The New Generation Witches (Controversial New Religions)

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THE NEW GENERATION WITCHES From the shelves of mainstream bookstores and the pages of teen magazines, to popular films and television series, contemporary culture at the turn of the twenty-first century has been fascinated with teenage identity and the presence of magic and the occult. Alongside this profusion of products and representations, a global network of teenage Witches has emerged on the margins of adult neopagan Witchcraft communities, identifying themselves through various spiritual practices, consumption patterns and lifestyle choices. The New Generation Witches is the first published anthology to investigate the recent rise of the teenage Witchcraft phenomenon in both Britain and North America. Scholars from Theology, Cultural Studies, Sociology, History and Media Studies, along with neopagan commentators outside of the academy, come together to investigate the experiences of thousands of adolescents constructing an enabling, magical identity through a distinctive practice of Witchcraft. The contributors discuss key areas of interest, inspiration and development within the teen Witch communities from the mid 1990s onward, including teenage Witches’ magical practices and beliefs, gender politics, the formation and identification of communities, forums and modes of expression, media representation and new media outlets. Demonstrating the diversification and expansion of neopaganism in the twenty-first century, this anthology makes an exciting contribution to the field of Neopagan Studies and contemporary youth cultures.

CONTROVERSIAL NEW RELIGIONS Series Editors: James R. Lewis, Lecturer in Religious Studies, University of Wisconsin, USA George D. Chryssides, Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies, University of Wolverhampton, UK

This new series on New Religious Movements focuses particularly on controversial new religions. The popularity and significance of the New Religious Movements field is reflected in the explosion of related books and articles now being published. This Ashgate series of anthologies will offer a valuable resource and lasting contribution to the field.

Other titles in the series: The Order of the Solar Temple The Temple of Death Edited by James R. Lewis Contemporary Religious Satanism Who Serves Satan? Edited by Jesper Petersen

The New Generation Witches Teenage Witchcraft in Contemporary Culture

Edited by HANNAH E. JOHNSTON Emerson College, USA and PEG ALOI Emerson College, USA

© Hannah E. Johnston and Peg Aloi 2007 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. Hannah E. Johnston and Peg Aloi have asserted their moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the editors of this work. Published by Ashgate Publishing Limited Gower House Croft Road Aldershot Hampshire GU11 3HR England

Ashgate Publishing Company Suite 420 101 Cherry Street Burlington, VT 05401-4405 USA

Ashgate website: http://www.ashgate.com British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data New generation witches : teenage witchcraft in contemporary culture. – (Controversial new religions) 1. Witchcraft 2. Teenage girls – Attitudes 3. Subculture I. Sanders, Hannah E. II. Aloi, Peg 133.4’3’08352 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data New generation witches : teenage witchcraft in contemporary culture / edited by Hannah E. Sanders and Peg Aloi. p. cm. – (Controversial new religions) ISBN 978-0-7546-5784-2 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Witchcraft. 2. Teenagers–Miscellanea. I. Sanders, Hannah E. II. Aloi, Peg. BF1571.5.T44N49 2007 299’.940835–dc22 2006034965 ISBN 978 0 7546 5784 2 Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd. Bodmin, Cornwall.

To all witches, pagans,heathens and true nature lovers of ages past, and in the generations to come – may their love and stewardship of the living earth inspire the hearts of their neighbours.

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Contents Notes on Contributors Foreword Ronald Hutton Acknowledgements Introduction Peg Aloi and Hannah E. Johnston

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Part 1 Histories and Reflections of Contemporary Teenage Witchcraft 1 The Pagan Explosion: An overview of select census and survey data James R. Lewis

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2 The Perennial Teen Witch: A discussion of teenage interest in modern pagan Witchcraft Melissa Harrington

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3 Becoming a Witch: Changing paths of conversion in contemporary Witchcraft Douglas Ezzy and Helen A. Berger

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4 The Discovery of Witchcraft: An exploration of the changing face of Witchcraft through contemporary interview and personal reflection Julian Vayne

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5 Minor Arcana and the Inclusion of Adolescent Psycho-spirituality within the British Pagan Community Matthew Hannam

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Part 2 Teenage Voices: Accounts from the Field 6 Becoming a Witch: My story Heather Jenkins

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7 Oreos, Orishas, and Others: A personal account of being a teenage Witch Morboriel Parthenos

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Part 3 Texts, Influences and Practices 8 Vanquishing the Victim: Discourses of dis/empowerment in 1990s teenage Witchcraft Hannah E. Johnston

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9 A Charming Spell: The intentional and unintentional influence of popular media upon teenage Witchcraft in America Peg Aloi

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10 Teen Witchcraft and Silver RavenWolf: The Internet and its impact on community opinion Stephanie Martin

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11 Wise Young Women: Beliefs, values and influences in the adoption of Witchcraft by teenage girls in England. Denise Cush

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Index

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Notes on Contributors Peg Aloi holds an MFA in English from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Her research interests include the history of the occult revival, contemporary ritual authorship and construction, and the culture of contemporary paganism, in particular its portrayal in film and television. She is currently an adjunct professor in the Department of Visual and Media Arts at Emerson College in Boston. She has published articles and given talks on a diverse range of topics which all relate to contemporary paganism, including travel writing, Celtic studies, media studies, and literature. She is one of the founding members of The Witches’ Voice, and remains an activist for pagan and environmental causes. Helen A. Berger is Professor of Sociology at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. She is the author or co-author of three books: A Community of Witches: Contemporary Witches and Pagans in the United States; Voices from the Pagan Census: A National Survey of Witches and Neopagans in the United States (with Evan Leach and Leigh Shaffer); and Teenage Witches: Magical Youth and the Search for the Self (Rutgers, 2007). She has also edited the volume: Witchcraft and Magic: Contemporary North America. She has been studying the contemporary Witchcraft movement since 1986. Denise Cush is Professor of Religion and Education and Head of the Department of Study of Religions at Bath Spa University. Her teaching and research interests include religious education in international perspective, Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and contemporary spiritualities. Among her publications are a widely used textbook for Buddhism at A level, and many articles on religious education. Among current research interests are the involvement of teenagers in Witchcraft and paganism, as well as the role of religion in education in countries where religious studies does not feature in the curriculum. She is also co-editing an Encyclopedia of Hinduism for Routledge Press. Douglas Ezzy is fascinated with how people make meaningful and dignified lives. His most recent research is an international study of teenage Witchcraft with Helen Berger. He is also conducting an ethnography of a pagan festival in Australia. More generally he has published articles on the sociology of work and unemployment, living with HIV, and research methodology. His books include: Qualitative Research Methods (with Pranee Rice), Qualitative Analysis, Narrating Unemployment, Practising the Witch’s Craft, and the edited collection Researching Paganisms (with Jenny Blain and Graham Harvey). He is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Tasmania, Australia.

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Matthew Hannam is the founder of the UK’s first teen pagan organization, Minor Arcana, and is both a Registered Psychologist and Registered Psychiatric Nurse living and working in Cyprus. Melissa Harrington has recently been awarded a doctorate in Religious Studies at Kings College, London. Her thesis examined conversion to Wicca, with particular reference to Wiccan men. She has spoken at a number of international academic conferences and published various papers on Wicca, magic and paganism. Her particular research interests include secularization and sacralization, gender within pagan religions, and the psychodynamics of ritual and magic. Ronald Hutton is Professor of History at the University of Bristol and a leading authority on history of the British Isles in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, on ancient and medieval paganism and magic, and on the global context of witchcraft beliefs. He is also the leading historian of the ritual year in Britain and the current world expert on the history of modern paganism. His publications include Witches, Druids and King Arthur (Hambledon, 2002), The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft (Oxford University Press, 1999), and The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain (Oxford University Press, 1996). Heather Jenkins is currently seventeen years old and is studying Biology, Geography and Philosophy and Ethics at sixth form, hoping to do an Ecology degree. She lives in the UK with her mum, two crazy felines, some tadpoles and some newts. Her spare time is generally spent volunteering for the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, gardening, playing with the cats, reading, and watching Charmed. Hannah E. Johnston received her PhD in Cultural Studies from Norwich School of Art and Design, UK. Between 2000–2004 she facilitated www.witchwords.net, a research and networking Internet site for teen Witches. She currently lectures in the Department for Visual and Media Arts at Emerson College in Boston, and her research and teaching interests include contemporary television studies, adolescent audience studies and representations of supernatural women in post-feminist media. Alongside her academic work, she is a Priestess Heirophant in the Fellowship of Isis, and a recording musician and singer. James R. Lewis teaches Religious Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point. He is the editor of more than a dozen anthologies on New Religions, including The Order of the Solar Temple: The Temple of Death (Ashgate 2006), and is the author of a textbook and an encyclopedia in this field of study. His Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements (Oxford University Press 2004) and his Cults: A Reference Handbook (ABC-Clio 2005) won Choice book awards. He is also the coeditor of Ashgate’s Controversial New Religions Series. Stephanie Martin is a researcher and was a member of the Black Forest Clan from 1995–2002.

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Morboriel Parthenos lives in the United States and was a teenage Witch. She is one of several New York based Witches and pagans featured in the 2004 documentary film Out of the Broom Closet. Julian Vayne has been a practicing occultist for over 20 years. His explorations have taken him into Witchcraft, psychedelic shamanism, Qabalism, the tarot, Macumba and a number of other esoteric systems. He is an experienced lecturer, workshop leader, author of numerous articles and five books. His previous work Pharmakon – Drugs and the Imagination examined the link between drug experience and the underlying processes of human consciousness. His most recent book Now That’s What I Call Chaos Magick presents an autobiographical account of the practice of chaos magick. Julian lives in Devon, England where he tends his newly planted orchard.

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Foreword Ronald Hutton

Witchcraft and adolescent women have had a long association in the European imagination. Almost two thousand years ago, the Roman author Apuleius created one of the most delightful characters in Latin literature, an apprentice witch called Fotis, whom he constantly describes as a ‘girl’ and is fairly clearly under the age of twenty. More seriously, teenage women played a very prominent part in the early modern witch trials, both as accusers and accused, in every region of Europe and its colonies. Those who triggered the accusations at Salem in 1692 have entered both history and literature as exemplars of adolescent female psychology; and their role was paralleled again and again in the story of the trials. Even more important to the development of early modern stereotypes of witchcraft were young women who represented themselves as witches and drew upon the rich imaginative life of which teenagers are capable to describe the nature of the witch religion into which they had been initiated. They contributed significantly to the development of the image of the witches’ sabbat. It is not surprising, therefore, that teenagers have become prominent in the evolution of modern attitudes to witchcraft; but it is significant that they have done so with such enthusiasm during the past ten years, and that there is both much public concern about the fact and little understanding of it. The essays collected in this volume represent the first concerted attempt to provide such an understanding, both by study of the phenomenon and by allowing participants in it to speak for themselves. Rather than provide a summary and comparison of them, which would duplicate the work of any reader, I would like here to testify to their value, by showing what they contribute to both a historical appreciation of witchcraft and magic, and to knowledge of modern paganism. First, it is fairly clear what is timeless about the patterns that they reveal. Ever since historical records begin, the peoples of Europe, south of the Baltic and north of the Mediterranean, have had a distinctive belief in the innate power of women to work magic. Men were expected to learn it, from teachers or books, but women were thought just to be able to do it. This belief system lies behind the power of women in ancient times as prophetesses, pythonesses and sibyls, but also behind the fact that, across this huge area, witches have been perceived as stereotypically female. It is the fundamental historical tradition behind modern teen witches. Almost as important is the equally old perception of magic as one of the favourite tools, and weapons, of members of society who are most disempowered in daily life: the old, the poor, the marginal, and the adolescent. The theme of witchcraft as a means to self-knowledge and self-empowerment, central to the teen witch phenomenon, derives directly from this. It is related to another cultural tradition as old as European history, of the use of magic by unmarried girls, in particular, to gain some knowledge, and control, of their

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destinies. Spells to make themselves more attractive to society in general, to win love from particular people, and to learn the identity of future partners, have always been especially associated with this age and gender. They clearly still are. Other factors revealed by these studies are specifically modern. One is the transformation of the traditional image of the witch, by the Romantic Movement, from a figure of evil, to be dreaded by society in general, to a rebel pitted against forces of authoritarianism and repression. In particular, Romanticism linked the witch to the natural world, perceived as both inherently good and increasingly endangered, and to the cause of female liberation. It was this linkage that, by the twentieth century, caused the appearance of pagan witchcraft as the most dynamic and heavily populated division of modern paganism. The teen witch movement both overlaps with this and draws heavily on it for ideas. Another distinctively modern feature is the central importance of written texts, in providing information, inspiration and encouragement for would-be witches. Books have always been crucial to the transmission of ritual magic, but mass literacy has greatly broadened their potential. Finally, this book collectively reveals features of contemporary teen witchcraft that are genuinely novel. One is the growth of solitary practice of spirituality, a feature of both the increasing atomization of Western society into individuals and of a revolution in information technology which can create a virtual community. The second is a very recent change in general social attitudes to witchcraft, expressed particularly in film and television images. While still crediting it with dangers, these now frequently regard it as something morally neutral in itself, with a tremendous potential for personal empowerment and an inherent glamour. Released by these two forces is a third: a commercial market in texts and equipment directed particularly at adolescent would-be witches. Each of these three developments says something important about the way in which mainstream society is itself evolving, which could not as readily be perceived from any other perspective. The contributions to this book should not merely be of importance to anybody concerned with Pagan Studies, witchcraft or adolescents – not least teen witches themselves – but to all who want to keep track of the changing fears and dreams of the contemporary West.

Acknowledgements This book would not have been possible without the initial inspiration of several pagan Scholars at the 2002 ASANAS Conference in Milton Keynes, UK. After a panel exploring teenage Witchcraft, Doug Ezzy, Melissa Harrington, James Lewis and both of us, Peg Aloi and Hannah Johnston, discussed the dynamics of the burgeoning teen Witch community and thus this book was born. It is thanks to these scholars that this book is now in your hands. Further, we would like to thank our editor Sarah Lloyd at Ashgate Publishing for her belief in this project and her patience and to Ronald Hutton for his inspiration, editorial assistance and his insightful foreword. Parts of Denise Cush’s chapter have been previously published as ‘Consumer Witchcraft: Are Teenage Witches a Creation of Commercial Interests?’ in the Journal of Beliefs & Values, 28 (1), (2007): 45–53. Hannah would like to acknowledge the contributors to www.witchwords.net, for their continued inspiration and their willingness to help us understand what it means to be a teenage Witch today. Also, thanks are due to the Rev. Eric Winch, and the Norwich Chant Collective, all of who have kept me connected to the significance of the relationship between scholarship and embodied spirituality. To Bear and Claire for their untiring proofreading when they should have been on holiday. Finally, to my husband Daniel, who has lived with the hovering presence of teenage Witches for the last six years. Without his generosity, love and support none of this would have been quite so possible. Peg would like to thank her partner Todd for his patience and humor, Fritz and Wren for their vision and friendship, her teachers and mentors in the pagan community, the Coven of the Cthonioi, her family at the Brushwood Folklore Center, Patrick Ford and Stephen Mitchell for allowing me to audit their courses on Witchcraft and Celtic Paganism at Harvard, the conveners of academic conferences who’ve encouraged me in developing pagan themes, Berta Daniels and all the British Witches, and lastly but not least, Hannah for her tireless work and dedication to this path we have found ourselves on.

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Introduction Peg Aloi and Hannah E. Johnston

Studying Witchcraft The presence of this volume is testament to the growing acceptance and viability of the academic study of contemporary paganism and Witchcraft. It also marks an important trend in this field: the increasing number of books and articles devoted to the study of modern Witchcraft which are written or in our case, edited, by those from ‘within the field’. To write about Witchcraft from an academic standpoint when one is also a practitioner of Witchcraft raises issues that have plagued ethnographers and religious scholars for decades. On one level, the scholar can become her own ethnographer, having access to communities and texts that a layperson might find difficult to procure. But how can the cool-headed objectivity so important in a scholarly observer be maintained? How can practitioners agree upon a consistent use of terminology, or a universal definition/description of beliefs and practices amid the pagan community’s diversity, eclecticism and lack of a standardized lexicon? We do not offer answers to these questions, but we think it is important to acknowledge that this fledgling field (Paganism Studies) is a dynamic and even controversial one, to say the least. The academic study of witchcraft (we use a capital W to refer to modern Witchcraft, and a lower-case w for the witchcraft of antiquity, a decision which we explain in more detail shortly) prior to the middle of the twentieth century was relegated to historians and, occasionally, archaeologists, anthropologists and psychologists. Witches were figures from antiquity: superstitious practitioners of folk magic or devil worship, or misunderstood healers or eccentrics who were accused by malicious neighbors during times of social unrest and economic iniquity. The term ‘pagan’ referred to pre-Christian Europeans, a word that literally meant ‘country-dweller’; ‘heathens’ were uneducated peasants living on the heath. ‘Magic’ was a concept common among primitive cultures but discredited in a logical, postEnlightenment world. Every few years, it seemed, a new theory was introduced which could explain the European or North American witch hysteria. Field studies seeking to unlock the secrets of magic, ritual and healing were conducted around the world. Careful, circumscribed study of witchcraft and its impact upon law, culture and religion has been a fertile and respectable field of study for a very long time, yielding thousands of books. But in the twentieth century, several authors set the stage for what was to become a new movement that sought to reinvent and reclaim the imagery and language of witchcraft, its mystery, magic and ritual. In 1921, anthropologist Margaret Murray expanded her work in Egyptology to include a study of agrarian cults of devotees who worshipped a Great Goddess, a female figure of fertility and growth; she posited a tradition of worship and practice

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that flourished for centuries, long after the European witch craze of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries had ended. Her book The Witch-Cult in Western Europe was widely criticized by academics, although today many historians, folklorists and anthropologists consider it a groundbreaking work for its era.1 Murray followed up in 1931 with The God of the Witches,2 a study of the Horned God, consort to the Great Goddess, symbolic of the masculine, generative force in nature. In 1922, James G. Frazer’s The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion3 was published, an ambitious, lengthy exploration of the history of nature-based religion and ritualized human sacrifice. In 1948 poet Robert Graves published The White Goddess,4 an inspired diatribe on the nature of poetic inspiration and its origins in the worship of a goddess muse. Thus, these authors, operating in the fields of folklore and mythology, paved the way for an amateur who would prove even more influential: Gerald Gardner. It seems important to consider these books and the prevailing mode of thought when Gerald Gardner first made his foray into witchcraft sometime in the 1940s. An English civil servant who traveled widely and collected antique weapons, Gardner wrote a number of ritual texts which he cobbled together from an eclectic array of sources, and claimed to have discovered the remnants of the survival of the witch cults of antiquity. His enthusiastic ‘revival’ of this culture which he claimed had ‘gone underground’ (to use the term applied to vibrant social movements which apparently disappear from society’s notice) was embraced by his friends and acquaintances. He was easily able to draw in new adherents to form a network of covens from London to Scotland in the 1950s, beginning in Hertfordshire. After the repeal of the Witchcraft and Fraudulent Mediums Act in 1951, Gardner felt it was safe to publish a book on the beliefs and practices of his followers: Witchcraft Today created a sensation and spawned a movement which grew in popularity in England and quickly spread to the United States and around the world.5 Following on the heels of Gardner’s popularization of Witchcraft as a living tradition, a plethora of books published in the 1960s and early 1970s established modern Witchcraft as a lively movement, albeit an oft-misunderstood one. Popular films such as Rosemary’s Baby (1968) and The Exorcist (1973), which portrayed modern Witchcraft as a vehicle for Satan worship, catalyzed an anti-occult movement in the United States and gave Witches a bad name. At the time, the United States’ population of Witches were mostly proponents of the back-to-the-earth movement, gentle hippies who linked their desire for a cleaner environment and a vegetarian diet with the life-affirming message of nature worship. That these flower children and anti-war protestors were also engaged in experimentation with sex and drugs did not help to ease the 1 Margaret Murray, The Witch-Cult in Western Europe: A Study in Anthropology (London: Oxford University Press, 1921). 2 Margaret Murray, The God of the Witches (London: Oxford University Press, 1931 reprinted 1970). 3 James Frazer, The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1922). 4 Robert Graves, The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth (New York: Noonday, 1948). 5 Gerald B. Gardner, Witchcraft Today (London: Rider, 1954).

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minds of those who saw this explosive era as a decadent, Dionysian free-for-all that wrought chaos and immorality in its wake. These modern Witches (who also called themselves neopagans, pagans, druids, magicians, and many other names) were also intellectuals who were passionately interested in the occult, history, folklore and literature, as well as artists interested in music, theater, dance and the limitless possibilities of the imagination. They mostly believed in magic. Further, the idea of a goddess as a sacred image of abundance and power appealed to those engaged with the burgeoning feminist movement. Although the occult revival of the 1960s and 1970s can be said to have begun in England, it was in the United States, a country ravaged by civil rights protests and anti-war sentiment, where the pagan movement fully catalyzed. By 1979, four years after the fall of Saigon and one year before the first election of Ronald Reagan, the time was ripe for another trio of authors to steady the shifting paradigm. In a short period of time spanning 1979 to 1983, three different but very important books were published which galvanized the Witchcraft movement for a new generation. In a culture that was becoming increasingly secular, so-called ‘New Age’ thinking, drawn from Eastern traditions such as Buddhism, Shintoism and Taoism, was becoming popular and practices such as crystal healing, tarot and yoga abounded, along with books on esoteric subjects. As the feminist and gay rights movements asserted themselves, so too did an approach to contemporary spirituality that broke down patriarchal norms. Witches sought a more earthbound, sensual connection to their spirituality, however, and three maverick female authors delivered. Journalist Margot Adler’s Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddessworshippers and Other Pagans in America Today6 was a serious, scrupulous study of the growing movement that sought to document its growth and diversity; a book full of fascinating data and analysis of a community that most Witches never knew existed in such numbers. Adler was a practicing Witch who somehow managed to maintain a completely objective stance. Feminist Witch Starhawk (Miriam Simos) wrote The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Goddess,7 a passionate how-to of Witchcraft that combined political savvy and beautiful prose to create a handbook for the neopagan inclined towards a goddess worshipping path. Starhawk’s work as a staunchly feminist environmental activist was the basis of her magical practice and helped instill a sense of responsibility and stewardship among those who followed the nature-based paths of Witchcraft or neopaganism. Novelist Marion Zimmer Bradley wrote The Mists of Avalon,8 a bold and impressive re-imagining of the Arthurian legends from the point of view of the women in the story. Bradley conceived of a world of priestesses who devoted their lives to learning the mysteries of nature and the goddess, who dwelt in the holy land of Glastonbury, a land of wizards and druids and magic and multiple gods, while around them the world shifted to a monotheistic Christianity. Cleverly integrating the language and 6 Margot Adler, Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers and Other Pagans in America Today (Boston: Beacon Press, 1979). 7 Starhawk, The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Goddess (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1979). 8 Marion Zimmer Bradley, The Mists of Avalon (New York: Knopf, 1983).

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imagery of Bradley’s own feminist Witchcraft practice, the book became a bestseller that many Witches looked to for a magical model, a cudgel to take up in a world that was still resisting nature’s call. A generation of Witches was drawn to this path, mostly adults who had been raised with other traditions. Many Catholics found their way to Witchcraft, perhaps drawn to a form of ritual that contained the church’s drama, but not its dogma. An explosion of books appeared throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, including many that claimed to reveal the secrets of covens and their magical practices, something that would have seemed outrageous in the 1970s. ‘Old timers’ who had found Witchcraft a generation earlier began to grumble that Witchcraft had lost its edge, had become mainstream, was no longer ‘special.’ By the middle of the 1990s the time seemed once again ripe for an injection of new life into this movement, for a fresh perspective, for what we may as well call ‘new blood.’ Witchcraft as a spiritual path was becoming increasingly visible, its social and political contexts evolving; it was perhaps only a matter of time before it was discovered by a younger generation. Talking and writing about Witchcraft In this volume, we have endeavored to establish a standard vocabulary and form for terms commonly used in discussing what Ronald Hutton has defined as ‘modern pagan witchcraft’ in his pioneering work The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft.9 Terms like pagan, neopagan, paganism, Witch, Witchcraft, Wicca, Wiccan, Druidism etc., appear within scholarly articles in reference to practitioners, belief systems/practices and communities: sometimes capitalized, sometimes not, depending upon context. Some practitioners of Witchcraft/Wicca refer to themselves as Witch with a capital W; some prefer the lower-case appellation. It is not entirely clear why these preferences exist but there does seem to be a preference for the capital W among those who refer to Wicca or Witchcraft as a religion; hence, a Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist or Witch refer to themselves with proper nouns. In the interest of consistency and deferral to the most common forms we have noted among academic and non-academic practitioners, we use Witch when referring to contemporary practitioners and Witchcraft for the contemporary form of practice; and the lower case terms when referring to the witches or witchcraft of antiquity. Some practitioners refer to Witchcraft as a religion, but paganism is not exclusively contextualized in this way. It is often described as an ‘umbrella term’ encompassing a range of earth-centered spiritual or religious expressions, and of course it refers to the paganism of the pre-Christian world. We therefore primarily use pagan, neopagan, paganism and neopaganism in this sense. The authors in this collection engage with these terms differently, and for reference to contemporary paganism, unlike its historical antecedent, the term ‘neopagan’ is often applied. We believe this may continue to be a source of debate and that norms of language and terminology will continue to evolve.

9 Ronald Hutton, The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999).

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The word ‘Wicca’ for example is sometimes spelled with a lower-case W, but we have chosen to capitalize this term because its origin suggests it is a proper name. Gerald Gardner referred to his practice as ‘Wica’ (his Book of Shadows is full of misspellings and inconsistencies), presumably derived from the Indo-European term ‘wicca’ which refers to a female practitioner of witchcraft. The well-intentioned if inexact appropriation of a term from ‘antiquity’ is in keeping with Gardner’s desire to present Witchcraft as an ancient tradition that he was reviving; thus he succeeded in creating, almost from whole cloth, a system of worship and spiritual expression that eventually engendered a passionate social movement. Although some refer to it as Witchcraft, the specific model of practice used by the majority of modern Witches is this ‘tradition’ known (thanks to Gardner’s wilful re-contextualizing and misspelling of the term) as Wicca. Also, despite a vast array of permutations (such as Celtic Wicca, Faery Wicca, Druidic Wicca, Fam-Trad Witchcraft, Heathern Witchcraft, etc.), it is generally agreed that, with little variation, most modern practitioners practice a form of Gardnerian Wicca, whether they refer to themselves as Witch or, increasingly, Wiccan. Diane Purkiss in The Witch in History: Early Modern and Twentieth Century Representations10 documents the phenomenon of some Witches and Wiccans claiming to belong to a tradition that is hundreds or even millions of years old, and to be part of an unbroken lineage that dates back to the so-called ‘Burning Times’ (the European witch craze). This need for authenticity and a sense of historical context is also discussed by Ronald Hutton in Triumph of the Moon….11 Modern pagans owe a debt of gratitude to these historians and others who have offered cogent arguments and explicit proof that this is not the case, and that, despite its relative youth, this new spiritual movement has much which is worthy of admiration and closer study. Finally, another matter which readers of this volume should bear in mind is that adult and teenage practitioners of any of the group of practices described herein, and those who research and write about them, do not necessarily agree as to the nature of their practices. For some, Witchcraft is a set of beliefs; for some a lifestyle; for others, a religion. We have attempted to treat these varying approaches with respect, and indeed, because some of this volume’s authors are practitioners as well as scholars, we as editors found that our underlying assumptions regarding Witchcraft’s definition have had to be flexible enough to accommodate and consider the assumptions of others. Making sense of teenage Witches There have always been teenagers, curious adolescents who have been drawn to the occult and the esoteric. Yet, as this collection describes, the rise of the 1990s teen Witch emerges in a cultural milieu that celebrates and encourages this engagement. Thus, in discussing and defining the young women practitioners of Witchcraft or Wicca as teen Witches it is important to understand how this collection uses the 10 Diane Purkiss, The Witch in History: Early Modern and Twentieth Century Representations (London: Routledge, 1996). 11 Ronald Hutton, 1999.

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term ‘teenager’. Definitions of the term vary within academic disciplines, as it is a term loaded with cultural expectations and connotations. Within Western academia and cultural discourse, the terms ‘adolescent’ and ‘teen’ have become synonymous, used to describe a social and physiological stage of transition, and a time associated with ‘a period of storm and stress.’12 Unlike the term ‘youth’, which is unwieldy in its specificity of either age or cultural position, used to describe child, adolescent, young adult and twenty-something alike, ‘teen’ invokes a series of cultural positions in relation to age, power and status. Throughout this collection, the use of the terms teenager/teen has two connected meanings. It is meant to describe both the specific age of participants, respondents or the social group and the relationship this age group has to cultural discourses of power: consumers, interpellated audience and amorphous subculture. Within various intellectual and scientific discourses, the term adolescent is used in order to refer to social and physiological changes that each human being undergoes at the point of puberty and, ‘is generally understood as a prolonged transition period between childhood and adulthood that prepares the young person for occupation, marriage, and mature social roles.’13 Although physiology is significant in the descriptions of teen practitioners, mainly because it is the basis upon which these young people are denied access to the adult pagan, Wicca and Witchcraft communities, a purely corporeal understanding of this term is limiting, and possibly distinct from the way in which the various authors use terms like teenager, teen Witch and teen practitioners in this collection. The contemporary assumed notion of the teenager is summarized by Liz Frost as, ‘style-conscious, street sussed, confident, socially bonded with other like minded teenagers, oppositional to adult “authority” in minor or major ways, with clearly demarcated tastes and interests.’14 Although not all of the teenage activity described throughout this collection can be understood as oppositional to adult community, these essays display a particular collection of tastes, interests and practices that signify the teen Witch’s difference from adult practitioners of Wicca and Witchcraft. These may in part be differences of inspiration, motivation and commitment, as discussed in the essays by Melissa Harrington, Doug Ezzy and Helen Berger and Hannah Johnston. These differences are also a consequence of the cultural matrix within which these teens have come to find contemporary Witchcraft, as described by Julian Vayne, Peg Aloi and James Lewis. The teens described here are socially bonded to other teens who share this lifestyle practice and identity; they set themselves apart from both adult Witchcraft and Wiccan communities and display a distinct set of behaviors and practices which distinguish and in part separate them as a social group from their peers. This is articulated succinctly in this collection’s two teen authors. Morboriel and Heather

12 G. Adams, Adolescent Development: The Essential Readings (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2000), p.13. 13 R.E. Muuss, Theories of Adolescence (New York: McGraw-Hill, Sixth Edition, 1996), p. 366. 14 Liz Frost, Young Women and the Body (Hampshire: Palgrave, 2001), p. 86.

Introduction

7

both describe their ‘conversion’ narratives during their early teens and detail their experience of social, familial and religious separation and difference. In terms of the age range defined by the word teen, this is a fluid, mobile description and is individually defined within each scholar’s research. A dominant understanding of the term teen would include thirteen to eighteen year old participants. However, as more and more pre-teens, known within consumer culture as ‘tweens’, identify as teen Witches, these voices have frequently been included. Teen magazine articles, teen Witch literature and recent television documentaries on the ‘teen Witch craze’ include individuals under thirteen. Alissa Quart discusses the expansion of the teenage consumer market in her populist title Branded: The Buying and Selling of Teenagers. She discusses how the term teenager now includes the bracket known as ‘tweens’. Quart argues that, ‘in the early 1960s, the term tween didn’t exist’, going on to suggest that: By eleven, tweens no longer consider themselves children, according to one survey, and they use such words as ‘sexy’ and ‘trendy’ to describe themselves [...] Why? Because nowadays, the common so-called wisdom of youth brands is that that tweens ‘aspire’ to look like older teenagers.15

Quart discusses the growing American teen market, and suggests that the term teenage, accounting for those in the bracket thirteen to nineteen, is no longer useful when considering this growing consumer category. This is significant in the assorted descriptions of teenagers here, who are positioned as both practitioners of a religious spiritual path but also as consumers of various items which relate to their practice and understanding of Witchcraft, whether they be books, media texts or ingredients for magic. In the essays presented here, respondents under thirteen consider themselves to be teenagers and practitioners of Witchcraft, through consumption and identification with a particular subculture, and that the term teenager is broad enough to include their experiences and age. Those participants over nineteen are similarly included in various articles and studies as, for example, many of these do not wish to enter into the adult Witchcraft communities. Further, many of the articles here have conducted research with participants who are no longer teens but adults, reflecting on their teen experience. This is exemplified in Matthew Hannam’s reflective piece on the emergence of Minor Arcana, the UK’s first networking organization for teenage pagans, and also in the essay by Julian Vayne who compares his entrance into Witchcraft as a teenager in the 1980s with a contemporary young women who reflects on her ‘coming in’ during the 1990s. As such, the term teen/teenager acts as a nexus point for discussion rather than an empirical measurement by which we can assess a social group and the development of a movement. Therefore, in using the term ‘teen Witch’ the collection does not establish a homogenous community of teenagers, practicing a definitive form of beliefs or subscribing to coherent, static lifestyle practices. Instead, this term is used to describe the age and self-identification process of the participants, as well as the way 15 Alissa Quart, Branded: The Buying and Selling of Teenagers (London: Arrow, 2003), pp. 94–97.

8

The New Generation Witches

in which adults have defined this group as a consumer market. A variety of terms are utilized to describe the groups or communities of teen Witches across the UK, North America and Australia: teen Witch community, teen Witch subculture, teen Witch craze, phenomena, movement etc. These terms are used to invoke a moment of cultural cohesion where media visibility of fictional teenage Witches, increased social awareness of neopaganism, Wicca and Witchcraft, the rise of the Internet and new concepts of post-feminist ‘girl power’ all made possible the capacity for this form of spiritual engagement. Also described in the essays in this book are the ways in which contemporary teen Witches have appropriated various tropes of Witchcraft to describe their unique and collective experiences. These teens have frequently shifted in their articulations of familial rebellion to a valorization of female power and a negation of masculine (arguably paternal) authority. Throughout this collection teenage Witches are frequently described as female. This is not to the exclusion of young men who identified as teen Witches. As Matthew Hannam writes for example, there were many young men in the UK who were drawn to Witchcraft. Yet, as established throughout these essays, the media images, the ‘target’ audience and young women are understood to be constitutive of teenage Witchcraft. Teenage Witchcraft is frequently considered synonymous with affirmative and empowering representations and behaviors of teenage ‘girldom’, as Denise Cush’s, Hannah E. Johnston’s and Peg Aloi’s essays illustrate. But such possibilities of resistive and empowered femininity are underpinned by a range of complex and problematic issues regarding the range of knowledge and powers offered to this audience and modes of delivery, which locate teenage Witchcraft no longer in the corners of hidden esoterica but in the glossy images of popular media. Teenage Witchcraft can be understood as a particular articulation of 1990s girl power. With the emergence of ‘laddette culture’ and ‘girl power’ particular to Western English speaking countries, discourses of female empowerment focused upon young women’s and teenage girls’ engagement with popular culture and reformulations of feminist discourses regarding social behavior and consumerism. Like all moments of cultural ‘resistance’, the essays in this collection define a moment that peaks and troughs. At the time of writing, the teen Witch phenomenon has waned. In part this is due to the fact that many of those individuals who were teen Witches in the mid- to late 1990s are now adults. It is also a consequence of the broader neopagan and Wiccan/Witchcraft’s community’s willingness to engage with the questions raised by under-eighteens and to find forums for inclusion. Stephanie Martin’s essay addresses this issue by focusing on the work of prolific neopagan author Silver RavenWolf, detailing her changing status within the adult Wiccan community as a consequence of writing for the teen market. The hegemonic process of inclusion can also be attributed to the changing media influence: Buffy the Vampire Slayer has finished, The Craft (1996) premiered a decade ago, and the volume of new fictional and ‘can do’ literature aimed at teenage Witches has plateaued. What the long-term effects of teen Witch engagement will be on the broader spiritual and religious community can only be suggested at this point. What this collection can state with some certainty is that those who were identified as teen Witches described their involvement in wholly positive terms; that this allowed them to redefine their

Introduction

9

spiritual understanding of the world, enabled them to overcome personal obstacles and discrimination and gave them a new set of meanings through which to make sense of the world. For many young women of the 1990s, teenage Witchcraft offered a social and spiritual identification that ‘enchanted’ their corporeality and their concerns; feminism, environmentalism and New Age discourses bought together without the ‘undesirable’ connotations of each individually. This collection focuses on teenage Witchcraft across the United Kingdom, North America and Australia. This is not to suggest that teenage Witchcraft has not impacted on other geographies and demographics. As organizations and forums for teenage Witchcraft like Minor Arcana and The Witches’ Voice suggest, teenage Witchcraft extends into mainland Europe, South America, Japan and beyond. However, at the point of writing, there is no body of research detailing the specificities of teen Witches in these areas and communities. This points to areas for future research, in order to understand the full impact of the ‘teen Witch craze’ and the extent to which it bends to fit the demographic of a particular cultural and societal composition. The teen Witch voices found throughout this collection are engaged in a complex configuration of media engagement, material consumption, and a spiritual, sometimes religious self-construction that draws upon a myriad of historical and gendered discourses of identity constitution. At a historical point where teens are a growing proportion of the consumer market, and where anxieties abound regarding young people’s social responsibility, educational access and performance and moral codes, the teen ‘Witch craze’ has emerged as a community of young women and men attempting to bring new sets of meanings, practices and beliefs which encourage forms of personal control and power.

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PART 1 Histories and Reflections of Contemporary Teenage Witchcraft

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Chapter 1

The Pagan Explosion: An overview of select census and survey data James R. Lewis

Because contemporary paganism is a decentralized subculture rather than an organized religion, any effort to construct a general profile of – and, especially, to quantify – participants necessarily involves some degree of speculation. Since the late 1960s, there have been widely varying estimates of the total population of practicing pagans.1 To focus on recent estimates, in a 1999 article Jorgensen and Russell2 present a figure of 200,000 practitioners in the US (though the authors also indicate that ‘estimates of twice that number are not implausible’). This is an important statistical study, which indicates that pagans tend to be successful, educated and involved, rather than the marginal individuals they had been portrayed as in certain early studies. Although published in 1999, the empirical data for the Jorgensen–Russell study was collected in 1996. Other recent scholarly studies also place the pagan population at around 200,000.3 In contrast, figures put forward by other observers and many insiders are much larger. For example, in 1999–2000, then First Officer Kathryn Fuller of the Covenant of the Goddess (COG) – a large networking organization and umbrella group that promotes official recognition of Wicca or Witchcraft as a religion in North America – initiated an Internet poll in response to public attacks on pagans in the military. Based on 32,854 responses (30,735 of whom were Americans, 1,219 Canadians, and 900 Others) Fuller estimated that there were 768,400 Witches and pagans in the United States. This was an extrapolation based on an estimated total return of 4 per cent. This is in the same ball park as a figure mentioned by Bruce Robinson (the primary architect of the Ontario Consultants for Religious Tolerance website),

1 For a comprehensive overview, refer to Bruce A. Robinson, ‘How many Wiccans are there in the U.S.?’ http://www.religioustolerance.org/wic_nbr.htm (2001). 2 Danny Jorgensen and Scott Russell, ‘American Neopaganism: The Participants’ Social Identities,’ Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 38:3 (1999). 3 E.g. Helen A. Berger, A Community of Witches: Contemporary Neo-paganism and Witchcraft in the United States (Columbia, 1999); Sarah M. Pike, Earthly Bodies, Magical Selves: Contemporary Pagans and the Search for Community (Berkeley, 2001).

14

The New Generation Witches

who wrote that, if pressured, he would estimate the number of Wiccans in the US as ‘something on the order of 750,000.’4 An important though neglected source of information bearing on the question of numbers of adherents to alternative religions is national census data. In 2001, the censuses of four English-speaking countries – New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom – collected information on religious membership. There was also an important religion survey conducted in the United States in the same year, the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS).5 New Zealand collected religious membership data in two prior censuses, in 1996 and 1991. Australia also collected relevant membership figures in 1996, but not 1991. And Canada collected religion data in 1991 but not 1996. In 1990, the Graduate Center of the City University of New York conducted a National Survey of Religious Identification (NSRI). Eleven years later in 2001, this same center carried out the ARIS survey. Comparing the numbers of self-identified pagans in 2001 with earlier years reveals a startling pattern of explosive growth in all of these countries. Though a few scholars and observers of paganism have referred to one or more of these censuses,6 no one has yet attempted a general overview. In the current article I will survey this census data and the relevant data from the ARIS survey for the light this data sheds on increasing participation rates in paganism. In the article’s latter sections, I will discuss two of the factors fueling this rapid expansion, the Internet and the phenomenon of adolescent paganism. Statistics from Canada and the United Kingdom The 2001 Canadian census recorded 21,085 pagans out of a national population of 28,000,000, or somewhat less than 0.1 per cent of the total (0.075 per cent). The 1996 census did not measure religious affiliation. The 1991 census recorded 5,530 pagans. Canadian pagan scholars with whom I have communicated have said that, based on their own research, these figures are inaccurately low. They speculate that many people were cautious about identifying themselves as pagans, and as a consequence did not report their religious affiliation to census takers. This issue aside, a striking aspect of the data that emerges when the two censuses are juxtaposed is that Canadian paganism experienced almost four-fold growth in a decade. As we will see, Canada has not been the only country to see a remarkable growth in its pagan population.

4 A. Robinson, ‘How many Wiccans are there in the U.S.?’ Ontario Consultants for Religious Tolerance website. www.religioustolerance.com. (2001). 5 There is a more general discussion of the new religion data from these sources in James R. Lewis, ‘New Religion Adherents: An Overview of Anglophone Census and Survey Data,’ Marburg Journal of Religious Studies 9:1 (2004). 6 E.g. Philip Hughes and Sharon Bond, ‘Nature Religions,’ Pointers: Bulletin of the Christian Research Association 13:2 (June 2003); Sian Lee Reid, ‘Disorganized Religion: An Exploration of the Neopagan Craft in Canada,’ (Carleton University, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, 2001).

