To help with all of this, I am going to answer some very basic questions and queries that many parents have when their child studies Wicca.
What is this thing called Wicca? Wicca is a simple Earth based religion which is becoming increasingly popular. There are many different areas of Wicca that your child might be interested in e.g Germanic Wicca, Asatru, or possibly even Druidism. Most Wiccans regard the Earth as sacred, that everything happens for a reason. Your child may express this through recycling, maybe forming their own garden, taking Earth and Environmental sciences at school (In years 11 and 12 here in Australia) and spending a lot of time outside.
What rules are there? There is a general debate on this at the moment, many people say there are two rules but many say there is one. I generally go by one rule: "An it harm none, do as you will." Human terms anyone? Don't harm anything. It's a likiness to the 5th commandment in Christianity - Thou shalt not kill. Do not harm anyone else or yourself. If you do, then the law of three comes into place. This has a parallel with the Buddhist religion, except they have the eightfold law. Whatever you do bad, will come back to you three times worse. This has its good side, it makes many people think about their actions before doing anything. Don't be too worried about it, everyone makes mistakes and we all learn from them. This just seems to make you think better!
What's with the God and Goddess? Wicca has two Heavenly leaders (I could find a better term for this couldn't I?). A God and a Goddess. This is what draws a lot of people to Wicca. They find that having one God is not enough or that their old religion might have been a bit sexist (trust me, I've heard of this!). The Goddess and God control the seasons, they are the Sun (God) and the moon (Goddess). They are the trees, the birds, they are present in us, they are our friends, they are the water...does this explain everything?
Is this a Cult? A cult usually has a leader who is going around recruiting people to join his "gang" so to speak. Wicca doesn't use people like this. If we all started like this, then no one would believe in Wicca. Many people are just drawn to Wicca, we don't need recruiting. Another good thing to point out would be that it is against what we believe in to recruit people. This isn't the army, this is a religion. Anyone going around trying to manipulate people into believing what they believe in isn't following Wicca properly.
Satanism? NO! We don't believe in an evil entity. We acknowledge that there is evil in the world, but we don't believe in a bad side to the God and Goddesses realm. We need to create balance. Everyone has their own religion, and Satanism is not ours.
Sacrifices? No. If I sacrificed an animal or human it would be against the Rede. This goes for everything, including yourself! So no going off and jumping off buildings then...
Is this a passing trend like Tamagotchi's and the like? Don't get me started on Tamagotchi's Well, this could be a passing fling. Wicca is becoming more popular due to the media. Many of the kids (I call them kids because most people who start to be Wiccan are only kids of around 12, no offence!) believe that they could make things hover in the air, zap people with their fingers, control others and things like that. They become all excited and go flat out to learn about Witchcraft/Wicca and then find out that Wicca is nothing like it is on television. Kids like this usually stop their fascination with Wicca after this, then find something else more interesting. Many who stick with it usually have their priorities set out, they know what they are looking for. Girls like Wicca because of the more feminine aspect that many other religions don't have and the boys like it because they don't have to be tough. When those who stick with it find out it's a great religion, they are the ones who benefited more and were better educated about it. No one is excluded, even beginners. Wicca is a lot of work. Many leave after they see how much work they have to put into it. This is why some come and go. It's all meant to be like this.
Is there anything to be scared of? There is naturally hesitation to all of this. There will be a bunch of strange people out there in Wicca, but it's the same with any religion. It's just life. I've known some shocking Christians...don't ask!
Any other questions please feel free to e-mail me!
