OCT. 11, 2004

WICCA
Wicca moves into the mainstream

Wiccans are smashing stereotypes as their movement matures. Throughout the country Wiccans are organizing congregations and youth groups, training clergy, pursuing charity work, sharing pagan parenting tips and fighting for their civil rights.

Of all the new religious movements that blossomed in the 1960s, Wicca is the most successful. Exact numbers are impossible because formal membership does not exist, but estimates range from the low thousands to the millions. All experts agree that Wicca is growing, from small towns to big cities to military bases. The 2001 American Religious Identification Survey found that the number of Wiccans in the United States had multiplied nearly 17 times in a decade, from 8,000 in 1990 to 134,000 in 2001. Regardless of numbers, numerous developments suggest that Wicca is drawing closer to the mainstream:
• Cherry Hill Seminary, which trains pagans for professional ministry, was established in Bethel, Vt., in 1996. It currently serves 80 students, mostly via the Internet.
• The study of contemporary paganism is growing. In 1995, the American Academy of Religion devoted one hour of its annual conference to pagan studies. At the academy's November 2004 meeting, pagan studies scholars will meet for an entire day and plan to apply for recognition as a formal group within the academy.
• Circle Sanctuary maintains a list of pagan charities in the United States. The list was developed after James Towey, director of the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives in the Bush administration, wrote in an online question-and-answer session in November 2003 that he was unaware of any pagan groups that performed charity.
• In 1987, the 158,000-member Unitarian Universalist Church recognized Wicca and other forms of neo-paganism by establishing the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (CUUPS) - sort of a denomination within a denomination - that has chapters meeting in UU churches in 36 states.
• Pagans are addressing issues other religions have as they mature, including how to raise their children in their tradition (see PaganParenting.com) and how to protect their civil rights. (see the Alternative Religions Education Network).
• Books on Wicca and other forms of neo-paganism are no longer confined to small publishers. Today, major commercial houses including HarperSanFrancisco and Random House publish popular books on Wicca and neo-paganism. There is even a Complete Idiot's Guide to Wicca and Witchcraft from Alpha Books.
• SpiralScouts International is a scouting-like organization for pagan children, including Wiccans, with "circles" of children in 22 states.
• Wiccans and pagans are becoming more ecumenically minded. In 2003, the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions elected a pagan to its board of trustees for the first time. More than 60 pagans - the most ever - attended the Parliament in Barcelona last summer.
• Pagan Pride Day events across the country - traditionally in late September - have grown from 17 events in 1998 to 117 in 2003.

Why it Matters
Wicca has enchanted pop culture and many teenagers, much to the dismay of many people who follow traditional, mainstream religions. Meanwhile Wiccans have been successful in fighting for their equal rights in schools and public settings, such as the right to say prayers before public meetings. How this decentralized, non-authoritarian religion manages growth will determine the staying power of its next generation in the American religious landscape.

Questions for reporters
• What are the challenges to practitioners of Wicca as their faith becomes more widely recognized and practiced?
• Can Wicca maintain its unique characteristics as it moves closer to what some scholars define as the "American" model of a religious body - a house of worship led by clergy and attended by a congregation?
• How will members of a belief system that has no centralized religious authority manage growth?
• What is attracting new followers to Wicca? Are longer-term adherents concerned about the increasing organization of Wicca?

Skip to background

Terminology
There are many different traditions in Wicca. The Witches' Voice has a listing and descriptions.
• Wicca is a form of neo-paganism, a term used to denote contemporary paganism, as opposed to ancient paganism. There are many forms of Wicca, but most share a worship of the divine feminine, or goddess, and a reverence for nature and its cycles. Scholars agree that Wicca is largest segment of neo-paganism.
• Pagan vs. neo-pagan: Different groups have different feelings about the two terms. Some prefer "pagan" because they trace their belief and practices back to ancient times. Others prefer "neo-pagan" because their faith blends the old and the new.

Wicca and paganism on the web
• The Witches' Voice is a major clearinghouse for all things Wicca and pagan.
• PaganParenting.com is a web site of resources for neo-pagan parents raising children in their faith.
• The Alternative Religions Education Network is dedicated to preserving the civil rights of members of alternative religions, including Wicca. It was originally called the Witches' Anti-Defamation League.
• The Military Pagan Network is an advocacy organization for pagans in the U.S. military.
• The USA chapter of Pagan Federation International is a networking organization for pagans around the world.
• EarthSpirit Community is an information and networking clearinghouse for all Earth-based religions, including Wicca.
• Covenant of the Goddess is the web site of an international organization of cooperating, autonomous Wiccan congregations and solitary practitioners. It is based in Berkeley, Calif.