The Pagan Explosion

15

The 2001 United Kingdom census recorded a ‘reasonably good spread’ of different pagan groups, and is the best national census in this regard.7 Regrettably, religious participation was not measured in previous censuses. The figures for the English and Welsh part of the census for pagans are as follows: Table 1.1 Pagan Statistics for England and Wales from the 2001 British Census Group Pagan Wicca Druidism Pantheism Celtic Pagan Animism Heathen Asatru Total

Members 30569 7227 1657 1603 508 401 278 93 42336

A total of 42,336 pagans represents a bit less than 0.1 per cent of the Welsh and English population of 52,041,916 (0.081 per cent). Although this figure strikes observers of the British pagan scene as too low, it is very close to the percentage derived from the Canadian census. An important factor influencing the outcome of the religion aspect of the census was that someone decided it would be a fine bit of humor to encourage people to write ‘Jedi Knight’ in the religion category. As a consequence, 390,127 people in England and Wales responded that they belonged to the Jedi Knight religion. Although this is quite amusing, I would speculate that proportionally more of these self-designated Jedis were involved in some form of paganism than the general population, though how much more would be difficult to determine. Religion survey data for the United States Unfortunately, the US census does not collect religion membership data. However, in 1990 the Graduate Center of the City University of New York conducted a National Survey of Religious Identification (NSRI) via randomly dialed phone numbers (113,723 people were surveyed). Eleven years later in 2001, the Center carried out the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) in the same manner (over 50,000 people responded), though callers probed for more information than the earlier NSRI. Categories were developed post-facto. The results were quite interesting with respect to the pagan population:

7 Source: Census 2001. Crown Copyright 2004. Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the controller of HMSO.

16

Table 1.2

The New Generation Witches

Pagan Data from NSRI and ARIS8 9

Group

1900

Wicca Druid Pagan Totals

2001

8,000

134,000 33,000 140,000 307,000

8,000

Although it would have been much more useful if researchers had broken down their data into more subcategories, their results are nevertheless striking. In a period of eleven years, the pagan population (counting Wiccans, Druids, and pagans together as Pagans) increased more than thirty-eight-fold. And even if we confine our focus to self-identified Wiccans, the jump from 8,000 to 134,000 represents a seventeen-fold increase. When the total pagan population of 307,000 is divided by a US population estimate of 207,980,000, we get a participation rate of 0.145 per cent – or about twice that of Canada. New Zealand national census data The New Zealand national census of 2001 broke down paganism into five subcategories. In the prior two censuses the single generic category was simply ‘Nature and Earth Based Religions’: Table 1.3

Alternative Religion Statistics from the 2001 New Zealand Census10 11

Religion Animism Pantheism Nature and Earth Based Religions Wiccan Druidism Total

Number of Members 213 342 2,961 2,196 150 5,862

8 Numbers have been rounded off to the nearest 1,000. Unlike a census, which attempts to reach the entire population, these figures represent statistical extrapolations. 9 The Druid and pagan categories did not emerge as significant in the 1990 NSRI survey. Source: B.A. Kosmin and A. Keysar, Religion in the Marketplace (Ithaca, 2004). Adapted table used with permission. 10 Source: Statistics New Zealand. 11 Both the New Zealand Census and the Australian Census identify Animism and Pantheism as neopagan religions for statistical purposes (e.g. in Table 1.4, the 2001 figure for the Nature and Earth Based category represents the sum of the Animism, Pantheism, Nature and Earth Based Religions, Wiccan and Druidism figures in Table 1.3). The religions of indigenous peoples were represented by other categories.

The Pagan Explosion

17

The 2001 total of 5,862 self-identified pagans represents 0.157 per cent of the 3,737,277 people who responded to the 2001 census. Based on these statistics, the ‘participation rate’ for New Zealand pagans is about twice what it is for the UK, and slightly more than that of the US. Because New Zealand was the only country to gather New Religion membership data during the last three five-year censuses, it contains some of the most interesting data for assessing long-range trends. In the table below, I have also included participation by sex because of how it reflects a change from a predominance of males to a predominance of females in ‘Kiwi paganisms’: Table 1.4

Growth in Paganism from 1999 to 2001 in New Zealand (by Sex)12

Nature and Earth Based Religions Number of Males Number of Females

1991 318 (189) (129)

1996 1,722 (798) (924)

2001 5,862 (2,226) (3,636)

These figures indicate a greater than eighteen-fold expansion of paganism in the ten-year period from 1991 to 2001. From 1996 to 2001 paganism experienced a threefold expansion. It should be interesting to see the results from the 2006 census. Australia national census data The Australian census contains information similar to the New Zealand census, except no relevant data was gathered in 1991. Conveniently, Australia reported all of the data from 2001 in terms of a straightforward comparison with the 1996 census: Table 1.5

Pagan Statistics from the 1996–2001 Australian Census

Religion Animism Nature Religions Paganism Pantheism Wiccan/Witchcraft Totals

1996 727 1,734 4,353 835 1,849 9,498

2001 763 2,225 10,632 1,085 8,755 23,460

The rise from 9,498 to 23,460 represents slightly less than a 250 per cent increase in five years, a rate of increase comparable to the rate of expansion in New Zealand between 1996 and 2001. With respect to number of total census respondents in 1996 (17,750,000) and 2001 (18,767,000) this represents a rise from 0.051 per cent to 0.125 per cent. The 0.125 per cent rate of participation is less than for New Zealand and the United States, but greater than for Canada and Britain.

12 Source: Statistics New Zealand.

18

The New Generation Witches

The Internet, Llewellyn Publications and paganism When taken together, the above figures present a compelling overview of a spiritual movement experiencing explosive growth across English-speaking countries. What happened to prompt this remarkable expansion? Two important factors (not to exclude the possibility of others) contributing to this rapid expansion were the Internet and the emergence of adolescent (‘teen Witch’) paganism. To refer back to the Jorgensen-Russell study mentioned at the beginning of this paper: In 1996 when they were gathering their data, the Internet was just beginning to take off.13 Between 1996 and the present, the internet exploded. Perhaps more than any other religious community, pagans quickly became involved in this medium.14 For my present purpose, one of the most striking aspects of Jorgensen’s and Russell’s research is that they excluded all individuals under eighteen, noting that ‘Neopagan beliefs and practice are popular among American youth, but they usually do not participate in this subculture except when their family of origin is Neopagan.’ This may have been an accurate observation in 1996 when Russell collected the empirical data reported in their article, but it is highly inaccurate with respect to the new crop of pagans, many of whom become involved while in middle school and high school. The growing number of younger participants is reflected in the proportion of teenagers seeking to communicate with other pagans on the Witches’ Voice website, www.witchvox.com, the largest international networking website for pagans and Witches. On 18 March 2002, for example, this website contained personal notices from 35,261 ‘Witches, Wiccans, Pagans and Heathens.’ Out of these, 7,241 – or slightly more than 20 per cent – were teenagers. From a casual perusal of their notices, it is clear that the great majority of these young people are not being raised in pagan households. I do not think this means that Jorgensen and Russell were mistaken, but rather the demographics of the pagan movement have shifted radically since 1996. One of the most important factors responsible for this shift has been the Internet. The Internet did more than simply bring new people into the movement; it also dramatically altered the overall social organization of paganism. Never a centralized movement, for well over a decade before the Internet took off in 1996, paganism had been experiencing increasing fragmentation due to the growing numbers of solitaries – individuals who, for the most part, practiced their religion alone, though they might occasionally participate in group rituals, particularly at festivals. The advent of online paganism dramatically accelerated the numbers of pagans practicing their religion by themselves. Not only did the Internet make the solitary option more viable for pre-1996 pagans, but also the great majority of new ‘converts’ brought in 13 E.g. refer to tables measuring Internet expansion at Hobbes Internet Timeline at http://www.zakon.org/robert/internet/timeline. 14 The present discussion of the contribution of the internet to the growth of paganism is derived from my analysis in the appendix to Shelley Rabinovitch and James Lewis, The Encyclopedia of Modern Witchcraft and Neo-Paganism (New York, 2002), which was further developed in my ‘The Triumph of Generic Witchcraft,’ presented at the Alternative Spirituality and New Age Studies (ASANAS) Conference (30–31 May/1 June 2003) in Milton Keynes, UK.

The Pagan Explosion

19

via the Internet tended to become solitary online pagans. The Internet allows pagans to participate actively in a lively online community without ever ‘getting together’ in the non-Internet realm. It is also no longer necessary to subscribe to print periodicals to keep up with the movement, and anything one might desire as far as books and supplies can be obtained through online stores (e.g. The Witches’ Voice contains links to over 500 online stores). And it is not just specialty stores and specialty publishers like Llewellyn that have ‘cashed in’ on this phenomenon. Citing a 1999 posting to a Wiccan mailing list that included a personal interview with a Barnes & Noble executive, Bruce Robinson reports that, A marketing executive from Barnes and Noble, the ‘World’s Largest Bookseller Online,’ estimates a U.S. ‘Pagan Buying Audience’ of 10 million.... Of course, this number is only an estimate of the number of people who buy Pagan books – not the number of actual Pagans. B&N allocates more space to Pagan books than the audience would indicate, because ‘Pagan book buyers’ tend to buy more books per capita than those of all other faith groups.15

The Internet would probably not have had the major impact it did had not certain changes already been taking place within paganism. I have already referred to the increasing numbers of solitaries. In the original text from the 1979 edition of The Spiral Dance, pagan author Starhawk mentions solitaries, portraying the solitary option as a valid, but implying that it should be regarded as an intermediate or transitional state that one abandons as soon as one finds a congenial group. Almost ten years later when Scott Cunningham’s Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner (the original edition was published in 1988) first appeared, the situation had changed significantly.16 By the time of the advent of the Internet, the solitary option was recognized as perfectly legitimate by most pagans. Thus what the Internet facilitated, as I have already noted, was an increase in both the numbers and relative proportion of solitaries. (We should note in passing that by 2002 Cunningham’s book had sold over 400,000 copies.) Another important development set in motion long before the advent of the Internet was the growth of what might be termed ‘generic’ Wicca (using ‘Wicca’ in the generalized, American sense of that term). A major figure in the creation of generic Wicca was Carl Weschcke, who for many years exercised a near monopoly over pagan publishing. Llewellyn Publications had (and has) a vested interest in turning out books with the widest possible market appeal. There was less profit in books directed to members of specific traditions within the Witchcraft movement; hence the emphasis on generic Witchcraft. For the same reason, Llewellyn apparently was not interested in publishing more than a handful of books that turned readers off by straining their intellects too much; hence the ‘dumbing down’ of paganism that insiders sometimes refer to as ‘Llewellynization.’ Even today, long after the passing of Weschcke’s hegemony, most publishers of pagan trade books continue to adhere to the Llewellyn formula – hence the hundreds, or what seems like hundreds, of ‘Witchcraft 101’ books, and

15 Robinson, ‘How many Wiccans are there in the U.S.?’ 16 Scott Cunningham, Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner (St Paul, 1988).

The New Generation Witches

20

including an entry in the very popular ‘Complete Idiot’ series, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Wicca and Witchcraft.17 The commercialization of paganism has even led to the creation and marketing of at least a half dozen commercial ‘spell kits’ (kits that can be purchased at Barnes & Noble) that contain various items for cooking up magic spells. The most relevant kit for the present discussion is Silver RavenWolf’s Teen Witch Kit. Furthermore, RavenWolf’s simplified introduction to paganism for young people, Teen Witch, had sold over 160,000 copies by 2002. This book and other RavenWolf titles have been translated into a dozen different languages, including Armenian and Hungarian. Teen Witches18 In an important paper on adolescent paganism, Peg Aloi discusses the four-year period from 1996 to 2000 in which Witches became ‘entrenched as media darlings who could not only be benevolent, but sexy, comical and in some cases, role models for the young women who watched them.’19 She argues that the threshold event setting this trend in motion was the 1996 film The Craft,20 which ‘has undeniably been the single greatest influence on the growth of teenage witchcraft in America.’21 After surveying the influence of the Witch characters in The Craft, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed and Practical Magic,22 Aloi further notes with respect to The Craft that ‘at first it was not clear to pagan film reviewers (even myself) how many teenagers ... would embark upon the path of paganism as a direct result of seeing this film.’ The critical four-year period from 1996 to 2000 noted by Aloi corresponds with the Internet explosion that has also been driving the expansion of paganism. Aloi notes the teen Witchcraft developed without the guidance of mainstream pagans because adult pagans backed away from opportunities to mentor them: It is no coincidence that, concomitant with the arrival of these media texts featuring young beautiful witches, the adult pagan community was inundated with requests from teenaged seekers wanting more information. Because the shows featured characters dealing with problems common to all adolescents, not just witches, the tendency for teenage girls to want to solve their problems with magic and spells, like their primetime role models, became a pervasive trend in schools and, most notably, on the Internet where this phenomenon has mainly been documented. Because of the many sensitive issues surrounding adult mentorship of pagan teens, the majority of the pagan community very quickly dealt with 17 Denise Zimmerman and Katherine A. Gleason, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Wicca and Witchcraft (New York, 2003). 18 The discussion in this section is taken from my ‘Magickal Children: The New Teen Witchcraft,’ presented at the Conference on Contemporary Pagan Studies (21 November 2003), which was held in tandem with the annual meeting of the AAR. 19 Peg Aloi, ‘A Charming Spell: The Intentional and Unintentional Influence of Popular Media Upon Teenage Witchcraft in America,’ presented at the Alternative Spirituality and New Age Studies (ASANAS) Conference (30–31 May/1 June 2003) held in Milton Keynes, UK. 20 Andrew Flemming, 1996. 21 Aloi, ‘A Charming Spell.’ 22 Griffin Dunne, 1998.

The Pagan Explosion

21

the situation by more or less refusing mentorship to anyone under the age of 18, and for younger seekers this often meant a reply to their enquiry saying ‘Wait a few years, and here are some books you can read in the meantime.’23

For better or for worse, the books that adult pagans recommended to adolescent Witches were quickly supplanted by a new breed of teen Witch books. In ‘A New Broom Sweeps the World of Witchery,’ Doreen Carvajal reports that executives at Llewellyn Publishing, noticed a surge in sales with the popularity of The Craft, a B-movie about a small coven of good, bad, and moderately well-behaved teenage witches dressed in knee-highs and school uniforms by day, hip clothes by night. [...] Llewellyn responded by publishing a variety of books on witchcraft for beginners, including Teen Witch, with a cover of bemused 15-year-old girls in jeans and short skirts posed like a movie poster for The Craft. ‘Our typical reader had been a boomer who grew up in the ’60s who had been looking for a more appealing explanation of spirituality,’ said Von Braschler, Llewellyn’s director of trade sales. ‘Now our typical reader is becoming a very young woman in her teens. We’re basing that on the letters we get for the authors.’24

Although many ‘older Witches’ have expressed disdain for the teen Witch fad, the new generation of adolescent pagans will inevitably impact on the pagan movement. Some of these developments are reflected in the census data. For example, because the teen Witch literature appeals primarily to young women,25 the movement is becoming increasingly dominated by women. To refer to the New Zealand census, we can see from Table 1.4 that more males (189) than females (129) self-identified as pagans in 1991, more females (924) than males (798) in 1996, and far more females (3,636) than males (2,226) in 2001. Conclusion It is easy to call into question the adequacy of census data and other kinds of general surveys for measuring the demographics of paganism. In particular, the observation that many pagans are still ‘in the broom closet’ about their religious affiliation – and hence are missed by censuses and other surveys – is a compelling reason for regarding such figures with suspicion. The emergent phenomenon of teenage Witchcraft also means that many minor pagans with Christian parents are incorrectly recorded as belonging to their parents’ faith. Nevertheless, if we set aside the question of overall

23 Aloi, ‘A Charming Spell.’ 24 Doreen Carvajal, ‘A New Broom Sweeps the World of Witchery,’ New York Times (26 October 1998). 25 As noted in Doug Ezzy, ‘New Age Witchcraft? Popular Spellbooks and the Reenchantment of Everyday Life,’ presented at the Alternative Spirituality and New Age Studies (ASANAS) Conference (30–31 May/1 June 2003) in Milton Keynes, UK; Hannah Sanders, ‘Spelling For Teens: The Pedagogies of Power and Practice in the Literature of Teenage Witchcraft,’ presented at the Alternative Spirituality and New Age Studies (ASANAS) Conference (30–31 May/1 June 2003) in Milton Keynes, UK.

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The New Generation Witches

numbers the data surveyed here clearly indicates that the pagan movement has been growing explosively in recent years. So where does that leave us? The rapid pace of expansion we have examined will almost certainly slow, and I anticipate this reduced rate of growth will be reflected in the 2006 censuses. For many observers, adolescent paganism appears to be a ‘cherry blossom’ phenomenon that will burst forth in full bloom, only to drop away within a brief span of time and any serious remnants absorbed into the pagan ‘mainstream.’ But this may only be the wishful thinking of older pagans. Sociologists of religion who have conducted broad kinds of statistical research on contemporary religiosity have noted that, in tandem with the weaker social relationships that characterize modern society, there is an increasing tendency for people to ‘hand craft’ their own individual spirituality (though they draw from and perhaps even participate sporadically in organized religion). Solitary, eclectic Witchcraft is perfectly suited to thrive in this environment, meaning that the future looks bright for this form of paganism. I also wonder about the long-term influence of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter26 and his various imitators. The teen Witch ‘fad’ has already peaked, but the popularity of fantasy fiction is still waxing. And while Harry and other magical figures like Gandalf of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings27 fame may not immediately inspire youngsters to become Wizards in same the way that The Craft inspired young women to become Witches, my feeling is that they will leave a deeper cultural imprint in the long run. Specifically, I believe that the generation that is currently cutting its teeth on Harry and Gandalf will be far more open to pagan involvement in the future, and it is not unreasonable to anticipate that paganism in some form will become a large, mainstream religion within the next decade. Bibliography Aloi, P., ‘A Charming Spell: The Intentional and Unintentional Influence of Popular Media Upon Teenage Witchcraft in America,’ presented at the Alternative Spirituality and New Age Studies (ASANAS) Conference. 30–31 May/1 June 2003, Milton Keynes. Australian National Census 96: Religion, http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/ rn/1997–98/98n27.htm. Berger, H.A., A Community of Witches: Contemporary Neo-paganism and Witchcraft in the United States (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1999). Canadian National Census 2001, http://ww.statcan.ca. Cunningham, S., Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner (St Paul: Llewellyn Publications, 1988). Ezzy, D., ‘New Age Witchcraft? Popular Spellbooks and the Re-enchantment of Everyday Life,’ presented at the Alternative Spirituality and New Age Studies 26 The series of six novels to date, written by J.K. Rowling, beginning with the publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Edinburgh, 1997). 27 J.R.R. Tolkien’s trilogy Lord of the Rings originally published in 3 books: Fellowship of the Ring, The Twin Towers, Return of the King, (London, 1954–1955).

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(ASANAS) Conference, 30–31 May/1 June 2003, Milton Keynes. Also published in Culture and Religion 4:1. (2003). Hobbes Internet Timeline, http://www.zakon.org/robert/internet/timeline. Hughes, P. and Bond, S., ‘Nature Religions,’ Pointers: Bulletin of the Christian Research Association 13:2, (June 2003) 1–7. Jorgensen, D. and Russell, S., ‘American Neopaganism: The Participants’ Social Identities,’ Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 38:3, (1999) 325–338. Kosmin, B.A. and Keysar, A., Religion in the Marketplace (Ithaca: Paramount Books, 2004). Lewis, J.R.R., ‘New Religion Adherents: An Overview of Anglophone Census and Survey Data,’ Marburg Journal of Religious Studies 9:1 (2004). Pike, S.M., Earthly Bodies, Magical Selves: Contemporary Pagans and the Search for Community (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001). Rabinovitch, S. and Lewis, J., The Encyclopedia of Modern Witchcraft and NeoPaganism (New York: Citadel, 2002). RavenWolf, S., Teen Witch Kit (St Paul: Llewellyn Press, 2001). Reid, S.L., ‘Disorganized Religion: An Exploration of the Neopagan Craft in Canada,’ Department of Sociology and Anthropology (Carleton University Press, 2001). Robinson, B.A., ‘How many Wiccans are there in the U.S.?’ Ontario Consultants for Religious Tolerance website, www.religioustolerance.com. (2001). Rowling, J.K., Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Edinburgh, Bloomsbury Press, 1997). Sanders, H., ‘Spelling For Teens: The Pedagogies of Power and Practice in the Literature of Teenage Witchcraft,’ presented at the Alternative Spirituality and New Age Studies (ASANAS) Conference, 30–31 May/1 June 2003, Milton Keynes. Starhawk, The Spiral Dance (San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1979). Tolkien, J.R.R., Lord of the Rings Trilogy: Fellowship of the Ring: The Two Towers: Return of the King, (London, Allen and Unwin Press, 1954–1955). Zimmerman, D. and Gleason, K., The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Wicca and Witchcraft (New York, Alpha Books, 2003).

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Chapter 2

The Perennial Teen Witch: A discussion of teenage interest in modern pagan Witchcraft Melissa Harrington

This chapter is a historical analysis of the teenage Witchcraft trend, proposing that teenage interest in Witchcraft and esotericism is not a new phenomenon. It argues that there has always been a youthful interest in the occult, although the current visibility of teen Witches can be partially ascribed to media and publishing trends, and the contemporary appeal of modern paganism. Edward Tiryakian’s 1972 review of youthful interest in esoteric spirituality is discussed to support this view, together with interview material from British Wiccans who practiced their own form of Witchcraft as children, sought initiation into Wicca as teenagers, and have remained dedicated practitioners for decades. These Wiccan elders discuss their own experience of early interest in magic, subsequently seeking further commitment to Wicca as a modern mystery religion, and relate this to teenage interest today. The chapter concludes by discussing the teen Witch in relation to the secularization hypothesis, and the implications this has for today’s youthful seekers of pagan spirituality. Placing the teen Witch in a cultural context The teen Witch is older than she looks. Edward A Tiryakian reviewed the sociological literature of the occult revival in modern society in his 1972 study ‘Toward a sociology of esoteric cults.’1 He described recurring themes of a new religious lifestyle emerging from the counter-culture that appeared to be the harbinger of a new value consensus. This overview showed how youthful esoteric interest was perceived by the scholars of the 1970s as a search for meaning and community that they perceived to be part of a neo-sacral movement, the study of which might disprove the secularization thesis. Tiryakian defines culture as ‘a collective paradigm, which provides the basic interpretations and justifications of ongoing social existence.’2 He argues that in Western society several cultural paradigms operate at any time, but that one that manifests in public institutions will be dominant ‘exoteric culture’, that provides 1 E.A. Tiryakian, ‘Toward a sociology of esoteric cults’ American Journal of Sociology 78. 491–512 (1972). 2 Ibid., 497.

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the orientation and foundation of meaning in everyday society. He contrasts this to the paradigm of ‘esoteric culture’ which he sees as a set of practices, doctrines and a social structure based upon the esoteric religio-philosophic belief system, one of any number of counter-cultures existing alongside the dominant norm. He argues that modern Western civilization (since the Renaissance and the Reformation) has co-opted many of the products and values of esoteric culture whilst pushing it into an increasingly counter-cultural position. He suggests that esoteric culture has therefore been a constant latent sub-system within the modern West that functions as a seedbed of cultural and social innovation, and an inspiration for new social systems. For a consideration of teen Witch culture, it is important to give Tiryakian’s paper the attention it deserves, as it focuses on sociological studies of youthful esoteric interest, and the impact that the 1960s and 1970s esoteric counterculture had in its heyday. Moreover, his description of a sub-system of esoteric culture introduces a field of debate that includes the work of Dame Francis Yates, who wrote at length on the importance of Hermeticism in Renaissance thought, and its influence on science as it arose in the nineteenth century.3 This field includes Daniel O’Keefe’s 1982 opus Stolen Lightning: The social theory of magic, which traces the evolution of magical thought in society. His negative appraisal of esoteric culture, and that of Keith Thomas,4 was challenged in 2000 by Jo Pearson in her thesis, Religion and the return of magic: Wicca as Esoteric Spirituality. Pearson discusses Wicca as a contemporary religion that draws on esoteric mystery traditions. Most recently in 2004 Sabina Magliocco published an ethnography of contemporary pagan culture in America, which located ‘Witching Culture’ as oppositional to dominant culture. This detailed work is likely to bring this discussion to the forefront of contemporary academic Pagan Studies, which should provide a well-timed spotlight on esoteric culture, and its relationship to the dominant cultural hegemony. This corpus of work demonstrates the perennial nature of esoteric interest, and its inevitable emergence at times of societal paradigm change. The arrival of the teen Witch In the last decade the teen Witch has become a presence within the esoteric community, the publishing world, and in the media. The Harry Potter phenomenon, first appearing in 1997, has set regular publishing and box office records, and films featuring young people in magical environments such as The Craft (Andrew Flemming, 1996) and Practical Magic (Griffin Dunne, 1998), along with television programmes such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, have been huge successes. At the same time as Harry… and Buffy… enchanted the world, literary publishers were quick to saturate a new market with successions of generic book titles aimed at teaching magical beginners how to be a Witch.

3 F.A. Yates, Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition (London: 1964); F.A. Yates, The Occult Philosophy in the Elizabethan Age. (London: 1979). 4 K.V. Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic: Studies in Popular Beliefs in Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century England (Harmondsworth:1971/1991).

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During this last decade British pagan organizations have also seen increasing interest from young people, and have debated on how to accommodate their spiritual needs. Revived paganism has hitherto been a religion of adult converts.5 Pagan networking organizations have aimed at providing contacts for adults to join with like-minded people, and to find covens or groups, which usually require a member to be eighteen.6 This requirement reflects the longer established networks’ Wiccan roots.7 The Pagan Federation (PF) and the Children of Artemis (CoA) allow people to join at the age of sixteen with parental permission, and become full members at eighteen. However, the more recently established Pagan Network (PN),8 which started with the same admission policy, has just broken new ground, and as of 2006, will be admitting members of any age. This change in admission policy reflects an ongoing debate within these organizations as how best to serve youthful interest. The Pagan Network has a busy Internet community, where much of its networking and sharing of experience, news and advice amongst members takes place. Its committee members decided that the difficulties inherent in verifying the age of Internet members, and the safety of its moderated forums, meant that this change in policy was responsible and geared at best serving it’s membership.9 Therefore the Pagan Network currently appears to be the most sympathetic and interactive forum for a teen Witch, with online mentors, a section for new pagans, and a book circle among its many attractions. Children of Artemis has an active real-time community, and provides regular meetings and lectures, a glamorous magazine, and currently hosts some of Europe’s largest and best attended conferences. It is an organization that has attracted many members who are in their twenties or early thirties, and are interested predominantly in Witchcraft and Wicca, hence the name of its magazine Witchcraft and Wicca, and its conferences or ‘Witchfests’. This specialization has been one of its great 5 See: E.V. Gallagher, ‘A Religion without Converts? Becoming Neo-Pagan’ Journal of the American Academy of Religion, LXII.3 851–867 (1994); M.J. Harrington, ‘A study of conversion processes in Wicca; with specific reference to male converts.’ PhD thesis (London: Kings University, 2005). 6 They also aim to provide positive public relations to the wider community, and fight defamation of paganism and pagan practitioners. 7 The Pagan Federation was established by Wiccan John Score in 1971, and officially opened by Wiccan author Doreen Valiente. It has approximately10,000 subscribers to its magazine, Pagan Dawn, the majority of whom are full members. The Children of Artemis was established by Witches and Wiccans in the mid-1990s. I use the British definition of Wiccan here to indicate initiates of Gardnerian and Alexandrian Wicca. I define as Witches other traditions within the modern pagan Witchcraft movement, such as Hereditary, Traditional, Reclaiming, Faery, and Hedgewitch etc. I have found such definitions to work well, each tradition and path has very specific mini-culture of its own, and conflating them can lead to confused generalizations. 8 The Pagan Network was established it 2000; it has approximately 5,250 members who have signed up for its internet community, approximately 1,400 who are active on the forums, and 300 full members. 9 I would like to thank Caspar Aremi of the Pagan Network for this information.

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strengths, eliminating any need for pagan intra-faith discussion and debate, and focusing purely on information about modern pagan Witchcraft. In comparison, the Pagan Federation might appear to be a dinosaur, but it continues to lead the way as a serious interface between the pagan community and the rest of society. Among its many achievements it has provided support and legal advice to pagans, facilitated a hospital- and prison-visiting service with Home Office registered Prison Visitors, and achieved legal status for handfastings (pagan wedding ceremonies) in Scotland. Despite the growing visibility of pagan organizations in Britain, well-founded perceptions of public misunderstanding of, and hostility to, various paganisms (particularly with regard to corrupting vulnerable youths), has played a significant part in the reluctance to take teen Witches into the bosom of the pagan community. When in the late 1990s, the Pagan Federation first appointed a youth officer (a married teacher) to deal with increasing enquiries from young people, the British mainstream media were quick to write negative articles about this appointment, and, as a direct result, the man was suspended from his job pending an inquiry. Although he was subsequently allowed to keep his job, the overall experience was so traumatic for him, and his family, that he resigned from his position in the Pagan Federation. After much discussion within the organization, the position of Youth Officer in the PF was closed, and a decision taken to forward all underage enquirers to Minor Arcana, Britain’s only pagan organization run by youths for youths.10 The members’ lower age limit set by the Pagan Federation and the Children of Artemis reflect a general feeling amongst the contemporary British pagan community that it may still be in the best interests of both pagan organizations, and the teen Witches themselves, to maintain the requirement of having come of age before being able to join an organization or socially legitimized group. Even Wiccan parents are reluctant for their children to become too embroiled in teen Witchdom, seeing Witchcraft as a serious religious path, and preferring them to concentrate on the hobbies, social activities and academic commitments that are part of teenage life.11 Furthermore, children who have been brought up with openly Wiccan parents are still encouraged to make informed adult decisions about religious choice, as opposed to simply following a family religion. This reticence is reported by one Wiccan high priestess in Bristol who reluctantly became the mentor for her daughter’s group of teen Witches. She described her experience: I had to take them on. I didn’t want to, but my daughter came home with five friends at the age of fifteen and told me that they all wanted me to teach them Witchcraft. They were so keen, they would have gone anywhere, and I didn’t want them to, they were vulnerable little girls. I taught them common sense, not Wicca, we discussed morality, sexuality and empowerment. It’s all right us Wiccans not taking them on, but then where would they go, where should they go? We made little altars (seasonal ones), and talked about the

10 I would like to thank Cynthia Dickinson of the Pagan Federation for this information. 11 Harrington, ‘A study of conversion processes in Wicca; with specific reference to male converts.’

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Goddess, and the danger of candles in bedrooms, and of Wicca versus stupidity. I did it with their parents’ permission, and thankfully, they soon drifted off, and I was glad!

This impression of young seekers as being very keen, but rather superficially interested, seems common in adult impressions of teen Witches. A Cumbrian bookshop owner has a similar point of view: They come in my shop, you always spot them, not by their clothes or anything, but by their intensity. They are intelligent, polite, and interested. They all want books on magic. I showed them my copy of Prediction Magazine, where they could find the address of the Pagan Federation and such like, but they didn’t seem to be interested. The best I could do was sell them Vivianne Crowley’s books, or Janet and Stewart Farrar, then they went away and never came back. I’ve seen them about since, probably in Sixth Form now. They don’t seem to recognize me, maybe they have forgotten about it.

It would thus seem that to these adult commentators, the teen Witch is investigating relatively shallow interests in magic and mysticism, alone or with friends. What is also notable is that the teen Witch does not appear to be rebelling against ‘her’ parents, but to be soliciting adult guidance and approval in her quest. This raises the question as to whether teenage interest in Witchcraft is a fashion or a fad? For many teenagers it might be an interest that will pass, its passing hastened by the contemporary pagan community’s cautious response to, and indeed in part rejection of, the teen Witch. However, for those who are seeking a deeper, more religious, dimension in what they do, who are following a spiritual calling, it is likely that the interest will develop over a lifetime. Early interest in magic is a common denominator in many religious biographies of adult Wiccans who later made a life-long commitment to Wicca.12 Neither has the response to teen Witches always been as cautious. In the 1960s and 1970s young Witches were delighted to find someone who would take them seriously: the notorious Alex Sanders who as a magical media doyenne in the 1960s, became a significant contributor to the development of modern pagan Witchcraft. Alex Sanders had a background as a successful medium and a ceremonial magician, and went on to found his own form of modern pagan Witchcraft. He was reviled by the Wiccan community of the time as a charlatan, with his flamboyant publicity-seeking and constant interaction with the ‘yellow press’, which culminated in his claim to be ‘King of the Witches’. Famed Witchcraft author Doreen Valiente recounted how she visited the Home Office, and just managed to ensure that the Witchcraft Act (only repealed in 1951) was not reinstated after some of his antics.13 But, however awful Sanders appeared to the Wiccan establishment of the day, he was an inspiration to innumerable teen Witches. A number of long term initiates whom I personally know were inspired to write to Alex Sanders seeking initiation while still in their teens, and joined ‘Alexandrian’ covens as soon as they were able. At least three lied about their age and were initiated under the age of eighteen. The others were initiated after reaching adulthood at 12 Ibid. 13 This data comes from personal communication with Doreen Valiente.

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eighteen, but before the age of twenty. Alexandrian Wicca’s archetypal teen Witch was his wife, Maxine. Maxine Sanders met Alex in her teens. She was initiated by him as a teenager and married him at nineteen. The marriage eventually broke down, but Maxine and Alex continued to run covens. Alex died in 1989, and Maxine has retired to Wales, where after more than forty years as a Wiccan High Priestess, she still trains initiates, and remains a visible and highly respected member of the Wiccan community today. This longevity of interest and commitment from former teen Witches is not unusual, and directly contradicts the assumption that all teenage interest in Witchcraft is faddish or shallow. For the purposes of this chapter I have interviewed five people who were practicing a form of magic and Witchcraft throughout their childhood and teenage years, then were initiated into Wicca between the age of 18 and 19. They have subsequently spent their lives dedicated to Wicca, giving decades of service to the pagan community. As an academic practitioner of a certain age, operating from inside this culture, many of my friends fall into this category. Rather than attempt to justify any kind of random or representative sample in such a small and arbitrary set of case studies, I chose those easiest for me to interview, whom I knew were interested in the topic of teen Witches, and who represented a diverse geographical sample. Two of my interviewees were from Scotland, one from the Welsh border, one from London and one from Cumbria. These consisted of a close friend, my initiating High Priestess, my husband and the God/dess Parents of my children, who formed a simple cohort group of people who had showed such an early interest and had continued to be highly committed on both a personal level, and within the pagan community. I asked them to complete a short questionnaire, consisting of open questions, via email. I then followed it up by a phone call or personal interview to probe further, and finally a few extra probes elicited by the editors of this chapter. Former teen Witches who made a life-long commitment to pagan priesthood Vivianne Crowley The first interview came from one of Britain’s most popular Wiccan authors, Vivianne Crowley. Vivianne was initiated by Maxine and Alex Sanders at the age of nineteen. She went on to become an initiate of a Gardnerian group, and successfully combined both Wiccan traditions in her long established coven that has spawned ‘daughter’ covens throughout Britain and Europe. Along with her husband, Chris, she founded various Wiccan networks, linking diverse groups of covens and lineages in a diverse number of gatherings and events. Chris is a past president of the Pagan Federation, and Vivianne was a key figure in developing the democratic infrastructure that it enjoys today. Despite having been formally initiated at nineteen, Vivianne identifies that she has been practicing Witchcraft since childhood in the 1960s, having first become interested in magic, Witchcraft and paganism at six years old. Her interest was sparked at this young age by a combination of seeing Native Americans doing magic in ‘cowboy and Indian’ films (so she, like contemporary teen Witches, recognizes

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the media partially initiating interest); her mother’s psychic ability; astral projection experiences, mystical experiences in nature; finding traces of what she thought might be rituals (fires, circles of stones) in her local area of the New Forest; and a close affinity with animals. As she developed the interest, she experimented with astrology, card readings, candle magic, and meditation. As a child her first ritual activities were to make circles with stones, and altars for magical stones. In the interview she describes how she cast her first spell at eight years old, a successful experiment with weather magic to make rain. Dawn Meadows Another Wiccan High Priestess, who was initiated by Alex Sanders in the 1970s and continued to practice over the years, is Dawn Meadows. Now just into her fifties, she currently runs a New Age shop in a market town on the borders of England and Wales. She became aware of Wicca when she was reunited with her childhood sweetheart at sixteen, and found that he had been initiated into Wicca. She describes how she was already on a spiritual quest, and had been investigating Eastern religion, but as soon as he described his path she knew it was the one for her. She followed him into Maxine and Alex Sanders’ coven at the age of eighteen. Thirtyfour years later she has changed her partner but not her religion, and her second husband, Tony, is also Wiccan. Tony is as committed to Wicca as Dawn, and as well as continual personal Wiccan practice his many contributions to the pagan world include conference organizing, donation of artistic work, database organization, and a full term as president of the Pagan Federation. Dawn has also been a long-term volunteer for the Pagan Federation, and has run covens for years, but she specifically sees her shop and her jewelry-making as providing service to the wider community. Dawn’s impression of contemporary teen Witches is similar to that of the shop owner previously quoted. She says that the teenage customers who were regular attendees of her shop were ‘delightful’ – polite, keen and indistinguishable from any other normal teenager. They did not dress ‘differently’, they were not part of ‘surf’ or rap teen subculture, and were not ‘Goths’. Dawn argued that, in her experience, teen Witches could be confused with teenage members of this separate sub-culture. Goth music (short for Gothic, although originally called ‘alternative’) emerged as a hybrid of the ‘New Romantic’, Punk and Rock eras in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and developed as music and club based subculture that pays particular attention to all things ‘gothic’ including vampires, and Victorian-esque fashion. Dawn pointed out that the teenagers who come into her shop and show serious interest in Witchcraft do not do so as part of a fashion or life-style statement, and while some pagans are Goths, including young Goths in the demography of teen Witchcraft is to add confounding variables. Dawn’s experience of those who seemed keen on paganism and Wicca was that they were ‘very normal’, (i.e. they tend to be indistinguishable from any other teenager who has not identified with a particular life-style fashion statement), and predominantly female. She found them to have done all their ‘homework’, understood as having to mundanely work toward an objective before doing magic for it, and mainly interested in buying books rather than the paraphernalia of ritual and spell-craft. She also noted how often their mothers accompanied them, and that

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they seemed to be trying to assert their personal choice of path with the approval of their parents, rather than seeing it as a statement of difference or rebellion. Having been at the forefront of serving the contemporary teen Witch community with commodities and advice, Dawn feels strongly that teenaged seekers should be ‘nurtured’. She has a very clear view that they should be nurtured apart from adult seekers, and given age-appropriate training in their own language. She says that they are not at an age where they should have to make any long-lasting decisions about their life path, but that Wicca should be open to them in a way that lets them experiment, and teaches them about the religion that has given older Witches so much joy, but does not require long-term commitment. She sees the mass accessibility of modern pagan Witchcraft as providing this kind of forum, whilst allowing initiates to follow the deeper commitments to which they are drawn. She points out that this is not dissimilar to the early vision of Wicca as described by Gerald Gardner, of an initiated Wiccan priesthood administering to the needs of a non-initiated pagan community. She points out that there will always be ‘dabblers’, and that in her experience, these are mainly boys seeking grimoires, Ouija boards, and hands-on magical thrills; and thinks that they will continue to frighten themselves with or without the presence of Wicca. Charis and Jim Fox At around the same time that Dawn was being initiated, Charis Fox and her future husband, Jim, were initiated into an Alexandrian coven in Dundee. Charis and Jim were Pagan Federation National co-ordinators for Scotland for twenty-five years, during which time they took part in television appearances and interfaith work alongside the usual networking, conference organizing and anti-defamation work. Charis’ first interests in paganism and alternative spirituality were at the age of six, when she became aware of a feeling or knowledge of having experienced a previous life, and in conversation with an aunt who spoke of supernatural experiences. Her first spell was included in her first ritual, to perform successful healing magic for her grandmother at the age of eight. Her interest continued to develop and she experimented with various spells and rituals. When she met Jim at school they found they shared a belief in magic. Through reading books on magic and Wicca she came to realize that Wicca was a religion that encompassed most of their beliefs, and that incorporated magic. Jim cast his first spell at thirteen, saying, ‘I realized I could direct energy, and achieve a result. I experimented, and it worked.’ He experimented more, and discovered that he could direct his sexual energy to achieve results, combining visualization of desired outcome with masturbation. (Editor’s note: The practice of combining sexual activity with magical intent is known as ‘sex magick’ and is practiced widely, if not commonly, among contemporary Witches. It seems to have its basis in Great Britain’s ceremonial magic movement – famous occultist Aleister Crowley was a devotee – but contemporary sex magicians often employ Tantric principles as well as those of western occultism.) He noticed that this use of his life energy seemed very good for healing others. After this solitary experimentation in creative visualization, Jim did his first Wiccan-based ritual with Charis, when they

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were beginning to experiment with more formal magic together. On discovering Wicca he too was amazed to find that accounts of Wicca described a form of belief and practice that he and Charis had begun to discover for themselves: ‘What we were, it described us, the beliefs, the use of magic, the sense of religion, the whole thing.’ Charis and Jim found June John’s biography of Alex Sanders, King of the Witches14 and wrote to the contact address that it gave in London. They received a reply from the coven in Dundee, and were worried that they might not be accepted, or that one of them would be but not the other. To their relief they were both accepted, initiated (and handfasted), and began their Wiccan training at the age of seventeen. Rufus Harrington15 At the time of interviewing (January 2006), Rufus had been practicing Wicca for twenty-four years. His first interests were in magic and expanding consciousness, which he related to spirituality and the spiritual experiences he began having from the age of ten. He was ten when he cast his first spell, for a teacher to forget to take in homework. The spell was deemed successful, in that the teacher immediately forgot to take in homework, and forgot twice more in succession, but never once before or after. Throughout his teens Rufus used what he described as ‘instinctual magics’ (spells and spiritual practices), then a combination of instinctual practices, Tarot, meditation, and ritual practices taken from books, then formal Wiccan and magical practices in his late teens. He met his first Witch after deciding to ask for initiation. He went to London’s Atlantis Bookshop, found an advertisement for a coven, rang them, went to an interview and was accepted for training. He joined their training coven, and was initiated at nineteen. Over the years he has run covens, initiating and training others. He has also provided talks, workshops and rituals within the pagan community. He founded the open seasonal rituals in London, and was on the Pagan Federation Committee for four years. During this time he was a Prison Chaplain, and helped set up the Chaplaincy service with Chris Crowley. He has also done television, newspaper and radio interviews. Of contemporary teen Witches he said: I recognize in teenagers drawn towards Wicca that there is a genuine spiritual awakening taking place. There is an easier and more varied process of access than in my teenage years. There is more choice and opportunity. I suspect that teen Witches of today are less alone in the early stages and more likely to make contact with other Witches/pagans/ guides earlier on. They should be helped, provided with guidance, since Wicca meets particular spiritual needs rather well.

