 26.11.04

Nah - it was Peter Hooten, who went on to star in NOTHING! NOTHING! NOTHING, I TELL YOU! FEEL THE POWER OF THE CURSE OF DORMANNU!

Or words to that effect.

Jason Pitzl-Waters

15:32 / 26.11.04

If you want the straight dope on Wicca, where it came from and what influenced it check out "Triumph of The Moon" by Ronald Hutton and "The Paganism Reader" by Chas Clifton.

Please avoid Silver Ravenwolf and most authors working for Llewellyn if you possibly can. They give us sane Pagans a bad name with their tireless publishing of "Wicca 101" tomes.

18:18 / 26.11.04

But "Warlock" sounds so sexy, in a seventies-Marvel cloak-and-no-shirt, buff-to-the-max, rhyming spells and backwards-talk way.

Oh yes, oath-breakers and devils are all so very sexy...and then it turns out they are lousy in bed.

Loki might be a good example of reclaiming the "oathbreaker/devil" archetype. Although there is not much in the way of redemption for him.

Unconditional Love

04:02 / 27.11.04

how lousy?

10:27 / 03.12.04

I'm a wiccan initiate. Suggest you start with Hutton and avoid all Llewellyn books, as suggested.

Then take a look round the WiccaUK site. I wouldn't recommend the CoA site personally.

BTW, it sounds like you have a lot of work to do, unless you want this character to be a somewhat shallow reflection of one of the great mystery schools. Unless that's the literary effect you want to achieve.

10:38 / 03.12.04

are you sure it was burt reynolds?

Burt Reynolds wasnt in the film they made, but i feel that Dr Strange is a role he was born to play. If I ever got a chance to write Dr Strange I'd emphasise the Jason King, international occult playboy aspects of the character.

19:51 / 05.12.04

yar, 2stepfan - much much work to do...

i thought i might give some broader world views among a carnival of characters. this thread has been astounding, though my head is now spinning with so much to learn and i might go back on the oath to write a wicca - so i become: warlock!

heaven forbid!

: )

but really, that is fascinating stuff about oath breaking and devil being. i only ever knew warlocks through scungy hollywood and rumour. love the idea of reclamation of the term - you go, wiccans!

i love barbelith...