Click the map for interview sources in your state and region

National sources

ORGANIZATIONS
• Kirk White is president and dean of academic affairs at the Cherry Hill Seminary, a seminary in Bethel, Vt., that serves all branches of paganism, including Wicca. He says practitioners of Wicca must be careful as they begin to assume some of the trappings of mainstream religion because of the temptation to become more like the mainstream in ways that might violate the core values of paganism. Contact 802-234-6420, dean@cherryhillseminary.org.
• Judy Harrow is chairwoman of the pastoral counseling program at Cherry Hill Seminary in Bethel, Vt. She says Wiccans can look to the Quakers for a model of how to maintain uniqueness in the midst of the mainstream. She lives in the New York area. Contact 973-268-8908, judyharrow@comcast.net.
• Angie Buchanan is a Circle Sanctuary minister and director of Gaia's Womb, an interfaith women's spirituality organization based in Bannockburn, Ill. In 2003, she became the first pagan elected to the board of trustees for the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions. Contact via email only, angie@gaiaswomb.com or ladyhawker@earthlink.net.
• Selena Fox is a high priestess and senior minister of Circle Sanctuary, a Wiccan church and pagan resource center near Mount Horeb, Wis. She is also senior editor of the group's magazine, The Circle, an international quarterly journal about Wicca and nature religions. She recently participated in an interfaith panel that discussed mainstream awareness of Wicca and contemporary paganism. Contact 608-924-2216, selena@circlesanctuary.org.
• Jerrie Hildebrand is the assistant director of the Lady Liberty League, a voice for religious freedom for Earth-based religions, including Wicca. She says civil rights challenges to Wiccans and other pagans are coming up more frequently because the religion is becoming more recognized and practitioners are more open. She is based in northeastern Massachusetts. Contact 978-828-0222, jerrie@circlesanctuary.org.
• Pete Davis is the founder of SpiralScouts, an outdoor/adventure organization for neo-pagan children based in Index, Wash. The organization has chapters in 22 states. Contact 360-793-9427, scribe@aquatabch.org.
• M. Macha NightMare is chairwoman of the public ministry department at Cherry Hill Seminary, where she helps train neo-pagans to assume clergy roles in public. She is also author of Pagan Pride: Honoring the Craft and Culture of Earth and Goddess (Citadel Press, 2004) and is a practicing witch in San Rafael, Calif. Contact herself@machanightmare.com or macha@cherryhillseminary.org.

AUTHORS & PUBLISHERS
• Starhawk is author of Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess (Harper San Francisco, 1999) and co-founder of Reclaiming, a community of neo-pagans in Northern California with branches worldwide. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Contact via Adrienne Biggs through December 2004, Adrienne@biggspublicity.com. After that date, contact via Mary Dedanan at 707-847-3571, or via email at stella@mcn.org.
• Silver RavenWolf is author of numerous books about Wicca, including many titles for teenage witches. She lives in Pennsylvania. Contact ToadyProducts@msn.com.
• Sandra Weschke is treasurer of Llewellyn Worldwide, a major publisher of Wiccan books based in St. Paul, Minn. Contact 651-312-8301.
• Dagonet Dewr is managing editor of newWitch magazine for new witches and other neo-pagans. A recent issue addressed what it's like to move from outsider status to mainstream and noted the appearance of witches in books, movies and television, including on a soap opera. Contact 317-916-9115.
• Ashleen O'Gaea is the author of Raising Witches: Teaching the Wiccan Faith to Children (New Page Books, 2002). She and her husband are founders of the Adventure Tradition of Wicca. She says one benefit of Wicca moving closer to the mainstream is that it is now better understood than it was in the past. Contact ashleen@juno.com.
• Raymond Buckland is author of Witchcraft From the Inside: Origins of the Fastest Growing Religious Movement in America (Llewellyn, 1995). He lives in Ohio. Contact raybuckland@hotmail.com.

ACADEMICS
• Helen Berger is a religion sociologist at West Chester University in West Chester, Pa. She has studied neo-pagans for 20 years and is a co-author of Voices From the Pagan Census: A National Survey of Witches and Neo-Pagans in the United States (University of South Carolina Press, 2003). Contact 610-436-2349, hberger@wcupa.edu.
• Sean McCloud is a professor of religion and modern culture at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. He can discuss the growth of Wicca and challenges to Wiccan parents raising children. Contact 704-687-2542, spmcclou@email.uncc.edu.
• Wendy Griffin and Chas Clifton are co-editors of the Pagan Studies series from AltaMira Press. Griffin is a professor of women's studies and an expert on goddess studies at the University of California, Long Beach, and Clifton is a lecturer in English at Colorado State University-Pueblo and the editor of Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies, which publishes twice a year. Contact Griffin at 562-985-5798, wgriffin@csulb.edu, and Clifton at 719-549-2226, chas.clifton@ colostate-pueblo.edu.
• Gus DiZerega is a professor of economics at St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y. He writes extensively about paganism and its relationship to mainstream culture. Contact 315-229-5974, gdizerega@stlawu.edu.
• James R. Lewis is a lecturer in the religious studies department at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in Stevens Point, Wis. He has written a paper using census data from English-speaking countries to determine the growth of the pagan community. Contact 715-346-3803, jlewis@uwsp.edu.

Background

• The Pluralism Project at Harvard University maintains a pagan resource page.
• Read a Beliefnet article by Christine Wicker about teen pagans.
• The Religious Tolerance web site of the multifaith Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance maintains a Wicca section. It includes data on numbers of Wiccans, which range from a low 2,000 to a high of 5 million.
• The Witches' Voice web site maintains a page of information and do's and don'ts for reporters covering Wicca and other neo-pagan traditions, especially during Halloween.