These long-term adherents to Wicca are ambivalent as to whether they were ‘teen Witches’ despite a very early interest, and having been initiated before reaching twenty years old. They see teen Witches as benefiting from a more visible paganism, but make a clear divide in their own biographies between the commitment to initiated 14 J. Johns, King of the Witches: The World of Alex Sanders (London: 1969). 15 Rufus is my husband.

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Witchcraft, and early experimentation. Vivianne says she would not say she was a teen Witch, even though she was psychic, spiritual and practiced a form of magic. Rufus would not say he was a ‘teen Witch’, but would say ‘I was a Witch in my teenage years.’ Dawn distinguishes between her time as an initiated Witch and her early interest in magic and folklore, even though her first spell (chanting a wish) was conducted at the age of eight, and its success convinced her that magic was real. Charis and Jim say that they were teen Witches, but obviously would not have used that term then. Charis said: I think teen Witches are different today as they are more confident about attempting spells by themselves without thinking they should go through some kind of initiation. Also the number of books available on Witchcraft has grown enormously, plus back-up organizations like the PF and Children of Artemis. Nothing like that existed when we were teen Witches […] Wicca has changed dramatically since we first became involved, the numbers then were very small in comparison to today… The ones we have met are mostly sensible, intelligent individuals who care about the earth and the life on her. Obviously there is an element of excitement and image involved, though that existed when we were teen Witches.

These former teenage Witches were committed enough in their interest to seek formal initiation into Wicca, and a lifetime of practice and service. They know others who have similar religious biographies, and point out that there were teen Witches in their day, some who continued into Wicca like them, and some who did not. Vivianne sees people today as seemingly less interested in spiritual paths and religions than when she first became involved in Wicca. She predicts that, ‘similar to my generation, some will lose interest and some will seek to involve themselves further, but probably less of the latter.’ She says that her own practice has always evolved, and she personally incorporates more meditative practice and spiritual development into the tradition. Vivianne, Dawn, Rufus, and Charis and Jim only partially ascribe media trends (particularly texts such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Craft) and books aimed at teens such as those by American author Silver RavenWolf,16 and British author Teresa Moorey17 as contributing to visible teen interest. They feel it would be reductionist to cite Harry Potter, Buffy…, The Craft and their ilk as one of the prime causes of teen interest in Modern pagan Witchcraft, but it is important to recognize the part they have played. The widespread appeal of this entertainment genre means that many people who had not heard of Wicca, or the pagan revival, were presented with positive images of good Witches doing beneficent magic, and using moral codes; rather than stereotypical users of malevolent sorcery. Thus, via borrowing from, and presenting a picture of, varieties of occult practice, they became a part of contemporary visibility of esoteric culture. 16 S. RavenWolf, To Ride a Silver Broomstick: New Generation Witchcraft (St Paul, 1993); S. RavenWolf, To Light a Sacred Flame: Practical Witchcraft in the Millennium (St Paul, 1999). 17 Teresa Moorey, Spellbound! The Teenage Witch’s Essential Handbook (London, 2002).

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Vivianne mentioned the success of the ‘Titania’ spell books in the UK,18 and books by Silver RavenWolf that have had best-selling success across the western world, but sees this as a marketing phenomenon that is in the recent past. She predicts that interest will fade now there are fewer new TV series and less marketing of teen-oriented spell books featuring teen Witches, which she predicts will leave a ‘hard core’ of serious teenagers. Similarly she thinks that Wicca will continue as a minority interest but may decline in numbers to a ‘hard core’. Dawn concurs, saying that ‘the Buffy effect’ was visible in attendance at her shop, with interest and sales peaking in 2002–2003, and now sliding back to what she would expect as a normal running rate of the business. They all have a similar opinion on how to incorporate teen Witches into the pagan community. Charis voiced it thus: They should be encouraged, though when under sixteen their parents should be aware of their interest. We would not initiate anyone under the age of eighteen even though we ourselves did not meet that criteria, and our parents had no idea of our interest and eventual involvement in Wicca… Within the wider Pagan community teen Witches should be able to attend open festivals and the like, as long as their parents are aware if they are under sixteen. Hopefully as the country becomes more multi-cultural, Wicca and Paganism will be seen and accepted as a valid form of religious and spiritual belief and practice. […] Wicca will never be a mass religious movement as it is an initiatory Mystery Religion. However, we do see it as growing still further than it is now. Maybe many teen Witches will move to less committed forms of Paganism. […] The responsible stance taken by organizations such as the Children of Artemis and the PF can only be encouraging of the future of Wicca, and the young people who are vital for its continued existence and survival.

One important variable in the evolution of the teen Witch that all these interviewees mentioned is the visibility and accessibility of contemporary paganism. This new religious movement has managed to survive and grow exponentially in the fifty years or so since it first became visible. Since Gerald Gardner published High Magic’s Aid in 1949, followed by Witchcraft Today in 1954 and The Meaning of Witchcraft in 1959, revived modern pagan Witchcraft and paganism have come to be practiced in most of industrialized Western society. Interviewees also stressed that although media texts such as The Craft and Buffy cannot be cited as sole causes of teenage interest in modern pagan Witchcraft, they should be given their due as popular, mainstream arenas that promoted the magical world view. Via such texts people have been given a view of magic as part of a belief system, and Wicca as a religion, leading them to investigate the newest of magical tools, the Internet. Indeed, the rise of the teen Witch has coincided with mass computer ownership and usage and the development of the World Wide Web, a fact that begs further research. In this multimedia age it takes only minutes to ‘Google’ any number of topics from the film genre to be led to the occult milieu, where magic is ‘real’, complete with communities of interest and many esoteric schools. Given 18 T. Hardie, Hocus Pocus: Titania’s Book of Spells (London, 1996); T. Hardie, Titania’s Book of Wishing Spells (London: 1997).

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the size, depth and diversity of this milieu it is not surprising that the teen Witch will be cautious (her parents more so), and wish to start on peer-group spellcraft as per television, rather than induction into an unknown group of older people. Such commitment is likely to come later, if the initial stages of enquiry have been deemed positive, interesting, and engendered sufficient enthusiasm for the teenager to seek further involvement. As well as seeing youthful interest as something to be nurtured in an appropriate environment, the Wiccan elders I interviewed expect there to be a high drop-out rate of youthful seekers, and saw large numbers of people with a shallow interest in Witchcraft as a natural demographic. Furthermore they saw this as a positive development. The teen Witch may not make a further commitment at the age of eighteen, but she accepts and approves of pagan religiosity. This approval, along with popularization and commodification of Witchcraft may well have a positive effect for paganism as a religion. They feel that dedicated practitioners of paganism, and those who are part of its initiatory traditions, may at last be able to practice their chosen religion with true religious freedom. Charis mused that such discourses might lead to Wicca becoming ‘part of the main-stream’, but then added that she doubted if it ever would be, since ‘it has always been a mystery religion and always probably will be’. Conclusion: Teen Witches, secularization and the future of esoteric religion Within the last twenty years there has been a shift in the number of scholars who wholly subscribe to the once-dominant secularization thesis. Secularization has been rejected as self-limiting, causing revival, innovation and new faiths wherever it occurs.19 Casanova points out that secularization has come to be seen as myth in a Kuhnian paradigm shift that says more about the nature of academia than it does about the evidence for and against any theory, which he says has not changed as much as the academic climate.20 An example of such a shift comes from Peter Berger, who says: The assumption that we live in a secularized world is false. The world today, with some exceptions … is as furiously religious as it ever was, and in some places more so than ever. This means that a whole body of literature by historians and social scientist loosely labeled secularization theory is essentially mistaken. In my early work I contributed to this literature. I was in good company – most sociologists of religion had similar views, and we had good reasons for holding them. Some of the writings we produced still stand up … what they (these upsurges) have in common is their unambiguously religious inspiration. Consequently, taken together they provide a massive falsification of the idea that modernization and secularization are cognate phenomena. At the very least they

19 R. Stark and W.S. Bainbridge, The Future of Religion. Secularization, Revival and Cult Formation (Berkeley, 1985). 20 J. Casanova, Public Religions in the Modern World (Chicago and London, 1994).

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show that counter secularization is at last as important a phenomenon in the contemporary world as secularization.21

Scholars such as Aldridge have talked of the ‘sacralization of modernity’ via civil and political religion.22 Woodhead and Heelas have called the paradigm shift discussed by Casanova ‘sacralization theory.’23 Paganism provides a fascinating example of counter-secularization and sacralization in the modern world. Moreover, it is clear from practitioners’ accounts that its fundamental function is as a religion, whilst the magical elements are secondary.24 It is also of note that the ‘ceremonial’ form of magic used to invoke and worship God and Goddess plays a much more important part in modern pagan Witchcraft than the ‘low’ magic of achieving desired results via magical means.25 Its individualist, pantheistic, polycephalous nature means that it does not fit into Church/Sect typographies,26 and has until recent years, remained mainly under the radar of much serious academic attention. Paganism is the first religion in the west to accept and promote the feminine face of the divine, the Goddess, alongside her consort the God. It is hardly surprising that it should be drawing the interest of an increased number of teenage girls, for whom the introductory texts provide a means to feminine self-empowerment and affirmation. Moreover, paganism also promotes ecological awareness, individualism, humanitarianism, and personal gnosis. It offers a religion with its roots in antiquity, its present ethos compatible with the ethos of secular society, and a future that is fluid and full of potential as it divides and multiplies according to the religious needs of its adherents. It also maintains an overarching plausible structure of a magical universe, drawn from the mystical traditions that are found in the esoteric core of most traditional religions, and yet perceived as modern counter-culture. As such it is highly acceptable to teenagers growing up in late modernity, who are in the process of establishing their own ethical and moral codes, and looking for answers.

21 P.L. Berger, ‘Secularization theory as “essentially mistaken”’ in W. Woodhead and P. Heelas (eds), Religion in Modern Times; An Interpretative Anthology (Oxford, 2000) pp. 434–445. 22 A. Aldridge, Religion in the Contemporary World, A Sociological Introduction (Oxford, 2000). 23 Woodhead and Heelas (eds), Religion in Modern Times. 24 For examples, see the works of T. Luhrmann, Persuasions of the Witch’s Craft: Ritual Magic in Contemporary England (Oxford, 1989); L. Orion, Never Again the Burning Time: Paganism Revisited (Illinois, 1995); R. Hutton, The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft. (Oxford, 1999); J.E. Pearson, ‘Religion and the return of magic: Wicca as Esoteric Spirituality’ PhD thesis (Lancaster University, 2000); Harrington, 2005. 25 Pearson, 2000; M.J. Harrington, ‘The long journey home; a study of the conversion profiles of 35 Wiccan men’ REVER, http://www.pucsp.br/rever/rv2_2002/a-harring.html; Harrington 2005). 26 See M. York, The Emerging Network, A Sociology of the New Age and Neo Pagan Movements (Lanham and London, 1995).

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Youthful interest in esotericism cannot be solely attributed to marketing forces and interest in ‘results magic.’ When one looks at the religious biographies of pagans the similarity of their journey to paganism is striking, across tradition, gender, age and geographical location. There is a marked uniformity in pagans’ experience of very early interest in mythology, magic, the divine in nature, mystical experience, magic and psychicism.27 This is frequently allied with disappointment in Christianity, seeking a spirituality that encompasses their own experiential belief, followed by a deep sense of recognition and relief when they find it.28 This experience is so typical that it inspired Margot Adler to call paganism a ‘religion without converts’, a statement that has, until recently, remained mainly unquestioned in the academic study of paganism.29 Certainly there will be teen Witches who will lose interest. However, from each generation of teenagers with occult interest are born those who will carry esoteric religion forward into the future. They will pass on the wisdom that has been passed down through the millennia; revising and reviving it, studying, teaching and representing the esoteric traditions, that have risen and fallen, but forever remain a vital part of the world’s spiritual landscape. The current era of the teen Witch may be coming to an end, but one thing is certain. From this generation of fresh-faced spellmakers there will be those who dedicate themselves to a lifetime of contemplation, worship and service to the gods. It is to them that the interviewees in this chapter will pass their knowledge and power,30 to continue ‘the Great Work’, in their stead. Bibliography Adler, M., Drawing Down the Moon, Witches, Druids, Goddess-worshippers, and other Pagans in America Today (Boston: Beacon Press, 1979/1986). Aldridge, A., Religion in the Contemporary World, A Sociological Introduction (Oxford: Polity Press, 2000). Berger, P.L., ‘Secularization theory as “essentially mistaken”’ in W. Woodhead and P. Heelas (eds), Religion in Modern Times; An Interpretative Anthology (Oxford: Blackwell, 2000). 27 G. Harvey, ‘Coming home and coming out Pagan (but not converting)’ in C. Lamb and M.D. Bryant (eds) Religious Conversion, Contemporary Practices and Controversies. (London, 1999); Harrington, ‘The long journey home’. 28 See M. Adler, Drawing Down the Moon, Witches, Druids, Goddess-worshippers, and other Pagans in America Today (Massachusetts, 1979/1986); Harvey ‘Coming home and coming out Pagan’; Harrington, ‘The long journey home’. 29 Gallagher, ‘A Religion without Converts? Becoming a Neo-Pagan’; Harrington, ‘The long journey home’. 30 At the second degree initiation ritual in some traditions of Wicca, the initiator lays their hands on the initiate and wills ‘power’ into them, saying ‘I will all my power into you.’ It is also traditional for a Witch to pass their power to another on their deathbed. This power is seen as an amalgamation of initiatory lineage’s ‘current’, accumulated magical energy, and life force, and more. It is believed to form an initiatory link that goes back through each initiate, and concepts of power in Wicca correlate with Chi, Reiki energy, spiritual healing, and charisma.

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Casanova, J., Public Religions in the Modern World (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1994). Crowley, V., ‘Book Review: Spirituality and the Occult: From Renaissance to the Modern Age’ in Journal of Contemporary Religion 17:1, (2001) 127–128. ——, ‘Wicca as a Modern-Day Mystery Tradition’ in G. Harvey and C. Hardman (eds), Paganism Today (London and San Fransisco: Thorsons,1996). Gallagher, E.V., ‘A Religion without Converts? Becoming a Neo-Pagan’ Journal of the American Academy of Religion, LXII.3 (1994) 851–867. Gardner, G.B., High Magic’s Aid (London: Pentacle Enterprises, 1949/1993). ——, Witchcraft Today (London: Rider, 1954). ——, The Meaning of Witchcraft (New York: Magickal Childe, 1959/1988). Greeley, A.M., ‘The Sociology of the Paranormal: A Reconnaissance’ in Sage Research Papers in the Social Sciences, vol. 3, series no. 90-023 (London: Sage Publications, 1975). Hardie, T., Hocus Pocus. Titania’s Book of Spells (London: Quadrille, 1996). ——, Titania’s Book of Wishing Spells (London: William Morrow and Co., 1997). ——, Enchanted. Titania’s book of white magic (London: William Morrow and Co., 1999). Harrington, M.J., ‘The long journey home; a study of the conversion profiles of 35 Wiccan men’ REVER, http://www.pucsp.br/rever/rv2_2002/a-harring.html (2002). ——, ‘A study of conversion processes in Wicca; with specific reference to male converts’ (PhD thesis, King’s College London, 2005). Harvey, G., ‘Coming home and coming out Pagan (but not converting)’ in C. Lamb and M.D. Bryant (eds), Religious Conversion, Contemporary Practices and Controversies (London: Cassell, 1999). Hoffman, A., Practical Magic (New Jersey: E Rutherford, 1995). Hutton, R., The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999). Johns, J., King of the Witches. The World of Alex Sanders (London: Pan Books Ltd, 1969). Luhrmann, T.M., Persuasions of the Witch’s Craft: Ritual Magic in Contemporary England (Oxford: Blackwell, 1989). Magliocco, S., Witching Culture: Folklore and Neo-Paganism in America. (Contemporary Ethnography) (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004). Moorey, T., Spellbound! The Teenage Witch’s Essential Handbook (London: Rider, 2002). Orion, L., Never Again the Burning Times; Paganism Revisited (Illinois: Waveland Press, 1995). Pearson, J.E., ‘Religion and the return of magic: Wicca as Esoteric Spirituality,’ PhD thesis (Lancaster University, 2000). RavenWolf, S., To Ride a Silver Broomstick: New Generational Witchcraft (St Paul MN: Llewellyn, 1993).

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——, To Light a Sacred Flame: Practical Witchcraft in the Millennium (St Paul MN: Llewellyn, 1999). ——, Beneath a Mountain Moon (St Paul MN: Llewellyn, 2002). ——, Young Witches (St Paul MN: Llewellyn, 2003). ——, Silver’s Spells for Abundance (St Paul MN: Llewellyn, 2004). ——, Witch’s Notebook (St Paul MN: Llewellyn, 2005). Rowling, J.K., Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (London: Bloomsbury, 1997). ——, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (London: Bloomsbury, 1998). ——, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (London: Bloomsbury, 1999). ——, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (London: Bloomsbury, 2000). ——, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (London: Bloomsbury, 2003). ——, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (London: Bloomsbury, 2005). Stark, R. and Bainbridge, W.S., The Future of Religion: Secularization, Revival and Cult Formation (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985). Thomas, K.V., Religion and the Decline of Magic: Studies in Popular Beliefs in Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century England (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1971/1991). Tiryakian, E.A., ‘Toward a sociology of esoteric cults,’ American Journal of Sociology, 78 (1972) 491–512. Woodhead, W. and Heelas, P. (eds), Religion in Modern Times; An interpretative anthology (Oxford: Blackwell, 2000). Yates, F.A., Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1964). ——, The Occult Philosophy in the Elizabethan Age (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1979). York, M., The Emerging Network, A Sociology of the New Age and Neo Pagan Movements (Lanham and London: Roman and Littlefields, 1995).

Chapter 3

Becoming a Witch: Changing paths of conversion in contemporary Witchcraft Douglas Ezzy and Helen A. Berger

In the revised edition of her classic work Drawing Down the Moon1 Margot Adler describes the process of individuals becoming Witches or neopagans: No one converts to Paganism or Wicca. You will find no one handing you Pagan leaflets on the street or shouting at you from a corner. Many people come across this book, or The Spiral Dance (or any of a number of related books), in some isolated corner of America or the world. Often they found it in a small-town library, or in a used bookstore, or stashed away on a friend’s bookshelf. Upon opening its pages, perhaps they said, ‘I never knew there was anyone else in the world who felt what I feel or believed what I have always believed. I never knew my religion had a name.’

As Adler highlights, most Witches do not think of themselves as converting. Rather, they emphasize that their beliefs are developed independent of other people and that finding Witchcraft was like discovering a home where others believe as they do. Ethnographic studies2 support the notion that Witches are active individualistic seekers. But, as we discuss in this paper, the notion of ‘coming home’ must be understood within a cultural context. The belief in individual authority, women’s rights, and environmentalism, all of which have influenced Witchcraft, are all part of one strand of contemporary Western thought.3 Furthermore, the media and the Internet must be understood as part of the socialization process of those seeking out Witchcraft. The mass media, which includes movies, television shows, and books such as those Adler mentions are an important aspect of Witches finding their religion.

1 Margot Adler, Drawing Down the Moon, (Boston, [1979] 1986), p. X. 2 For example, Tanya Luhrmann, Persuasions of the Witch’s Craft, (Oxford, 1989); and Melissa Harrington, ‘Psychology of religion and the study of Paganism,’ in J. Blain, D. Ezzy and G. Harvey (eds), Researching Paganisms (New York, 2004) 71–84. 3 Graham Harvey, ‘Coming home and coming out Pagan (but not converting),’ in C. Lamb and M. Bryant (eds), Religious Conversion: Contemporary Practices and Controversies (London, 1999) 233–246; Helen A. Berger, A Community of Witches, (Columbia, 1999).

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The media, particularly in the form of books, has always been an important element of recruitment to Witchcraft,4 although prior to the 1980s friendship networks were also an important means of recruitment. As we will show in this paper the role of the media and the expansion of the forms of media has increased significantly since the 1990s, resulting in mediated forms of community becoming more important and face-to-face relationships and personal friendships becoming less important as means of recruitment to Witchcraft. As a consequence, Witches are less likely to become members of established Witchcraft traditions, and more likely to develop an eclectic form of Witchcraft, which they define as their own. In addition, as mainstream television shows and books on Witchcraft have been marketed to young people, more young people know about and are likely to become Witches than in the past. Ethnographic studies of Witchcraft prior to the 1990s such as those by Tanya Luhrmann and Adler suggest that becoming a Witch had some similarities to the process of conversion to other religions. The process typically involved not only self-transformation but also a gradual process of integration into the Witchcraft community. There were also some important differences between conversion to Witchcraft and conversion to other religions among the early Witches, as individuals could and did practice alone and as noted above, books were always an important element of the process. These differences have crystallized since the 1990s, and help to provide an alternative typology of conversion that has resonance with the influence of the late modern mass media on other religions.5 In this chapter we use the twin terms ‘cultural orientation’ to Witchcraft and ‘individual seekership’ to emphasize what we see as the two-fold nature of the conversion process among Witches: one, based on social structural and cultural elements and the other grounded in individual agency. The concept of ‘cultural orientation’ to Witchcraft indicates that young people’s decision to become Witches must be placed within a social context. ‘Cultural orientation’ refers to social processes such as the growth of individualization in contemporary society, and cultural trends such as the popularization of Witchcraft in the mass media that encourage and facilitate the recruitment of young people to the religion. Within this ‘cultic milieu’ the world becomes re-enchanted and magic is accepted as possible and plausible. The concept of individual seekership emphasizes both the element of choice in taking this new identity and its ‘on going’ or progressive nature. Many young people who experiment with Witchcraft choose not to become Witches. For most of those who do choose to become Witches there is no single point at which they convert. Rather, identification as a Witch is a process, which often continues over years and may in some instances remain unfinished. By using these twin concepts we want to emphasize on one hand, that becoming a Witch (or the acquisition of any other 4 Helen A. Berger and Douglas Ezzy, Teenage Witches: Magical Youth and the Search for the Self (Rutgers, 2007). 5 Aspects of the changes we discuss can be seen in Kimon Howland Sargeant, ‘The Post-Modern Denomination: An Organizational Analysis of the Willow Creek Association’ (presented at the Association for the Sociology of Religion meetings, 1996); and David Lyon, Jesus in Disneyland (Cambridge, 2000).

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identity for that matter), must always be placed within a broader social and cultural framework. On the other hand, the change of identity and religious affiliation of teenage Witches must also be understood as part of the process of self-formation in late modernity. This essay begins with a discussion of recruitment to Witchcraft prior to 1990, followed by a brief discussion of the change in popular representations of Witchcraft that occurred after 1990. Both these sections rely on published ethnographies and accounts of Witchcraft. The next section draws on our own research of teenage Witches in the United States, England, and Australia to describe recruitment to Witchcraft among this group. The essay finishes with a general discussion of the relationship between Witchcraft, individualism, and popular culture. Although some distinguish between Wicca and Witchcraft, in this essay we follow the usage of the young Witches we interviewed and use the terms interchangeably to refer to Witchcraft as initially described by Luhrmann and Adler. Popularization and conversion to Witchcraft The popularization of Witchcraft can be seen as a process that occurred in stages, beginning in the 1950s with the publication of Witchcraft Today6 and Gerald Gardner’s other books. In the following decades occasional books appeared including Stewart Farrar’s What Witches Do7 and Doreen Valiente’s An ABC of Witchcraft.8 A significant jump in popularization occurred around 1980 with the publication of books such as Margot Adler’s Drawing Down the Moon, and Starhawk’s The Spiral Dance.9 From the 1950s on there were also occasional articles about Witchcraft in newspapers. Doreen Valiente, one of the early founders of Wicca who with Gerald Gardner wrote many of the rituals of contemporary Witchcraft, describes reading a newspaper story about Gerald Gardner and his Museum of Magic and Witchcraft on the Isle of Man: ‘Being passionately interested in the survival of the old religion, I wrote to the Isle of Man, and ultimately met Gerald Gardner at the house of a friend.’10 She further tells us that ‘every time there is a “big exposure of the evils of witchcraft” in the sensationalist press, it is followed by sacks full of letters from people wanting to know how they can join a coven.’11 Tanya Luhrmann, who conducted an ethnographic study of Witchcraft practitioners in London in the 1980s, met the occasional person who heard about Witchcraft through articles in mainstream newspapers, but this was rare. She suggests ‘Now if I wanted to get involved in magic, I would go to an occult bookstore and look at the notices and index cards pinned to the shelves ... or I would look in the back pages of Prediction magazine.’12 Luhrmann mentions the Atlantis bookstore in London, which in the 1980s was probably one of the more 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Gerald Gardner, Witchcraft Today (London, 1954). Stewart Farrar, What Witches Do (London, 1971). Doreen Valiente, An ABC of Witchcraft (London, 1973). Starhawk, The Spiral Dance (New York, 1979). Doreen Valiente, Witchcraft for Tomorrow (London, 1978), p. 14. Valiente, 1978, p. 22. Luhrmann, 1989, p. 19.

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popular places where notices for occult groups and courses in Witchcraft could be found. Luhrmann herself found Witchcraft through a more personal route: ‘I met the friend of a friend’s friend, who introduced me to another friend, and she told me about a woman called Beth who she said was involved in witchcraft.’ In other words, Luhrmann, like many others, found Witchcraft through personal networks. Helen A. Berger,13 Sarah Pike14 and Lynne Hume15 all note similar paths to Witchcraft in the United States and Australia as those described in England by Luhrmann. Pike, who did her research at the end of the twentieth and beginning of the twenty-first centuries also adds the Internet as a source of information for those interested in pursuing Witchcraft. Clearly the Internet provides increased access to information, although as Cowan16 reminds us, access to the Internet is not ubiquitous nor equally used even throughout the developed world. The Internet, however, was not the only change that occurred in the 1990s. Interest in Witchcraft was also fuelled by popular representations of Witches in mainstream film, such as The Craft17 television programs such as Sabrina the Teenage Witch,18 and a variety of popular magazines about Witchcraft. Although the changes that occurred in the 1990s were foreshadowed by the earlier popularization of Witchcraft, the current popularization of Witchcraft is distinctive because of the variety of media involved, the mainstream nature of these media forms, and the orientation of the media to a pre-teen or teenage audience. These changes have had significant implications for both conversion to, and the practice of, contemporary Witchcraft. Individual seekership within a social context Graham Harvey,19 similarly to Adler,20 reports ‘narratives of conversion (“testimonies” or “bearing witness”) do not occur in Pagan discourse.’ Rather, Witches describe themselves as ‘coming home’ when they find Witchcraft. Becoming a Witch is not typically an intellectual conversion in which a person realizes the correctness of pagan beliefs and undergoes a rapid change in the way they understand the world. ‘More typically they [Pagans] discover that the name for their existing sort of spirituality is Paganism. They find that they are not alone in the world but that there are books, groups and world-wide web sites devoted to the exploration of this spirituality.’21 From this point of view, community comes out of individuals seeking common companions, rather than from individuals being incorporated into a strong and well-organized pre-existing community: ‘Paganism does encourage a sense 13 Berger, 1999. 14 Sarah Pike, New Age and Neopagan Religion in America (New York, 2004). 15 Lynne Hume, Witchcraft and Paganism in Australia (Melbourne, 1997). 16 Douglas E. Cowan, Cyberhenge: Modern Pagans on the Internet (New York, 2005). 17 The Craft, directed by Andrew Flemming, released 1996. 18 Sabrina the Teenage Witch, directed by Tibor Takács and Andrew Tsao, first shown in 1996. 19 Harvey, 1999, p. 234. 20 Adler, 1979/1986. 21 Harvey, 1999, p. 243.

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of community or belonging with other Pagans and “all our relations”. People join groups to celebrate together or to learn.’22 Harvey captures very clearly how Witches and other neopagans describe their path into the religion. For example, only two respondents in our study of teenage Witches describe themselves as ‘converting’ to Witchcraft. In their introduction to their edited collection Religious Conversion, Bryant and Lamb23 note that ‘Conversion is normally ... part of joining one or another religious community. It becomes linked to identity and membership in a community.’ Prior to 1990 ‘becoming’ a Witch often involved the development of personal relationships with other Witches, and as a consequence, membership in a community of Witches was often a central part of becoming a Witch. However, Harvey’s characterization of the process of becoming a pagan as ‘not converting’ clearly describes an aspect of becoming a Witch that is quite different to the conversion process typical of many religions in Western society. There is no sense among Witches of adopting a completely new worldview, but instead of finding others who share their preexisting beliefs. As we discuss below the notion of ‘coming home’ must, however, be understood within a cultural context that makes many Witchcraft principles appear normative. Contrary to Harvey, Luhrmann argues that individuals are transformed in the course of becoming Witches; a process she calls interpretive drift. She suggests that as the newcomer begins to practice, read, and talk about Witchcraft they learn to think about their experiences from within the framework of magical discourse: The new magician learns to identify evidence for magic’s power, to see patterns in events ... They are learned, often informally, either through conversations or books. (It is easy to forget that books are important socializing influences, if not more important than people in this literary world. The new magician meets relatively few other magicians, but he reads very many books.) As a result, the ideas of magical practice make progressively more sense, and seem progressively more natural; the magician becomes more likely to ‘believe’ in their truth, by acting as if they were true and defending them in conversation.24

Luhrmann emphasizes both the fact that Witches go through a process of change, albeit one that is slow and may not be apparent and that while membership in physical communities has been a historically important part of the early Witchcraft movement, an emphasis on individualistic learning has also played a key role in becoming a Witch. Luhrmann goes on to emphasize this private aspect: This [interpretive drift] is not, quite, a socialization process. The term ‘socialization’ implies a process in which the practice of socializing itself produces the primary effects. Much of this study has been an effort to point out how solitary the magical involvement can be, and how much of it happens within the private self ... Talking to other magicians certainly helps to make the new magician comfortable with the language of magical 22 Harvey, 1999, p. 243. 23 Darrol M. Bryant and Christopher Lamb, ‘Introduction: Conversion,’ in C. Lamb and M. Bryant (eds), Religious Conversion: Contemporary Practices and Controversies, (London, 1999), pp. 1–22, p. 15. 24 Luhrmann, 1989, p. 313.

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The New Generation Witches practice … However, the crucial element of the persuasiveness of magical ideas is the private phenomenological experience within the practice of magic.25

While disagreeing with Luhrmann about the role of interpretive drift, Melissa Harrington26 gives even greater emphasis to the individualistic self-discovery aspect of Witchcraft. Harrington’s study was conducted after 1990, but her interviews are with thirty-five initiated male British Wiccans (Gardnerians and Alexandrians). To become an initiated Wiccan one must typically become a member of an ongoing physical coven. If anything approaching a traditional conversion narrative were to be found amongst Witches, it would be among this group that it would be most likely. However, Harrington reports: ‘I found that my conclusions were diametrically opposed to Tanya Luhrmann’s, and that far from accepting magic via a form of interpretive drift,’ Wiccans sought a religion that fitted with their preexisting religious beliefs, of which magic was but a part.’27 Harrington is correct to emphasize the role of the individual seeker, as we discuss below. However, Harrington’s psychological model of conversion overemphasizes the role of the individual as seeker, and underestimates the significance of mediated forms of community such as books and, more recently, other forms of mass media, as modes of distribution of information about Witchcraft. It is not simply individual seekership that leads to an interest in Witchcraft, but individual seekership within a cultural and media saturated context that facilitates interest in issues and concerns that have a resonance with Witchcraft beliefs and practices. The emphasis on individualistic discovery is not solely distinctive of Witchcraft. Roof,28 argues that individualistic exploration is characteristic of much religious practice since the baby boomer generation. Roof’s discussion focuses on the United States and covers various forms of Christianity, Buddhism, gurus, and Sufism, to name a few. Individualism is also a reflection of transitions in late modern culture that are occurring in many spheres of society, including family, work, and religion. As Giddens29 observes: ‘In the post-traditional order of modernity, and against the backdrop of new forms of mediated experience, self-identity becomes a reflexively organized endeavor.’ Books, magazines, the Internet, and movies are all forms of ‘mediated experience’ through which people learn about Witchcraft. People become Witches through a process of exploration and self-discovery. Their Witch selfidentity is a ‘reflexively organized endeavor.’30 The rise in public visibility of Witchcraft in the 1970s coincided with a number of other social transitions that have an elective affinity with Witchcraft. Ecological interests, feminism, fantasy novels, an interest in ancient history, and individualism are some of the things that stimulated people’s interest in paganism.31 The last 25 Luhrmann, 1989, p. 315. 26 Harrington, 2004, p. 80. 27 Harrington, 2004, p. 80. 28 Wade Roof, Spiritual Marketplace: Baby Boomers and the remaking of American Religion (Princeton, 1999). 29 Anthony Giddens, Modernity and Self-Identity (Stanford, 1991), p. 5. 30 Giddens, 1991, p. 5. 31 Harvey, 1999; Berger, 1999.

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decades of the twentieth century saw both feminism and the ecological movement grow in importance and become more mainstream. Further, the popularity of fantasy literature by authors such as J.R.R. Tolkien, Marion Zimmer Bradley and Terry Pratchett also facilitated a more general acceptance of ideas of an enchanted or magical world. Alongside this we would also note the rise of the occult and mysticism as part of the nebulous New Age, including horoscopes in newspapers, the writings of Shirley McLaine, and others.32 Early Witchcraft, prior to 1990, was also heavily mediated by mass marketed consumer culture in the form of books. Although the early books on Witchcraft were not easily found, their significance in the narratives of how people ‘become’ Witches is emblematic of the significance of mass marketed popular culture to the more recent Witchcraft movement. In other words, the process of becoming a Witch is facilitated by a number of broad social and cultural trends that have strong resonances with Witchcraft beliefs and practices. The individualistic narratives of discovery that describe the process of becoming a Witch also reflect a broad social trend in which many aspects of social life are reflexively organized and discovered. The debate between Luhrmann and Harrington over the role of interpretive drift needs to be seen within this context. It is a mistake to overemphasize either the role of individual seeking behavior, or the role of cultural context in shaping individual experiences of becoming a Witch or the broader patterns of recruitment to Witchcraft. Witchcraft post-1990 Since the early 1990s there has been a substantial growth in interest in Witchcraft. Perhaps the most noticeable growth is among teenagers, and particularly teenage women. This is reflected in the explosion of Witchcraft consumer material aimed at young women, including magazines, books and spell kits. It is also reflected in the growth of Internet sites designed for young people, such as ‘The Children of Artemis’ (www.witchcraft.org) in the UK and the teenage section of Witchvox (www.witchvox.com) in the US and worldwide. To a large extent the growth in interest in Witchcraft among young women reflects a plethora of positive images of young female Witches in movies and TV programs. Hopkins33 observes that the ‘growing number of popular culture texts which feature young females with magical powers’ has resulted in many girls and young women ‘embracing popular witchcraft as a way to redefine youthful femininity.’ However, it is not simply movies and TV programs on their own that have fuelled the growth in Witchcraft. In the mid-1990s a new type of Witchcraft book appeared that was more consumerist in its orientation. ‘These books were aimed at individuals and were less “demanding” in the sense that they presented a simplified and more accessible description of Witchcraft practice.’34 Usually with pink covers, and found in 32 Wouter Hanegraaff, New Age Religion and Western Culture (Leiden, 1996). 33 Susan Hopkins, Girl Heroes (Sydney, 2002), p. 152. 34 Douglas Ezzy, ‘New Age Witchcraft? Popular spell books and the re-enchantment of everyday life,’ Culture and Religion, 4 (1) (2003) 47–66, p. 48.

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mainstream bookshops, these glossy books reached a much wider audience than any earlier books on Witchcraft. The intended audience of these books is clearly young women. Recipes for spells for relationships, particularly those dealing with boyfriends, dominate their contents. In their ‘Pagan Census’ survey of American pagans, Berger and her associates35 asked respondents whether they thought that the popularization of Witchcraft had resulted in a dilution or reduction in standards. They report that ‘most Neo-Pagans do not see popularization as a problem.’ However, a substantial minority (34 per cent) of their respondents did see popularization as a problem. This indicates that the popularization of Witchcraft has had significantly variable affects. Although for a majority of Witches, popularization has not changed their practice greatly, about one-third of contemporary American pagans have noticed that popularization has resulted in a dilution in standards and identity among Witches. Witchcraft has also changed in other significant ways since 1990. Initiatory lineages of Witchcraft such as Gardnerian and Alexandrian Wicca dominated paganism prior to 1990.36 However, other forms of paganism, such as Druidry, Heathenry, and Shamanism have become increasingly recognized. Witchcraft itself has also become more diverse with a wide variety of traditions such as Reclaiming Witchcraft (to mention just one), and various solitary, and eclectic practices that have become increasingly popular and visible forms of Witchcraft. This change is also indicated by changes to the largest British pagan organization, The Pagan Federation. In 1994 it changed the name of its journal from The Wiccan to Pagan Dawn to reflect the growing numbers of non-Wiccan members of the Pagan Federation.37 Becoming a teenage Witch As has been noted, Witchcraft has changed substantially since 1990. In this context, new research was required to examine the experience of young Witches who had joined the movement since 1990. Our research involved interviewing people between the ages of seventeen and twenty-three. This allowed us to focus on the experiences of the young people who seem to be joining Witchcraft in large numbers. We interviewed people in the United States, England and Australia who began practicing Witchcraft while they were in their teens and have been practicing for at least one year. Young people tend not to differentiate between the terms Witchcraft and Wicca, and as has been noted already, we use these terms interchangeably. In all instances we have accepted our respondents’ self-definition as Witches. Our respondents were found through advertisements in school newspapers, advertisements placed on bulletin boards around universities and on the website Witchvox.com, help from the Pagan Alliances in Australia and the United Kingdom, and our contacts within the Witchcraft community in Australia, the US and Britain. By focusing on all these 35 Helen A. Berger, Evan A. Leach and Leigh S. Shaffer, Voices from the Pagan Census (Columbia, 2003), p. 192. 36 Adler, 1979/1986. 37 Jo Pearson, ‘Demarcating the Field: Paganism, Wicca and Witchcraft,’ DISKUS vol. 6 http://www.uni-marburg.de/religionswissenschaft/journal/diskus, (2000).

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communities the study examines both similarities or shared experiences and some differences. While there are a few national differences, discussed elsewhere,38 the similarities are far more common than the differences. Our study includes ninety interviews in total, with thirty interviews on each continent. The interviews were conducted between September 2001 and March 2003. Full details of the interview questions and methodology are available in Berger and Ezzy.39 Morgan, a nineteen-year-old college student, in a prestigious program at a large urban University in the United States describes how she found Witchcraft: I was raised Protestant … and I realized that wasn’t for me, about 6th grade [about age 12]…. I had always been really interested in Greek and Roman mythology and I developed an interest in Egyptian mythology … I was trying to do anything I could just to find out more about Egyptian mythology and I picked up a few books on Egyptian witchcraft and magic, and it was really neat. … I picked up those books, and I never practiced anything, but I was reading them. … And one day I saw Silver RavenWolf’s book [Teen Witch] on the same shelf and picked it up and I was like, wow, this is what I believe. I have been on an existential crisis from like 6th to 9th grade … and when I picked up that RavenWolf book, everything fit.

Morgan’s story has resonance with others that we have heard in our interviews. Like the accounts of becoming a Witch prior to 1990, Morgan’s description of becoming a Witch does not follow the typical conversion process seen in adult accounts, which more commonly involves individuals learning about a religion from friends who are participants, becoming integrated into that religious group’s social life, and eventually embracing their religious principles.40 Most young Witches that we interviewed find the religion independently after reading about it in a book, a magazine, or, less commonly, on the Internet. After learning about Witchcraft, they repeatedly describe it as a cosmology that fits who they are. Pointing to respect for the feminine and nature and the individualism of Witchcraft, they often say that Witchcraft just felt right. Although many, if not most, practice on their own, some young people search out teachers, join groups, or participate in on-line chat rooms, however, their religious expression remains largely individual. Morgan’s story is consistent with the earlier accounts of becoming a Witch that emphasize the process of individual discovery. However, among the young Witches we interviewed, the mass media plays a more important role in stimulating seeking behavior than in previous generations. The mass media provides a more generalized milieu in which these young people hear about Witchcraft. Patricia, an Australian, offers the opinion: ‘And when Sabrina ... was on and, even though the shows don’t really truly depict the true essence of Witchcraft, they still had the elements within them that could trigger [an interest in] Witchcraft within people. It activates that yearning to know more.’ Patricia’s observations are very common among our

38 Berger and Ezzy, 2007. 39 Berger and Ezzy, 2007. 40 Dawson, Lorne L., Comprehending Cults: The Sociology of New Religious Movements (Oxford, 1998).

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interviews. For example, Denise, another Australian, when asked how she originally became interested in Witchcraft reflects: Tragically enough my sister for her birthday got one of those really daggy spell kits and my sister goes ‘Oh I don’t know what to do. Denise do you want to join in?’ I went ‘OK, it looks a bit like fun’. It was something I had in the back of my mind that was interesting and she got a couple of friends over and we all dressed up and we all had a bit of a do outside and we got candles and we made – what was it? Strawberries covered in chocolate and we kind of made a bit of a festival about it and it was one of those really tacky love spells that she got for her birthday.

This mass marketed magical spell kit did not result in all these young women becoming Witches. But, Denise views it as one of the things that piqued their interest. Images of contemporary Witchcraft are widespread in society, providing a ‘cultural orientation’ to the beliefs and practices of Witchcraft. Within this ‘cultic milieu’ young people are given the opportunity to experiment with Witchcraft as a religious or magical practice. As most of our respondents note, television shows and movies provide inaccurate information about the religion, often focusing on magical practices that are beyond what any practitioner has experienced. Nonetheless, the images of Witchcraft are at least typically positive, unlike earlier articles in the mass media, such as those on the ‘evils of witchcraft’ in the sensationalist press described by Valiente.41 This has resulted in an increased interest in Witchcraft, as testified by the British Pagan Federation’s claim that they were swamped with requests for information about Witchcraft after the publication of the Harry Potter42 books and the advent of television shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer.43 However, most that explore Witchcraft don’t become Witches. For example, Jeanne, an Australian notes: I talked about it (Witchcraft) with my friends because some of my friends were caught on the whole surface fiasco with ‘The Craft’ coming out. [They were saying:] let’s do rituals and cast spells and things. But I talked to them a bit about it and it never really resonated with them so that’s when I drew in and let it be a more personal journey. I did a lot of meditating and reading.

