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Here we will compare wicca in the show Charmed to that of the real religion.


(By the way, I know almost nothing about actual Wicca, so I will be asking a majority of the dumb questions)

There have been mention of Wicca and Wiccans. They've made references to their wiccan duties.

Whether or not you consider "Charmed" to be Wicca depends on how broadly you define Wicca. Generally, though, the Charmed ones would *not* at all be considered Wiccan by the Neopagan community.

Yes, they mention Wicca and the practice here or there. Especially in the Pentagon episode 4laugh

Magic is *part* of Wicca, but it isn't all that Wicca is. Wicca is, first and foremost, a religion. That sometimes gets some people hung up, particularly if they become interested in the Craft because of a show like Charmed. I don't actually watch Charmed (I've seen a few dozen episodes but I don't watch it regularly), but decided to join here to help people out on the non-hollywood magical front. whee

If I had to peg Wicca in a few bullet points, it would probably look something like this:

-*- Wiccans have a ditheistic deity structure, believing in a God (solar) and a Goddess (lunar) whose interaction forms the basis of the world we live in. Many practitioners supplement this with additional deities from a single or multiple Pagan pantheons.
-*- There are only two "laws" in Wicca: the Rede (An it harm none, do what ye will) and the Law of Return (that which you do comes back to you; often this is refered to as the Threefold Law which states that what you do comes back to you threefold).
-*- Wiccans practice magic. As defined by Alesteir Crowley, magic is the art and science of bending reality in accordance with one's will.
-*- Form of practice is solitary or group (covens). There is some debate about whether or not lineaged initiation is required to claim the title "Wiccan" but it is generally accepted in the community that one can preform a self-dedication and claim the title Wiccan.
-*- Practices revolve around sabbats (eight solar/seasonal holidays) and esbats (usually full-moon rituals but can also refer to whenever a particular coven meets).
-*- The Wiccan symbol (as well as that for Witchcraft) is the upright pentacle. Wiccans also use a variety of tools when doing spellwork, some of the most common being the athame, chalice, wand, and cauldron.

But don't just listen to this uber-basic overview. The site I like to point people to is Wicca for the Rest of Us. Great site that hits all the basics and warns people of the dangers of taking Wicca to be a fandom or a fad.

The comment that many are Wiccan (or at least Neopagan; not sure one should claim to be Wiccan so much without at least a dedication) before they knew it seems to be pretty common. A lot of us grow up with magical interests only to have them snuffed out by the adult world. That was something I noticed about adults when growing up... they were terribly closed-minded when it came to realms of the imagination and of magic. I never wanted to become like that. Perhaps it was my own "Peter Pan" moment as a kid... (heheh) You can't just wholely ignore your surrounding culture, though, so modern Witches and Neopagans just have to find a balance somewhere between embracing magic and the imagination and having oneself grounded in the 'mundane' world.

Perhaps teens embrace these things not neccesarily because they want to piss off their parents, but out of rebellion against the fact that the adult world tends to slam the doors on magic and imagination? Just an idea. I don't worry to omuch about those who enter into the Craft who do so only as a fad or for less-than-religious reasons. Chances are they'll grow out of it one way or another. 3nodding

True. That reminds me of the whole Catcher in the Rye thing. The whole going into adulthood thing.

I dunno. My mother is a Super Christian and it bothers me alot. But I'm not Wiccan because of that.

I'm Wiccan because of the freedom I get. There are no 10 commandments and "Thou shall not"s There are only guidelines I guess you can call them and warnings.
But its not only Wicca that has that freedom. Paganism, Ive heard, has even more freedom.


The trouble I have is keeping my cool hearing: "Witchcraft is this, witchcraft is that." Its hard not to develop an opinion of Christians ya know?
>< Ive had a bad day so Im not going to be on gaia long, plus I lost my computer ugh >< I'll be back when I can.

*Applauds* In my oppinion Wicca and Paganism along with other religions are among the most wonderful religions because they still use imagination and believe that they can actually do something along with having an amazing respect for the world. No, they don't tie themselves to trees to keep it from beign cut down, but they take the time to respect nature and know that its something special and something that needs to survive in a world such as this.

As for the books, yes they're easy to get. What worries me is what exactly they're getting. I practically live in the Barnes and Noble. Most books are fairly harmless. Just little Chants about beauty and whatnot. And books about Wicca that explain clearly about it and how to get started in a way.

But some kids might find the higher magick books (I've seen them myself) And yet they aren't ready for those yet.

Along with that some might take Silver Ravenwolf as complete truth without looking through other books. Although she is a great author, her theroy of Wicca isn't exactly correct. Ya know?

But then again I'm 14 and have limited resources and have only been Wiccan for about 6 months. But I try my best to remain true to the religion and to not become a fluffy bunny. Thats all you can do ya know?