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Forums Forums Magic, Witchcraft and Healing Anti Wiccan Prejudice in the Neopagan/Witchcraft community.

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    mark
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    I wanted to post this here because I have seen a lot of anti-Wiccan rhetoric on TikTok, Reddit, and other places.

    First of all, I want to say that I am indifferent as to whether or not other people are Wiccan. I do not care if you follow the Law of Threefold, and I do not care if you follow the Rede, but I do care if misinformation is spread about my beliefs.

    So, one major thing that I notice is the claim that Wicca is transphobic/enbyphobic. This could not be further from the truth, at least in my experience. I am the child of a Wiccan, and I also identify as nonbinary. Never have I met a gender essentialist Wiccan. There are examples of certain individuals being transphobic, but I think characterizing Wicca as being transphobic is completely unfair. It seems that some people use the Goddess/God dichotomy present in Wicca as evidence of this claim, but this really seems to be a misunderstanding of how many Wiccans see the Goddess and God

    Another common thing is that Wiccans are somehow lesser than non-Wiccan witches. That Wicca is meant to be a “jumping off point” for the rest of a practice. It is completely fine in my opinion for somebody to begin in Wicca, and then move outwards. However, when people characterize Wicca as being for beginners, and that people ought to move past it, is a bit demeaning. Also, as a community which often has a lot of awareness of social responsibility, it does make me wonder why so many are comfortable adopting certain Wiccan traditions, then turning around to complain about Wicca (while continuing to practice Wiccan magic).

    I think that as a community, we have to be aware of the environment we create. Wiccaphobia is just like any other bigotry, no matter who is engaging in it. As a Wiccan, practicing for many years, in a tradition handed down to me by family – it can be quite alarming when I see uneducated anti-Wiccan musings. Especially since it is a such a diverse religion, with many views on theology and ritual practice. Witches, as a community, really should be aware of this – and make sure they are fully educated before they accidentally spread misinformation. This is part of why many Wiccans have the idea of a “year and a day” of study, because not everybody is meant to be Wiccan, but everybody ought to be mindful about the information they spread.

    (As a reminder, not all witches are Wiccan, but most Wiccans are witches. Wicca is a religion, anybody can practice witchcraft, but being Wiccan requires an understanding of Wicca. Becoming Wiccan often involves initiation or self dedication, and Wicca is an incredibly diverse religion.)

  • Anti Wiccan Prejudice in the Neopagan/Witchcraft community.

  • boorella

    Guest
    June 13, 2021 at 7:27 am

    I started out as a Wiccan when I was about 13, been a practicing secular witch for about 9 years now because I decided that Wicca was not for me (I had no issues with it, just to clarify, I just adopted a more secular practice as I learned more about other forms of witchcraft)!

    I just wanted to jump in with my two cents because I have also seen the argument that Wicca is transphobic because the terms are very female-centric. Wicca is NOT a closed practice to males/trans/enby people. All are welcome that wish to practice and it has always been that way!

    Wicca is not meant to be unwelcoming for *anyone*, and the female-centric terms should not be taken as a way to gatekeep other genders. I’ve always taken the terminology to be their answer to male-centric organized religion where God and Jesus are perceived as male and men are generally seen as being “in charge”.

  • Seth_Mimik

    Guest
    June 13, 2021 at 7:27 am

    I think a lot of anti-Wiccan sentiment simply comes from the fact that Wicca has become mainstream compared to other pagan faiths and occult practices. Subversive people like to hate on things that become widely accepted. It’s no longer unique or underground to be Wiccan to people with that mindset, so now they hate on it just like any other mainstream system, and their reasons and criticisms are simply grasps for justification of that hate.

    I’m not Wiccan. I read some Cunningham and others, felt it wasn’t for me as I just didn’t click with it, and moved on. But I’ve seen a few friends that first got their start with Wicca and then moved on to other practices and started to hate on Wicca in, what seems to me, the same fashion that hardcore punk rockers hated on Greenday fans back in the 90’s even though those same hardcore punk rockers actually loved Greenday until the band went mega famous and “preps” and “jocks” started to listen to them.

  • Snoo_73835

    Guest
    June 13, 2021 at 7:27 am

    What is enbyphobic? I mean, I know the root word of phobic but what does the enby mean?