Jeanne’s friends explored Witchcraft but then lost interest. She on the other hand continued in what she describes as a personal journey, emphasizing meditation and reading. Many in our sample tell us that they do not take the mass media seriously and in fact see it as hokey, inaccurate, and possibly harmful to the image of their religion. However, all are aware of the existence of these movies and television programs and most claim to have at least watched them once. A combination of the mass media, a general interest in the occult, and a growing interest in Witchcraft among 41 Valiente, 1978, p. 22. 42 J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (New York, 1998). 43 Lynn Schofield Clark, From Angels to Aliens: Teenagers, the Media and the Supernatural (Oxford, 2003) p. 4.

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their peers are all part of the social milieu in which some young people search out information on Witchcraft. This is not to suggest that there are no negative images or discrimination against Witches. The religious right in America, for example, has attempted to get the Harry Potter books banned from some local public libraries, with some limited success. Nor is it to suggest, as has been done by the religious right, that these young people are being seduced into Witchcraft. Instead, Witchcraft can be seen to answer personal questions for these young people and is at times a response to personal crisis. Similar to earlier Witches, these young people are active seekers, not passive followers of the media or of a charismatic leader. The very act of becoming a Witch for many teens, is, at least in part, an element of their coming of age, of self-definition, and of choosing a community that in most instances is separate although not necessarily antithetical to that of their parents. This is not to say that these Witches are choosing their religion as a form of rebellion; over one-third of the families are supportive of their child’s spiritual quest, and only a small minority are hostile or oppose their son or daughter’s spiritual choice. The remainder are either unconcerned or not particularly interested. But, choosing to practice a religion (or not) and choosing which religion that will be is part of the project of the self in late modernity in which each of us is responsible for creating and often recreating a sense of who we are.44 In contrast to early modern and traditional societies where the young were expected to continue in the parent’s occupation, religion, family, and neighborhood, choosing a religion, particularly a religion that is different from that of one’s family is part of a larger process of individualization, which is one of the hallmarks of contemporary society. Choosing a marginal religion, such as Witchcraft, is an even stronger statement, for many, of self-definition. Self-defining as a Witch, as well as the rituals and practices of Witchcraft are, for these young people, part of the process of self-creation; a process which is encouraged by Witchcraft rituals themselves. Although this self-creation is an individual activity it is always within a cultural and social context. The growth of media interest in Witchcraft and the more general development of a cultic milieu throughout the West help to inform the cultural background in which young people chose to become Witches. This is not to suggest that these young people are being misled or pushed into Witchcraft – merely that one must understand all social choices as culturally mediated. Unlike more traditional conversion that requires a complete change in belief systems, the model of conversion described by young Witches in our study is consistent with changes in religious practice in late modernity – spirituality has become more individualized at the same time as the mass media, such as books, movies, TV, and the Internet helps to create greater homogeneity. While this individualism is consistent with that of stories about becoming a Witch prior to 1990s, the stories of young Witches are also significantly different. Since 1990 Witchcraft has become part of mainstream culture. Morgan mentions finding a copy of the mass marketed Teen Witch45 on a bookshelf, Patricia recounts watching the mainstream television show Sabrina, Denise describes a mass marketed spell kit given as a birthday gift, and Jeanne refers to the influence of mainstream 44 Giddens, 1991. 45 Silver RavenWolf, Teen Witch, Wicca for a New Generation (St Paul, 1998).

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The New Generation Witches

movie The Craft. The important thing about all of these is not simply that they are in the mainstream, but that they portray Witchcraft as largely publicly acceptable, if somewhat marginal and perhaps a little dangerous, although even the ‘danger’ is to some extent a marketing ploy designed to create dramatic tension. Prior to the 1990s this sort of material was simply not available to young people through mainstream outlets. Older Witches also appear to have become more aware and responsive to young people interested in Witchcraft, as is evidenced by both the teenage section of Witchvox.com and the Children of Artemis website and magazine. The mainstream nature of Witchcraft is perhaps best illustrated by Cailin, an American, speaking about her mother’s support for her spirituality. Cailin reveals her mother ‘is a published tarot author, and … an interfaith minister and a hypnotherapist and a crystal therapist.’ Asked if her mother is pagan or Wiccan, Cailin responds: ‘No she is actually Christian, but she is very into the occult and she teaches tarot and astrology classes. So she doesn’t really have a problem with my kind of thing.’ Cailin’s mother is more highly involved in the occult milieu than most of the parents in our sample, although a small number of our sample grew up in pagan families or have one or both parents who are interested in the occult or New Age she is, nonetheless, an indication of the extent to which the occult has ‘gone mainstream.’ These young people’s interest in Witchcraft is at least in part a product of the ‘cultural orientation’ to Witchcraft provided by mainstream media and culture. Interest in the occult, which has waxed and waned in Western society,46 is currently experiencing a renewed interest – including the practice of tarot card reading, astrology, and belief in spirits. This general occult belief system, which is pervasive throughout Western societies, helps to normalize the more magical and mystical beliefs and practices within Witchcraft. Several of our informants on all three continents discuss a link between their interest in ancient mythology and fantasy novels, such as those mentioned above, and their present spirituality. Others speak of being or having been involved in Goth culture where they meet others whose interest in Witchcraft peaked their own. One American man first began looking at Witchcraft websites because his schoolmates accused him of being a Witch, because he was somewhat of a loner. Even if these schoolmates were misinformed about what contemporary Witchcraft was, they were aware of its existence. Conclusion In the 1980s, interpretive drift, that led individuals into Witchcraft belief and practice, involved both reading books and interaction with other Witches, often as part of regular meetings and group magical practice.47 While the books and covens provided the cultural resources, becoming a Witch was understood as a process of individual choice and discovery.48 Similarly, in the 1990s and since 2000, books, movies, and 46 Sabina Magliocco, Witching Culture: Folklore and Neopaganism in America (Philadelphia, 2004). 47 Luhrmann, 1989. 48 Harrington, 2004.

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information and conversations on the Internet provide young people with the cultural resources for the development of Witchcraft identities. These cultural resources facilitate interpretive drift. While the modalities are different, the process is similar. Becoming a Witch is still understood as an active process of individual choice. However, the greater availability of information about Witchcraft in mainstream culture has transformed the patterns of recruitment to Witchcraft. What began as a small religious tradition mainly passed through personal contacts has transformed into a broad social movement in which many people learn about Witchcraft from mainstream sources. Witchcraft and paganism bring into question traditional theories of conversion, community, and the influence of mass media on religion. Teenage Witches in the United States, Britain and Australia interact on the Internet with one another and others from around the world.49 They read the same books and watch the same movies, and television shows, influenced by the growth of the cultic milieu. Witchcraft for these young people provides a religious and magical expression that speaks to them and their needs – because the religion itself speaks to many of the interests, concerns, and beliefs that are permeating life at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Teenage Witches view Witchcraft as empowering them, as providing them with a worldview that is magical and environmental and that makes sense of the cosmos, death, and life for them. It also permits them to at once remain in control of their spirituality and to be part of a community – albeit a loose form of community. The process of becoming a Witch, both before and after the 1990s, is in many ways similar. First, Witches do not proselytize. As a consequence, the dispersal of information about Witchcraft is significantly influenced by mainstream culture and mediated forms of community such as books, movies, and the Internet. Books have always been an important point of first contact with Witchcraft for many people. Second, Witchcraft emphasizes individualistic self-discovery. Authority is vested in the individual, and the choice to become a Witch is not justified in terms of discovering external truth, but of finding beliefs and practices consistent with what a person already ‘is.’ The individualistic nature of belief and the importance of mass media are consistent in Witchcraft recruitment before and after 1990. The importance of the reflexive self and mediated community makes Witchcraft a distinctively latemodern religion.50 There are also significant changes since 1990. Media images of Witchcraft have changed. Books about Witchcraft became more widely distributed, easily available, and marketed to the young, particularly young women. At the same time, movies and TV shows also appeared featuring positive role models of young female Witches. Internet sites, communities, and magazines that cater to the interests of young Witches have also appeared. Not surprisingly, young people, and particularly young women, have also become much more interested in Witchcraft. The larger numbers of young people becoming Witches is not a simple causal product of these changes 49 Helen A. Berger and Douglas Ezzy, ‘The Internet as Virtual Spiritual Community: Teen Witches in the United States and Australia,’ in Lorne L. Dawson and Douglas E. Cowan eds, Religion Online: Finding Faith on the Internet (New York, 2004). 50 Giddens, 1991.

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in the representations of Witchcraft in the mass media. To some extent, at least, mainstream media reflects the interests of young people as much as it creates them. The popularization of Witchcraft is also linked to a greater emphasis on individual practice and learning. Since 1990, to a larger degree than before, to become a Witch does not require initiation by, or even contact with, an existing group of Witches. The individual can initiate themselves. The logical extension of this is Cunningham’s hugely successful Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner.51 This is clearly an extension of the earlier individualistic emphasis of Witchcraft as is illustrated by the self-initiation ritual that Valiente52 provides, but takes it to a new level. Witchcraft community is not well organized. Rather, it is dispersed, typically focusing on small friendship groups or larger networking associations that demand little in the way of commitment. It is also often mediated by the Internet, books, and movies. In this context, entry into Witchcraft is more a process of becoming than a conversion experience. Boundaries marking insider and outsider are often vague, with the exception of some intitiatory groups. Since 1990 the older Witchcraft community has become more organized and more visible with the growth of networking organizations such as The Pagan Federation in the UK and The Witches’ Voice in America. However, Witchcraft has also become more vague and ‘loose’ as growing numbers of people make up their own versions of Witchcraft drawing on the variety of published resources. Prior to 1990 face-to-face relations were an important part of Witchcraft community. Since 1990, many people engage with the Witchcraft ‘community’ through popular magazines, web sites, and books, and often never meet anyone face-to-face. This reflects the growing significance of mediated forms of interaction and the increasingly individualistic transition to ‘becoming’ a Witch. Bibliography Adler, M., Drawing Down the Moon (Boston: Beacon Press [1979] 1986). Berger, Helen A., A Community of Witches (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1999). Berger, H.A., Leach E.A. and Shaffer, L.S., Voices from the Pagan Census, Columbia, University of South Carolina Press, 2003). Berger, H. and Ezzy, D., Teenage Witches: Magical Youth and the Search for the Self (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2007). ——, ‘The Internet as Virtual Spiritual Community: Teen Witches in the United States and Australia,’ in L.L. Dawson and D.E. Cowan eds, Religion Online: Finding Faith on the Internet (New York: Routledge, 2004). Bryant, M.D. and Lamb, C., ‘Introduction: Conversion,’ in Lamb and Bryant (eds), Religious Conversion: Contemporary Practices and Controversies (London: Cassell, 1999) pp. 1–22.

51 Scott Cunningham, Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner (St Paul, MN, 1988). 52 Valiente, 1978.

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Clark, L.S., From Angels to Aliens: Teenagers, the Media and the Supernatural (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2003). Cowan, D.E., Cyberhenge: Modern Pagans on the Internet (New York and London: Routledge, 2005). Cunningham, S., Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner (St Paul: Llewellyn, 1988). Dawson, L.L., Comprehending Cults: The Sociology of New Religious Movements (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1998). Ezzy, D., ‘New Age Witchcraft? Popular spell books and the re-enchantment of everyday life,’ Culture and Religion, 4 (1) (2003) 47–66. Farrar, S., What Witches Do (London: Sphere Books, 1971). Gardner, G., Witchcraft Today (London: Rider, 1954). Giddens, A., Modernity and Self-Identity (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1991). Hanegraaff, W., New Age Religion and Western Culture (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1996). Harrington, M., ‘Psychology of religion and the study of Paganism,’ in J. Blain, D. Ezzy and G. Harvey (eds), Researching Paganisms (New York: Altamira Press, 2004) 71–84. Harvey, G., ‘Coming home and coming out Pagan (but not converting),’ in C. Lamb and M. Bryant (eds), Religious Conversion: Contemporary Practices and Controversies (London: Cassell, 1999) 233–246. Hopkins, S., Girl Heroes (Sydney: Pluto Press, 2002). Hume, L., Witchcraft and Paganism in Australia (Victoria, Australia: Melbourne University Press, 1997). Luhrmann, T., Persuasions of the Witch’s Craft (Oxford: Blackwell, 1989). Lyon, David, Jesus in Disneyland (Cambridge: Polity, 2000). Magliocco, Sabina, Witching Culture: Folklore and Neopaganism in America. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004). Pearson, Jo, ‘Demarcating the Field: Paganism, Wicca and Witchcraft,’ DISKUS vol. 6 http://www.uni-marburg.de/religionswissenschaft/journal/diskus, 2000. Pike, Sarah, New Age and Neopagan Religion in America (New York: Columbia University Press, 2004). RavenWolf, Silver, Teen Witch, Wicca for a New Generation (St Paul: Llewellyn Publishing, Inc., 1998). Roof, W., Spiritual Marketplace: Baby Boomers and the remaking of American Religion (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999). Rowling, J.K., Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (New York: Arthur A. Levine Books, 1998). Sargeant, Kimon Howland , ‘The Post-Modern Denomination: An Organizational Analysis of the Willow Creek Association,’ presented at the Association for the Sociology of Religion meeting, 1996. Starhawk, The Spiral Dance (New York: HarperCollins, 1979). Valiente, Doreen, Witchcraft for Tomorrow (London: Robert Hale, 1978). ——, An ABC of Witchcraft (London: Robert Hale, 1973).

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Chapter 4

The Discovery of Witchcraft: An exploration of the changing face of Witchcraft through contemporary interview and personal reflection Julian Vayne

How has the process of discovering Witchcraft changed for practitioners over the last twenty years? How does the induction into occultism of the modern teen Witch compare to that of teenage Witches from previous decades? In this essay I shall be comparing and contrasting the experiences of two Witches in order to explore these changes. This comparison of two practitioners, as I will show, can help us to appreciate some of the ways in which Witchcraft has developed during the past twenty years.1 Differences between the experience of pre- and post-1990s teen Witches include the trend towards solitary Craft practice and away from the more coven-based collective forms of Gardenerian/Alexandrian Wicca. Also, paganism as a spiritual and religious choice, in its various guises, is more widely understood today and access to information for would-be practitioners is more easily obtained. Significantly, the role of the Internet as a source of information and inspiration for contemporary teen Witches is clearly illustrated in this article as central. Furthermore, this essay touches upon the fact that an engagement with pagan retailers (both physical and latterly, online occult supply stores) can be an important part of the process of forging one’s identity as a teenage Witch. Finally, I will describe how in the British Witchcraft community (and arguably beyond) there are subtle shifts towards an eclectic form of Witchcraft that seem to be emerging as the practices of today’s teen Witches. This form of ‘The Craft’ appears to be moving away from the rubric of ritual presented in Gardenerian/Alexandrian Wicca pre-1990s and towards a form of Witchcraft that is more concerned with operational (‘results’) magick.2 As well as a change of 1 I am using the terms Witchcraft and the Craft interchangeably to refer to the broad range of contemporary neopagan forms that adopt the term Witch. Wicca, as I use the term in this essay specifically refers to the coven based, initiatory traditions of Witchcraft such as Gardnerian and Alexandrian. I am however, very aware that these distinctions are far from watertight. 2 Editors’ note: As discussed in the introduction to the collection, the terminology used to discuss modern paganism is often variable based upon context and authorship. In

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emphasis that we might describe as being a move away from religion and towards the magickal, there are signals of other more subtle metaphysical changes within the Witchcraft community and individuals. These begin to emerge when our subjects discuss their beliefs about how magick works. One of the Witches I interviewed had become involved with ‘The Craft’ just over four years ago (approximately 2000). The other cast his first magick circle and thus began the journey into magickal practice and an identity as a Witch over twenty years previously – me. My Story: Emerging as a Witch in early 1980s Britain I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t interested in the occult. Any morsel of information, whether on TV, in books or magazines was something that I seized upon with great delight from the earliest age. By the time I was nine years old I had read my way through everything my local library had to offer in Dewey Decimal 130 – Paranormal phenomena and the Occult. The majority of the literature that I read can be described as adult esoterica with precious little fictional writing. My other significant influence was via TV. Programmes such as The Moon Stallion (a British television serial made by the BBC in 1978) and Sapphire and Steel (a late 1970s, early 1980s British Sci-Fi series) formed the romantic background to my occult investigations. Once I reached my teens I had begun my studies in earnest. I had started to meditate regularly; any time that would normally be filled with childish boredom I would sink into a trance and do my best to focus my attention on my breathing. Meanwhile I was also developing a love of ceremony.3 My reading had taken me through classics such as the Key of Solomon4 and The Sacred Magick of Abra-Melin the Mage,5 and by the age of thirteen I had encountered writers such as Kenneth Grant and Aleister Crowley. Of all the early literary influences the most significant were the biography of Crowley The Great Beast (by the less than complementary John Symonds6), and Diary of a Witch and The Complete Art of Witchcraft by Sybil Leek.7 In retrospect, these books, which I read and re-read, were those that were most evocative of the character of the Witch (or magickian). As a young man I was

this chapter, the author has chosen to spell ‘magic’and ‘magician’ with a letter ‘k’ added, as used by Aleister Crowley and other authors who have written on ceremonial magic traditions. While the spelling was originally an affectation, its use has become common and standardized in the context of this particular author’s occult tradition, so we have opted to keep it. 3 By ceremony I mean ritualized magick; this includes activities such as physically casting a circle, drawing pentagrams, using physical occult paraphernalia etc. 4 S.L. Mathers (ed.), The Greater Key of Solomon (Montana, 1997). 5 S.L. Mathers, TheBook of the Sacred Magick of Abra-Melin the Mage (Mineola, NY, 1975). 6 J. Symonds, The Great Beast (St Albans, 1951). 7 S. Leek, Diary of a Witch (New York, Signet 1969) and The Complete Art of Witchcraft: Penetrating the Secrets of White Magic (New York, Signet repr. 1973).

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looking for heroes and role-models (especially of the hero as apparent anti-hero – a mythic position occupied in the collective imagination at the time by fictional and historical characters such as Spiderman and Robin Hood as well as figures like Crowley) in addition to learning more about my specialist subject. Whilst searching for archetypes I could identify with, I was rapaciously working my way through anything and everything I could find regarding magickal ‘technologies’ – spells, techniques, mystical alphabets, arcane glyphs, ceremonial practices and in particular, ‘folk magick’. My interest in folk magick arose out of my interest in Witchcraft. Although I was familiar with styles of ceremony such as that espoused by the adepts of the Golden Dawn, it was the ‘shamanic’ approach of spells and practices that represented the lingering vestiges of pre-Christian belief within European culture that was of greatest appeal. I believed that these pagan esoteric echoes were most directly present within folklore. In part this opinion was supported by the reading material I had available; plenty of books on folk customs and medieval European witchcraft (including Margaret Murray’s God of the Witches8 and The Witch Cult in Western Europe9). In another respect this system of magick appealed because of its ‘approachability’. My resources at the time didn’t stretch to a fully furnished Qabalistic temple and range of suitably coloured robes, however the idea that spells could be as easily performed using a candle and new pin made magick seem more immediate, more achievable and consequently more exciting. Even so, my interest in spellcraft did not overshadow my hunger for ceremonial ‘Hermetic’ or ‘high’ ritual. My first ‘proper ritual’ took place in 1983 (though my first successful spell was some years before). This was a rite to celebrate Halloween and included an attempt to assume the godform of the Egyptian god Set, a far cry from the British folklore spells that I had been so immersed in. My understanding at the time was that religion was about obeying, about accepting one’s position in the universal scheme of things, a type of spiritual feudalism. Magick on the other hand represented an autonomous attempt at exploring (and in some measure learning to control) both the inner psychological and outer mundane universes. At the time religion and magick, as I understood them then, were binary opposites. Although I flirted with the imagery of Satanism I was clear that (as most of my reading suggested) one could not really be a Satanist without accepting the validity of Christianity and since I considered the whole business of monotheism and slavish religion of little interest I did not embrace Satanism even during my most rebellious years, though to the outside observer practices such as invoking Set and, on one occasion burning a bible just to see if I got anything out of it, might have suggested otherwise. It was primarily from the ‘coffee table’ magazine that my mother read – Titbits (published for 104 years, it folded in 1984) – that I became aware of Wiccans10 and Witches actively working magick in the UK. Janet and Stewart Farrar, authors

8 Margaret Murray, God of the Witches (London, 1931). 9 M. Murray, Witch Cult in Western Europe (London, 1921) 10 i.e. Alexandrian Witches.

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of a number of significant books on Wicca, seemed to be regularly featured in the magazine. At this stage while a teenager I was regularly attending events such as the Festival of Mind, Body and Spirit in Olympia, London. This large scale ‘New Age Fayre’ was the environment in which I met many people who would later play important roles in my life. It was at such events that I was constantly hoping to find ‘real Witches’, ‘real magickians’ and had little or no interest in the New Age or Eastern influenced groups that were present. In 1984 a friend and I had performed the self initiation ceremony contained in Raymond Buckland’s book on Saxon style Witchcraft The Tree: The Complete Book of Saxon Witchcraft.11 We had experimented between us with a range of different esoteric techniques, from ‘travelling in spirit vision’ through to initial forays into the use of psychotropic plants,12 primarily mandrake and bay laurel. By the time I was fifteen I had arranged to visit and participate in a coven meeting with a group known as ‘Invoking Earth’ in Finchley, London. The High Priestess of this Alexandrian lineage coven (i.e. a group sharing the initiatory line and ritual style derived from Alex Sanders) was Catherine Summers (at the time Catherine Winzar). It was during my second ritual with the Invoking Earth group that I ended up, very unusually for a fifteen-year-old, taking the role of High Priest. Although my friends at school and my parents were very aware of my interest in the occult I was certainly conscious that my interests were labelled as ‘weird’. I recall very few situations in which my interest in occultism provoked anything other than sidelong glances and vague derision. Fortunately I was not subject to any significant prejudice. Once I left school and began to attend Art College, while still involved with the Invoking Earth group, I became a Goth (sporting the usual Romantic style in dress, taste in music, elaborate hairstyle and so forth). Having become involved with other (generally older) practising pagans at a young age I led something of a strangely sheltered life in which the majority of my peers were Witches and thus found myself as an active participant in an established community. I was spared the loneliness and harassment that would have perhaps befallen me had I remained in my home town surrounded by my contemporaries. Dawn’s story: Emerging as a teen Witch in early 2000s Britain It was in 2005 at a Gothic clothing and occult supply shop in Barnstaple, Devon that I asked Dawn13 if she would be prepared to be interviewed so that I could explore the relationship between our experiences of becoming involved with Witchcraft. My aim was to get a picture both of Dawn’s entry into the Craft, and to investigate how 11 Raymond Buckland, The Tree: The Complete Book of Saxon Witchcraft (Newburyport, MA, 1984). 12 The exploration of consciousness-changing materials, such as psychedelic drugs, has remained a significant element of my occultism. For examples see my books Now That’s What I Call Chaos Magick (with Greg Humphries, Oxford, 2004), and Pharmakon: Drugs and the Imagination (Brighton, 2001). 13 Although open about her Witchcraft, for confidentiality reasons I have not disclosed Dawn’s full name.

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she conceptualized her occultism. As a young woman in her early twenties with a fairly prominent role in the local occult scene (particularly as the owner of shop that is a Mecca for young Goths in the area) she seemed an ideal choice. I began by asking Dawn how she would describe herself. “A Witch”14 was her immediate response, which she defined as “… to do with practising magick and observing certain codes, for example the Wiccan Rede15 and being into practices such as herbs, crystals and healing”. Unlike my own initial engagement with Witchcraft, Dawn seemed comfortable describing her practice in both religious terms (e.g. following certain moral codes) as well as a practice of magick. There is no trace of my binary opposition here. I went on to ask, ‘How did you get involved in this area?’ Dawn explained that she started her journey when she was approximately fifteen, going through her ‘Goth phase’ being inspired by films such as The Crow,16 the graphic novels of Neil Gaiman and the writing of Wiccan author Vivienne Crowley. She also explained that for her, and more particularly (and significantly) for the friends she was exploring this material with, it was, “… for show, a fashion thing”. But that it did seem to resonate with a particular sense of being. “I’ve always felt that I was different. [I was] fascinated by nature, the sea used to fascinate me and I’d go walking at night and traipse across the fields to see the stars.” It was this “affinity with nature” that spurred Dawn on to explore the occult and pagan material available via the on-line store Amazon when she was twenty-one, during her first pregnancy: “I bought some books, Scott Cunningham and the Wicca Handbook by Eileen Holland, I thought, maybe it’s time for me to get into this properly. And then I started the shop [‘Spikeys’ of Barnstaple] and now I shop on a daily basis for Witchcraft and pagan goods.” Although it might be claimed that in comparison with the situation twenty years ago, Witchcraft today is far more commercialized for the ‘Buffy generation’, for both Dawn and I, at very different cultural moments, it was the commercial world and the media that formed an essential point of contact and development. Dawn has gone on to run a successful esoteric business but I also became a retailer of occult goods fairly early on. I founded a mail order incense business (‘Sator Square’) and made and sold incenses at the Camden Psychic Forum, London. This could suggest that in Witchcraft there are strands within the tradition that inspires its adherents to provide commercial services (magickal paraphernalia, incenses, oils, divinatory readings etc.). It can be argued that this resonates with the historical social position

14 Double quote marks throughout this chapter indicate direct quotes from Dawn. This research was conducted by audio taped interview at Dawn’s home in North Devon, UK. The sections in this essay reflect the approximate order in which our conversation developed. This interview is closer to a spontaneous dialogue between two equal practitioners of the Craft rather than a more formally structured interview. 15 The Wiccan Rede, ‘Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfil, An’ it harm none, do what ye will’ appears in various versions of the Book of Shadows. Its origins have been researched by John J. Coughlin, see ‘The Wiccan Rede – A Historical Journey’ 2001–2002 at http://www. waningmoon.com/ethics/rede.shtml (accessed 6 February 2006). 16 Alex Proyas, 1994.

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of the witch figure (or cunning man/woman) as provider of magickal skills to his or her community.17 Meeting other people was an essential feature of getting involved with Witchcraft in my own magickal biography. Much more than doing my own practices or rituals, the sense of community and of being involved was crucial. As someone who has worked magick in covens, edited journals and written and broadcasted, I wondered if this desire for community with others was something Dawn shared. But for Dawn, though her work brings her into contact with large numbers of people interested in the occult, her development of an identity as a Witch has been much more solitary: Other than a few pagan moots I’ve been to I’ve done everything on my own. It’s all been through reading lots and lots of different stuff and not necessarily ‘magickal’ books. When I was 15 there were the 5 of us and we did little things like go and find a circle of trees in the woods [and try out casting a circle] but I don’t think we took it as seriously as we could have. I’ve been working to teach myself all these bits and pieces and having the responsibility of the shop means I don’t want to give people bad advice. We do get kids coming in saying stuff like ‘black magick is so cool’ and I’ll speak to them and change their conceptions and they’ll go away thinking ‘oh alright then I won’t go and try that.’

Some of the difference here may well be determined by changes in the structure of Witchcraft practice over time. For me the coven was the unit in which Witchcraft was worked and so there was an immediate assumption, on my part, that I needed to find a small working group to practise with and learn from. There was also more emphasis on the idea of Wicca as an initiatory tradition, the view of the Craft as a ‘mystery religion’.18 Although I know anecdotally from friends who run reasonably public covens at the time of writing that, post-Buffy, they are inundated with enquiries from prospective initiates, the model of the solitary Witch is much more firmly established.19 The upsurge of interest in ‘traditional witchcraft’ and the model of the witch as the cunning man/woman and of course, the predominantly solo (or at least not ‘cultish’) presentation of Witchcraft in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, have also been important factors. It is perhaps less essential to ‘join’ anything to do Witchcraft today. The existence of exemplars of solitary Witchcraft and the abundance of userfriendly, accessible information, through both print and the Internet, have supported the move away from witchcraft being synonymous with the ritual format and group structure of models such as Gardenerian/Alexandrian Wicca. While aware of bodies such as the Pagan Federation, Dawn said that she wasn’t affiliated with any organizations. However, her business has a presence in cyberspace, in a location that is linked to www.witchvox.com (www.spikeys.co.uk) one of the largest, most significant networking and information sites for contemporary Wicca

17 The role of the cunning folk primarily before the twentieth century is explored by Owen Davis, Cunning-folk: Popular Magic in English History (London, 2003). 18 See Vivianne Crowley, Wicca: The Old Religion in the New Age (London, Thorsons, Element Books 1996). 19 See for example Sorita and Dave Rankine, available at: http://www.avalonia.co.uk/ contact/sorita_david.htm.

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and paganism. Therefore, I asked Dawn to explain a little more about the sources of information that had influenced her: Scott Cunningham is a big influence because he puts thing so simply. Eileen Holland’s The Wiccan Handbook. I’ve got a few spell books for Christmas from well meaning friends but I tend to find them rather over complicated and prefer to write my own spells. I’m currently studying a course in magickal herbalism and a crystal healing certificate. Oh yes, and Neil Gaiman of course.

I went on to ask whether the Internet was a valuable source of information when Dawn was first engaging with the craft: [There are] lots of groups out there on Yahoo, MSN, Children of Artemis and Wicca. com, spellsandmagick.com – lots of sites you need to take with a pinch of salt, you’ve got sites out there dedicated to destructive magick. Now I tend to rely on books as I’m in the fortunate position of having all these suppliers [for the shop] and they’ve got fantastic libraries!

This appears to be a general trend in the youthful pagan community and is reflected anecdotally by other teen Witches I’ve spoken to. Printed books still seem to be the key resource. The Internet provides a ‘transport layer’ to information (searching for texts, exchanging ideas with others and obtaining vignettes of data) but for serious study the contemporary British teen Witch (much like the adult community) is perhaps more likely to consult a physical text, although it is highly likely that the book will have been discovered and perhaps ordered on the net. For Dawn, printed journals were not an important personal influence. Although aware of the Pagan Federation magazine Pagan Dawn she hadn’t read it. This is a significantly different situation to the one in which I entered the Craft. The rise of desktop publishing in the 1980s produced a proliferation of esoteric journals, functioning at both local and national level. Although a small number of printed esoteric magazines continue to be published in the UK the Internet has taken up many of the services these journals originally served. Other influences that Dawn identified were the Harry Potter books and films, The Craft, and television series such as Charmed and, of course, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Dawn explained how new Witches have, in her view, the sense that the information they need is easily accessible: Because of the Internet they can go out and immediately find out about it [i.e. magick] – I came across a site that had a list of all the spells ever used in Buffy … and translations of all the Latin! Out of all the TV shows I’d say that Buffy is the most responsible, you do see the downfall of Willow because of her misuse of magick.

Significantly, and certainly fortunately, when I first became involved in Witchcraft, the Satanic Ritual Abuse (SRA) panic had yet to emerge in the UK.20 Although Dawn 20 Satanic ritual abuse (SRA), refers to the belief that an organized network of Satanists engages in brainwashing and abusing victims, especially children. Claims of Satanic Ritual Abuse remain controversial and law enforcement sources, criminologists, psychologists, and

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was aware that SRA was a recent feature in the history of British paganism she was unconcerned about possible negative social implications of being known as a Witch, and explained that she was clearly ‘out’ as Witch to friends, family and neighbours: I don’t exactly disguise the fact that I practise – I mean I wear a hoody that says ‘protected by witchcraft’ on it. I don’t hide what I believe but I don’t push it on people either. People say ‘why do you believe in magick’ and I can give them an example of when a spell has worked stunningly well.

Indeed, Dawn’s outlook on the future of British and perhaps global culture, and the role of Witchcraft within that was very optimistic. She gave the example of how this reflects general cultural changes towards marginalized groups and individuals, stating a few years ago it would have been unthinkable that a transsexual person could have won a game show such as Channel Four’s Big Brother (UK). In her view, this was a sign of an increasingly open and tolerant society. I went on to ask whether this increase in openness was a feature of the ‘New Age’: There is definitely an upsurge in it [witchcraft]. I have big feeling that something major is going to happen – the Age of Aquarius is apparent because people are turning their back on organized religion and because of the Internet and freedom of information. If someone says ‘did you see so-and-so?’ I can just Google it and immediately I can get that information. Aquarius is a scientific age and the Internet encompasses that … It’s now acceptable for coloured, gay, transsexual people to be in society and everybody is looking for ways to be more fulfilled in themselves and if they can do that through a personal relationship with deity then that’s what they will do. It all about personal identity; [witchcraft is] empowering and proactive. And it’s not just about you; if you study herbs [for example] from a magickal perspective you’ll start to see the healing possibilities of these things and how you can help other people.

Understanding magick Dawn’s perception of her initial engagement with Witchcraft, and the different specificities of this in comparison to my own journey lead one to ask what is the relationship between magick and religion in contemporary teenage Witchcraft religious affairs commentators generally consider this belief false. The moral panic created by the SRA scare developed in the early 1980s in the USA and arrived in the UK after American ritual abuse ‘experts’ helped spread the hoax to the United Kingdom. Seminars given to police groups and social service agencies triggered many Multi-Victim, Multi-Offender (MVMO) cases (e.g. Bishop Auckland, Cleveland, Newcastle, Nottingham, Rochdale, Orkney and Pembroke). Some of these British MVMO cases resulted in dismissal of all charges or acquittals. But others were sent to prison. The Health Secretary of the British government, Mrs Virginia Bottomley, ordered a study of ritual abuse in 1991, after a number of children were taken into care in Rochdale and Orkney during a panic by social workers. Professor Jean La Fontaine headed a team at Manchester University, which evaluated all known British ritual abuse cases. She issued her report in 1994. The conclusion of the report was that no evidence exists for Satanic Ritual Abuse in England.

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experience? This is a question that has concerned a number of writers, scholars and academics, including James Frazer and more recently, Ronald Hutton. I was keen to have Dawn’s reflections on the relationship between these two concepts, since it can serve to make explicit, underlying structures of belief. Asking Dawn ‘how does magick work?’ potentially provides an opportunity for the respondent to provide a personal ontological exegesis. Necessarily, my own association with the Craft also involves a process of exploring these two realms. From my earliest interest in Wicca I was aware that this was a religion (indeed I understood this as the Old Religion) yet the notion of religion for me remained linked, as described above to monotheism and a servile approach to the universe. Magick seemed to represent something different; a fundamentally different approach to interacting with ‘the sacred’ (though I was equally unhappy with what I considered to be the naive idea that magickians should aim to be ‘all powerful’). I don’t think that my own unease about identifying myself as a ‘religious pagan’ or Wiccan is that unusual. I suspect that this unwillingness to identify with a religion is one of the factors that led to a movement by younger Witches away from the religion of Wicca and towards forms of the Craft that seem to be less concerned with elements such as priesthood, initiatory and apostolic succession. I think this suggestion is borne out by the distinctions that Dawn makes between magick and religion. Dawn explains, Most people will agree that there is one creator but wouldn’t necessarily be sure about putting names or worshipping deities, because witchcraft is founded on the principle rule of ‘an it harm none, do what you will’. It doesn’t mean that you have to include deity names, and I think that if people feel you have to do that its going to put them off so I try to get across that no you don’t have to do that if you’re not comfortable with it because as long as they’re not hurting anyone with what they are doing, performing the spells, then that’s not going to turn out badly for them. So you’ve got Wicca, which is one religion of Witchcraft and Witchcraft [which is] the act of practicing magick.

This suggests that for Dawn, Witchcraft is primarily operative, whereas Wicca includes worship and is clearly religious. This leads one to ask, can anyone do a Witchcraft spell even if they are from a different religion? Do the magickal process deployed through Witchcraft function irrespective of one’s religious beliefs? Dawn explains that for her, Witchcraft is actually a science as opposed to something mystical. You read all the books and they always say about ‘vibrations’. The way I perceive magick is that when people pray to God or whatever they are verbally connecting with the planet and that’s a form of vibration (like the vibrating air) and magick just takes ingredients that, from my point of view, have been scientifically proven through experiments over the years … you’ve got peppermint which is good for money and aventurine which is also good for that, and by taking items with a different but similar vibration [and putting them together] you create a stronger signal to send out to the universe.21

21 An example of such a spell is given in an appendix at the end of this essay.

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Dawn supported her argument by drawing on some material on quantum physics she had been reading, increasingly found in educational Wiccan texts. This was what might be called a ‘literal scientific’ model of magick rather than ‘metaphorical psychological’ (see below). However there is also a strong relativistic, perspectival aspect to Dawn’s conception of magick. When discussing how the Gods exist she elaborated using an analogy drawn from Neil Gaiman’s novel Sandman (1989): In Sandman, the bit where Morpheus [the central character] dies and they all say ‘how come dreams still exist’? It’s explained by saying about the diamond and each facet is just somebody else’s point of view. Well that made sense to me for the deity argument. So the diamond is the creator and all the facets are the different deities, each a different point of view.

This analogy exemplifies the theological maxim first expressed by early twentiethcentury magickian Dion Fortune, that ‘all gods are one god, and all goddesses, one goddess’. This position, it might be argued, provides a cohesive principle in the face of modernity’s multiple spiritual paths and iconography. The discovery of the reality of magick brings with it a certain amount of soul searching about what one could or should do with this power, especially with a power which might either be unlimited or at least in many senses ‘undetectable’.22 Like Plato’s Gyges with his ring of invisibility, the question we must ask is, who can be trusted to wield such power without becoming corrupt? For Dawn it is the Wiccan Rede that provides the acid test: As long as you apply the Wiccan Rede to everything you do you can’t go wrong – what annoys me these days is that there are lots of spell books, or in teenage magazines that get hold of the idea of Wicca and turn it into something else. So many books that say ‘how to get a man to love you’ and as far as I’m concerned that’s black magick because it’s doing something that is against somebody else’s will and without their permission. So I think so long as the spell doesn’t force anybody to do anything that is against their will or without their permission, as long as it isn’t going to hurt anyone else I don’t think there is a problem with that. A simple love spell might seem innocent enough but that is a form of black magick and can only end badly for you – I mean take what happened to Xander in Buffy ...23

Where I might have illustrated a similar position by appeal to one of the tales told in the non-fiction of authors such as Dion Fortune or Stewart Farrar, Dawn selects her example from the fictional mythology of Buffy. However, both Fortune and Farrar produced fictional texts that are as instructive in terms of magickal knowledge as 22 Ironically a magick spell to curse someone represents a greater source of power in a culture such as contemporary western culture which (legally) does not believe in the power of curses. 23 The relevant episode is ‘Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered’, Episode 28, first aired 10 February 1998. The character Xander tries to use Valentine’s Day to further his relationship with Cordelia but she succumbs to peer pressure and breaks up with him. With the help of Amy (who is exploring her mother’s witch powers), he puts a love spell on her which goes horribly wrong, turning him into every woman’s desire; except Cordelia’s.

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their non-fiction. Although I prefer to avoid terms such as ‘black magick’ my own beliefs do accord with Dawn’s in many ways. If we take the term ‘will’ within the Wiccan Rede to equate with Crowley’s use of the term (as the ‘True Will’ which is akin to the te of Taoism, one’s ‘Inner Nature’) I would agree that performing magick that attempts to thwart the Will of another person (or indeed oneself) is likely to ‘end badly’. In order to access the power of magick, what are the key areas of knowledge that a witch should seek? Dawn explains: The main ingredients with which you write a spell are candles, herbs and crystals and the Witchcraft tools. Although with herbs and crystals you can take a specialist route with healing, aromatherapy etc., I think that everybody should have a general idea of what a good load of herbs [to have] would be. Scott Cunningham in his books said that every Witch should have a certain collection of herbs because they can be applied to so many spells, so that, mint for example, most people in the magickal community will know that’s good for money spells and prosperity and that if you’re a beginner Witch and that’s all you know about the herb then that’s fine because that will still help you focus on your goal. You don’t need to know the scientific name or how the essential oil is made or what it’s good incense for. So my advice to people, when they come to the shop, is get a general knowledge of herbs and crystals, the tools of the trade and probably moon phases because of when to cast the spell.

It would seem that an important element in spell casting is assembling the correct ingredients. Spell casting for Dawn generally involves outward, observable activity. I certainly made a detailed study of correspondences myself when I started out in Witchcraft. For Dawn, understanding these relationships is vital when it comes to ‘writing’ spells. I noticed in this interview an interesting turn of phase, used twice; rather than ‘casting’ spells Dawn talks about ‘writing’ them. Perhaps this derives from the idea that writing is itself a magickal act. The spell is literally ‘spelled out’ built first as a literary object before it becomes a performative rite.24 On reflection after this interview Dawn elaborates (by email): When I refer to ‘writing’ spells as opposed to casting, it is because for me taking the time to create something myself rather than take a spell from a book helps me a) focus and b) research further where necessary. Once I have then written the spell it has become a personal work which has more meaning for me and enables me to concentrate and raise personal power more effectively.

This has been Dawn’s approach since her first teenage forays into magick, suggesting that there is an imperative to create magick rather than simply consume it from literature. My own early explorations of spell craft rapidly led me to the belief that it wasn’t so much the inherent vibrations of things (candles, crystals, resins etc.) but their capacity to focus the mind in a particular direction that was of importance. Perhaps this view, undoubtedly influenced in my case by 1970s parapsychology and 24 In many mythologies it is the deities of writing who also rule magick, for example Odin, Thoth and Hermes.

