A paper on neopaganism (Wicca, Article, witchcraft)

[Eibhlin]

Originally Posted by Circle_One

The thing is, as has been explained by Feathers, "Pagan" is an extremely broad, umbrella term, encompassing more than 100 seperate religions. And each of these seperate religions have many of their own, seperate traditions. Like Wicca has Gardnerian, Alexandrian, Dianic, Discordianism, etc etc.

So it might even be easier (and narrower) for you to perhaps focus on one tradition, instead of Wicca as a whole.. maybe?

Regardless, there are many here that would be happy to help you, and each giving a description of their own tradition would probably be best, that was you can get a feel for the religion as a whole, and perhaps even choose one tradition to focus your paper on, if that's what you want to do.

Wow, that's awesome! See? I'm already learning stuff I didn;t know!

[Circle_One]

Hehehe!

Well, glad we could help

As for myself, I'm not Wiccan at all, I'm Kemetic, but I've studied Wicca and my mother is an Alexandrian Wiccan High Priestess, so I may be able to help a little, should the need arise

[Feathers in Hair]

I'm also not Wiccan, so you might want to rule me out of the paper, if you choose to focus on that. But I'll tell you some about my tradition, in hopes that it might be helpful!
(And also because I love to talk, hehee!)

I follow a blend of Dianic Paganism with Pictish witchcraft/shamanism. Dianic tradition is one that tends to focus on the sacred feminine. (The idea that we are all goddesses, as well as celebrating primarily female goddesses.) Some adherants of Dianic tradition are women who feel empowered by it and wish to follow a female-only spiritual path. For my own purposes, I recognize males as being of the same intrinsic worth and spiritual make-up as females. (That means I also celebrate a few gods whose personality or history I find appealling, and that, if I were ever in an organized group of witches, I would probably refuse to be a part of it unless men were also welcome.) A lot of my personal practise also has to do with 'Pictish' shamanism- that is, spiritual practises and approaches to life that the ancient Scottish tribes used. (Or might have used- there's naturally some guess-work when one is dealing with things that are attempting to replicate something historic that is not carefully documented.) I did some research into First Nations tradition, but I realized that, by not being able to be guided under a traditional teacher, I might be exploiting their beliefs. That's why I turned to a form of practise that was more likely to have been an ancestor of mine.

Did you want to know about gods, or anything like that? (Also, here's a good site that lists an overview of some of the traditions. I also recommend WitchVox.com for discussion and reading material!)

[Shadow Wolf]

Or another route you could take is the general since of Paganism, which would be Earth-based religions (Wicca, Druid, etc.)

[BFD_Zayl]

or i could give you a few tidbits on something quite a bit different....might scare your teacher though

[Eibhlin]

Originally Posted by BFD_Zayl

or i could give you a few tidbits on something quite a bit different....might scare your teacher though

hehehe! well, scaring her might be a bad idea though... she almost got sick reading one paper, and was rendered incapable of grading it...

[Eibhlin]

Basicially, I'll need 6-7 sources, only one of which can be an internet website.

I read over the Wikipedia entry, so I've got some basic foundation to work with, at least, but print sources are virtually invalueable, even if they have online versions.

[Shadow Wolf]

Basicially, I'll need 6-7 sources, only one of which can be an internet website.

Ask away. I've been following my path for about 4 or 5 years now, and I am working on my own book about my particular path of Paganism.

[Eibhlin]

I went to the library, and I have some promising-looking sources, I was just hoping you guys would double-check these, if you happen to know them.

Book of shadows by Gonzalez Wippler
Wicca for Beginners by Thea Sabin
Magic and Witchcraft by Nevill Drury
A History of Pagan Europe by Prudence Jones & Nigel Pennick (for historical influences)

Also, I believe my paper's topic as it stands is something like "common misconceptions of Wicca", so I'd have to find some Christian and Satanistic sources to show that what Christians actually think is "witchcraft" is closer to Satanism.

[Mike182]

Originally Posted by Eibhlin

I went to the library, and I have some promising-looking sources, I was just hoping you guys would double-check these, if you happen to know them.

Book of shadows by Gonzalez Wippler
Wicca for Beginners by Thea Sabin
Magic and Witchcraft by Nevill Drury
A History of