  • Mage_Malteras

    Guest
    June 13, 2021 at 7:27 am

    I’ve never seen anyone label Wicca as a whole as transphobic. I usually only see those accusations leveled at *Dianic* Wicca specifically.

  • Ethereal_Gatekeeper

    Guest
    June 13, 2021 at 7:27 am

    The “Threefold Law” was a concept introduced by Gerald Gardner in his fictional novel “High Magicks Aid.” The original Threefold Law stated that the witch should give BACK three times what they get. Someone does something good for you? Give them three times the good. Someone does something bad to you? Well, it was your right to give them three times the bad.

    People took that, twisted it, and applied it to everything “Wicca.”

    I suggest you reevaluate things.

  • Ethereal_Gatekeeper

    Guest
    June 13, 2021 at 7:27 am

    Part of the hate towards Wiccans is how preachy they are. They claim the threefold “law” is absolute, which is funny considering it’s not even a thing in Wicca.

    Also, Wicca is TECHNICALLY a closed practice. You are supposed to be trained by a coven, whether Gardnerian or Alexandrian, attain 3 degrees, and be taught their sacred rites. But no one wants to talk about that lol.

  • 0ne1nTheChamber

    Guest
    June 13, 2021 at 7:27 am

    I believe this can be compared to non christian people saying that christians are bad people, homophobic, karens, etc.

    Same goes for islamic practices, they arent all out there to make us explode or to terrorize us.

    It’s the thing of the century to drag every religion down, remember cancel culture? Welcome to the shitty world we live in. The only religion i know so far isnt being dragged down is maybe the Jewish or buddhism.

  • ProNocteAeterna

    Guest
    June 13, 2021 at 7:27 am

    I have a feeling that a lot of this is squarely the fault of my generation of witches. That is, those of us who got into witchcraft during the late 90s/early 2000s witchcraft boom. It’s not at all okay, but there are reasons why so many of us from that time have these kinds of attitudes.

    Back then, Wicca was huge, so much so that it was difficult to find books or websites on non-Wiccan forms of witchcraft in the vast ocean of Wiccan material floating around, and even more difficult than that to find information about branches of magical practice other than witchcraft. Because of that, most people’s first exposure to magic was through Wiccan materials, and a lot of those were of questionable quality (Silver Ravenwolf, for example, or one of the thousands of Geocities and Angelfire websites). That led to Wicca being a thing that a lot of people did indeed grow out of, not because Wicca is lesser than other forms of witchcraft, but because so many people who started in it later found paths that suited them better. Meanwhile, a lot of Wiccans at that time, probably thanks to their lack of exposure to other magical practices, started treating a lot of Wiccan ideas (notably, the Threeefold Law) as fundamental rules of magic rather than tenets of their religion specifically, which put them very much at odds with people who were exploring magical practices outside of Wicca.

    As far as transphobia goes, I have seen a few transphobic Wiccans who defended their position by referencing Wiccan principles, but only a handful in 20+ years in the magical community, and virtually all of those were Dianic Wiccans.

  • zwahk

    Guest
    June 13, 2021 at 7:27 am

    I wish people would just get along we’re all human beings after all

  • Rogue

    Member
    June 14, 2021 at 5:03 pm

    In my experience through the years very few Wiccans I’ve seen have pushed transphobic or enbyphobic ideas. I have seen a lot of talk about how to be more inclusive and talk about pagan gods that had no gender attached to them and how to make Magick more Queer accessible.

    As others have said the few times I have had issues sadly they were Dianic Wiccans on the toxic side of feminity. Not all Dianic Witches are like that though.

    There are closed Wiccan traditions and they did start that way of having to be brought in and taught in the coven. Now there are still closed traditions but there is also Eclectic Wicca that can be practiced and learned on one’s own merit.

    I love and accept any path people choose if it’s done with love and good energy. Yes, even left-hand paths! That said, I am always cautious making Wiccan friends because it has become the Mormons of Witchcraft for many followers. As in they try to shame and guilt others to follow the 3 fold law. Which as mentioned the roots of that have been twisted or changed for different reasons. I don’t want to interact with preachy folks of any religion!

    But if you don’t try to convert people or attack those of different paths I’m all for it. And I like Queering up my Craft whenever possible! 🙂 (Note I am Queer, I’m pansexual and fully support Witches of all genders and identities!)

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