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the relativistic trends in occultism that emerged in the 1980s as ‘chaos magick’,25 represents a retreat from a ‘scientific’ material basis for magick and an attempt to ground magick more directly in the language of psychology, parapsychology and psychoanalysis (especially of the Jungian school). My approach (which might be seen as reaching its apotheosis in what has become known within chaos magick as ‘empty handed magick’ – i.e. magick performed with little or no ritual paraphernalia and minimal physical activity) holds that there is no inherent power of mint to bring about riches but it is the psychological connection forged in the mind of the spell caster that does the job. Magick for me then is perhaps more ‘all in the mind’ than it is for Dawn, although we should be wary of extending this metaphor too far. For both of us, the occult axiom of ‘as above, so below’ claims that the Cartesian apparent separation of mind and body (or the material verses mental worlds) is illusionary. Dawn’s comment, “most people in the magickal community will know that [mint is] good for money spells” set me thinking. Mint is not a herb I would immediately have picked for such a charm. Although Dawn and I clearly shared some of the same points of reference it seemed to me that there might be significant differences we were glossing over because we assumed we shared a mutual language and common underlying structures of belief. To check that I understood what Dawn was talking about with her use of the term ‘Witchcraft tools’ I asked her to list them: “Pentacle, athame, wand, censer, boline and candles, the things you would place on an altar.” Interestingly, she does not list the cup as a key tool, perhaps simply an oversight on her part but also perhaps an omission indicative of the changing face of Witchcraft. In Wicca the cup is a crucial item. As a Goddess-focused cult, the cup is of core importance symbolically. As a container for consecrated wine it is also an essential tool for ceremonies such as the Great Rite26 and provides the sacramental end to most Wiccan rituals. The cup is predominantly social; wine is the sacred drug of the Wiccan cult and sharing wine is the symbolic equivalent of the Catholic Mass, the literal collective absorption of divine power. ‘Cakes and Wine’ is an important motif of Wiccan rite that reflects and engenders social cohesion within the coven (i.e. ends the rite and begins the party). Having done solitary Wiccan style ceremonies myself where the cup is still a feature, it always felt a little odd raising a glass to the gods, taking a sip myself but having no one else to pass the cup to. Perhaps for the more solitary style of Craft that Dawn pursues the role of the cup is reduced for this reason. Dawn mentions the boline, the white handled knife that is used for “… cutting herbs, harvesting plants and doing other magickal chores for which they [Witches] don’t use the athame”.27 The boline, derived from the Key of Solomon is well established as a Wiccan tool and remains common to Dawn’s brand of the Craft. 25 For examples, see the work of Pete Carroll. 26 The Great Rite (in this context) is the symbol rite of sexual union (dramatized by plunging a witch’s athame into a cup filled with wine). The wine thus consecrated is shared by participants in the ritual. This element of ritual praxis is central to most coven meetings within the Alexandrian Wiccan tradition. 27 See http://www.tween-the-shadows.com/magickk/symbols_magickk/boline.php (accessed 6 February 2006).

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However the cords28 are absent from Dawn’s list. This makes perfect sense, as the use of cords is most appropriate in traditional group ritual (as binding for initiatory or trance work, or for spell casting by pulling and knotting). The scourge, that most contested of Gardnerian Wicca paraphernalia, is also unsurprisingly absent. On the subject of occult paraphernalia, I asked Dawn whether one should makes one’s own tools or is buying them okay? Dawn’s opinion on this chimed with my own: “Because Witchcraft is a very personal thing you can’t generalize – so if you like working in wood you’ll probably want to make your own wand but if you don’t have the talent in making things you shouldn’t feel bad about buying them.” Despite the increased commercialism of teenage Witchcraft, there is still, in Dawn’s response, an emphasis on the personalizing and creative aspects of Witchcraft practice. Conclusion While there were many similarities in our initial phase of engagement with Witchcraft, as I have outlined, there were also differences between my own experience coming into Witchcraft as a teenager in the 1980s and Dawn’s contemporary story, both in the content that I am able to relay in this text and also in what I would describe as the tenor of our experiences. To return to the question posed at the beginning of this essay, namely in what ways is the discovery of Witchcraft different for modern teen Witches to my experience twenty years ago? This account suggests that for me, Witchcraft was much more literally occult: a secret, a rare thing. Gathering information about the Craft, though by no means impossible, was far from as straightforward as ‘Googling’ the Internet. The technology of the Internet, coupled with cultural notions of freedom of information has had a powerful effect. On the construction of an identity as a teenage Witch, the creating of popular cultural icons of magick (particularly through the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer) means that those interested in Witchcraft can now ‘plug in’ quite directly to the knowledge they desire. Perhaps the most marked difference is the move from Witchcraft being synonymous with Wicca. Witchcraft for Dawn and her peers seems to be predominantly a technology where, although belief is important, it is the ‘vibrations’ of the components of a spell that are the keys to its efficacy. In this respect contemporary Witchcraft has come to occupy a position closer to practices associated with occult traditions such as Macumba, Santeria or Voudoun. The magick is ‘low tech’ in a ritual sense (usually consisting of short chants or poems in comparison to the Hermetic style soliloquies of ritual magick or Alexandrian/Gardnerian Wicca), grounded in the use of actual power objects rather than a more psychological approach and able to be carried out effectively whatever the religious belief system of the practitioner (in much the same way that a Brazilian Catholic can quite effectively and without any ontological difficulty use an Umbanda spell). This does not deny the importance of the ‘psychological’ or inner processes of successful spellcraft. Dawn’s email to me after my interview explains: “I referred to the vibrations of herbs, crystals etc., it is 28 The Witches’ Rune appears in a number of versions of the Book of Shadows.

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my view that these alone will not carry a spell. It’s like a car battery (vibrations), it’s powerful in its own right but you won’t get anywhere without the car (personal power and focus).” It will be interesting to observe how those Witches who have joined the Craft as part of the ‘Buffy generation’ will develop as they enter adulthood. Will they tend to remain as solo practitioners or will the need to establish themselves as a defined cultural group create the emergence of new forms of collaborative magickal working? In the UK the continuing success of large-scale events such as Witchfest (organized by the Children of Artemis),29 conferences arranged by the Pagan Federation and others, would seem to suggest that the new ‘breed’ of Witches are not content with exclusively on-line communities. Shall we see new coven group structures emerging and if so how will they be constructed? How will the Internet continue to play a part in determining how these groups are formed and how alliances are forged and broken? And perhaps most interesting of all, scholars, commentators and members of the adult Witchcraft and Wicca communities may ask, with the tendency towards openness and freedom of information that Dawn identifies, as well as the need for proactive self discovery, will the Witch begin to be sought out by non-Witches as a magickal specialist, ushering in the return of the role of the cunning man and woman in broader culture? What we can see is that the Craft, or more generally what we might call (after Kenneth Grant) the ‘magickal revival’, is successfully continuing in our culture. That in the brief period that marks the difference in time between my first steps on the path of magick and those of Dawn’s, it has changed. It has adapted to new technological developments and incorporated the emergence of new pop-culture icons. That it will continue to do so for the foreseeable future seems highly likely. Acknowledgements I would like to thank Helen Gray for her help in preparing this paper and Dawn for agreeing to take part in my research and her subsequent comments. Appendix – An Example of a Spell This example accessed 6 February 2006 is sourced from: www.crypt.eldritchs.com/ spells/m/Mint_And_Money_Spell.html

29 See http//:www.witchfest.net.

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Bibliography Buckland, R., The Tree: The Complete Book of Saxon Witchcraft (Newburyport: Red Wheel/Weiser, 1984). Carrol, P., Liber Null & Psychonaut (Newburyport: Red Wheel/Weiser, 1987). Crowley, A., 777 (Newburyport: Red Wheel/Weiser, 1987). Crowley, V., Wicca: The Old Religion in the New Age (London: Thorsons, Element Books 1996). Davies, O., Cunning-folk: Popular Magic in English History (London: Hambledon and London Ltd, 2003). Frazer, J.G., The Golden Bough (New York: Macmillan, 1922). Grant, K., The Magickal Revival (Muller, 1972). Hutton, R., The Triumph of the Moon A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000). Humphries, G. and Vayne, J., Now That’s What I Call Chaos Magick (Oxford: Mandrake Press, 2004). Lafontaine, J.S., Extent and Nature of Organized Ritual Abuse. [Great Britain] (UK: Department of Health, 1994). Leek, S., Diary of a Witch (New York: Signet 1969). ——, The Complete Art of Witchcraft: Penetrating the Secrets of White Magic (New York: Signet repr., 1973). Mathers, S.L. (ed.), The Greater Key of Solomon (Montana: R.A. Kessinger Publishing Co, 1997). Mathers, S.L. The Book of the Sacred Magick of Abra-Melin the Mage (Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 1975). Murray, M., God of the Witches (London: Oxford University Press, 1931 reprinted 1970). ——, Witch Cult in Western Europe: A Study in Anthropology (London: Oxford University Press, 1921). Symonds, J., The Great Beast (Granada Press: St Albans, 1951). Tolkien, J.R.R., The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (London: Allen &(and?) Unwin, 1954–1957). Vayne, J., Pharmakon; Drugs and the Imagination (Brighton: Liminal Space, 2001).

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Chapter 5

Minor Arcana and the Inclusion of Adolescent Psycho-spirituality within the British Pagan Community Matthew Hannam

Abstract The following narrative will trace the history and journey of the establishment of what is thought to have been the first teen Witch organization of its kind in the UK, ‘Minor Arcana’ (‘MA’) and its original quarterly magazine, The Pagan Teenage Voice, in response to an individual needs-based teenage spirituality. This chapter will include an appreciation of the contributing factors that helped to create and establish MA and the organization’s journal The Pagan Teenage Voice as significant elements of British paganism in the late 1990s.1 Additionally, an emphasis will be placed upon highlighting the various ways in which MA has chronicled the personal, often autobiographical journeys of its members – specifically, the stories told in letters and articles by its members and published in the quarterly journal. Commonly, these accounts were descriptions of discovering and maturing one’s personal spirituality, and of facing the difficulties of ‘coming out’ to one’s self and others as pagan. The chapter will be set within an experimental and psychological methodological framework, in order to highlight what I have understood as common psychological processes undergone during a period of what can be described as ‘spiritual emergence’, possibly experienced by the membership of MA. This process shall be referred to in this article as ‘the psychology of change’.

1 There are countless people who were important contributors to Minor Arcana and to my own initial feelings about establishing the network to whom I say thank-you, but I would like to mention here a few of those whose inputs were particularly valuable. To Val Thomas and Chris Wood, to Marian Green and Richard Sweetenham, to Mike Howard and The Cauldron, to James Pengelley, to The Pagan Federation and several editors of Pagan Dawn, to Quest, as well as to Jaq D. Hawkins and Anton Channing, for their support at the start of the venture. Thanks also to all of Minor Arcana’s membership and readers and, for ongoing support in this feature, Peg Aloi and Hannah E. Johnston, who was one of the original people that supported Minor Arcana back in 1997.

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Facing the world The public face of the pagan and occult community in the UK has changed dramatically over the past decade.2 The increased visibility of contemporary paganism and the growth of both a media and a commercial market have certainly made contemporary paganisms of various forms more accessible to those who are interested. Furthermore, since this time, new organizations, magazines and networks have emerged that are available through mainstream booksellers and retailers.3 Despite these external changes, it could be argued that little has changed in terms of the interactions between private magical friends and groups, families and societies that have always catered in their own ways to suitable young adults with a genuine interest in the western mystery traditions. In contemporary ritual traditions, such as Wicca and Druidry, the role of the Maiden and the God in his youthful, hunter aspect are well documented as deities or archetypal forces, and these may be re-enacted under ritual and ceremonial conditions in pagan practice. Age and age recognition are significant not only to the pagan deity cycle and pagan life journey but also to society at large, which marks these important periods of transition through the life cycle.4 Therefore, it must be stated that the involvement of young people in certain established pagan and occult groups, and familial and generational Witchcraft practices remain potentially unaffected by the emergence of a public image of Witchcraft and magic, which has recently opened itself to under-eighteens approaching the magical arts from a nonoccult background.5 Despite the possibility for such associations between young people and magic, it is only since the mid-1990s that the wider pagan community has had to answer questions about where and how it caters to the interest of under-eighteens. With increasing public scrutiny of the varying pagan traditions, as evidenced in the countless books and magazines describing such traditions (for example, Llewellyn Publications, and other, more general publishers now also publishing pagan/occult texts) how has the pagan community responded? One of the most significant responses to this question, and one pertinent to the development of the teen Witch community is the emergence of the solo or solitary Witch tradition. The rise of the ‘Solo Witch’ tradition, with the writing of such people as Marian Green, Scott Cunningham, and Rae Beth has been instrumental in allowing teenage involvement in the UK pagan traditions. The solitary Witch discourse has 2 For a discussion of this see Marion Green, A Witch Alone: Thirteen Moons to Master Natural Magic (London, 1991). 3 For example, the British networking and educational based organization, ‘The Children of Artemis’ also publishes a quarterly magazine Witchcraft and Wicca, which is available through book retailers such as Ottakers. 4 This is discussed at length by Vivianne Crowley in her title, Phoenix from the Flame: Living as a Pagan in the 21st Century (London, 1994). 5 There is currently little research on this topic (Editors Note: see Hannah Sanders, ‘New Generation Witches: The teenage Witch as cultural icon and lived identity’, Phd thesis, [Norwich School of Art and Design, ARU, 2004]). Unfortunately it is outside the remit of this essay to discuss this at length but is certainly a topic for future research.

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arguably provided a step-by-step guide, not only to pagan belief, but also to the practice of ritual that is not dependent on training or working within a group. It is the actual ‘hands on’ expression of pagan spirituality, fostered in the approach offered in the writing on solo Witch traditions, that I recall from my time as coordinator of Minor Arcana, that helps young people feel they are actually doing something that expresses their beliefs and not just reading and waiting for the time when a coven or other type of group might initiate them. The solitary Witch is told that he or she can initiate him- or herself in the presence of the God and Goddess, without the need for a third party medium, perhaps a High Priest or Priestess. Whether or not such solitary Witchcraft is a way for the pagan community to distance itself from a potentially risqué relationship with children and young adults (it is important to note that solitary Witchcraft traditions did emerge prior to the teen Witch ‘craze’), it is an interesting question to consider. During my involvement with Minor Arcana it was clear that there were children and young adults with sincere interests in the pagan traditions who, from the information received in personal correspondences, practise their own form of Witchcraft traditions alone. Yet Minor Arcana was never established to promote one particular pagan tradition over another. For example, in 1998, Minor Arcana had a stall at the Pagan Federation Conference, which was held at Fairfield Halls in Crawley, UK. A young lady approached me and asked whether I knew of any covens or practising magical groups in her home town that she could approach. As it was, I felt that I should guide her in the right direction to meet the kind of people she wanted. She should start, I suggested, by looking through the area-by-area contacts of journals such as Pagan Dawn. I explained to her that there were limitations in my own role and I wanted to keep MA as a contact network, not as a medium through which people joined practising magical groups. If the contact lead to her meeting practising Witches and magicians, then so be it. Alongside family initiation and the various forms of solo activity, from the mid- to late 1990s, there has arisen a social movement which attempts to respond to the many varied needs of under-eighteens hoping to pursue Wicca/Witchcraft as a spiritual lifestyle. One need only search the Internet with the words ‘young people and witchcraft’ and countless resources and references appear, originating from across the western world. It is here that the history and roles of such groups as Minor Arcana come into their own, and it is the history of the MA group in particular that will be detailed and turned to now. Minor Arcana: A case study It was over a traditional meal on a memorably wild evening of Samhain 1997, at a time of personal reflection that I and a handful of magical colleagues6 discussed the idea of a group that would network and attempt to cater for the communicative needs of under-eighteens specifically, whose spiritual path had been self-identified

6 By this I refer to a group of individuals who were friends as well as people with whom I was practising magic in a group.

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as pagan. It was a discussion I had had previously with other predominantly adults in the pagan community. These individuals had told me that there was nobody of an adult age willing to establish such a group, but that the lack of one was a deficit which had been glaringly obvious and which had been causing ‘rifts’ for many years in the pagan community. At this time I was sixteen years old. Groups such as the Pagan Federation (PF) had been deflecting enquiries from under-eighteens for a long time (as told to me in a series of correspondences I shared with pagan personality James Pengelley) to such things as ‘suggested reading lists’, a handful of information pamphlets, hoping that these would occupy the interested youngster until he or she reached the age of eighteen and would legally be considered an adult. At such an age, the individual would then be entitled to join an adult pagan networking group and seek out a magical group of his or her own, should this be desired. Whether such a response by the ‘established’ public scene of paganism had come about through ignorance and fear of parental or press-based reprisal, or through genuine concern of the potential wider implications that would tarnish the already battle-weary public image of Witchcraft is difficult to ascertain. Esteemed British pagan author and psychologist Vivianne Crowley wrote of these important considerations alongside the valuable contribution that adults can make to a young person’s spiritual journey, stating, ‘to enter into the adult world, we must have an understanding of our place in the scheme of things. This requires teaching, help and guidance from those who have already entered adult life, to help us understand our religious and cultural traditions and those myths which guide our particular religious path.’7 From anecdotal reports, some of the elders of the British pagan community at the time were not even willing to discuss the idea of allowing under-eighteens to join such groups such as the PF, whereas some were supportive of such a move. I discovered this in person at a committee meeting of the Pagan Federation in 1998 when I saw how some of the members of long standing were unwilling to discuss the matter of involving under-eighteens in their affairs, whilst a few others approached me afterwards to offer their support. I was encouraged to establish Minor Arcana as an under-eighteen myself (thus bypassing any ethical issues that might at that point have been levied against adult pagans) and it was to me that all the public elements associated with Minor Arcana would be attributed, including the coordination and editorship of the quarterly journal The Pagan Teenage Voice. The majority of the British pagan media responded very favourably to the announcement of MA and many decided to incorporate it into their own functions as a standardized response to public enquiries. Hence, correspondences were received to MA’s PO Box not only directly, but forwarded from other magazines and groups. These included those mentioned earlier. Additionally, MA was supported by adults and friends of mine who provided articles, features, and printed the journal free of charge, allowing a subscription-free membership with only postage and packing costs associated. Soon, enquiries came from overseas, in Europe and in America, as well as Australia.

7

Crowley, Phoenix from the Flame, p. 144.

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I found it surprisingly easy to manage the volume of correspondence that started to arrive, as I had help from people around me who were involved in the group – two of these were under eighteen and one was an adult. We shared the PO Box enquiries and the two other under-eighteens established a Minor Arcana website, which they were responsible for. I tended to deal with everything that directly related to the magazine. Commonly, this correspondence was simply requests for information about paganism and Marian Green helpfully supplied us with a written response sheet that outlined the various traditions that make up British paganism, as well as responding to readers’ questions through a regular ‘questions and answers’ page in the magazine. Minor Arcana membership information about the contact network service was also included, and if somebody joined they would be sent the contact information of others in their geographical location. MA published the articles and letters received from young people, their poetry, prose and musings, as collections of features to show the wider pagan community that an organized group had been established and was thriving, the aim of which was to promote a wider response from larger organizations along the same lines. Simply providing contacts and allowing people to network and form their own groups of friends proved successful. An example of such networking would include the summer camp organized by a member of Minor Arcana in 1998. Articles and features appearing in The Pagan Teenage Voice shared a number of topics, which has been striking in hindsight. A significant proportion discussed a feeling of alienation from society at large, the type of alienation that extended through to the relationship that the authors felt with much of the adult pagan community. Not simply were these young people experiencing a rejection from mainstream society for the beliefs that they felt developing, but a further rejection from the very community with which they sought association. Minor Arcana and The Pagan Teenage Voice operated as a space where they could voice these frustrations and concerns and bond with each other through the commonality of their experience. By far the greatest level of interest generated by MA and its journal came from young people who were either interested in or who were already practising Witchcraft. I myself have identified with this tradition since an early age and have been actively involved in it since I was a child, so it was naturally in this direction that the organization evolved. During Minor Arcana’s evolution, the teenage membership was dominated by those identifying with one of the Witchcraft traditions (approximately ninety per cent of total membership). Despite this, MA did have, at any given time, a couple of dozen or so young Pagan members who did not identify as Witches, the remaining ten per cent identified themselves with forms of occultism (such as Chaos Magic and Ceremonial Magic) or the northern traditions (such as Asatru). Regarding my own role in MA, it developed into primarily the editorship of the quarterly journal, having started with the task of establishing the organization and dealing with the correspondence. This side of the organization was gradually taken over by friends of mine. I also administered the general responses of the newsletter and organization and networked with other organizations. In the UK, it seemed to me that MA quickly developed into a useful name and networking tool that indicated general interest in the western mystery traditions,

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specifically contemporary Witchcraft, by teenagers. Quite soon the membership of the group were networking and organizing events amongst themselves without any centralized coordination. One that comes to mind was an MA summer-camp that was held in Cornwall in 1998 and was organized by Shane Gary, a member of the organization at the time. An independent group sprang up in the year 1999 calling itself ‘Minor Arcana Europe’ and subsequently also produced its own journal. This led to contact by diverse individuals such as a group of Italian students who claimed to be from families of traditional Strega Witchcraft. It was during all of this excitement and at a time when the teenage Witch community began finally to find a place and identity for itself I believe, distinct from, but as a part of, the main adult pagan world, that MA also started to face hostilities from some individuals within the British pagan community, including a well-known pagan trader who had faced tabloid abuse many years ago for having an occult shop. His concerns were understandable in the light of his own experiences, and reflected earlier concerns from adults that I had encountered prior to the establishment of MA. Such criticism centred on their belief that to have a teenage network for pagans and Witches could lead only to disaster for the entire pagan community, believing that the mainstream press would hear of Minor Arcana fictionalizing a story about adult pagans abusing under-eighteens and sensationalizing the whole episode into a ‘Satanic abuse scare’.8 On his website he criticized those that supported Minor Arcana and questioned their motives, including some very well-known pagan figures. Yet criticisms such as this did not stall the development of Minor Arcana, nor would the issue withdraw from the adult pagan community. Teenage voices had found a platform from which to speak and network. Due to their distinction from the adult community, teens in MA did not need the adult community’s reassurance to continue exploring pagan identity and practice. Teenage Witchcraft and the psychology of change The concept of psychological disassociation from society emerged in many of the teen writings published in MA’s quarterly journal The Pagan Teenage Voice. This is one element that I found of particular note in reflecting on my experience with MA and deserves further elaboration. The psychological processes of transformation, from immaturity to maturity in which an individual recognizes him- or herself as independent and autonomous can be seen in the light of the important transformative work in which some magicians might involve themselves. In much the same way that magicians involved in selftransformation and rites of passage customarily describe opening up to personal change, which comes through from the world of the inner, so too the process of 8 It is worth noting that the UK had seen a ‘moral panic’ in this regard to potential satanic abuse of children in the early 1990s, after social services removed children from their homes in Rochdale on the island of Orkney, off the Scottish coast. Despite a government inquiry, published in 1994, which stated there was no substantive evidence to uphold the notion that there was a satanic ritual abuse ring, the fear created by this incident reverberated through the UK pagan community throughout the 1990s.

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transformation for teenagers following a potentially hazardous path can result in the feeling that one is walking the knife-edge bridge across and into the unknown. It is the nature of magic and the mystery traditions that spirituality, growth and evolution arise from challenges. These challenges were communicated to MA and across its membership via the correspondence it received. Fear of change, and of the unknown, are indeed powerful forces that operate around us as we navigate adolescence and take on a teenage identity. The teenagers who wrote to MA discussed such fears with great frequency. Yet within this fear there is an unmistakable necessity that can lead to growth and resolution of personal conflicts.9 Pagan philosophy broadly understands that decline and growth on the inner realms mirrors decline and growth in the natural world around us, emphasizing to pagans and Witches the bond that exists between us and our planet, to which we are finely attuned. One can see how the changing considerations and convictions of humanity follow these models. For example, the pagan festival of Lammas, the time of plenty, but also of bloodshed, is often celebrated within the pagan community as the time of creativity and sacrifice in return for our gifts. Perhaps it is that pagans practising ritual seek to find a balance between the two inner levels of conscious and unconsciousness. In the correspondence I shared with young people contacting Minor Arcana, I learned that those who really felt alone were afraid of what society might think of their interests. They felt that society at large, their friends and family would see them as evil, as their beliefs as either ‘black’ or ‘white’ when they themselves felt that there really was no distinction in nature as crude as this. Jung (1944) describes this type of inner struggle, which helps us to make sense of the perception of alienation from society at large that many young people feel in approaching the magical and pagan traditions. Through the following transcript of a dream belonging to one of his patients he describes the dreamer’s desire for fulfilment realized through overcoming the fear of misunderstanding and of understanding the self in a new relationship with the world. As such, the dreamer can leave the childhood state and successfully traverse the terrain of early adulthood: Then he is in the bar again. The proprietor says, ‘what they said about left and right did not satisfy my feelings. Is there really such a thing as a life and a right side of human society?’ The dreamer answers, ‘the existence of the left does not contradict that of the right. Whenever I feel it like that, as a mirror image, I am at one with myself. There is no left and no right to human society, but there are symmetrical and lopsided people. The lopsided are those who can fulfil only one side of themselves, either left or right. They are still in the childhood state.10

9 For a more detailed explanation on the idea of personal growth arising from personal hardship, see: Daniel J. Benor, MD, Healing Research: Volume I, Spiritual Healing: Scientific Validation of a Healing Revolution (Southfield, MI: Vision Publications, 2001) and Matthew Hannam, ‘Towards a transpersonal psychology of psychopathy: Trauma and self-actualization in the life of Dennis Andrew Nilsen’, Transpersonal Psychology Review, 8/1 (2004): 58–73. 10 Karl Jung, Dreams, (London, 1944, 2002 edition), p. 59.

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Ten years on: A personal retrospective It was in 2000 that I finally decided to stop coordinating MA and The Pagan Teenage Voice due to academic pressures from the University. I also had reached a point in my own spiritual evolution where I realized that my role and function in the network was long behind me. In 2006 it is nine years since MA first came into being and I believe that it still exists to fulfil its original functions under the auspices of Jess Roberts (editors note: formerly Jess Wynne). MA reached the point that I expected it to reach as a fully functioning part of the British Witchcraft community, it had been advertised and accepted by many leading occult publications and organizations, including Quest, The Cauldron, Comhairle Cairde, The Witchcraft Museum, Pagan Dawn and The Pagan Federation. This is the first time in many years that I have reflectively written about Minor Arcana. In recent years I have been living out of the UK and consequently I have had very little to do with the public pagan community. My location, along with the fact that I am no longer in my teenage years, means that it is difficult for me to know or to fully appreciate how the British teenage pagan (and specifically Witchcraft) community has evolved as a direct result of Minor Arcana. I would like to think that it helped people to find a way into their chosen spiritual paths, and to overcome the perception of alienation, or even that the idea of Minor Arcana inspired people to explore and to network. Certainly my hope is that it helped encourage discussion within the adult and the teen communities. From what I know anecdotally, MA groups still exists and it my hope that Minor Arcana’s legacy will continue to enable young people and promote their rights to spiritual expression. Bibliography Benor, D.J. MD, Healing Research: Volume I, Spiritual Healing: Scientific Validation of a Healing Revolution (Southfield, MI: Vision Publications, 2001). Collins, M., Hannam, M. and Pengelley, J., Doing Paganism – A Practical Guide to the Realities of Paganism (James Pengelley: The Pagan Federation North West, 1999). Crowley, V., Phoenix from the Flame: Living as a Pagan in the 21st Century (London: Thorsons, 1994). Green, M., A Witch Alone: Thirteen Moons to Master Natural Magic (London: Aquarian Press, 1991). Hannam, M., ‘Witchcraft: Craft of The Dark, Craft of The Light (Part IV)’, The Witches Wynd (London: Quest Publications, 2002). ——, ‘Witchcraft: Craft of The Dark, Craft of The Light’, Pagan Dawn (London: The Pagan Federation: Beltane Edition, 2003). ——, ‘Witchcraft: Craft of The Dark, Craft of The Light (Part V)’, The Witches Wynd (London: Quest Publications: 2004). ——, ‘Towards a transpersonal psychology of psychopathy: Trauma and selfactualzation in the life of Dennis Andrew Nilsen’, Transpersonal Psychology

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Review, vol. 8/1 2004, 58–73 (London: The British Psychological Society, 2004). Jung, C., Dreams (London: Routledge: 1944/2002 edition).

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PART 2 Teenage Voices: Accounts from the Field

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Chapter 6

Becoming a Witch: My story Heather Jenkins

At the point of writing, I am almost seventeen years old, and I have been involved in the ancient art of paganism for roughly four years now. Paganism is, for me, a religion that is very much misunderstood and it has been portrayed in many different ways over the years. Many people have the common misconception that it is about devil worship and hurting others for personal gain. But for me, paganism isn’t about any of these things. The term ‘Witch’ can bring a different image to different people’s mind, most likely a woman with a tall hat on a broomstick; however my understanding, and the image that I resonate with is the ‘wise woman’. Years ago she would be the person you would go to for help, to be there during childbirth, to cure an illness, like a doctor or a nurse is there for you today. Unknowingly, I went to a Witch for help, when I walked into an occult, alternative shop when I was just thirteen years old. This shop sold incense, candles, books of spells and pendants etc. It was friend of mine that took me in there. My friend was already part of the teenage Witchcraft craze at the time and I went with her out of interest. Intrigued, I began going there quite often and began talking to a lady who worked there. It became a safe haven, somewhere that I could escape to after school because at the time I was being badly bullied. The bullying started when I was about ten years old, but even in first school, I would get the odd person picking on me and it was never about anything that I could particularly understand. I don’t think that I stand out from the crowd, but my hair, which is auburn and my glasses are ‘different’ I suppose. By the time I was starting high school, my confidence level had become very low. I had put the bullying down to being because of the way I looked, as it seemed the only explanation. There didn’t seem to be anything anybody could do about it, no matter who I told and what he or she attempted to do. There was absolutely nothing anybody else could do about it, teachers, parents, nobody. I began to realize that the answer to the bullying and how I felt about it was down to me. On the day I arrived home after first venturing into the Witch’s shop I told my mum about it. This was only to find out that she already knew about it and had been a customer there for about two months already. She then gave me some pagan books that she had read, and this began to help me to understand about helping myself in an attempt to sort out the bullying. In February 2003, the lady I had talked to and had begun to get to know in the shop organized a course for teenage Witches, which was to run for six weeks. I went with two other girls and she taught us some of the basic elements of Witchcraft. For example, we learnt about the four elements, some of the different deities, how to

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make incense, the Celtic New Year and the general background of paganism. After the course she carried on training me in person, which we are still doing now. I am amazed at how much I have learnt and can’t imagine where I would be now without it, as it has become such a huge and important part of my life. The fact that my mum was interested in paganism as well made it a lot easier for me to do the course, and to become more generally involved in the local pagan community because I was under sixteen so they needed her consent. I can remember being on the site witchwords.net, and seeing that a girl had written about how her mum didn’t agree with her new interests in the craft. I felt quite lucky, as I was receiving the support I needed and thought that it was a shame that the other girl wasn’t. My mum also became a pagan and now does crystal and spiritual healing. We came to the same path completely separately, but at almost the same time. Since the course, I have taken part in many of the seasonal celebrations that are held in our local pagan community. My mum and I became part of the Norwich Chant Collective, a group of men and women on similar spiritual paths who get together every week and chant, and hold open pagan celebrations at the sabbatts. This allowed me to meet other people who I could talk to and ask about their beliefs and opinions. I found this really interesting and also helpful because it helped me to form my own opinions. I was the youngest there, which was mostly really good; because there was always someone there to give me advice and help me out, which was, and still is really useful for someone my age. However, it was also occasionally irritating, as they could sometimes act differently around me or be a bit patronizing with me just because I was younger! I was asked by the woman training me if I wanted to maiden for a ritual, which is basically doing minor ceremonial jobs like lighting candles, cleansing the circle etc. This used to be her job and as she was moving out of maidenhood she felt that someone else should take over. This has been the role I have frequently taken in the seasonal rituals since this time. For me, paganism is all about being at one with the earth and its inhabitants. I have always loved spending time outside and I am a complete animal maniac. The more I have learned about paganism the more connected I have felt to everything around me. The trees, the wind, the sun, the rain are all important and each one is as necessary as the other and vital for life and death. Humans seem to find change a bad thing and difficult to accept, but I have learnt that without change nothing new can ever open up to you. We fear death and old age probably more than anything else, but it is a way of life and can’t be prevented. Through practising Witchcraft, I have also learnt how important it is to be an individual, to think for myself and to take responsibility for my choices and actions. No one else is in control of my life and when something bad happens I shouldn’t just blame somebody else to take the pressure off me, but just accept that I made a mistake because well I’m only human and don’t we all? Something that really did change me during all of this was that one of the girls from the teen Witch course died. She was only seventeen. She suffered from heart problems and passed away after a major operation. She still is one of the strongest people that I have ever met, as she lived her life to the absolute full despite her illness, always wore a smile and never took anything for granted. Through paganism I have met loads of new people, and funnily the bullying I was experiencing ebbed away.

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I have become more confident, and found people who are like-minded, so people don’t bother me anymore. The problems at school have been dealt with, through my own magic, and my own confidence. Through learning about paganism I have also learnt about Reiki, a form of handson healing. It works through balancing your energies and getting to the root of your problem, for example: you may be suffering physical pain, but that may be occurring because of something psychological, which could be a result of something going on in your life now or from something that happened in your past. I give Reiki to my friends when they are in need of it, to my pets and occasionally I use it to help some of the cats which are particularly shy or injured at the RSPCA where I used to volunteer. I have been a huge fan of the television shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed and Bewitched. These shows are all quite similar, as they each have at least one female star and in one form or another, they all include Witchcraft. I feel that particularly in the cases of Buffy… and Charmed they have been quite inspirational for myself and most likely for many other young girls all over the world. They show women who have stepped into their own power, who are making a difference and definitely not letting people walk all over them. Before becoming a pagan I didn’t particularly have any religious belief, but I have always been open minded. I find religion really interesting and I always like listening to what other people have to say about their own beliefs and religious practice. However, I now have a spiritual path, which I know that I want to follow for the rest of my life. There are loads of other aspects of paganism that I am looking forward to exploring and new chances are continually opening up to me. There will always be something new to learn and to look forward to. More importantly, I am now in control of my own life.

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Chapter 7

Oreos, Orishas, and Others: A personal account of being a teenage Witch Morboriel Parthenos

‘Oreo!’ Today, I can hear the taunt in my ears as clearly as I heard it on that day thirteen years ago. I was sitting in one of the front pews of First Baptist Church, patiently waiting for choir practice to start. In my ten-year-old head, an Oreo was just a cookie. An almost criminally delicious cookie, but a cookie nonetheless. However, even if I was confused as to why she was calling me the name of my favorite after-school snack, I immediately understood the venom in that girl’s voice. As a shy little nerd girl who’d been relentlessly teased at school for all manner of trivial offenses, I knew all too well what that meant. The cruel snickering that followed, erupting from all the other kids, pretty much sealed it. They were making fun of me. Again. ‘Why did you call me that, Tamika?’ I demanded, in my childish naivete. ‘Cos you black on da outside an’ white on da inside.’ The snickering turned to laughter. I’m not sure which songs were sung that day; the only song I heard was the Oreo Song, a sing-song chant, followed by laughter. Little did I know that, much like ‘I Left My Heart in San Francisco’, it was an American standard. It would also not be the last time I heard it, either. I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, in a working-class neighborhood that is a melting pot of Caribbean immigrants, Korean merchants, and elderly Jews. The church I was raised in was in a different area but with a similar economic and racial makeup. In contrast, the school I went to during my formative years was a wealthy, largely white pre-K to twelve private school in Brooklyn’s most affluent area. Despite the administration’s proud talk of diversity, in my class, the students of color could literally be counted on one hand. In a very real sense, I straddled two vastly different worlds from a very young age, and never really felt at home in either. At church, I was mocked for ‘acting like a white girl’; at school, I was belittled for having kinky hair and dark eyes. In one world I was not quite black enough; in the other, I was far too black. However, there was one constant despite the seeming light years of distance between the two worlds: no matter where I was, that damned cookie reared its ugly and tasty head. Like every other old-school black family with roots in the South, mine went to a tambourine-thumpin’ Baptist church, complete with a morally questionable

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fire-and-brimstone preacher and plump ladies in hats so ridiculous they’d qualify as ‘haute couture’ if seen on a Paris runway. Attendance was mandatory, with any attempt at protest immediately stifled by matronly hands placed on hips, followed by a meaningful glance at the belt. Church to me was simply a chore like any other, and God was some distant enigma somewhere ‘up there’. On the other hand, as a child, my favorite stories were always the ones from Greek mythology. One of the books that has had the deepest impact on me is D’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths, a beautifully illustrated book which set my imagination – already fairly wild and active – afire with curiosity. The breathtaking pictures and fascinating tales of ancient gods, towering heroes, and mythic deeds touched something deep within me. I often wondered why anyone would let these awesome beings and ideas just fade away, and it saddened me. I suppose that in an odd sort of way, I was a pagan without even realizing it, from the moment I first opened that book and was mesmerized. As I grew older, I came to resent going to church. It simply didn’t mean anything to me. The thundering commands from the pulpit to ‘submit to God’ (or else), the feeble old men dancing in the aisles, Sister Terry ‘catching the Holy Ghost’ in the row in front of us and melodramatically waving her arms in the air (knocking her ten-ton hat on me in the process), none of it had any meaning. The seeds of my cynicism were first planted there, in that place where I was thrown out of Sunday School for innocently pointing out how similar the story of the Deluge was to Zeus destroying humanity by flood for its post-Pandora wickedness. There, in the place where my name was Oreo. When I was twelve or so, my family abandoned the confines of First Baptist Church for the seemingly greener pastures of the Christian Life Center (which has since moved and been renamed the even more pretentious Christian Cultural Center). CLC was what we would now call a fledgling Evangelical ‘megachurch’. It was non-denominational and counted its members in the thousands, most of whom were young upwardly-mobile blacks and their families who had grown disillusioned with the traditional black church experience and were looking for a different kind of Christianity. It was quite a culture shock for me, and at first it was a pleasant one. Music and emotional expression was very much a part of the experience there, but unlike First Baptist, the Christianity at CLC espoused personal growth rather than histrionics. Members carried notebooks and pens with their Bibles instead of paper fans with ads for the local funeral home. It was a refreshing change of pace. My mother and my sister quickly became ‘born again’ whilst at this new church. While it ultimately took me longer to make the decision, I was immediately enthralled by the concept of having a personal relationship with the divine, something I had never been exposed to before. Perhaps most of all, I was longing for the acceptance that always seemed to prove elusive in my life. I was going through confusing changes in my life, the beginnings of a rocky adolescence, and felt a strong sense of alienation from the world at large. I was very heavily into comic books, video games, Japanese animation, Dungeons and Dragons, and fantasy and science-fiction novels, none of which my family understood or even cared to. These hobbies, having the stigma that they do, meant that I was teased mercilessly, more than I ever had been in my younger years. One of my only friends, a chubby Jewish girl who was into punk and alternative music, turned me on to Green Day and Smashing Pumpkins,

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which led me back to Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Cure, and that was the end of the relationship between me and rap music. To compound matters, I started developing a powerful crush on one of the girls in my class, something that totally threw me for a loop, considering I also had a crush on one of the boys. All the while, that damned cookie hovered menacingly at the edge of my consciousness, trying vainly to cow me back into the proper box, because black girls simply did not do the things I did. I was a freak, there was something wrong with me, and by God, Jesus would fix me just like He fixes everything. One Sunday morning, when the crisply-dressed and well-spoken pastor gave the altar call, I dutifully went down front and threw myself on the mercy of the cross. I closed my eyes, and echoed the Sinner’s Prayer, inviting Jesus into my heart as my Personal Lord and Savior. I even cried. But as I peeked, and glanced around me, I could already feel the doubts and uncertainties creeping in. People young and old, male and female had their hands thrust in the air, their faces upturned piously toward Heaven, their eyes alight with the fire of spiritual transformation. I had a pair of sore knees. Clearly, something was amiss. However, I simply shrugged it off, and chalked it up to nerves. I’d be in on the mystery someday, too, if only I put my faith in the Word. I attended the mandatory after care session, in which I was given a diminutive copy of the Gospel of John and told to memorize it. I did so, and went to a few meetings of the church’s youth bible study. Slowly, however, that ‘something’ I felt during the altar call began rearing its ugly head in a more palpable way in the months that followed. I read the Bible diligently, as I had been taught, and went to church every Sunday. I even took copious notes during the sermons, which resembled college lectures more than religious instruction. During Praise and Worship, the time set aside at the beginning of each service when contemporary Christian music was played, I saw people raising their hands and behaving in much the same way as the people who went to altar call did. Again, I felt nothing. I just heard a bunch of bland music, and saw people swaying in a fashion that would even chill the blood of George Romero, king of the zombie flicks. I felt detached. The guilt was unbearable; there had to be something wrong with me, since everyone else seemed to be feeling this so-called personal relationship with Jesus in a tangible way. In a sense, I felt like a child who’d misbehaved and had to watch as the rest of the family went off to the fair. I obviously didn’t have enough faith. I prayed and prayed, and I studied the Bible, and the more I did, the more disconnected I felt. What’s more, my ‘otherness’ – the bane of my existence since early childhood – led me into direct conflict with the things being espoused both in the sermons and in my youth group. I didn’t exactly conform to the image of conformist ‘Buppie’ Christendom around me. This was before I really started looking radical, as my family simply would not allow it, so the conflict came in more subtle ways. My mother dismissed my attempts at sword-and-sorcery fiction as ‘pagan nonsense’, the one time I showed her one of my stories, and threw away my entire collection of role-playing books for their supposed ‘Satanic’ content. According to my youth group, the music I listened to was objectionable; it was worldly and dark and not of God. My lifelong love of science and the environment was questionable at best and downright dangerous at worst. I’d also been very interested in the martial arts,

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and grew excited when I found out there was a Christian martial arts club sponsored by the church; then quickly grew disappointed when the martial arts promoted by the group was deliberately stripped of anything to do with Eastern mysticism, which was the very thing that attracted me to them. In short, nearly everything I held dear – everything that made me, well, me – was scorned, ridiculed, and turned into sin and a source of shame. My growing disillusionment turned to outright rebellion when I was asked to leave my youth group for asking too many questions about Biblical inconsistencies. I was told my skepticism was poison to the group, and that I was ‘leading others astray’ with my own doubt. It was then that I decided once and for all that this wasn’t my path. I longed for a deeper connection to the world and to the divine, and I grasped for any kind of framework to express it. My studies led me to read about many different faiths, but nothing really ‘clicked’ until I came across a strange little book by a woman named Sybil Leek. It was about modern day Witchcraft, which I was preparing an oral report on for my sophomore Mythology class in high school. It was a topic I chose for no particular reason, though I suppose the titillation factor of reading about a subject expressly condemned by society appealed to some reptilian part of my teenaged brain. However, it made sense to me. I hungrily devoured the few books I found in my local library. On a brisk December afternoon, loaded down with holiday shopping bags, I tentatively took my first steps into the Craft. A local Wiccan store, Enchantments, was listed in the back of one of the books I’d read. I was in the neighborhood, and decided to check it out. I was scared witless. I’d never met an actual Witch before, and despite the connection I’d felt to Wiccan ideals in the books, the ingrained fear that I’d be swallowed up in hellfire the moment I stepped inside was still in the back of my mind. The moment I did step in, however, I was greeted by an eccentric guy with Coke-bottle glasses and wild hair, singing a goofy song about Star Trek, which was something I loved. Suddenly, the fear was gone. He took me aside and chatted with me for a while, but most importantly, he listened to me. I was a broken, timid fifteen-year-old girl when I walked into that shop, but when I walked out three hours later, I held a tiny paper bag with the Elder Futhark runes written on them, and a realization that I’d finally found the place where I belonged, a way of life that accepted me for who I was: Wicca. I went to the store’s beginners’ grove, a beginners’ training class, and threw myself into studies. The beauty and mystery of ritual enthralled me. It was something I could grasp, something I could relate to. Ideas and philosophies that had seemed on an intuitive level to be right to me were not only not condemned, but validated. In meditation, the Gods and Goddesses of ancient Greece – those towering figures of myth that captivated me in my childhood – beckoned to me. I devoted myself to the Greek pantheon and to Athena and Apollo in particular, and as I worked with them and learned more about them, I felt the connection I’d longed for and never attained in church. However, once the rose-colored glasses were off, another ghost from my early years began sneaking up on me again, this time in an insidiously new disguise. If Christianity is assumed among mainstream white society, it’s compulsory in the black community. The history of African American culture is inexorably associated

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with Christianity, a double helix: from slavery, to the abolitionist movement, to the civil rights movement. It is the foundation of our shared heritage. The black church has served as a physical and psychological communal space since the very beginnings of American black culture. Black ministers are black leaders. At nearly every gathering of black folk, whether religious in nature or not, there is some mention of God or Jesus. Islam is palatable, largely because of the Nation of Islam’s role. At the very least, its talk of submission to God is understood. Exploration of other paths is incomprehensible; a rejection of Judeo-Christian-Islamic principles is seen as a rejection of blackness in many quarters, however that nebulous concept is defined. Wicca, with its largely European roots and predominately white practitioners, is seen as white New Age nonsense, and I was called a sell-out and a traitor by the blacks I knew, even ones that were only nominally Christian. Yes, that damned cookie again. On the other side of the coin, nearly every white pagan I have ever met – including my aforementioned mentor – has assumed I am a student of Voudon or Yoruban spiritualities. I was continually asked, even interrogated sometimes, by pagan acquaintances and folks I met in open circles and such. Why didn’t I practice ‘my own’ spiritual traditions? Why the Olympians and not the Orishas? The answer is I simply do not connect with them, any more than I connected with Jehovah or Jesus or the Asgard or the Celtic deities. That is not to say that they are not valid or do not exist. I simply believe, as many do, that the right religion is the religion that is right for me. The Greek deities are my deities. End of story. In one of my private rituals, I thought about the Oreo slur, and why it still managed to have such power over me even after all these years. It’s a nasty little weapon, a club to beat square pegs into round holes, a way of shaming those of us who refuse to be defined by society into conforming. It is perhaps fitting then that the last time I thought about it, I felt Hermes’ familiar irreverent presence, and heard him whisper: ‘Babe, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.’ And sometimes a cookie is just a cookie.

