Wicca 2nd Edition

This collection of books includes Wicca for Beginners, Wicca Spells, Wicca Herbal Magic, Wicca Moon Magic, Wicca Candle Magic, And Wicca Crystal Magic. Despite "Wicca" being in the name of all of these, there is relatively little discussion of Wicca as a faith, philosophy, or even practice. Wicca is more than the sum of its spells, and I get the sense that "Wicca" was included in the title for advertising reasons. The books are much more focused on New Age spiritualism. This isn't to say that there can't be crossover between Wicca and New Age spiritualism. There definitely can be. I just think that one shouldn't just throw various concepts in a bag and use the label of one to describe them all.

I checked out this book after reading a few introductions to Wicca from the 1980s and 1990s. This collection is from the late 2010s. I figured that it might be a representation of concepts popular these days and help me see how the religion has developed over the past 30 years or so. I cannot recommend this book. It does not strike me as representative of the practicing Wiccans I have met and it features a few concepts that are in direct contradiction with what most Wiccans believe. I'm not talking about small details. I'm talking about basic ethics that would be important to most people, but Wiccans especially.

Qualms: (Serious Issues) 1) Cultural Appropriation - At many points within these books, the author suggests the use of white sage and smudge sticks to cleanse things. These are practices taken from Native American religions. The popularity of white sage among non-Native American people has gotten so out of hand recently that the people who have used it in their religious practices for centuries are now struggling to get it. This is unethical. Cultural appropriation is wrong and the ecological impact of people deciding to take this practice for themselves is also a problem. Wicca is an earth-focused religion and puts a lot of emphasis on respecting the faith of others. The use of smudge sticks by non-Native American people is a violation of ecological responsibility and respect of diversity championed by this faith. Also, there are several mentions of concepts from Dharmic religions that demonstrate that the author is not familiar with those faiths beyond the New Age co-option of them.

2) Crystals are an ecological and humanitarian disaster - Crystals play a big part in almost all of these books. Crystals haven't really played a part in Wicca traditionally, but this is clearly the author's favorite topic. Crystals are mentioned often and the book dedicated to crystals is the most detailed. It feels very strange and out of place. There's a lot of discussion of ions and electricity and energy flowing through crystals and claims that can be scientifically tested and disproven. Attaching a quartz to your car's gas line will not improve your gas mileage, and talking about it in a book about a religion based on ancient pagan rites just feels weird. That's all beside the point though. If you want to incorporate crystals into your faith, that's awesome! Except... crystals are woefully unregulated. The demand for them generated by the recent fascination with crystals has led to ecological disasters as they are pulled from mining operations tearing apart the earth. Who is tearing the earth apart? In some cases it's children in these mines in far off countries. You don't want that on your conscience. Also, I hesitate to bring this up, but any time someone claims that something cures everything, it cures nothing. The miraculous powers assigned to these crystals is unconscionable. Someone will read these books and try to cure themselves with something that will not work. At best, they've wasted money on a crystal based on a lie. At worst, they're dead because they didn't seek other treatment.

3) The sociopathy - At one point, one of the books lists three categories of spells it is going to present: Love, Money, and Luck (in love and money). Money or love is the go-to example for anything you may want to cast a spell for for this author. I'm not going to begrudge anyone a money spell. That's fine. When 95% of the spells or rituals in the book are focused on getting money or getting someone to be your friend or love you, however, it makes me feel like the author is obsessed with money and sees people as objects to serve them. It's extremely off-putting. You should never say a prayer, cast a spell, or operate a ritual that impacts another person without their consent or at least a reasonable expectation that they would be okay with it. People have free will and it's disrespectful to invoke your spirituality to get them to date you, break up with you, break up with someone else, befriend you, or change who they are. These are the actions of a comic book villain. I understand the wish to find the right friend or right love. "Love" spells have been a part of esotericism for millennia. We're better than this though. A wish for love taken this extreme is psychologically and spiritual diseased. It will rot you inside. Pray/cast/operate for yourself. Seek guidance on being your best you. That way, when love crosses your path, you'll be ready for it.

Quibbles: (Minor Issues) 1) The tarot meanings given in this book don't really follow the traditional meanings. That's fine except they're mostly meaningless platitudes that would make for a very unsatisfying reading. 2) The author has a couple of "unlike other religions" statements. I hate these. Such comparisons sound smug and they aren't helpful. The ones in this book collection are also plain wrong. One statement was that other religions expect you to do exactly a what a single text or leader says. It's funny that this is included in a book that proceeds to tell you what to do. There are culty forms of different faiths that are fundamentalist and focused on a single leader, but the vast majority of faith communities except some interpretation and thought. Wicca doesn't have a monopoly on moral freedom and most Wiccans wouldn't claim it does. The second comparison was worse. The author states that "unlike other religions" Wicca requires soul searching and introspection. This is amusing as I think contemplation and introspection is major part of basically every religion on earth. There's usually a whole group of people within the religion dedicated to it. 3) Don't cast a spell to change the weather. Your local farmers will hate you. 4) Spells that require a freezer aren't very mystical feeling. That's just me though. 5) Sabbats aren't focused only the god (rather than the god and goddess). I have not read or experienced that anywhere but here. 6) At one point the author claims that most people assume that Wicca has only one leader. This is not something I have ever heard of. 7) 3 initiation levels are found in some Wiccan groups, but this is presented as something official. Maybe I misunderstood. 8) "Releasing the gods." In some ceremonies, practitioners will invite the god and goddess into the circle. Sometimes the gods are thanked at the end. "Releasing" them might just a matter of word choice, but it feels very weird. They're divine beings. You can't "release" them. They aren't bound to you at any time. 9) 15th to 18th Century Europe is not the "Medieval Period." All these terms are made up anyway, but calling this period "Medieval" in the book was clearly meant to conjure up a shorthand image of a backwards thinking Europe controlled by the church. It's just inaccurate. Different faiths, occultism, and heresy, were persecuted by the church during this period, but not out of blind ignorance. It's much worse. It was calculated and planned. People were targeted for social and economic control reasons. It wasn't the backwards Middle Ages. It was the cold dawn of capitalism.

In conclusion, there are much better books on this topic out there. I personally had ethical issues with this collection of books. Ironically, my moral objections to this religious collection has nothing to do with religion, because basically no religion was presented.