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PART 3 Texts, Influences and Practices

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Chapter 8

Vanquishing the Victim: Discourses of dis/empowerment in 1990s teenage Witchcraft Hannah E. Johnston

Thea

14/8/03 3:44 PM

I lived in america til I was nine, then my mom, brother and I moved to norway, which was when my parents split up. It didn’t drive me to the ‘weird’ then. But my mother and step father fight quite often, and I hardly see my father, then I feel that witch craft has helped quite a lot. And also as my brother is a drug abuser I find witch craft very helpful in getting me through all this. I don’t think your being rude ... I am aslo wondering how others experience divorce and witchcraft. P.s sorry if I’m too open, just thought it would help if i told the whole story… :) BB Thea1

Across the developed Western world, Witchcraft, as a belief system and lifestyle practise, has become increasingly less taboo and more culturally fashionable since the mid-1990s. This is a consequence of a variety of social and cultural changes that have gathered momentum in the latter part of the twentieth century including the open culture of the Internet, the inquisitiveness and investment of youth cultures and the media industries that seek to serve them, and the development and proliferation of the ‘New Age’ and alternative spiritualities in the West. Most significantly for the purpose of my argument, Witchcraft as a rag bag of subjugating discourses,2 has been overturned, replaced or at least inflected, by cultural concepts that connote Witchcraft with embodied empowerment, sexual independence and personal power. As Thea’s statement above reveals, the 1990s teenage Witch, whether celluloid, on the tube or real lived experience, expresses a growing alliance between contemporary Witchcraft, ‘girldom’ and agency. 1 Reproduced from a www.witchwords.net message board dialogue. 2 There is a vast plethora of work from a variety of different academic disciplines that discuss the various reflections of witchcraft in America and Europe prior to the evolution of neopagan Witchcraft in the late twentieth century. For example, see Venetia Newell (ed.), The Witch Figure: Folklore essays by a group of scholars in England honouring the 75th birthday of Katherine M. Briggs (London, 1973): Diane Purkiss, The Witch in History; Early Modern and Twentieth Century Representation (London, 1996): Bengt Ankarloo and Stuart Clark (Series Editors), The Athlone History of Witchcraft and Magic in Europe Series, vols 1–6 (London, 1999).

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This essay is a retrospective discussion of research I concluded at the end of 2004. From 2000–2004 I studied British teenage Witchcraft, conducting a piece of ‘polyphonic’ cultural studies research, combining close textual analysis of media texts with online ethnographic data of British teen Witches.3 My chief objective was to achieve an understanding of whether British girls identifying as teenage Witches challenged normative subject positions ascribed to contemporary young women. My hope was that the incorporation of the teenage witch figure into female youth culture would present a resistive moment where concepts of embodied female power, through stylistic changes, linguistic deviations or media consumption, would license an empowering agency for young women. The research responded in part to Lynn Schofield Clark’s suggestion that teenage girls’ experimentation with supernatural models of spirituality is due to their positioning in culture: Their familiarity with such real-life ‘horrors’ adds to the appeal that supernatural events featuring the confrontation of (or working with) fear can lead to a sense of power that may otherwise be lacking. The sentimentality of religion and its overly sweet renderings of the supernatural in depictions of God and Angels may be particularly unappealing to young women who have experienced suffering and a sense of powerlessness.4

My research engaged with this statement, attempting to understand whether predominantly mainstream American texts such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer (WB 1997–2001, UPN 2001–2004), Charmed (WB 1998–ongoing), the film The Craft (Andrew Fleming, 1996) and the numerous pieces of teen Witch literature, provided the British teen Witch audience with a perception of ‘power that may otherwise be lacking.’5 One of the chief methodological approaches that this research took was through claiming Michel Foucault’s writings on the ‘technologies of the self.’6 3 Drawing from these approaches, during the summer of 2001 I established www. witchwords.net: ‘The UK’s first Interactive Web Site for Teenage Witchcraft’. I included details about my involvement with the research area and my position as researcher, attempting to contextualize my motivations and give the user access to the producers of the site, demonstrating the level of reflexivity operating within the methodological approach. Built into the site were numerous opportunities to interact directly with the site’s content, myself and other members, through e-mail, message boards, polls, questionnaires, and the opportunity for the user to have articles posted. 4 Lynne Schofield Clarke, From Aliens to Angels: Teenagers, the Media and the Supernatural (New York, 2003), p. 135. 5 Ibid. Further, please note that throughout this essay that I make a distinction between Witch and witch, Witchcraft and witchcraft. I capitalize to reflect the contemporary practice of Witchcraft/Wicca as religious or spiritual, as distinct from witch/witchcraft, which is used to denote fictional or historical witchcraft practices and identities. Although this model isn’t entirely functional (it suggests that fictional and historical practice/identity are one and the same, which they clearly are not), it does work to suggest that there is a difference between literary/visual and embodied forms. 6 Michel Foucault, 1982 ‘Technologies of the Self’, in P. Rabinow (ed.), Michel Foucault: Essential works of Foucault 1954–1984. Volume 1 Ethics (London, 2000); Michel Foucault 1984a ‘The Ethics of the Concern for Self as a Practise of Freedom’, in P. Rabinow (ed.), Michel Foucault: Essential Works of Foucault 1954–1984, Volume 1 Ethics (London,

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Appropriating this work and fashioning it within a feminist research perspective, I examined to what extent images of contemporary teenage Witchcraft offer visions of feminine identity that are not entirely contained by the history of women’s subjugation and irrationality, offering the possibility of a social, gendered identity which is self-determining, culturally resistive and empowered. Further, my research examined whether such enabling images of femininity are embodied by, or at least offer moments of inspiration to teens identifying as Witches. Methodological victims: Researcher/respondent relationship dynamics Discourses of personal and social victimization are central in the historical and mythological imaginings of witchcraft narratives, whether from within the academy or fictional retellings of witches’ stories. Further, the development of contemporary adult pagan Witchcraft or Wicca is frequently theorized as emerging in response to these historical narratives. The witch figure, as magical scapegoat of antiquity and modern history, is reconfigured in the neopagan retellings of pre-Christian witchcraft as a basis for the formulation of a contemporary spiritual framework that seeks to reclaim female deity and female agency as sacred. Further, misunderstanding from dominant culture is often attributed to those sharing neopagan beliefs: ‘A long tradition of misunderstanding and persecution (referred to as the Burning Times) surrounds the practice of Wicca and other forms of paganism.’7 The discourses of victimization, drawn from the many threads of historical narratives, feminist politics, contemporary self help and neopagan literature, are reformulated in the discussions among teenage Witches in my study, enabling them to create a sense of communitas, a shared experience of the world which celebrates the sacred through ritualized actions, language and behaviour. Also (as suggested by Thea’s posting at the opening of this essay), many of the young women came to Witchcraft on the basis of an experience of victimization, which the practice and belief system of Witchcraft enabled them to overcome.8 At the time of the research, these teenagers were largely unable to enter the adult pagan/Wiccan communities as a consequence of their age.9 However, through their engagement with mainstream media texts and the variety of new media sources, most notably the Internet, they were able to construct identities as teen Witches. 2000); Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality Volume 2: The Use of Pleasure (London, 1984b); Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality Volume 3: Care of the Self (London: 1984c). 7 J. Fernback, ‘Internet Ritual: A Case Study of the Construction of Computer-Mediated NeoPagan Religious Meaning’, in S.M. Hoover and L. Schofield Clark (eds), Practising Religion in the Age of the Media: Explorations in Media, Religion and Culture (New York, 2002) p. 255. 8 See also Doug Ezzy and Helen Berger’s essay in this collection where they outline the conversion patterns of teen Witches in the UK, Australia and the USA. Refer also to the two essays by teenage Witches here. 9 In the majority of Wiccan and Witchcraft traditions, the primary meeting and practice model, the coven, denies membership to those under eighteen.

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In studying the construction of the teen Witch subculture and the dynamic of victimization and agency within it, I had to find a research methodology that accounted for the ‘vulnerability’ of the group under study and did not seek to replicate victimization and subjugation discourses that so many of the media images (and perhaps the teens themselves) used Witchcraft to battle against. Reception studies, a method of ethnography favoured by media researchers, have developed to include the pleasures and practices of female audience groups, particularly around visual and literary genres interpellating a female audience.10 Where teen girl reception studies have been conducted, such as John Fiske’s seminal analysis of Madonna and teen girl consumers,11 girls’ voices are often interpreted as ‘consumer dupes’, needing the voice of an authoritative academic to make sense of their experiences. In discussions of youth digital culture, recent work has attempted to counter this imbalance. One influential example for my research methodology is Susan Murray’s research on girls’ reception of the American TV series, My So-Called Life (1999).12 Her translation of the teen respondent’s online dialogues was driven by the motivation to understand the meaning-making process in which the teenagers were engaged, utilizing an interpretive reading alongside the ethnographic tradition of ‘letting the respondent’s words speak for themselves.’ The epistemological nervousness surrounding ethnography as a cultural studies approach to audience reception centres on the role of the researcher and the ways in which the participants as subjects are translated through research. The inclusion of teenagers’ voices into the body of my research with teen Witches ensured that the teenagers are being spoken for to a lesser extent; that the structures of power surrounding the presentation of teenage subjectivity aren’t rearticulated through the research methodology. Although, as David Morley reminds us,13 the ethnographical claim to an empirical, methodological ‘adequacy’ is flawed, its flawed nature should not stop researchers trying to identify ‘what is really going on.’ This is not to privilege this account as more ‘authentic’ than the other possible methodologies but, to paraphrase John Tulloch’s discussion of ethnomethodologies, ‘rather it is trying ... to find the “now here” – the local, partial and fragmentary micro narrative – and yet to contextualise it also, to interconnect it, to globalize it.’14 Also, in feminist research with girls, the attempt to ‘give voice’ to young women can frequently act as a precursor to giving voice to adult women, who are positioned as the ultimate experts, able to describe young women’s experience back to them much in the same way as talk show hosts and advice columnists ‘listen.’15 Problems arose 10 For seminal examples see Janice Radway, Reading the Romance: Women, Patriarchy and Popular Literature (University of North Carolina Press, 1984); Mary Brown, Television and Women’s Culture: The Politics of the Popular (London, 1990); Ien Ang, Desperately Seeking the Audience (London, 1991). 11 John Fiske, Reading the Popular (Boston, 1989). 12 Susan Murray, ‘Saving Our So-Called Lives: Girl Fandom, Adolescent Subjectivity and My So-Called Life’, in M. Kinder, Kids’ Media Culture (London, 1999). 13 David Morley, Television, Audiences and Cultural Studies (London, 1992), p. 128. 14 John Tulloch, Watching Television Audiences: Cultural Theories and Methods (London, 2000), p. 9. 15 For an excellent discussion of the problematics of listening to young women’s dialogues and engaging in research or activism with young women, see Anita Harris, Future

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during the period of conducting this study due to the ‘sensitive’ nature of the research area and the recognition that the teenagers involved were liminally positioned in relation to both adult Witchcraft/Wiccan communities and dominant teen culture. The work of sociological and anthropological researchers such as Margot Adler,16 Tanya Luhrmann17 and more recently Susan Greenwood18 all demonstrate that in contemporary adult Wiccan/neopagan Witchcraft communities, the perception from those inside towards those outside it is one of wariness, caution and occasionally hostility. As such, these researchers established intimate relationships between researcher and respondents, to create trust and self-reflexive research accounts. It was with these approaches in mind, acknowledging the significance of victim discourses, that I approached the British teenage Witchcraft community. My research website, Witchwords.net, generated a sample group of seventy-nine female identified, British teen Witches aged between eleven and eighteen. The use of a website enabled the research to bypass certain ethical problems of researching teenagers without gaining parental consent, creating a form of quota sampling and a degree of variation within the study. One of the central benefits of using the Internet as a means of data collection is that Internet research cuts down ‘reactivity bias.’19 The levels of intervention on the part of the researcher are negotiated, although not entirely removed, by the mediated nature of the research relationship. Mediated Victims: Representations of fictional witches Valerie Walkerdine’s analysis of themes within schoolgirl fictional narratives states that there are a ‘large number of girls in these stories who are victims of circumstance and cruelty.’20 That contemporary media texts describing teen girls as witches construct them as victims of aggression, racial harassment, injury, self-harm and economic and familial inadequacies, is crucial to understanding how these texts become key sources of inspiration for those teens identifying as Witches. In The Craft, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Charmed, the three media texts cited by teen Witches in my study as inspirational in constructing an identity as a Witch, victimization and the ongoing process of disempowerment are key narrative tropes. In a descriptive scene that demonstrates the characters’ status as subaltern and victim, The Craft details how each girl is plagued by circumstances that are beyond her control and would seek to emotionally or physically hurt her. Rochelle is the victim of racial hatred at school, Bonnie has disfiguring burns, Sarah suffers from post-traumatic suicidal ideation and Nancy, the ‘bad girl’ of the group, is established as the character Girl (London/New York, 2004), pp. 139–143. 16 Margot Adler, Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers and Other Pagans in America Today (Boston, 1975). 17 Tanya Luhrmann, Persuasions of the Witch’s Craft: Ritual Magic in Contemporary England (Massachusettes, 1989). 18 Susan Greenwood, Magic, Witchcraft and the Otherworld: An Anthropology (Oxford, 2000). 19 See Raymond Lee, Unobtrusive Methods in Social Research (Buckingham, 2000). 20 Valerie Walkerdine, School Girl Fictions (London, 1990), p. 95.

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who lives in an abusive, inadequate and economically depressed household. In the Warner Brothers’ series Charmed the Halliwell sisters are frequently depicted as victims of their inherited magical legacy, of attempting to combine their mundane lives with their magical identity (a discourse also found repeatedly in the teen sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch), and subsequently they are often victims to their inability to ‘do it all.’21 Their magical identity makes them vulnerable to a range of demons that would seek to strip them of their powers and separate them from each other. Luckily, through magic and wit they manage to foil most of these plans but the narrative illustrates that as a consequence of this magical identity, their love lives suffer. 22 In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the most popular and influential text for the teen Witches in my study, the narrative demonstrates that all of the female characters are in some ways construed as victims of their own destiny and of magic’s power. For example, Willow is initially the series’ geek, and is positioned as the brainy outsider in her social circle prior to her involvement with witchcraft. In her developing identity as a witch, she learns that power comes at a price. In the characterizations of Willow and Tara (the show’s two longstanding teen witches) and Amy, the relationship between the teen witch, her blood family and the community is represented as one of ongoing conflict. In seasons six and seven, Tara is portrayed as the ultimate victim, killed by the Scooby-gang’s evil enemy. This narrative device leads to the central witch protagonist Willow becoming the victim of magic itself, as she spirals further into an addictive relationship with her own magical power. These narratives do not simply resolve the characters’ victim status through strategies of selflessness, a trope that both Valerie Walkerdine and Angela McRobbie have described as central to the morality of teen girl fictions,23 but demonstrate that their practice and display of witchcraft resolves their experience of cruelty and hardship. Through determination, imagination and self-assurance, aided by the consumption of various necessary items and by working together, the teen witches manage, albeit temporarily, to overcome the threats to their autonomy. Whilst this can be read as a potentially empowering narrative strategy, a reflection of what Anita Harris terms ‘can-do girlpower’,24 through deconstructing the on-screen witches’ responses to their victimization, the methods of empowerment detailed in these texts predominantly adhere to traditional constructions of female power. These methods are linked to essentialist concepts of feminine subjectivity; that it is her corporeal ‘female-ness’ that gives her access to these powers. They predominantly convey moral codes that reinforce cultural assumptions of ‘proper’ feminine behaviour. Where the forms of empowerment offer potentially liberating avenues from the above discourses, the use of witchcraft magic for what is deemed selfish ends details

21 I have written extensively on this subject in relation to post-feminist modalities in ‘Living a Charmed Life: The Magic of Postfeminist Sisterhood’, in Yvonne Tasker and Diane Negra (eds), Interrogating Postfeminisms (Duke Press, Forthcoming). 22 Ibid. 23 Angela McRobbie, Feminism and Youth Culture (Hampshire, 1991) and Valerie Walkerdine, School Girl Fictions, have both described how it is through teen girls assuming proper feminine behaviour that they are able to overcome their status as victims. 24 Harris, Future Girl, pp. 13–36.

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supernatural conclusions which amount to unmitigated social exclusion; in Buffy… Willow is sent away to England to recover from her magical addiction, the Halliwell sisters from Charmed have to reconcile as a sibling unit, and Nancy, Rochelle and Bonnie in The Craft are punished for their selfish behaviour by supernatural forces to varying degrees. The initial description of victimization in these texts arises from exclusion from the dominant cultural order, and leads to a lack of personal agency for these characters. In media texts displaying young women as witches, this dynamic of social exclusion from the majority is overcome through the creation of a separate community. For example, in The Craft, the teenage witches’ community is ritualistically formalized in an initiation rite. The witches pledge solidarity through drinking each other’s blood, identifying each other as sisters, rather than simply friends. The dialogue makes this explicit as each witch drinks the blood saying, ‘I drink of my sisters and ask...’ This ritualistic inauguration of the group, and the use of the word ‘sisters’, portrays the group’s unification where, as Iris Young critiques in her evaluation of idealized community structures: ‘Persons will cease to be opaque, other, not understood, and instead become fused, mutually sympathetic, understanding one another as they understand themselves.’25 In this scene, they cease to use their individual names, and in drinking each other’s blood they are bonded in a way that suggests biological connectivity. The use of blood in this scene signifies the source of the witches’ power. It acts as the catalyst that enables the group to effectively work magic against their victimizers. However, it is this reference that problematizes the witches’ creation of community and the possible resolution to their victimized status. The reference symbolically mimics menstruation, a motif historically and theoretically associated with the ‘monstrous feminine.’26 The witch sisters in Charmed are literally bonded through the blood of sisterhood, which, as the show repeatedly reminds us, is stronger than romantic bonds, for it is this bond that literally gives them the ‘power of three.’ The significance of blood and the creation of community are found in a range of media texts from the 1950s to the 1990s. In portraying young women as witches, texts as generically diverse as Bewitched, Bell Book and Candle, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Practical Magic and Carrie demonstrate that female community, blood ties and generational bonds give women access to supernatural power through which to gain momentary emancipation from social subjugation.27 By locating the witches’ power primarily within the body however, (irrespective of the unnatural act of drinking each other’s blood as in The Craft), contemporary teen witch texts suggest that the only alternative strategy for feminine agency resides 25 Iris Young, ‘The ideal of Community and the Politics of Difference’, cited in Linda Nicholson, Feminism/Postmodernism (London, 1990) p. 309. 26 See for example, the work of Barbara Creed, The Monstrous Feminine: Film, Feminism and Psychoanalysis (London, 1993) pp. 79–83. Here she states: ‘Women’s blood is thus linked to the possession of supernatural powers, powers which historically and mythologically have been associated with the representation of the woman as witch ... woman is represented as monstrous in relation to her reproductive and maternal functions.’ 27 Bewitched (TV Series, ABC 1964–1973), Bell Book and Candle (Richard Quine, 1958), Carrie (Brian de Palma 1976), Practical Magic (Griffin Dunne 1999) and Sabrina the Teenage Witch (TV Series, ABC 1996–2000, WB 2000+).

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in the discourse that women’s bodies are ‘naturally’ powerful due to their maternal potential, that the only alternative to dominant power structures available to them lies in recognizing and elevating their biological identity. This problematic reading of the teenage witches’ access to a form of bio-power is slightly redeemed by the fact that the texts place female-to-female relationships as initially dominant to all other relationships. This is taken one step further in Buffy…’s courageous depiction of Willow and Tara’s lesbian relationship. It is arguably as a consequence of this relationship and their sexual identity that both the show’s teen witches become more magically adept. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Craft’s concept of female bonding pre-empts that found in Charmed and the film Practical Magic, where the characters are unified through familial ties, and these later texts negotiate an entirely essentialist reading through positioning their sibling relationships as primary, irrespective of romantic relationships. This, as Angela McRobbie states in her theorization of girls’ cultures, offers a radical shift from traditional narrative tropes involving female heroines: To the extent that all-girl subcultures, where the commitment to the gang comes first, might ... provide their members with a collective confidence which could transcend the need for ‘boys’, they could well signal an important progression in the politics of youth culture.28

Initially, the role of community in The Craft and the centrality of Willow and Tara’s sexual relationship in Buffy … (their central position in the Scooby gang) may well articulate McRobbie’s optimistic projection. The texts exemplify the unity of the witches’ community by displaying them always together, engaging in school and leisure activities that exclude others. The Craft uses montage edits where the girls are displayed in the school, reading witchcraft books during breaks, at a slumber party watching the 1960s sitcom Bewitched, practising their magical powers and ‘hanging out.’ Adults and other teenagers are absent or denied access to the group. There are several aspects of the screen witches’ community that question this interpretation. If their development of witchcraft as an empowering mode of transformation is an extension of their community, then the articulation of the witches’ desires does not posit culturally challenging positions of femininity. In The Craft, when the witches state their desires at their initiation described earlier, they conform to certain dominant assumptions of what teenage girls are interested in: appearance, social popularity and being the object of male romantic desire. The development of community enables the girls to articulate, albeit in unconventional forms, traditional discourses of feminine desires. The fundamental yearnings described in this scene for Rochelle, Bonnie and Sarah, do not express desires that prioritize the female community but instead convey their motivation to engage with the dominant masculine economy and re-enter the mainstream culture without being found to be lacking.29 Only the ‘bad witch’, Nancy, hysterically articulates a desire

28 McRobbie, Feminism and Youth Culture, p. 42. 29 For example, Rochelle’s wish is not to punish Lizzie the perpetrator of racial prejudice, but that she will not hate those that hate her, as hate is an unacceptable response. Sarah’s

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to be filled with the power of Manon, a masculine supernatural force, and is thus positioned as potentially subversive. This potential also appears in Buffy…’s depiction of Willow’s final descent into dark magical addiction, where she uses her power to enact revenge on her lover’s murderer. Here, Willow uses magic to gruesomely destroy another person, the ultimate transgression in the show’s complex moral universe. This is potentially subversive in its depiction as it shows the capacity for personal power through the use of magic. Yet the actions and desires of both these fictional teen witches conform to Walkerdine’s analysis of dominant tropes of conflict resolution in schoolgirl fictions, ‘girls [in these comics] are encouraged in a view of the self which exists only for and through others.’30 The bad teen witches’ selfish, self-serving actions and desires, represented as morally corrupt, lead to momentous disruptions in the natural order and eventually result in social exclusion, madness and the ‘necessary’ removal of all forms of personal agency. Real Teen Witches: Transforming the victim within The complexity of discourses regarding agency in the media texts discussed above frequently mirror those found in the dialogues of British teen Witches online. Discourses of victimization, misrepresentation and misunderstandings aimed at the teen Witches from ‘outsiders’ were a prolific part of online dialogue, as they are encoded in the media texts. In the discussion taken from Witchwords.net below, Jessie and mj describe the misinterpretations regarding Witchcraft and how they affect people’s perceptions of her: Jessie

Topic: Wicca as a subject in school

16/5/03 8:18 PM

Hi! Dis idea came 2 me 2day in R.E.(Religion lesson). In R.E. we r studying different cultures ’n’ religions. Rite now we’re startin Hinduism. We’re studying their beleifs in gods and goddesses. If we can do Hinduism and Jews, why not wicca? Ok, so it’s R.E. But we should respect otha peepuls cultures, rite? Wen I mention sumtin abt witchcraft 2 ma fwends dey get all wierd ’n’upset sayin I should jus change skool. Wicca is jus like Christianity in a way. Both Christians and Wiccans are patient, trusting.etc. We respect nature and r alwayz searchin 4 peace. So y can’t we study wicca? It’s so hard 2 sit in R.E.lessons sumtimes.Especially wen we’re tal;kin abt beleiving in 1 God. Soz dis mail iz really long. Thanx 4 ur tm! Lub Jessie Blessed be! mj

18/5/03 12:35 AM

na nothins wrong alot of my friends cant acsept my beliefs and others get affended but i still sit and speek my belifes during the descussions. wether they like it or not. i gess u could say there not redy for it! like last year we had to do religous pojects and a mate of mine chose to do wicca u can gess what happened :(.but i keep persvering and the world will someday get in line ith the old ways! and Bonnie’s requests confirm that self-respect is ultimately connected to being romantically involved and that being beautiful ‘on the inside’ is not enough. 30 Walkerdine, School Girl Fictions, p. 96.

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Frequently, as seen in the above dialogue, the discussion invokes the Christian faith and other institutions of perceived authority (school, family) as the source of these misinterpretations. They discuss being disbelieved as a form of victimization or misunderstanding. The sense of separation from social and cultural institutions, which characterizes their discussions of their peers’ responses and their educators’ lack of knowledge regarding contemporary Wicca/Witchcraft, incites a sense of injustice and a perception of disempowerment within these structures and relationships. The commonality of these experiences function to provide the teen Witches a virtual community, a bonding together in the face of adversity. Due to the frequency of these discussions, the perception of misunderstanding and victimization creates an investment in being different. It propels these teens to further engage in this lifestyle, rather than casting off Witchcraft beliefs or practices. The ability to be heard and ‘educate’ peers and teachers is an opportunity to retain a status as ‘different’, fighting to have that difference accepted and understood. It is not only perceptions of misunderstanding and victimization from external influences that enable the teen Witch to voice her sense of self. As seen below, messages were posted that challenge or question the nature of Witchcraft and those that practise it. The response to these challenges, as seen by Lucy, acts as a performance of empowerment: ?

Topic: Free your mind

19/6/03 10:44 PM

I am of the opinion that whether it be paganism, witchcraft, christianity, etc. etc. all religion is an ego trip for the individual. We are all animals, human beings spend so much of their time trying to distance themselves from that fact. Religionis about controlling the masses. People seem only too willing to want to catergorize themselves. The majority of people are sheep as far as I can make out. Free your mind. Seek those who know the truth, there aren’t many! Lucy

20/6/03 7:41 PM

to ? are you 2 scared 2 say who u are? its not the point. my advice to you is go out and actually read wat witchcraft/paganism is because u mite then realise that there is no ‘controlling of masses’ we dont have a dos and donts and a dominate figure or a book to tell us wat 2 do like other religions! we learn from nature and explore our beliefs to best suit the individual! so we dont distant the fact that we are animals! as for the ego thing and being sheeps! i some how dont agree with that! i mean no1told me 2 go into witchcraft, i didnt copy any1! i found it and as u said i ‘freed my mind’ and found what i had been looking for. it wasnt to boost my ego watsoever! i think you should do your reasearch before acussing people! you are free to your point of view, but understand this is a teen website to help and discover what we want! and when you say ‘seek those who no the truth’ isnt that sayin that some where there are controlling massaves something you said is not a good thing???wattruth should we be seeking?? i think it would be good if you told us! blessed be. Lucy

Vanquishing the Victim Ravenous

107 20/6/03 10:28 PM

Would be good if you learnt to spell my dear! As for researching witchcraft and Paganism, believe me Been there done that got the T-shirt. Hmmmm let me see .... Gods and Godesses if that’s not believing in some higher power I don’t know what is! Can’t be bothered to explain if you don’t get what I’m driving at! Lucy

21/6/03 7:02 PM

fine if you want me to write in proper english then i shall. but being use to going on teen website and being on msn i am use to typing short had (it speeds it all up). i dont think you are being very fair! this is a TEEN website not a a place to preech about freeing our minds and not have higher powers take over our lives! this is what we want! this is is why all the teens are on here! so do us a favour and let us get on with it! its not that we cant cope with criticism its just we just dont want to hear it as thats not what this site is all about!! if you wanna talk about religion and higher power then i surgesst you go to a adult website and tell it to someone that cares! sorry if that sounds harsh but i dont think you really understand this site! or about the people who are on it!! I do understand what you was on about! im 16 not a child! and i dont see your logic or believe in it! and another thing when you said ‘Seek those who know the truth, there aren’t many!’ isnt that refering to some sort of higher power?? something your against? Lucy Thea

23/6/03 9:18 AM

What did you expect to get out of your post on this website? Just because one person says FREE YOUR MIND doesn’t mean we are ready to turn our ‘sheep herd’ around and head your way. Really doesn’t that make you the controlling ‘sheperd’? We need abit more persuation than that after finding a belief/practice that suits us quite well. I suggest that you walk on over to a web site that gives a care, for we don’t.

Witchwords.net facilitated a space where teenage, female identified users directly confronted a user critical of their practices and their language use. For Thea and Lucy, Ravenous’s postings are critical of both and the ambiguous statements regarding name, age and perhaps gender enable them to speak passionately about their subject position, leading to Ravenous’s voluntary disappearance from the site. The discussion above demonstrates how regimes of power regarding language use and personal belief are connected for the teen Witch online. That one or two voices, identified as teen and female through name and their oppositional stance towards Ravenous, can speak on behalf of the Witchwords.net community implies that their voices are enabled from a position of confidence regarding their status and position within the site community. Being a teen Witch, and being a part of an online community of those sharing similar beliefs and practices thus enables these teens to recognize those that seek to limit or silence them and to speak out against such behaviour. This discourse in part counters early feminist linguistic theorists who suggested that women’s position within language is implicitly one of disempowerment. As Robin Lakoff famously argued,31 in taking up a certain place within a gendered 31 Robin Lakoff, Language and Women’s Place (New York, 1975).

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order, women position themselves as powerless. Yet linguistic performance does not necessarily lead to understanding women as unable to ‘take a stand’ or articulate a forceful opinion. In the dialogues above, the teen site users, although drawing upon many of the linguistic categories outlined in Lakoff’s work, ‘provide a space for others’ contribution’32 not simply as a form of deference or insecurity. Although the Internet mediates conversation, these teens are interested in producing shared meanings. They are willing to disagree with each other and actively challenge critical voices, whilst retaining a cooperative system of communication. Part of the reason for this sense of community, built around girls’ dialogues, could be that for the teenagers involved in Witchwords.net, Witchcraft is considered to be a predominantly ‘female’ interest, and empowerment comes through recognizing the female form as essentially special and magical, features similarly encoded in the contemporary media texts discussed: Lucy

23/7/03 8:24 PM

I do think witchcraft is more for women/gals. i just cant seem to imagine it sometimes because i feel witchcraft is very feminine. I also think the media has something to do with it as you said, you just dont seem them around on the tv or anywhere. i think more guys should come out and talk about it because maybe they get a different experiance than the women do as i think that is the case, and it might be easier to picture men doing witchcraft. Blessed Be Lucy x x hollyivy

29/7/03 8:45 PM

i think the reason that women are portraied as women on Tv is because of the stereotypical view of the witch with the wart and broom.Although they change it so that the women are good and the men are bad -demons etc (charmed) this is because of feminism!!! but i think that women are more attracted to wicca not only because we are more naturalistic mother nature etc but i think women have more imangination to believe in individualistic views (if you look at history it’s men that play follow the leader – if you know what i mean)???

Hollyivy suggests that media portrayals of female witches are a consequence of both the historical witch stereotype and feminism, and yet states that there are more women interested due to women’s connection to nature and because they ‘have more imagination to believe in individualistic views.’ Here the technologies of essentialism are expressed by these teens as a foundation for understanding the history of women’s victimization, and most significantly as the basis for validating a new, magical identity. The consequences of a teen Witch lifestyle and belief system, of coming into this identity are described in affirmative terms for the teen Witches, despite their discussion of being misunderstood and victimized as a consequence of their new identity. Two separate strands appear in the teen Witches’ discussions of becoming and being a Witch. They can be broadly defined as the results of practising Witchcraft and the consequences of having an identity as a Witch. The two are interconnected yet 32 P. Eckert and S. McConnell-Ginet, Language and Gender (Cambridge, 2003), p. 167.

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distinctive in the teen Witches’ descriptions. For example, casting spells, according to the respondents, doesn’t make you a Witch. In a Witchwords.net poll ‘What makes you a Witch?’, ‘You are born one’ (25 per cent), and ‘Saying you are’ (16 per cent) rate as the highest chosen answers. No respondent discussed the efficacy of her magic as an indicator of being a Witch. Instead, many teen Witches discussed their inability to cast an effective spell and their desire to improve in this area as an indicator of their investment in and commitment to Witchcraft, mirroring the commitment to magic found in representations of media witches. In the Witchwords.net online questionnaire, respondents were asked whether, and if so in what ways, Witchcraft had changed their lives. For respondents aged thirteen to sixteen, the consequences of being a Witch were largely perceived to be forms of self-empowerment and self-awareness. For this age group, the effects of a Witch identity connote personal empowerment – of being in charge, as one respondent states, of one’s place in the universe. Respondents aged seventeen to nineteen describe the effects as giving ‘freedom’, that they are ‘not brainwashed’, are ‘balanced’ and have a ‘broader outlook’ on life. The articulation of personal freedom and confidence suggests a form of personal agency that transforms their experiences of the world. These descriptions suggest that embodying an identity as a Witch repositions perceived disempowerment and sources of victimization. As seen in the dialogue that opened this chapter, and repeated here below in the context of the dialogue, the practice of Witchcraft for these teens enables them to gain a sense of personal control where they might be the victim of social, familial or personal difficulty or trauma: Thea

14/8/03 3:44 PM

I lived in america til I was nine, then my mom, brother and I moved to norway, which was when my parents split up. It didn’t drive me to the ‘weird’ then. But my mother and step father fight quite often, and I hardly see my father, then I feel that witch craft has helped quite a lot. And also as my brother is a drug abuser I find witch craft very helpful in getting me through all this. I don’t think your being rude...I am aslo wondering how others experience divorce and witchcraft. P.s sorry if I’m too open, just thought it would help if i told the whole story.. :) BB Thea Lucy

14/8/03 8:40 PM

i think its gd 2 b open, my parents split wen i was 7, my mum , bro n me moved 2 norfolk den from wales n lived her ever since. my fam split cuz me dad is awoman beater, i try v hard not 2 c my dad cuz of wats happend n cuz of how its affected me and that. but my bro keeps in contact wiv him a lot so its hard. i didnt go in2 witchcraft till about 2 years ago as 7 was a lil young. i got in2 it due2 illness n needin sumfin more n i found witchcraft n never looked bac. it does help wiv fam probs n health probs. anyway thats me bein open! blessed be Lucy x x x x

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110 Pagan Strix

25/8/03 2:23 PM

My parents split just after i discovered the craft, i wasnt affected badly by it because i knew it was going to happen and it was for the best, but i did find peace in my workings, although i didnt need to turn to magick for help. Love Pagan Strix ~x~

Like the ‘good magic’ of media narratives, magic as it is discussed between these teen Witches online was primarily sought after to help others, to search for romance, to overcome difficulties with friends or family members and for protection against perceived threats. At the inception of this research, I hoped that these teenagers were appropriating the new witch icon for feminist purposes. It was with some personal disappointment that I encountered many teen Witches discussing the use of this new power in well-traversed channels: for the promise of romance, and for therapeutic means. Despite my reservations, however, the effect of practising Witchcraft for these teens reflects discourses of ‘girl power’ – of feeling powerful, gaining confidence, countering victimization. In complex forms, these young women engage with discourses of victimization found both within media representations of witchcraft and found in their own lives, transforming them into powerful tools of self actualization, and they utilize Witchcraft as a ‘technology of the self’ through which to rebut the difficulties of teenage-hood. Self-assurance and the capacity to overcome difficulties in the realms of personal and social relationships with a sense of control, freedom and choice, celebrates the dynamic found in the contemporary post-feminist dialectic.33 Through an identity as a teenage Witch, discourses of essentialist power and victimization, key signifiers of traditional (and limiting) teenage femininity are symbolically transformed into sources of empowerment with which to fight the range of difficulties facing many young women at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Bibliography Adler, M., Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers and Other Pagans in America Today (Boston: Beacon Press, 1975). Ang, I., Desperately Seeking the Audience (London: Routledge, 1991). Ankarloo, B. and Clark, S. (Series Editors), The Athlone History of Witchcraft and Magic in Europe Series vols 1–6 (London: Athlone Press, 1999). Brown, M., Television and Women’s Culture: The Politics of the Popular (London: Sage Publications, 1990). Creed, B., The Monstrous Feminine: Film, Feminism and Psychoanalysis (London: Routledge, 1993). Eckert, P. and McConnell-Ginet, S., Language and Gender (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003).

33 For a lengthier consideration of teenage Witchcraft and post-feminist discourse refer to my doctoral thesis, Hannah Sanders, ‘New Generation Witches: The Teenage Witch as Cultural Icon and Lived Identity’, (Norwich School of Art and design 2004).

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Fernback, J., ‘Internet Ritual: A Case Study of the Construction of ComputerMediated NeoPagan Religious Meaning’, in S.M. Hoover and L. Schofield Clark (eds), Practising Religion in the Age of the Media: Explorations in Media, Religion and Culture (New York: Columbia University Press, 2002). Fiske, J., Reading the Popular (Boston: Unwin Hyman, 1989). Foucault, M., 1982 ‘Technologies of the Self’, in P. Rabinow (ed), Michel Foucault: Essential works of Foucault 1954–1984, Volume 1 Ethics (London: Penguin Books, 2000). ——, 1984a ‘The Ethics of the Concern for Self as a Practise of Freedom’, in P. Rabinow (ed), Michel Foucault: Essential Works of Foucault 1954–1984, Volume 1 Ethics (London: Penguin Books, 2000). ——, The History of Sexuality Volume 2: The Use of Pleasure (London: Penguin Books, 1984b). ——, The History of Sexuality Volume 3: Care of the Self (London: Penguin Books, 1984c). Greenwood, S., Magic, Witchcraft and the Otherworld: An Anthropology (Oxford: Berg, 2000). Harris, A., Future Girl (London/New York: Routledge 2004). Lakoff, R., Language and Women’s Place (New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1975). Lee, R., Unobtrusive Methods in Social Research (Buckingham: Open University Press, 2000). Luhrmann, T., Persuasions of the Witch’s Craft: Ritual Magic in Contemporary England (Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1989). McRobbie, A., Feminism and Youth Culture (Hampshire: MacMillan Press Ltd, 1991). Morley, D., Television, Audiences and Cultural Studies (London: Routledge, 1992). Murray, S., ‘Saving Our So-Called Lives: Girl Fandom, Adolescent Subjectivity and My So-Called Life’, in M. Kinder (ed.), Kids’ Media Culture (London: Duke University Press, 1999). Newell, V. (ed), The Witch Figure: Folklore essays by a group of scholars in England honouring the 75th birthday of Katherine M. Briggs (London: Routledge, 1973). Purkiss, D., The Witch in History; Early Modern and Twentieth Century Representation (London: Routledge, 1996). Radway, J., Reading the Romance: Women, Patriarchy and Popular Literature (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1984). Sanders, H., ‘Living a Charmed Life: The Magic of Postfeminist Sisterhood’, in Y. Tasker and D. Negra (eds), Interrogating Postfeminism: Gender and the Politics of Popular Culture (Duke University Press, 2007). Schofield Clarke, L., From Aliens to Angels: Teenagers, the Media and the Supernatural (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003). Tulloch, J., Watching Television Audiences: Cultural Theories and Methods (London: Arnold, 2000). Walkerdine, V., School Girl Fictions (London: Verso, 1990). Young, I., ‘The ideal of Community and the Politics of Difference’, cited in L. Nicholson (ed.), Feminism/Postmodernism (London: Routledge, 1990).

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Chapter 9

A Charming Spell: The intentional and unintentional influence of popular media upon teenage Witchcraft in America1 Peg Aloi

The increasing popularity of Witchcraft belief and practice in the United States in the last decade has witnessed a concomitant growth of various accompanying media (fiction and non-fiction books, television, film, internet and music) which have served to both inspire and document this cultural and spiritual phenomenon. One of the fastest-growing demographic groups of Witchcraft practitioners continues to be young people aged thirteen to nineteen: a group particularly affected by popular media and for whom a vast amount of this media is specifically produced. The portrayal of contemporary Witchcraft in films and television began to take on a more realistic patina beginning ten years ago in 1996 with The Craft2 and Practical Magic,3 and this began a fertile period denoting Witchcraft’s engagement with popular culture: an engagement which took on massive proportions when author J.K. Rowling’s series of Harry Potter books emerged in 2000.4 The multi-million dollar franchise was begun by an unemployed single mother whose series of novels about a school for witches and wizards in contemporary England has had a profound impact. Millions of children raised on video games and TV discovered the joy of reading books for the first time, and millions of Christian activist groups called for the books to be banned because of their potential ability to indoctrinate children into Witchcraft. Film versions have followed and adults and children alike have assured a multi-million dollar film franchise of sequels that will continue for years. But even as the Harry Potter stories follow the maturation of a group of young witches from childhood through adolescence, the world of Hogwarts (the witchcraft school Harry and his friends attend) is a fantastical realm that exists on the edge of reality, a castle full of mystical beings that resembles a medieval milieu. This essay is primarily 1 From the original Charmed title track ‘A Charming Spell,’ by Splashdown. 2 The Craft (Andrew Flemming 1996). 3 Practical Magic (Griffin Dunne 1999). 4 It would be interesting to see if there is an increase in interest in Witchcraft among teenagers as the film sequels feature Harry et al. getting older; particularly given the negative reaction to the books from conservative Christian parents and educators.

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concerned with media texts that portray teenaged Witches who exist and function within the contemporaneous present. Prior to the past decade, most portrayals of contemporary witches in film dated from the 1960s and 1970s, and showed them to be malevolent or closely aligned with Satan worship, as in Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby,5 and those portraying young contemporary witches of high school or college age, such as Satan’s School for Girls, Stranger in Our House, or The Initiation of Sarah,6 all demonstrated that dabbling in the dark arts was a sure way to bring death, mayhem and religious wrath to a community. During the 1970s there were many made-for-television films and series dealing with occult topics, but in the 1980s such texts were strangely absent. Author Nikolas Schreck attributes this trend in part to the shift in cinematic style wrought by filmmakers like George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, whose tales of outer space and extra-terrestrials captivated audiences with mythological stories characterized by strongly-drawn moral alignments and traditionally masculine heroics. ‘The brave new world imagined by the Lucas/Spielberg team was strangely devoid of any eroticism, as squeaky-clean and wholesome as a 1950s TV show – the ultimate reaction to the revolutionary tendencies of the 1960s and early 1970s, and the very antithesis of the black imaginations of such subversives as Polanski or Bunuel’ and the Star Wars/Close Encounters of the Third Kind phenomenon was a ‘barometer of the new social conservatism that dominated the decade to come.’7 The advent of a new conservatism in the 1980s was accompanied by an increasing tendency toward religious fanaticism: the so-called right wing Christians (mainly Evangelical, Southern Baptist or Pentecostal denominations) were on the front lines of many cultural battles involving sexuality and personal agency, fighting passionately against pornography, abortion and gay rights. This occurred as American society itself was moving both toward and away from organized religion. As the New Age grouping of beliefs and practices which first became popularized in the 1970s (including many Eastern influences such as Buddhism, Taoism, and Shintoism) began to gain widespread acceptance, many adults raised in more traditional religious traditions began to veer toward secular humanism. Alongside Eastern religions, Wicca and paganism grew, too, and many conservative Christians saw a clearly-defined ‘enemy’ among the pluralistic, polytheistic deities worshipped by the New Pagans. Equating Pan with Satan was easy; both had horns, were hairy, lustful and associated with nature. Modern Witchcraft was equated with the witchcraft of antiquity and a modern-day witch hunt was born. Instead of causing cows to fall sick and crops to fail as they did in medieval times, modern witches were accused of something far more sinister: Satanic Ritual Abuse, or SRA. The pervasiveness of the SRA myth for a number of years, spanning the decade of the 1980s, serves to point out two important conundrums of controversy which surrounded the rise of paganism in the United States: first, that the general public was 5 Rosemary’s Baby (Roman Polanski 1967). 6 Many occult-themed films featuring adolescent females were made for television in the 1970s, many of them starring actresses already familiar to audiences from TV and theatrical films, such as Kate Jackson, Linda Blair, and Kay Lenz, to name a few. 7 Nicholas Schreck, The Satanic Screen, p 192.

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surprisingly willing to believe that an underground network of Satan worshippers existed which ran afoul of legal and moral constraints, and second, that any statement linking neopagan Witchcraft to Satanism, no matter how nefarious or illogical, was readily believed by a large portion of that same media-consuming public. In analyzing the cultural conditions which primed the canvas for this myth’s dissemination, I have concluded that several factors were responsible. The neoppagan revival itself, which migrated to the US in the 1960s from Great Britain, gave rise to a spate of novels and, later, Hollywood films linked to rumors of, or actual, contemporary occult activity (including the aforementioned Rosemary’s Baby, with its coven of demonic witches in Manhattan, and The Exorcist, with its representations of Black Mass church desecrations). Further, controversial responses to such films from critics, media pundits and the public led to a great deal of media coverage of the so-called occult community (which also examined organizations like the Church of Satan or W.I.T.C.H., the Women’s International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell). In this way the general public was exposed to a dramatic, if fanciful, portrayal of the occult practitioners who might be living in their neighborhoods. But it is impossible to mention the impact of these texts and their part in fomenting the SRA phenomenon without acknowledging the evolution of the political climate over this same period. The anti-war movement was mentioned in a prominent sequence in The Exorcist, many of the characters in Rosemary’s Baby were portrayed as having leftist political views, and in general the occult movement of the late 1960s and 1970s was equated with the hippies and the back-to-the-earth movement, as well as with those other societal elements associated with free love, drug use and civil rights protests. In many people’s minds, the most high-profile events were linked to current political unrest (the Altamont violence, the Stonewall riots, the Patty Hearst kidnapping, the fall of Saigon, the Watergate affair followed by President Nixon’s disgrace and resignation, the list goes on); and the catapulting of Ronald Reagan, an icon of 1950s conservatism, into the national spotlight served to create a nation-wide political and social environment primed for turning aside from what, in 1980, had just passed: two of the most tumultuous decades of the country’s history. Placed alongside the growing prominence of the Religious Right and Moral Majority (which could be seen, in part, as responses to the increased presence of occultism), and in turn the growing antiabortion movement embraced by conservatives (itself a movement galvanized, clearly, by the growth of feminism and the sexual revolution), it is not surprising that the public was ready and willing to demonize a group of ‘outsiders’ and accuse them of preying on the one truly innocent segment of the population: its children. SRA was seen as a horrific trend sweeping the nation, causing the disappearance, torture, rape, mutilation and murder of countless children. Despite many outrageous allegations and years of investigation, the FBI has never encountered a single corpse related to a substantiated case of SRA.8 As the craze persisted (helped along by TV shows such as Oprah which further sensationalized cases which were tangentially-related

8 1994.

Mark Sauer, ‘Chasing Satan in Sacramento,’ San Diego Union Tribune, 16 June

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at best,9 and an episode of The X-Files which will be described shortly), modern Witch covens were equated with Satanic cults who lured children and young people into orgiastic rites culminating in forced childbearing, infanticide and murder.10 It was around this time that children’s photos started appearing on milk cartons, and a cult of kidnapped children, whom many extremist Christians believed must be the victims of cults, began to loom large in the American imagination. Law enforcement officials confirm that the vast majority of children pictured on milk cartons are not in fact missing but have been illegally taken by a non-custodial biological parent. Meanwhile, the 1980s saw a dramatic surge of over-protective child-rearing practices, such that activities once taken for granted (trick or treating after dark at Hallowe’en, for example, or walking home from school unaccompanied) were now no longer permissible. A seemingly unrelated cultural phenomenon, the shift in the pornography industry from film to video, meant that porn was cheaply made and readily accessible, and this led to the so-called ‘v-chip’ being installed on television sets, a sort of parental guard that was present when parents were not. Coupled with yet another cultural phenomenon of the 1980s, the increasing number of ‘latchkey kids’ who were left to their own devices after school as more and more households had women working (whether because they were single parents or part of a twoincome household), the pervasiveness of adult material on TV also lent credence to the notion that America’s children were under attack. Add to this the fact that the so-called Pro-Life movement took on significant political and financial clout during the 1980s, with campaigns to protect the unborn being staged at women’s health facilities around the country, and the Cult of the Child looks even more bizarre. It is little wonder that many parents began to fear their children might be claimed by Satan as easily as by a kidnapper, pedophile, or abortionist. As America became more and more a culture defined by fear, gun ownership and violence increased exponentially throughout the 1980s. Meanwhile, the trend in television programs veered from the experimental, fantasy and occult programs of the 1970s to increasingly decadent ‘primetime soap operas’ that portrayed life in America as a vapid, consumerist wasteland. While it may be true that the trends in programming reflected cultural shifts in which blatant consumerism and leisure lifestyles were featured in much of the network programming: but shows like Dallas, The Cosby Show, thirtysomething and Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, to name four top-rated shows from very different genres which all featured upscale living, paled in popularity next to the evangelical news and talk show The 700 Club and similar shows such as Jim and Tammy Bakker’s PTL. Although neither show explicitly demonstrated interest in upscale lifestyles, the shows did act as ongoing telethons to raise money for their ministries, and the revelation of financial and sexual impropriety within 9 One episode of Oprah featured a family whose son was murdered by drug dealers while vacationing in Mexico, and the killing was, rather inexplicably, linked with occult groups in the United States. 10 The image of the witch coven as being greedy for children to murder was fostered throughout the 1970s by the media stories generated in the wake of Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist (1973), and The Omen (1976), as well as by the brainwashing tactics used in the Manson family murders and the Hearst kidnapping.

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these organizations fed scandalous tabloid news headlines for years throughout the mid- to late 1980s. But in the popularity of this Christian programming lies, perhaps, the most likely reason for a decrease in occult topics in narrative and documentary television series. The rise of right-wing Christianity in America and the so-called Moral Majority’s influence upon political and cultural discourse is perhaps the most significant and enduring feature of Ronald Reagan’s two-term presidency. It is not clear if there was any one specific condition or event that led to an explosion of interest in witchcraft from teenagers. But from a philosophical standpoint it may be that a generation raised in a culturally-conservative, fear-ridden culture would naturally be drawn to a form of adolescent rebellion that would stand out starkly. Teens in the mid-1990s were becoming more media savvy, as networks identified them as a viable consumer demographic. The success of shows like My So-Called Life, a critically-acclaimed but little-watched show by the creators of thirtysomething, was followed by the wildly popular teen soap operas Beverly Hills 90210, Dawson’s Creek and others that imitated them including Party of Five and Felicity. Clothing manufacturers like Abercrombie & Fitch, J. Crew and Tommy Hilfiger signed contracts to have their clothing featured in these shows, and pop bands scrambled to have their songs featured on episodes.11 The Warner Brothers TV network engendered a brilliant marketing device after some of their nightly shows, including Dawson’s Creek and Charmed: at the end of each episode, they listed on the screen the titles of songs featured in the episode’s soundtrack, along with the band names. The aesthetics of the shows tended to dictate the use of music by independent or somewhat obscure bands, and the resultant publicity allowed many unsigned bands to forge record deals. Most audiences loved this: they got to hear hot new bands and relive their favorite episodes. A recent review on SPIN magazine’s website celebrates the dual experience of being a former Dawson’s Creek fan who can now purchase the entire show’s soundtrack on CD.12 The title of this essay is from a song written by the Boston-based band Splashdown for Charmed; initially ‘A Charming Spell’ was to be the show’s main theme, but the producers later opted for the cover of The Smiths’ ‘How Soon is Now?’ by Love Spit Love, which had also been featured in The Craft. Although Splashdown’s song was featured in one episode, the amount in royalties collected, according to the band’s leader, was a fraction of what would have been paid if the song had been the show theme.13 This is one more facet to the question of the influence of marketing, however subtle, upon teen culture, and this example underscores the commercial significance of teens as consumers not only of television but also of popular music. Amid the perfect bodies and constant sex enjoyed by teenagers on these shows, the idea of the teen as outcast or Other, the iconoclast, the one who does not care what 11 Wayne D’Orio, ‘Clothes Make the Teen: Apparel maker promotional deals with films and TV shows’ on www.mediacentral.com, 1999. 12 Kyle Anderson, ‘Basking in the staggering awesomeness of Dawson’s Creek,’ at www.spin.com community blog site, October 2005. 13 Band founder Adam Buhler co-wrote the song along with Splashdown’s lead singer and one of Charmed’s producers; later the band was courted by a major record label but ultimately rejected; the resultant saga was turned into a rock opera.

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others think of their looks or beliefs, was often dealt with in a heavy-handed way; in real life, imperfect teens who could not find accurate representations of themselves on TV formed subcultures which were the very definition of difference. Subcultural groups like Goths (short for Gothic) stand out because of their modes of dress, but the extremity of this look holds a certain glamour and drama as well. It is performance of the ‘leave me alone’ variety. Identification with such a persona can be in some cases crucial to a young person’s social survival: a way of expressing themselves outside the mainstream expectations of the local culture, and a way of celebrating difference, or even embracing ostracism. Goth subculture was thoroughly entrenched by the late 1980s, and as youth culture often copies that of young adults, most high schools in America had at least a handful of students who liked to wear black and listen to The Cure. Out of Goth subculture came a style of dress and attitude which lent itself very effectively to the next teen trend: Witchcraft. But rather than occur spontaneously, the Witchcraft trend was catalyzed and inspired by several popular media texts. The Goth mode of fashion was a prominent feature of a film about teenage Witches that became wildly popular among young audiences. Andrew Flemming’s popular 1996 film The Craft has undeniably been the single greatest influence on the growth of teenage Witchcraft in America. Starring beautiful teenaged actresses like Robin Tunney and Neve Campbell, as well as hunky heartthrobs like Skeet Ulrich, this film was poised to lure teenage girls into its darkly charming vortex, and to offer what seemed to be an insider’s view of a spiritual phenomenon just beginning to be noticed by mainstream society. The Craft is a particularly complex text because even while its fans seem mostly to recall the physical attractiveness and strong personalities of the teenage characters, the film’s plot makes it very clear that Witchcraft can be dangerous and even lethal for those who practice it casually. The film caused some pagan writers to cautiously praise its use of authentic ritual texts (the film employed a Wiccan High Priestess as a script consultant), and to praise its message of the danger of magical dabbling, while decrying its over-the-top use of special effects to portray magic as little more than glamour and illusion. But at first it was not clear to pagan film reviewers (even myself)14 that a great many teenagers would embark upon the path of paganism as a direct result of seeing this film. As one critic put it, writing for the Covenant of the Goddess newsletter, ‘this film may in fact have helped our image by having very popular actresses’ portraying ‘positive witch characters.’15 In 1999, commenting on The Blair Witch Project (a film which was not about contemporary Witchcraft but which nevertheless galvanized a passionate interest in the ‘real’ story behind the fake documentary), one filmgoer remarked in

14 Because I was writing a lot of media reviews on witchcraft-related film and television texts for the Witchvox website at the time the film was released, I closely monitored the internet buzz and, specifically, the pagan community’s response to this film. 15 Many responses from the pagan community were less than positive. Author and New York lawyer Phyllis Curott was a vocal critic of the film who urged a boycott before she had even seen it, and asked the filmmakers to issue a disclaimer that would appear onscreen before each showing. This request was not granted.

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the Witchvox.com forum: ‘A positive influx of young women to our path resulted from The Craft; I cannot imagine anything positive coming from this film.’16 Pagan audiences may have been caught off guard with The Craft, but mainstream audiences had already begun to enjoy a rebirth of occult topics in TV programming. In November of 1996, a controversial episode of the number-one rated show, The X-Files, featured an occult storyline that includes elements of both Satanicstyle Witchcraft and contemporary Wicca. Utilizing convincing scenes depicting authentic-looking tools used by a real Wiccan, the episode inflamed many pagan viewers because this same ‘real Wiccan’ used leeches in a medical procedure, and sprang from a bathtub full of blood with a knife to attack a plastic surgeon who was using black magic. The Witches’ Voice website (witchvox.com) published an article, written by myself and Wren Walker, delineating the many details of the script and production design which made it clear the episode (entitled ‘Sanguinarium’) had not only been scrupulously researched in terms of portraying Wicca in a realistic fashion, but in fact included some elements which bordered on sly, including a location appearing on screen which lent itself to the article’s title, ‘1953 Gardner Street’: a reference to Gerald Gardner and, according to some sources, the year his first ‘how-to’ book, Witchcraft Today, was published. However, this was not the first time The X-Files had dabbled in an occult storyline; in 1994 during its second season, the episode ‘Die Hand die Verleztz’ featured a cult of Satan worshippers whose practice had evolved from a Puritanical group in Colonial America. The story portrayed what was essentially a bizarre case of Satanic Ritual Abuse, and although the cult’s practices did not resemble Wicca, the use of symbols and terminology which could be loosely associated with both Satanism and Wicca caused confusion which upset many pagan viewers. By the time ‘Sanguinarium’ aired, the online pagan community was well-versed in the art of protesting negative media portrayals of modern Witchcraft. Letters, emails and, in some cases, protests called attention to the real-life problems caused for witches whose neighbors, employers or families were influenced by media texts which portrayed their chosen religion or lifestyle as malevolent or anti-social. As pagans became more adept at communicating their outrage to networks and other media outlets, slowly the portrayal of modern witches on TV started to reflect an awareness of Wicca and/or Witchcraft as a spiritual path which was quite separate from the ‘satanic’ mode of Witchcraft often seen in TV or film. It was perhaps the authentic Wicca-based details of The Craft which both attracted teens and, simultaneously, offended some adult practitioners who thought the main characters’ desire to use magic for personal gain and to harm others was not a desirable model for a fledgling religion only beginning to gain mainstream notice and acceptance. In 1997, when Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed (which was loosely based on The Craft), and Sabrina the Teenage Witch all premiered on network television, witches had become entrenched as media darlings who could not only be benevolent but sexy, comical and in some cases, role models for the young women who watched them. Over a period of months in 1997, references to Witchcraft began to appear on 16 Many more such comments can be found on the Blair Witch Project forum, at www. witchvox.com/media.

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other popular network shows, and the headlines in entertainment tabloids began to reflect these story lines. As time went on such references increased, and a number of primetime investigative news shows featured episodes devoted to occult topics. As The Witches’ Voice functioned as a networking organization that offered assistance to Witches experiencing discrimination related to their lifestyle practices, some details of these cases found their way into fictional television narratives. An episode of Judging Amy featured a woman who was a practicing Witch who stood to lose custody of her children in a court battle over her fitness as a parent due to her spiritual beliefs. This mirrored a well-publicized case in which Kerri Patavino, a school-bus driver in her late twenties and practicing Wiccan who lived in Connecticut, was accused of having sex with an underage male. Patavino, a wife and mother of two children, was sentenced to prison, after months of newspaper headlines and news shows that offered details of the case directly related to her Wiccan practice. Among other accusations, Patavino was accused of drinking the plaintiff’s blood, drawing a pentagram beneath her bed to cause him to fall under her control, and using sex to bind his soul to hers. Within the pagan community, people who supported Kerri held benefits and rallies, several of which I attended. It was widely believed that the news media focus on Kerri’s beliefs sealed her fate, as no physical evidence of the crime was ever confirmed. As pagans became fair game for entertainment media and, by extension, the nightly news and daily tabloids, the response from pagan activists and spokespeople was to critique these media. In some cases, protests and boycotts occurred in response to instances when contemporary Witches were portrayed inaccurately, in ways which led to acts of harassment fueled by prejudice and intolerance in some communities throughout the 1990s. These acts of harassment included shop owners whose stores were vandalized or picketed, teachers whose workshops were targeted with negative publicity, and families whose children were targeted in schools. The news media often covered these stories, as well. What is interesting is that in the wake of a great deal of media attention to the persecution and harassment of pagans and Witches, a phenomenon of knee-jerk-style protest began to occur. Before all facts were uncovered or allegations proven, the pagan community could often be counted on to rally around a cause and proclaim the response suitable for all pagans and Witches. Since not everyone would agree with such tactics, this led to a great deal of argumentation and infighting, much of it taking place online. In 1999, the advance hype surrounding the hugely successful low-budget film The Blair Witch Project led some pagans to call for boycotts even before they’d seen it, echoing the situation with the Christian protestors and Scorcese’s film The Last Temptation of Christ in 1990. Many of the people who protested against the Blair Witch movie were teens, because the film’s protagonists were young and the internet-based advertising campaign was aimed at a youth demographic. This was one of the first widespread examples of pagan protest to a media event that was both subject to the premature and uninformed judgment of a pagan audience, and widely engaged in by pagan teens as well as adults. This trend continued when television shows dealing with witches sometimes offered less-than-accurate portrayals, and even as teens loved and appreciated shows like Charmed they also were not hesitant to criticize it if a particular episode or storyline did not meet with their approval. As teens gradually

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became more savvy with the jargon and issues of modern paganism, their voices of protest joined in with their adult counterparts, oftentimes targeting the very shows designed to appeal to their demographic. Alongside the spirit of media scrutiny and critique that adult and teen pagans were engaging with, teens were also seeking to explore ways of experiencing the expression of Witchcraft and pagan identities in the real world. It is no coincidence that, concomitant with the arrival of these media texts featuring attractive young witches, the adult pagan community was inundated with requests from teenaged seekers wanting more information. Because the shows featured characters dealing with problems common to all adolescents, not just witches, the tendency for teenage girls to want to solve their problems with magic and spells, like their primetime role models, became a pervasive trend in schools and, most notably, on the Internet where this phenomenon has mainly been documented. Because of the many sensitive issues surrounding adult mentorship of pagan teens, not to mention the common (if often spurious) association of modern Witchcraft with permissive sexuality, the majority of the pagan community very quickly dealt with the situation by more or less refusing mentorship to anyone under the age of eighteen, and for younger seekers this often meant a reply to their enquiry saying ‘Wait a few years, and here are some books you can read in the meantime.’ Wren Walker of Witchvox even wrote a helpful, no-nonsense essay for beginners which became the site’s most widely-downloaded one ever, entitled ‘So Ya Wanna Be a Witch?’ that encouraged teens to examine the motivation behind their seeking, and that recommended a great deal of reading before one commenced working with spells. But the children of America were not about to sit back and read books (at least not until Harry Potter came out in the year 2000), particularly when they saw their role models every week on television fighting evil and winning boyfriends and dealing with their high school angst by way of Witchcraft. In many cases some teens did not have access to such books, either because they lived in rural areas, or in the Bible Belt, or were worried about having them in the house because of what their parents might think. But teens did have increasingly easy access to the internet, and so a plethora of websites began to spring up devoted specifically to teens interested in Witchcraft and paganism. In academic studies of paganism, we’re seeing a growing number of ethnographic approaches. But for the teen Witchcraft movement, the chronicling of emerging trends and practices can really only be observed at a generational remove, until these teens are of an age where they can conduct their own research. In 1997, the same year that these witch shows were heating things up on the Warner Brothers TV network, The Witches’ Voice was founded, of which I am one of the founding members, and we were more or less immediately approached by a large number of teens looking for information and networking. The co-founders created a web page for pagan teens where they could submit their own essays, have their own discussions, and make contact with each other, and this model spawned literally thousands of similar cyber communities. Although Witchvox provided the model, it is a testament to the vitality and assertiveness of the teen pagan community that they quickly and skillfully formed their own online network of websites and message boards. Of course, some of the most frequent topics for discussion involved The Craft, Charmed, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

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In order to demonstrate the effect of these media upon beliefs and practices within the teenage pagan community, I have analyzed a diverse sampling of critique and discussion by contemporary teenage Witches, Wiccans and neo-pagans on various websites and Internet-based forums, including message boards, mailing lists and chat rooms. It is my conclusion that accepted norms of practice, belief and behavior among teenage Witches are in some cases suggested by or ‘copied from’ various media, even as the media sources themselves have borrowed from models and trends within the teenage pagan community. The reflexivity of this situation suggests that both the emergent traditions of teenage Witchcraft, and the media that comment upon them, are engaged in a symbiotic relationship that, at its core, may help explain the ethnographic difficulties of tracing a coherent history or cultural study of this fast-growing belief system.17 The increasing involvement of teenagers in Wicca and Witchcraft can be attributed in part to the influence of various films and TV shows which feature teenagers involved in the occult in general, and Witchcraft or Wicca in particular. The most fertile period for these media texts aimed at teenagers and featuring Witchcraft occurred between 1996 and 2000: a time which, again, saw an enormous increase in teenagers seeking out information on Witchcraft on the internet, and which quickly caused the Religious Right to sound an alarm bell warning of the dangers of occult influences upon impressionable young minds. We all know our kids are far more computer savvy than we are, and where a need is perceived a product is usually developed, so within months we saw a proliferation of filtering software which blocked certain words from search engines; this began to be bought up by parents but also used in libraries and schools. There were legitimate concerns about minors having access to pornography on the net. But several of these filters, like one known as ‘CyberSitter’ were programmed to block access to words like ‘witch,’ ‘Witchcraft,’ ‘Wicca,’ ‘neopagan,’ from both search engines and for URL retrieval, as well as blocking the words ‘lesbian,’ ‘Shaman,’ ‘Jehovah’s Witness,’ and ‘Hare Krishna.’ These filters were in some cases manufactured and distributed by companies affiliated with the Religious Right. Incidentally, they don’t usually block words like ‘satan,’ or ‘evil’ or ‘demons’ or ‘hellfire’ because then teens wouldn’t be able to access any of the evangelical Christian websites. A group called Peacefire was founded by a teenager in response to this problem and they work to address issues of internet censorship and mediated morality; the average age of their members in 2002 was fifteen.18 Internet censorship and the use of filtering software threatened to shut down teenage pagan internet activity. So one result has been that teens got very creative with the names they gave their sites. Instead of calling it ‘Teen Witchcraft Study Group’ it would become ‘Seekers of the Emerald Moon’ or ‘Oak Grove Musings.’ Word would spread within chat rooms or newsgroups, or via email. And networking would continue, much like a floating nightclub sort of idea. In recent years calls for legislation requiring schools and public libraries to install filtering software has been fought by the ACLU as being a violation of the First Amendment, although it 17 See Hannah Johnston’s article in this collection for a discussion of these difficulties with specific reference to this process regarding teen Witches. 18 The website at www.peacefire.org details the group’s history and mission statement.

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continues to be a problem in the private sector. A casual survey of teenage Internet sources revealed that, in 2002 there were 140 teen pagan websites listed on the Witches’ Voice links page; there are 371 pagan chat groups on ICQ, a number of which are designed specifically for teens, and still others with more generalized focus that are led by people between the ages of fourteen and twenty-two.19 Many of these groups were founded in the last three years; some, like the discussion group Saplings, founded in 1996, have been around since the beginning of the teen Witch phenomenon in America. One of the most popular topics of conversation in discussion groups revolves around film and television. In particular, one film may be said to have catalyzed the teen Witch movement all on its own. The Craft was a slickly-produced film scored with popular bands singing retreads of 1980s hits, and starred actresses already popular with teens like Fairuza Balk (who had previously starred in the films Valmont and Gas Food Lodging) and Neve Campbell (from the highly-rated Fox network show Party of Five). Miss Balk in particular became a teen role model as a result of this film, spawning dozens of fan websites and becoming the hot topic of conversation for teenage girls, self-proclaimed Witches, Goths, and otherwise, who wanted to emulate her looks, fashion sense, attitude and magical confidence. When it became known that Miss Balk herself became a Wiccan, and later bought an occult shop in Los Angeles called Pan Pipes, fans saw an even closer affinity. The fans of Buffy …, Charmed, Practical Magic and The Blair Witch Project frequently speculate about the pagan leanings of the various actresses involved, and of course in some cases, for example the infamous shenanigans of Charmed’s ex-cast member Shannen Doherty, the tabloids have had a field-day tying in the witchy roles these actresses play with their real-life mishaps. This meta-cinematic connection becomes stronger when stories surface about ‘strange happenings’ on the film sets themselves, as when the ocean tide kept washing away lit candles during the filming of the invocation scene on the beach in The Craft; or when Erica Leerhsen related, while filming Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, that she couldn’t sleep for two days after filming the invocation of the goddess of the Underworld.20 These types of phenomena have a long and rich history in modern cinema, most notably with Rosemary’s Baby (following the film’s release in 1968, Polanski’s pregnant wife, actress Sharon Tate, was murdered in 1969 by Charles Manson’s followers; additionally the film’s composer Krysztof Komeda suffered a fatal brain aneurysm, and producer William Castle was admitted to the hospital with uremic poisoning)21 and The Exorcist (a number of unusual and unexplained mishaps occurred on and off set during the production and in the months that followed, including the sudden death of actor Jack MacGowran one week after shooting his onscreen death scene and a fire on the set which destroyed the main house interior). Although it is true that some of these incidents were perhaps needlessly touted as 19 These numbers invariably shift. Increasingly, as of 2005, many pagan teens maintain internet blogs on sites such as livejournal, MySpace and diaryland. 20 I overheard this as Erica was being interviewed at The Blair Witch Webfest in Hollywood, CA, 2001; I later found out her insomnia occurred after she shot an intense scene for which I had written a Persephone invocation. Sorry, Erica! 21 Shreck, Op cit., pp. 83–84, 67–68.

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being somehow connected to the subject matter of the films, the resulting publicity nonetheless caused rumors of occult connection which have persisted to the present day. As American culture becomes increasingly concerned with the personal lives of celebrities and the marketing of films increasingly saturates news, talk shows and lifestyle programs, the connections between life and art that posit occult connections will no doubt become more pervasive. Perhaps nothing embodies this sort of obsession better than the proliferation of ‘fan sites’ on the internet: websites devoted to individual television shows or films and the actors in them. Fans slavishly post information and participate in discussions; the fervor demonstrated occasionally borders on the ridiculous. For the true fan, demonstrating to others one’s dedication and loyalty to a given show or performer creates a sort of social order within the web community. In some cases, individual life choices are a direct result of narratives seen in TV or films. This is readily apparent in sites which discuss texts that deal with teenage Witchcraft, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed and, in my opinion, most notably, The Craft. Just a sampling of these comments from a forum at www.purpleglitter.com, which features actresses that appeal to teenage girls (like Fairuza Balk, Kate Winslet, Christina Ricci, and Helena Bonham Carter), show the degree to which young women identify with this actress and this character. A number of participants in the forum stated that the character of Nancy reminded them of themselves: Tia: ‘Nancy reminds me of myself in this movie.’ Lilith: ‘I just love her, I mean, I’m pagan just like her and I’m gothic like Nancy in the movie.’ Caz: ‘Nancy is the girl I tried to be in high school.’ Mistress Elvira 78: ‘In the Craft she is a lot like me in many ways. I am a practicing Wiccan and like her role would probably be the one to want to be the leader no matter what. She is my absolute idol with the exception of Elvira!’

The girls also comment upon wanting to emulate her style of dress: JT: ‘I personally think she’s one of the most attractive actors out there, mostly because her style is similar to my own.’ Amanda: ‘Fairuza got me into the Wicca religion and into the Goth/punk style.’

There is also an ironic attraction toward the Goth styling of the costumes, which, for some of these girls raised in more strict parental environments, are off-limits: Chase: ‘I would dress like her if I could but my mom won’t let me wear much stuff like that yet.’ Charmaine: ‘I would love to look like her and dress like her but I don’t know how and I would like to know where she got her clothes.’

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Still others chose to expound on magical philosophy or their thoughts on the film’s portrayal of paganism. Marilyn Manson’s Cat says: ‘I am a natural witch, we all wish our power worked like that! I wish it worked like on Charmed, too but unfortunately magic is far more complicated.’ Jo: ‘I’ve read a lot of your comments saying because of this film you want to get into Witchcraft. I have studied it for five years, and practiced it for about two. And I promise you, it isn’t like it’s portrayed in this film, so please don’t use it as a basis for your religious beliefs.’ GlamRock: ‘inspired me to go Wiccan.’

Perhaps most interesting of all, these comments reveal an affinity for the social situations of the film and the way that socially-marginalized girls can overcome their lot: Lauren: ‘She was incredibly strong and vulnerable at the same time.’ Sophy: ‘I hate school and if I’ve had the most shitty day I watch it and it helps me forget everything.’ Amber: ‘She played a bad girl and was hated by everyone and it was really cool.’

Then we have a young woman who captures all of these ideas: Carolanne: ‘She plays the role of the witchy weirdo who does not care what others think … Her outfits are the coolest, I wish I had them, and her makeup, and her hair, etc. I want to be just like her! I watch The Craft every day, and have seen it over 100 times. I can watch the movie in my head, in class or at home. Seriously.’

The issue of how media texts influence teen fashions is of particular interest here because the wearing of certain religious or occult symbols is increasingly becoming forbidden in public schools in the US. In 1999, a Detroit high school student named Crystal Seifferly sued for the right to wear her pentacle necklace, after the school district limited the religious symbols, including the Star of David and the Muslim crescent and star, worn by students in an effort to cut down on gang activity. An attorney for the ACLU determined that under this rule, the only religious symbol allowed under this policy would be the Christian cross. Other modes of dress forbidden were gang colors or styles, the anarchy symbol, vampire or deathstyle make-up, black nail polish, satanic jewelry, or dog collars. Seifferly, an honor student, won the right to wear her necklace when the school changed its dress code policy.22 After the Columbine High School shooting in 1999, perpetrated by two youths who dressed in black and declared themselves part of a trench coat Mafia, the typical outcast teenager who liked to dress in black came under more intense scrutiny than 22 Press release, uncredited ‘Michigan School Changes Policy on Honor Student Witch’ on ACLU website (www.aclu.org) on 25 March 1999.

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ever, as a nation, indeed the world, wondered what influenced two teenagers to slaughter their classmates with semi-automatic weapons. Was it the video games? Or the target shooting practice? In 1993, three young men from West Memphis, Arkansas were suspected in the brutal murder of three eight-year-olds; Damien Echols was seventeen years old and enjoyed reading books by Aleister Crowley and Stephen King, listening to the hard rock band Metallica, wearing black shirts and pursuing a casual interest in Wicca. Rumors spread like wildfire in this Christian community that satan worship had corrupted the area’s youth; Echols was seen as the ringleader in a Satanic cult who committed this heinous act of Satanic murder. Following what many have called an unfair trial, Echols was convicted of capital murder, while the other two received life sentences. In 1996, a documentary film entitled Paradise Lost was released that chronicled this murder investigation and trial, and a nationwide effort was launched to gain the West Memphis Three, as they are called, a new trial. A follow-up documentary appeared in 1999, and a featurelength Hollywood narrative is now in the works.23 One of the first support groups started for the West Memphis Three was by a teenager, and the issue was soon widely discussed in pagan Internet groups after an article appeared on The Witches’ Voice calling for a closer examination of the case. Pagans, and in particular teenage pagans, became outraged that someone should be sentenced to die by lethal injection for crimes when the evidence presented was far from conclusive, and when this person became a suspect on the basis of Satanic Panic. Literally hundreds of teens in chatrooms, online discussion groups and bulletin boards made the same kinds of statements: ‘I dress in black and listen to Metallica just like Damien; could this happen to me?’ This case rallied many pagan and non-pagan teens to become active in their own communities and to speak out on behalf of prejudice against Goths and pagans; ten years later, with the West Memphis Three still in prison, many of these teenaged activists are now organizing awareness campaigns on college campuses and in local clubs and community centers. This case brought up an intriguing conundrum: why are boys who dress in black, who listen to heavy metal, and who show an interest in the occult (all fairly standard phases of development among suburban disaffected youth), suspected of violent crimes, while Goth girls are vaunted as icons of desirability and bad girl attitude? That the real-life case of the West Memphis Three should come to the attention of the world through media in the same year that The Craft and Practical Magic made Witchcraft sexy and trendy for teenage girls is ironic to say the least. The Craft is a particularly complex text because even while its fans seem mostly to recall the physical attractiveness and strong personalities of the teenage characters, the film’s plot makes it very clear that Witchcraft can be dangerous and even lethal for those who practice it casually. More dramatically than any film has done before, The Craft presented the practice of Witchcraft as an allegorical expression of the creativity and power possible to teenagers who have been socially marginalized or alienated by their peer groups. This empowerment is also shown as a way to boost confidence and as a way to heal the trauma of an abusive or emotionally-difficult childhood. In the film, a trio 23 The most informative website on this issue is found at www.wm3.org.

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of practicing witches, Nancy, Bonnie and Rochelle, approach Sarah, a new girl in school, to join their coven. Bonnie sees Sarah balancing a pencil on her desk in class and decides she must be a ‘natural witch.’ A fourth witch is needed so they can more effectively invoke the Four elements and directions in their magical circles and spell workings. Nancy, the ringleader of the quaternity played by Fairuza Balk, is referred to as ‘white trash’; her mother is an alcoholic, her stepfather a lecherous, violent layabout. Sarah, the newcomer, comes from a caring, well-to-do family, but is haunted by the death of her mother in childbirth, and her bouts of adolescent depression and psychotic hallucinations which led to a botched suicide attempt; the others notice the scars she incurred slashing her wrists and Nancy bonds to Sarah quickly at this moment. The other two suffer with their own self-imposed exile: Rochelle, a beautiful African-American girl, is the victim of racist insults from a swimming teammate; and Bonnie hides herself behind lanky hair, baggy clothes and halting words because she’s self-conscious about severe burn scars on her back. The emphasis upon flawed appearances, which are targeted and improved with the use of magic, is of crucial importance in a narrative about teenage angst. Acne, weight problems, not having the right clothes, and general physical awkwardness are often of paramount concern to teenage girls, even in some cases blamed for their lack of social standing. But it is also interesting to consider this question of beauty as it relates to the witch as signifier. These are youthful witches, not ancient hags. Their power lies, as literary tradition suggests, with their sexual prowess and physical attractiveness. In an essay on The Blair Witch Project, Linda Badley discusses the post-feminist Witchcraft of various media offerings of the 1990s, and notes the preponderance of ‘pretty and notably white young females with magical powers.’ These portrayals, she says, were ‘more often airbrushed, domesticated, and selfcongratulatory than genuinely subversive or even exploratory.’24 And while it is true that the young witches of The Craft are beautiful, the film ultimately emphasizes the idea that ‘beauty comes from within’ (Bonnie asks ‘to take into myself the power to be beautiful, outside as well as in’) and that ‘the only good or bad is in the heart of the witch.’25 Bibliography Badley, Linda, ‘Warfare: Postfeminism and the Politics of the Blair Witch Craze,’ www.cult-media.com (2001). D’Orio, Wayne, ‘Clothes Make the Teen: Apparel maker promotional deals with films and TV shows,’ www.mediacentral.com (1999). Sauer, Mark, ‘Chasing Satan in Sacramento,’ San Diego Union Tribune (1994). Schreck, Nikolas, The Satanic Screen (New York, Creation Books, 2001).

24 Linda Badley, ‘Warfare: Postfeminism and the Politics of the Blair Witch Craze,’ www.cult-media.com. 25 The Craft (Andrew Flemming 1996).

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Chapter 10

Teen Witchcraft and Silver RavenWolf: The Internet and its impact on community opinion Stephanie Martin

The past eleven years have witnessed the emergence of Pennsylvanian author Silver RavenWolf, whose influence on popular contemporary Witchcraft is undeniable. Additionally, RavenWolf was one of the first authors who wrote a book about Wicca specifically directed to the teenage population. Utilizing public Internet archives, as well as personal anecdotal experience, this essay is a case study of an author who has been central to the international explosion of the teen Witch community and who built on pagan author Scott Cunningham’s ‘solitary practitioner’ platform and expanded it to explicitly include her teenage audience. I will trace the online Wiccan community’s response to this expansion and how it affected RavenWolf’s status within the American pagan community at large. I will also compare the way that RavenWolf is perceived by this community in contrast to the general opinions of other teen-oriented pagan and Wiccan authors. In attempting to understand the public attitude toward RavenWolf in the larger context of contemporary paganism and Wicca, this essay also explores the implications of an important emerging feature of Internet-based pagan and Wiccan communities: the pre-actionary tendencies to ‘judge books before their covers are available’, to provide outspoken critiques of unpublished materials, as well as the tendency to hold in disdain community members who are perceived to be overly successful. The Wiccan and pagan community at large is unique, in that it has had an Internet presence practically since the Internet’s modification to a generally available tool, rather than a means of information dissemination and communication controlled by the government and educational institutions. Various newsgroups such as alt.pagan and alt.religion.wicca were up and running by 1995, and there were private bulletin board services such as Brew Witch in Texas geared toward pagans available before that time. The Internet has had a profound effect on Wiccan and pagan communities.1 In many cases, it can be argued that the Internet has helped diverse populations come 1 See the works of M. Macha Nightmare, Witchcraft and the Web: Weaving pagan traditions Online (Toronto, 2001); Doug Cowan with Jeffrey K. Hadden, ‘Virtually Religious: New Religious Movements and the World Wide Web,’ in James R. Lewis (ed.), Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements (London, 2004), pp. 119–140; Shawn Arthur,

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together; however, as a side effect of this unity, there has also been an increase in the homogenization of opinion caused by a ‘bandwagon mentality’ and exacerbated by peer pressure and the relative anonymity of Internet interactions. It is the nature of message boards for ‘birds of a feather’ to flock to specific groups that match their personal opinions or interests, such as British Traditional Witchcraft, online book clubs, specific Tradition lists, fan clubs, etc. Additionally, with the thousands of message boards, groups, and mailing lists available, anyone would be hard-pressed to subscribe to even a fraction of what is available in order to regularly read and process the content of groups that arouse their interest let alone engaging with those that might have a contrary view to that with which they are familiar. This is significant because with the variety of message boards, people will generally stay with the ones with which they are most comfortable. Even as one person will generally belong to more than one board or group, they will not have any additional time to join or read any groups that might have a different opinion on a specific subject – thus they are not exposed to many different viewpoints. It is my understanding that the Internet-based Wiccan and pagan community culture has, over time, turned the perception of RavenWolf’s writing from relatively good, but light (meaning a simplified, easily accessible presentation of materials), to historically inaccurate and being written and published purely for profit. At the time of this writing, RavenWolf has published eighteen items ranging from teen fiction, to a book on angels2 from the Witches’ Runes Kit,3 to books written for the solitary practitioner of Witchcraft, from a book on Pennsylvania Dutch Hexcraft to a five-hundred-page grimoire.4 In addition to her writing, she has an Ebay. com store (Silver RavenWolf Designs) on which she sells incense, oils, jewelry, and other miscellaneous items. Over the past decade, and in part a consequence of these developments in her status as author and ‘pagan personality’, I have found an evolving opinion of RavenWolf’s work as well as of RavenWolf herself. In attempting to trace this evolution I have looked at major websites, newsgroup and internet archives, and bulletin boards, such as alt.pagan, alt.religion.wicca, beliefnet.com, Witchvox.com, and certain Yahoo groups, to try to determine a specific turning point between RavenWolf as ‘good but light and fluffy’ author and RavenWolf ‘the embodiment of all that is wrong with the evolving pagan and Wiccan community’ author. I chose these major sources of information since they have generally been on the Internet for the longest period of time and are, in general, the most frequently accessed and most popularly accessed through search engines such as Google, for Internet regulars as well as information seekers. Firstly, it is important to establish RavenWolf’s magical credentials within the pagan community. Below is RavenWolf’s lineage, as given by RavenWolf on her website. This information is included in part because the Wiccan and pagan ‘Technophilia and Nature Religion: The Growth of a Paradox,’ Religion 32.4 (2002): 305– 316, for in-depth information regarding this phenomenon. 2 Silver RavenWolf, Angels: Companions in Magic (St Paul, 1996). 3 Silver RavenWolf, Witch’s Rune Kit (St Paul, 1999). 4 Books written for the solitary practitioner of Witchcraft, from a book on Pennsylvania Dutch Hexcraft to a five-hundred-page grimoire.

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communities frequently feel that having an established lineage gives a person more legitimacy in the community and thus opinions of RavenWolf are influenced by these biases. In addition to this lineage, according to the introduction in RavenWolf’s latest book, A Witch’s Notebook, Lessons in Witchcraft,5 the Black Forest Clan now consists of fifty-three covens in twenty-nine states and three international groups: Silver has been involved in various aspects of the Craft since she was seventeen years old. In November of 1991, she received her First Degree from Bried Foxsong of Sacred Hart and is on the rolls of the International Red Garters. She also carries Second and Third Degree status from the Temple of Hecate Triskele of the Caledonii Tradition, and now heads the Black Forest Circle and Seminary. Silver was eldered by Lord Serphant of the Family of Serphant Stone on 29 June 1996 at the Puff Gathering in North Carolina. Her hearthstone coven is known as Coven of the Omega Wolf.6

For the most part, many of the ‘old-timers’ (those who have been around since the beginning of the pagan and Wiccan Internet presence) considered RavenWolf’s works, starting with To Ride a Silver Broomstick in 1993,7 to be at a beginner’s level, but yet containing solid material. This attitude toward her work continued even through the publication of Teen Witch ...8 in 1998 when the denizens of alt. religion.wicca rallied around RavenWolf when a reporter in Alabama held up the book on television as an example of a book that was ‘leading teenagers to Satanism’.9 This behavior is consistent with the pagan tendency to rally behind those who are subject to anti-pagan prejudice. However, RavenWolf’s work was not without its very vocal detractors who were very active in the Internet newsgroups, even prior to the publication of Teen Witch….10 Their general comments and critiques included the assertions that RavenWolf’s presentations were too basic and not geared toward serious practitioners, were incoherent overall, and represented a watered down New Age version of what they understood Witchcraft to be. Using the Google.com search engine, I easily found that some of them, including ‘Talesin, the Bad Boy of Witchcraft’ and ‘Ballard’, are still active on the same newsgroups and still repeating the same comments regarding RavenWolf and her work that they used several years ago. Not satisfied with critiquing RavenWolf’s materials, some pagan Internet commentators escalated their critiques over time to personal attacks on RavenWolf’s character. At some point prior to the publication of Teen Witch…, the phenomenon of replacing the ‘S’ in Silver or SRW with a ‘$’. This affectation was/is meant to imply that RavenWolf’s only motivation for writing is to make money (as opposed to any other person whose career choice is that of author) and has made RavenWolf 5 Silver RavenWolf, A Witch’s Notebook; Lessons in Witchcraft (St Paul, 2005). 6 http://www.silverravenwolf.com. 7 Silver RavenWolf, To Ride A Silver Broomstick, (St Paul, 1993). 8 Silver RavenWolf, Teen Witch, Wicca for a New Generation (St Paul, 1998). 9 http://groups beta.google.com/group/alt.religion.wicca/browse_frm/thread/e22fac46 8bd995ef40cde34b0c238f2b?q=%22Teen+Witch%22+alabama&rnum=1&hl=en#40cde34b 0c238f2b. 10 Silver RavenWolf, Teen Witch: Wicca for a New Generation.

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the icon of consumer-driven eclectic Wicca. A good example of the homogenization of Internet parlance is the replacing of the ‘S’ with a dollar sign in many newsgroups and mailing lists mentioned earlier, and is specific to RavenWolf. It is interesting to note that although there are other pagan and Wiccan authors who are much more prolific in their writing, such as Patricia Telesco and Sirona Knight (Patricia Telesco lists fifty-five books on her website11 and Sirona Knight’s site lists twenty-one on hers12) one does not see the ‘S’ in either Telesco or Sirona being replaced with a dollar sign. The lynchpin of the shift in the Internet perception of RavenWolf began in February 2000 when a ‘pre-activist’ essay was made public on the Internet. This essay was written by Taran Ragan of the Pair Dynion Grove and was published in his group’s newsletter, The Summoner. This article was forwarded to many of the major newsgroups and was written in response to the announcement of the expected August 2000 publication of the Teen Witch Kit by Llewellyn Publishing.13 Ragan’s letter expanded on the previous implication that RavenWolf’s motivation for writing and publishing was for financial purposes only (the infamous ‘$’) by saying that both Llewellyn, the publishing house and RavenWolf were publishing the Kit purely for money and further argued that they were violating both wiccan/ Craft ethics and parental rights by creating something specifically for teens. Ragan wrote, and I have reproduced the piece in full: Chat rooms, discussion forums and live Craft meetings are talking about the latest Llewellyn Publications announcement of the planned August 2000 release of TEEN WITCH KIT by Silver RavenWolf. Many are disturbed by the latest trends in the New Age Marketing world, targeting teens for their dollars. Interviews with several Crafters involved in the New Age market have admitted their dis-ease with this latest offering from Llewellyn but state that the demand from teens is real and present. “They want this stuff and will pay whatever Llewellyn charges to get it”, one reseller replied; “we might as well carry it, Barnes and Noble certainly will.” What Llewellyn and Silver RavenWolf have failed to consider is the responsibility Crafters/Wiccan/pagans have traditionally taken for the deeds of their students when presented with tools to do magic. Packages such as the proposed TEEN WITCH KIT serve to spark the imaginations of our young people but, without a sound foundation, ethical training and oversight to accompany the tools. Hormonally charged teens are more likely to use the kit to curse some other teen who made them jealous than put their energy into positive growth. Some Crafters will teach teens (with parental permission) and some will not but, all who work with teens know that the teenaged public that is drawn to this sort of thing is, in largest part, going against their parents wishes. We cannot stand in the way of a parents right to raise their children in the way they think best. The way that Llewellyn and Silver RavenWolf are marketing this product blatantly defies this right and encourages the teens to do the same. Most parents want to reserve this sort of material for a time when the teen is mature enough to value the long term consequences of their actions. Children under the age of 18 rarely exhibit the discrimination necessary to determine when spell casting is appropriate. Many Craft Elders have expressed alarm and disappointment that the tools of the Old Religions are 11 www.loresinger.com. 12 http://www.dcsi.net/~bluesky/bs3.htm. 13 Silver RavenWolf, Teen Witch Kit (St Paul, 2000).

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being marketed in this way by Llewellyn and Silver RavenWolf and are outraged that teens are being shamelessly targeted for their money without regard for the consequences. Altogether, a very unenlightened action by a previously respected author and publishing company.14

It should be noted that the ‘Tools of the Craft’ in the Teen Witch Kit to which Ragan refers in his criticism are: a crystal, a pentacle necklace, a yes/no coin, a cord, and a small bag of rock salt. These tools are not the standard tools associated with Wiccan and Witchcraft practice; for example the athame, wand, chalice, pentacle that are commonly assumed to be the central tools used in Wiccan ritual.15 He also refers to RavenWolf as a ‘previously respected author’, which, interestingly enough, is almost prophetic considering the effect that his missive had on the Internet culture and the way in which it is echoed in the attitudes of ‘knowledgeable’ and ‘openminded’ pagans and Wiccans five years later. The mention of Llewellyn Publishing on many newsgroups caused a flurry of comments that are practically the same as those above. As far as I can tell through searching newsgroup archives, etc., although some people disliked RavenWolf’s earlier works, the outcry about the Teen Witch Kit and the subsequent backlash on both RavenWolf and Llewellyn Publishing can be traced, at least in part, to this document. The furor caused by this essay in turn prompted Internet denizens, such as Wren Walker of Witchvox.com (the largest American pagan-oriented website), to write counter-essays denouncing the sheer amount of vitriol and personal attacks being directed toward RavenWolf. Both RavenWolf and Carl Weschcke, the President of Llewellyn Publishing, published open letters to the pagan and Wiccan communities. RavenWolf’s letter, in which she questions the motivations of the people targeting her with such negativity for an as-yet (at that time) unseen product garnered her even more detractors. RavenWolf wrote on the Internet: Neither the kit nor the book are currently available for review. No one has seen it, yet a few have jumped on the Internet, shouting interesting assumptions. My goodness, I’ve seen whole dissertations! What busy little bees we can be. Some of these lengthy diatribes have even changed the name of the product. Are we, as the American public, so ready to think the worst, to slaver at a possible negative, that we seek to denigrate an entire religious body with our hair trigger bluster of what is right for whom? I bet the fundamentalists are loving this one. To those that just can’t see the sense of it all, you can be angry when I start to market bracelets that say: “WWAD – What Would Aradia Do?” or “Silver RavenWolf’s Blackheart Vengeance Kit”, or “Enochian Speak and Spell”. In the meantime, think about the message you are sending to the world with your words, I know I have pondered many long hours about mine.16

14 http://groups.beta.google.com/group/soc.religion.paganism/browse_frm/thread/4615 ce25616ffab3/d5ed97c6addb1568?q=Llewellyn+targets+teens+again&rnum=1&hl=en#d5e d97c6addb1568 15 Rabinovitch, S. and Lewis, J. (eds), The Encylopedia of Modern Witchcraft and Neopaganism (New York, 2002.) 16 The original site publication is no longer available. This text is now found, at the time of writing: http://www.homestead.com/guide2mundania/teen_witch_kit.html.

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Oddly enough, the comments in this letter were confused by Internet denizens with the remarks that well-known Salem based Witch and author Laurie Cabot made when defending RavenWolf after the Teen Witch ... book was released: that the detractors ‘were not real witches’ because their negativity directly opposes the mission and ethic of Witchcraft to develop a positive community. I have seen many times when these words have been attributed to RavenWolf and her open letter, but newsgroup archives indicate that they were originally written by Cabot when referring to the in-fighting and back-biting within the Wiccan community started by discussions about the Teen Witch Kit. The text of Cabot’s letter read: Some of the venom I have heard has me wondering if some of those attacking Silver are even Witches at all. I think that the Witches that I know who have responded in protest have done so with education, power, and with the knowledge that the Craft laws ‘and it harm none’ and ‘threefold return’ pertain to our protest as well. It is possible that some of those who are most venomous in their attacks are not Witches, but rather are members of other groups who would seek to disrupt and dissolve our religion. I do know many Witches who, with good intent, have protested Silver’s writing and promotion, and they who have worked so diligently through their lives to have our beautiful nature religion recognized have a right to feel outraged. But, at this point in time, I would like to see this power and energy directed into positive, correct, and fulfilling things for the craft, and not directed at Silver RavenWolf any longer. While we believe that disagreement can be healthy, personal and hateful attacks are not, and are not part of Witchcraft.17

Further defense of RavenWolf came from her publisher, Llewellyn Publishing Inc., in an attempt to provide clarification about the decision to create the Teen Witch Kit. Carl Weschcke, in an essay posted to Llewellyn’s website (Llewellyn.com), explained that his company had been approached by a firm in London who were going to produce a Teen Witch Kit, based on RavenWolf’s work, with or without RavenWolf’s or Llewellyn’s input or assent. Weschcke’s missive directly addresses some of the issues noted in Ragan’s letter. He wrote: […] I hope I have given a different perspective to the discussion. In that process I hope I have clarified that neither Llewellyn nor Silver are “targeting” helpless teenagers whose “raging hormones” make them unable to understand the ethics of Wicca once they have the resources of the Teen Witch Kit. We are offering a product, not unlike other books, Tarot decks, and kits that sell – to young people as well as elders. We do not have the power to force our products on the market and into anyone’s hands. Unlike the situation where Hollywood can deliver “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” along with “Charmed” and the “Playboy Channel” to nearly every kid of every age, our customers must actually get off their duff and, with conscious decision, shell out money to buy the product.18

One of the most challenging postings that I saw on the Internet during this time, written in response to the announced publication of the Teen Witch Kit was an ‘Open Letter to Silver RavenWolf’ written by ‘Ria’, an otherwise unidentified voice found

17 soc.religion.paganism; 14 Feb. 2000. Letter was posted to this list by Reese Mack. 18 http://www.homestead.com/guide2mundania/files/teencarl.htm.

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on the Wolf’s Den message board section of the Triplemoon Witchware online shop (now unfortunately defunct, with its message board archives unavailable): You take an awful lot upon yourself Silver Ravenwolf. First you urge kids to make pests of themselves in pursuit of your products, and then you state outright that anyone who disagrees with the “Be a brat to get what you want” approach just doesn’t care about kids. Is this the “New Generation of Witches” you plan on bringing along? Are you really encouraging kids to harass storeowners in pursuit of your products? If you are saying it’s ok to harass storeowners, why isn’t it ok to cast a spell to have the storeowner give that product to a kid for free? I have to ask these questions, Silver, because your words and actions make drawing distinctions very difficult for those of us with a clear moral code and the knowledge of how to interact with others. […] As you shut your heart and mind to the cries rising around you from the pagan community, when so many of your peers believe you are making a mistake, your flat out refusal to even consider their point of view does not speak well to one who would claim the sacred mantle of spiritual teacher. A teacher leads by example and the best ones listen much more then they speak. Are you listening Silver?19

The importance of this letter is that it was one of the first and one of the most public postings that began to ‘translate’ RavenWolf’s writing – taking excerpts and out-of-context phrases that RavenWolf had written and interpreting them for their own purposes of critique. This began a trend that will be discussed later. It is interesting that subsequent to this Open Letter, the same person (‘Ria’), gave a blowby-blow account of her experience at the Denver Book Fair (where RavenWolf was also in attendance) on her message board, which is unfortunately not available on the Internet due to the closing of the Triplemoon Witchware site. Ria described following RavenWolf around the fair, listening in on private tarot readings that RavenWolf was doing for others, and looking at her with ‘the eyes of the wolf’. From her own description, she never faced RavenWolf directly. She excused herself from such a confrontation by saying that RavenWolf was ‘constantly surrounded by crowds of people’ and that she was ‘not able to get close enough to meet her’ (although she was close enough to eavesdrop on private tarot readings). This is indicative of the style and form of criticism aimed at RavenWolf at this time. Not surprisingly, once the Teen Witch Kit was actually released in August 2000, the majority of on-line comments critiqued the quality of the box and its contents and mostly revolved around the cardboard box and the inexpensiveness of its contents (silver-colored pentacle rather than pewter or sterling, etc.). But the fervor that accompanied the announcement began to manifest itself by further interpretations of RavenWolf’s work, and a form of retroactive dismissal of all of her work. For example, ‘Smiling Panther’ wrote an essay in October of 2001 that has a deconstruction of several quotes from RavenWolf’s Teen Witch ... book with his comments as to the validity and accuracy of those quotes. Of course, most of the quotes listed are those with which he takes issue and in one case in particular, he

19 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bbmmdc-info/message/1029 February 2000, originally http://www.triplemoon.com/wolfsden/witchkit/witchkitdiscussion1.html).

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targets her comments such as ‘Real Witches Do Not summon demons’, to which he replies: Goetia, anyone? While this practice would certainly be more common in groups which lean more heavily towards Ceremonial Magick, the summoning of entities, including demons, to serve or perform a specific purpose is centuries old. To suggest that someone is not a ‘Real Witch’ simply because they happen to do so is ludicrous.20

He also commented, ‘let me start out by saying that I truly believe Silver had the best of intentions in the beginning. Perhaps she still does. Her early books, To Ride a Silver Broomstick and To Stir a Magick Cauldron aren’t terribly bad, although there are better ones available in my opinion. From there, however, begins a downward spiral.’21 Elspeth Sapphire of ecauldron.com, in a review of another of RavenWolf’s works, Silver’s Spells for Protection22 stated, ‘It is well known that I hold a less than favorable opinion of Ms. Ravenwolf’s work. Starting about the time of Teen Witch, I have gone from recommending her writing to recommending against her work.’23 The continuing fallout of being involved in the Teen Witch Kit project has clung to both RavenWolf and Llewellyn Publishing Inc. Despite this, Llewellyn Publishing has continued to publish tarot kits, books, and other materials aimed at the teen Witch market and RavenWolf has continued to write, actually writing several books (fiction, non-fiction, and pocket spellbooks) between the Teen Witch ... book and Teen Witch Kit and several titles subsequent to the Teen Witch Kit, including The Ultimate Book of Shadows for the New Generation Solitary Witch and A Witch’s Notebook.24 The Ultimate Book of Shadows for the New Generation Solitary Witch, a combination grimoire/encyclopedia of information on magical practice, was designed to be a sourcebook for Witchcraft practitioners and, according to the acknowledgments at the beginning of the book was reviewed by Ronald Hutton, noted scholar and Professor of History at the University of Bristol, UK and author of the seminal Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft. Professor Hutton’s participation in RavenWolf’s volume (who RavenWolf thanked for ‘[…] reviewing this work and making such helpful suggestions in the avenue of historical accuracy’), clearly demonstrates that RavenWolf is attempting to address complaints of historical inaccuracies in some of her previous works, and thus raise her profile as a legitimate author. This is a reversal from her earlier approach. For example, she clearly states on page 3 of her first book To Ride a Silver Broomstick that ‘You will find very little history of Witchcraft in this volume because it has been designed as an active, hands-on book.’ This shows that she made no claims to historical accuracy and, rather, wanted to produce a ‘how-to’ book. However the tension here 20 http://www.fortunecity.com/roswell/vanthal/608/id57.htm. 21 Ibid. 22 Silver RavenWolf, Silver’s Spells for Protection (St Paul, 2000). 23 http://www.ecauldron.com/bkssfp.php. 24 Silver RavenWolf, The Ultimate Book of Shadows for the New Generation Solitary Witch (St Paul, 2005) and Silver RavenWolf, A Witch’s Notebook.

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demonstrates that she hoped to pacify some of the more vocal criticisms of her work and by extension her status as Witch. As has been shown in this essay, the Internet-based Wiccan and pagan community’s opinion of RavenWolf work as well as of RavenWolf herself shifted with dissemination of the pre-actionary article regarding the Teen Witch Kit and the production of materials directly marketed to the teen audience. The influence of phrases contained in that commentary can still be read in newsgroups and on message boards over five years later. Even with the criticism of RavenWolf that hit full stride with the announcement of the Teen Witch Kit, RavenWolf’s books are still popular, with Teen Witch ... having sold over 203,000 copes by early 2005.25 However, the pre-actionary tendencies of the pagan and Wiccan community have had a profound effect on the perception of RavenWolf’s work and RavenWolf herself, causing people to reverse their previously-held positive opinions of her other works and to re-write the history of Silver RavenWolf and, to a certain extent, the evolution of the teen Witch movement. The Internet has exacerbated this effect by increasing the speed of communication. Certain affectations take hold as people attempt to both legitimize themselves by using icons such as the infamous dollar sign and by the repetition of comments that can be found on various message boards and newsgroups. In the case of Silver RavenWolf, the use of message boards, mailing list and newsgroups by the pagan and Wiccan community members has had a lasting effect on popular opinion regarding her work, nominally beginning with the Teen Witch … book and becoming more radical with the publication of the Teen Witch Kit. Since she was one of the first authors to specifically write for the teenage community, the effects of those works can still be seen when adults in on-line and off-line situations discuss the subject of teens and the teen Witch phenomenon. Bibliography Arthur, S., ‘Technophilia and Nature Religion: The Growth of a Paradox,’ Religion 32.4 (2002): 305–316. Cowan, D. with Hadden, J.K., ‘Virtually Religious: New Religious Movements and the World Wide Web,’ in J.R. Lewis (ed.), Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements (Oxford University Press, 2004), pp. 119–140. Rabinovitch, S. and Lewis, J.R (eds), The Encylopedia of Modern Witchcraft and Neo-paganism (New York: Citadel Press, Kensington Publishing Corporation, 2002. RavenWolf, S., To Ride a Silver Broomstick, New Generation Witchcraft (St Paul: Llewellyn Publishing, Inc., 1993). ——, Angels: Companions in Magic (St Paul: Llewellyn Publishing Inc., 1996). ——, Witches’ Runes Kit (St Paul: Llewellyn Publishing Inc., 1999). ——, Teen Witch, Wicca for a New Generation (St Paul: Llewellyn Publishing, Inc., 1998). 25 This is by the admission of Llewellyn New Worlds, Summer 2005.

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——, Teen Witch Kit (St Paul: Llewellyn Publishing Inc., 2000). ——, Silver’s Spells for Protection (St Paul: Llewellyn Publishing Inc., 2000). ——, A Witch’s Notebook: Lessons in Witchcraft (St Paul: Llewellyn Publishing Inc., 2005). ——, The Ultimate Book of Shadows for the New Generation Solitary Witch (St Paul: Llewellyn Publishing Inc., 2005).

Chapter 11

Wise Young Women: Beliefs, values and influences in the adoption of Witchcraft by teenage girls in England.1 Denise Cush

Introduction Across the Western world, scholars and practitioners have noted that an increasing number of young girls and women identify themselves as Witches, and take an interest in Wicca, Witchcraft and other forms of contemporary pagan and/or ‘New Age’ phenomena.2 The Pagan Federation in the UK, the largest organized pagan grouping, claims to have several hundred enquiries a week from teenagers and has set up a special network for younger people.3 The numbers of practising pagans in the UK has been estimated by various writers as between 10,000 and 120,000. For example Hutton estimates 17–20,000 initiated Wiccans, Druids, and other pagan denominations and 90–120,000 non-initiated.4 It is worth comparing this with the 2001 British census figures which claim 144,000 Buddhists and 260,000 Jews. Although the numbers of people who would actually label themselves ‘pagan’, ‘Witch’, or actively seek membership of organized groups (whether teenaged or adult) is relatively small, the number of people ‘interested’, or who hold beliefs or have engaged in practices associated with ‘Witchcraft’ is potentially much larger.

1 Parts of this article have been previously published as ‘Consumer Witchcraft: Are Teenage Witches a Creation of Commercial Interests?’ Journal of Beliefs and Values, 28 (1), (2007): 45–53 2 For example: D. Cush, ‘Paganism in the Classroom’, British Journal of Religious Education 19/2, (1997): 83–94; D. Ezzy, ‘New Age Witchcraft? Popular spell books and the re-enchantment of everyday life’, Culture and Religion, 4/1, (2003): 47–65; J. Pearson, ‘The History and Development of Wicca and paganism’, and ‘Witches and Wicca’, in J. Pearson (ed.), Belief Beyond Boundaries: Wicca, Celtic Spirituality and the New Age, (Milton Keynes, 2002). 3 Minor Arcana, PO Box 10, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, WF4 1YX. Matthew Hannam pioneered this organization. See his article in this collection. 4 Ronald Hutton, The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft (Oxford, 2001) p. 401.

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Research by Höllinger and Smith5 surveying traditional religious, occult and ‘New Age esoteric’ beliefs and practices among college students from ten countries revealed that 30 per cent of students from Northern Europe, including the UK, had at least tried five or more of the practices under their ‘New Age’ heading. The practices they list include for example runes, tarot, dream interpretation, fortune-telling, all of which are techniques and skills frequently considered those that might be practised by those calling themselves ‘Witches’. Teaching in Religious Studies and Religious Education at university level since the mid-1980s, I have been aware in my own practice of an increasing number of students who would identify themselves as pagan. This has seemingly gone hand in hand with the growth of academic study of paganism and its subsets such as Wicca, as well as the more nebulous ‘New Age’. At Bath Spa University we have included modules on paganism and New Age as part of our degree course in the Study of Religions for over a decade. This is partly our geographical location, being close to centres like Glastonbury and Stonehenge, pagan and New Age beliefs feature strongly in our local area. Among our students we always have a few who are happy to call themselves pagans – Witches, Wiccans, Druids, and followers of Goddess Spirituality, on average five per cent of the course student body. There may well be others who do not want to make their commitment public. That this is not confined to our particular location or just a construct of our particular Religious Studies curriculum is evidenced by the presence of pagan students on general education courses, and as teachers in schools.6 The presence of pagan students who were happy to discuss their beliefs created an opportunity to explore these beliefs further. Starting with my own students, and then interviewing younger school students, I have conducted (and am continuing to conduct) a series of interviews with young women who identify as Witches. It is the intention of this paper to explore the understanding of the young Witches themselves as to the reasons why they are attracted to Witchcraft, and the beliefs, values and attitudes they hold. In teacher education, the issue of ‘Halloween’ in the British classroom became controversial in the mid-1980s, and is still a matter of debate.7 The festival was viewed by many as harmless fun, but by others as dangerous dabbling with the occult, and by a few as a serious religious festival for pagans. Halloween was an opportunity for much ill-informed mutual criticism between pagans and Christians and confusion for teachers caught between the two. Many schools in England have stopped including Halloween in their activities – for example Roger Homan’s research in the late 1980s and early 1990s revealed that 50 per cent of schools would not include this topic in classroom teaching and Mark Plater’s research in 2003–4

5 Höllinger and Smith, ‘Religion and Esotericism among Students: a Cross-Cultural Comparative Study’, Journal of Contemporary Religion, 17 (2): 229–249. 6 A. Robertson, ‘The Learning Teacher: Alison Robertson identifies why it’s good to be a pagan and an RE Teacher’, RE Today, 23.1 (2005). 7 See R. Homan, ‘Toil and Trouble: Hallowe’en as an Educational Theme and Political Issue’, British Journal of Religious Education 14/1 (1991): 9–14, and more recently, M. Plater, ‘The Educational Significance of Halloween’, paper given at the 2004 annual conference of the Association of University Lecturers in Religion and Education.

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came up with the figure of 86 per cent of schools who avoided Halloween.8 However, the debate in the 1980s did provide an opportunity to educate about paganism, and my involvement in the debate led eventually to ‘Paganism in the Classroom’ in which I attempted to provide information about paganism for religious educators and suggested the incorporation of ‘pagan’ topics such as festivals, sacred places, symbols and myths into the curriculum.9 The concern for the inclusion of paganism into the curriculum in part reflects a cultural shift whereby in the last few years, pagan and ‘New Age’ phenomena have become less alternative and more mainstream and popular (particularly in youth cultures), to the extent that spells and tarot cards feature routinely in commercial magazines aimed at teenaged girls.10 Apparently there is even a ‘witch’ Barbie doll.11 Defining Terms There is a certain ‘fuzziness’ about the use of terms like pagan, Wicca, Witchcraft, and New Age, which is hard to avoid. Frequently, both academics and believers use different definitions and can be very restrictive or very general in their definitions and use of terms. For example, Wicca can be used to refer to initiated members following the lineages established by Gerald Gardner in the 1950s, or Alex Sanders in the 1960s (referred to as Gardnerian and Alexandrian traditions) or offshoots thereof, but is also often used simply as a more sophisticated synonym for Witch. Similarly paganism can be used in specific or general ways, and the overlap with Wicca is considerable, especially in the UK, where Wicca and Druidry have been the leading forms of contemporary paganism. The notions of Witch and Witchcraft also have a variety of mixed connotations. For present purposes, I shall restrict the use of Wicca to organized initiatory traditions. By paganism, I refer to neither ancient polytheism nor contemporary non-monotheist indigenous traditions, but a contemporary movement united only in its location of the sacred in nature, in the feminine as well as the masculine, and by a shared culture and vocabulary (though to confuse things, many such pagans identify with or draw upon beliefs and practices of the other two categories). By Witch, I am referring to someone who believes that there is power within nature and themselves which can be harnessed to achieve human aims and who shares the pagan beliefs of the sacredness of nature and the feminine.12 The concept of Witch under consideration here is that within contemporary Western culture, although contemporary Witches may or may not identify with ‘witches’ of the past. The issue of Witchcraft has very different nuances in other cultures, for 8 Ibid. 9 D. Cush, ‘Paganism in the Classroom’. 10 For example Mizz and Sugar. 11 J. Hall, ‘Why do Young People Chose to become Witches?’ Unpublished MA dissertation, Bath Spa University, 2004. 12 For further discussion of the terms Witch, Wicca, pagan, and New Age and their complex relationship see the introduction of this collection and J. Pearson, ‘The History and Development of Wicca and paganism’, and ‘Witches and Wicca’, in J. Pearson (ed.), Belief Beyond Boundaries: Wicca, Celtic Spirituality and the New Age (Milton Keynes: 2002).

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example in some African traditions. It is therefore crucial for those working within the field of religious education to discover in what sense young people are using these terms when they identify themselves, their friends or their parents as Witches, Wiccans or pagans. The term New Age is even more problematic to define, being used to cover a multitude of groups and lifestyles from those who imminently expect a literal New Age to any form of contemporary spirituality. Its usefulness as a category is much debated by scholars,13 but it has a certain power to communicate as a convenient label for a variety of contemporary alternative popular spiritualities. The relevance of the label New Age to our topic is that there is much overlap between the kinds of beliefs and practices that might be labelled pagan or New Age depending on the labeller. Doug Ezzy for example, has argued that the popularized Witchcraft marketed to teenagers is New Age in its stress on the self, this worldly success, holism, evolutionary teleology (relentless positive progress) and ephemeral participation, unlike the ‘traditional’ witchcraft found in Wicca and other form of ‘serious’ contemporary paganism.14 Methodology Among the observations that have emerged from conversations with students was the predominance of young women who identified themselves as Witches or Wiccans. Beginning with volunteers from among my own students in 2003, I have been conducting a series of semi-structured interviews with young women identifying themselves as Witches.15 This article is based mainly upon six interviews which included three young women who were first year university students in 2003, two younger school students of thirteen and fourteen in 2004, and a further first year university student in 2005. The older students were asked both about their present beliefs and to look back on their earlier teenage years when they first took an interest in Witchcraft. In addition, for comparison, I interviewed three thirteen-year-old female school students who did not identify themselves as Witches but expressed an interest in alternative forms of spirituality (the ‘control group’), and for context conducted a general ‘focus group’ discussion with a group of sixteen-year-old school students (male and female) in a religious studies class. It is a difficult process to gain access to the under-eighteens, and in all cases the written permission of parents, schools and teachers was sought and obtained, as well as the permission from the young women themselves to publicize my findings. My main way of locating respondents under the age of eighteen has been through networks of local teachers 13 See S. Sutcliffe and M. Bowman (eds), Beyond New Age (Edinburgh, 2000) and S. Sutcliffe, ‘Category Formation and the History of “New Age”’, Culture and Religion 4 (1), (2003): 5–29. 14 D. Ezzy, ‘New Age Witchcraft?’. 15 This research is still in progress, and since the material on which this article is based, I have conducted further interviews including some with young male Witches. Each interview takes approximately one and a half hours. Although it would be extremely interesting to follow the future development of these young people this is not intended to be a longitudinal,study.

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and the occasional parent known to me. Having ‘Qualified Teacher Status’, and the associated legal authority to be alone in charge of other people’s children, was also an advantage. All interviews took place on school or college premises or in the homes of the young people with a parent/guardian elsewhere in the house. In 2004, a postgraduate student at Bath undertook a study for her dissertation interviewing four undergraduate Witches.16 This interviewer had the advantage of being much closer in age and belonging to a similar youth culture, but very similar themes emerged. I have also drawn upon her findings in forming some of my generalizations, particularly on the topic of bullying, about which interviewees were more forthcoming to their peer than to me. The advantage of the in-depth, semi-structured interview, and my reason for using it in this context, is the production of rich qualitative data giving some access to the deeply held beliefs, values and feelings of a small number of young women. This ethnographic approach to studying and teaching about the religious beliefs of young people has been championed in the UK by Robert Jackson and his team at Warwick University who, since 1984, have been conducting research on the beliefs of children, mainly from the Hindu, Muslim and Christian traditions.17 This approach seeks to reveal the diversity represented by the beliefs, values and customs of subsets of traditions (which Jackson calls ‘membership groups’), families and individuals when compared with the ‘textbook’ version of a tradition as constructed and represented by elite (and usually male) spokespersons. It also challenges the idea that there are rigid boundaries between traditions, when many people in practice draw upon a variety of cultural resources. It is therefore a particularly appropriate approach to take to the study of traditions like paganism and Witchcraft that do not have an official ‘textbook’ version but exist in the wealth of individual interpretation and practice. The main disadvantage is that such research is limited in scope and the small sample not necessarily representative of young Witches or pagans in general. The main alternative method used in the study of the beliefs and values of young people by religious education researchers is the large scale distribution of questionnaires with statistical analysis of the results, represented in the UK for example, by the work of Leslie Francis and his team.18 However, the work of Francis and his team has mainly been concerned with the relationship of young people to Christianity and the psychology of teenage religion. In trying to find out about teenage interest in Witchcraft and contemporary paganism in general, there is no shortage of resources. There are a plethora of books, magazines, TV programmes, films, and websites that give various perspectives on the topic. Entering a phrase like ‘teenage witch’ or ‘young pagans’ into a search engine such as ‘Google’ elicits more than 700,000 suggested links, which can be 16 Hall, ‘Why do Young People Chose to become Witches?’ 17 See R. Jackson,, Rethinking Religious Education and Plurality: Issues in Diversity and Pedagogy (London, 2004).[ 18 See for example S. Jones and L.J. Francis, ‘Religiosity and self-esteem during childhood and adolescence’, in L.J. Francis, W. Kay and W.S. Campbell (eds), Research in Religious Education (Leominster, 1996) and L.J. Francis and W. Kay, Teenage Religion and Values (Leominster, 1995).

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anything from an individual teenager’s website through commercial advertising for films to anti-cult organizations trying to save young people from what they view as damnation. The problem for the researcher, concerned parent or casual enquirer is the issue of provenance – one has to employ the ‘hermeneutic of suspicion’ in asking just who produced this material and for what purpose. Among the materials I have chosen and surveyed were magazines produced commercially for teenagers (such as Mizz and Sugar, books aimed at the teenage market (such as those by Silver RavenWolf), magazines and materials produced by ‘serious’ adult practitioners of paganism (such as Pagan Dawn and other materials produced by the Pagan Federation), various websites and academic studies of paganism (most notably those by Harvey, Hutton, Pearson and York19). It is important to look at commercial media, as the widespread availability of books, magazines and internet sites dealing with Witchcraft for teenagers is both obvious to the casual observer and can be seen as a contributory factor for the upsurge in interest20 (and occasionally seen by the more extreme conspiracyminded anti-cultists as a deliberate plot). Significantly, and unsurprisingly, my interviewees also mentioned these sources, either as texts they used themselves, or were aware of, or had grown out of. Doug Ezzy discusses the importance and nature of some of the popular commercial ‘spell books’ available in Australia, describing them as ‘popularized, commodified Witchcraft’.21 Magazines aimed at the ten to thirteen or thirteen to sixteen female readership in the UK, generally dealing with boy bands, fashion, make-up, often contain regular features on ‘mystic stuff’ (there is little concern in such publications with the fine distinctions that academics or adult practitioners might make between Wicca, Witchcraft, and the ‘New Age’). Examples are Mizz and Sugar magazines, a series of which I scrutinized between 2001–2003. Mizz typically contained a ‘spell of the week’ for gaining confidence, mending friendships, discovering if a boy has a crush on you. Mizz also ran a feature on ‘tarot card of the week’, activities such as runestones or tea-leaf divination, and advertisements for books aimed at teenagers wanting to identify as witches. The stress on forms of divination is significant in the light of my finding that young women are seeking to gain more control over their lives. The heroine of the serialized story in 2003 in Mizz had a ‘nan’ who was a ‘white witch’. In November 2002, there was a ‘6-page Harry Potter Special’.22 Sugar, for a slightly older age group, has featured a two-page spread on Kabbalah, had a regular feature called ‘Spooked’ with more spells and, for example, an article on runestones. In December 2001 Sugar included a special report ‘Wild about Wicca’ claiming that ‘witchcraft is Britain’s

19 See G. Harvey and C. Hardman, Paganism Today: Wiccans, Druids, the Goddess and Ancient Earth Traditions in the Twenty-First Century (London, 1995); Hutton The Triumph of the Moon; Pearson ‘The History and Development of Wicca and paganism’ and ‘Witches and Wicca’; M. York, The Emerging Network: A Sociology of the New Age and Neo-pagan Movements (Lanham, Maryland, 1995). 20 For example, Anon B (2003) ‘Witchcraft: Trendy Teenage Fad?’ http://members. tripod.com/~jack_in_the_green/teen/trend.html accessed 5/11/03 21 D. Ezzy, ‘New Age Witchcraft?’. 22 Mizz, ‘Harry Potter Spesh’.

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fastest growing teen movement’.23 The tone taken by these magazines in fairly lighthearted and the spells are never negative, in that they never include spells that would in any way harm others, unlike some of the publications mentioned by Ezzy. The report on teenage Witches was responsible, warning girls about the need to be very careful about websites, while taking an overall positive view of paganism, Wicca, Witchcraft and magic. As with all such media, the question to be asked is whether the magazine reflects an interest already present among young girls from other sources, or whether the medium is itself creating the interest, or both. Such magazines have certainly created an ‘ambience’, a discourse in teenage culture where an interest in spells, pagan beliefs, or what Höllinger and Smith24 would call ‘new age esotericism’, is on a par with an interest in fashion and pop celebrities – normalized and publicly acceptable as well as being fashionable. In addition to Witchcraft-related information entering mainstream teenage media there is a whole category of books aimed at the teenage market on Witchcraft and spells. The most famous, and arguably the most influential (see articles by Martin and Johnston in this volume) of these texts is probably an American publication Teen Witch: Wicca for a New Generation by Silver RavenWolf, first published in 1998.25 Recent correspondence with the publisher, Llewellyn, revealed that this is their best selling Wiccan title. 350,000 copies have been sold in the USA alone, and it has been translated into twelve different languages to date. This book sets out a basic Theology of Wicca, and contains spells for all occasions. The theology is very positive in that it puts forward an ethical and responsible attitude to life, promoting a lifestyle that is moral, does no harm to people or animals, cares for the environment, and respects other religions. In contrast with many other pagan theologies, the word God is used, and interpreted as meaning the divine energy that permeates all things, which is both male and female. RavenWolf lists thirteen Principles of Belief, twenty-nine things that Witches do not do and fifteen things that Witches do.26 Her summaries are reproduced on many websites, often without attribution.27 Wicca is portrayed by RavenWolf as: having rituals that attune one with nature: ‘the natural rhythms of life forces marked by the phases of the moon and the seasonal quarters and crossquarters’; caring for the environment: ‘we seek to live in harmony with nature’; belief in a deeper power: ‘just like any other religion, witches believe in God’; in powers of the mind, and as not being authoritarian. It is a whole lifestyle, respects all life, respects plurality of religious paths, does not believe in or worship Satan, is not racist or sexist.28 Beliefs taught in this text include God and Goddess as aspects of the universal force, reincarnation and karma. Real Witches, RavenWolf claims, would never hurt anyone, take drugs, do negative magic, sacrifice people or animals, lie, practise sexual perversions, drink blood, steal, gossip, or use love spells to target

23 24 25 26 27 28

Sugar, Special Report ‘Wild About Wicca’. Höllinger and Smith, ‘Religion and Esotericism among Students’. S. RavenWolf, Teen Witch: Wicca for a New Generation (St Paul, Minnesota, 1998). Ibid., pp. 5–9, 13–19. For example, www.enharmiel.co.uk. RavenWolf, Teen Witch: Wicca for a New Generation pp. 4–9.

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individuals.29 The spells offered in this text are about love, friendship, healing, prosperity, exams, parents and other natural concerns of teenagers. Although this is described as ‘Wicca’, it is a much more general form of witchcraft in the sense of spells one can do by oneself and loosely pagan beliefs rather than the more specific ‘adult’ initiatory Wicca. Although this and other books which I examined30 appeared to be very moral with spells for positive and laudable (or at least harmless) aims, Ezzy, looking at similar publications available in Australia, found that whereas two were positive and ‘ethical’ (though only in the sense that ‘bad’ magic will rebound on the perpetrator), a third included what could be seen as selfish and negative spells for, for example, getting revenge on an ex-boyfriend, or breaking up an existing relationship of someone desired.31 Silver RavenWolf’s books were listed by some of my interviewees as important sources of information for them, although other young Witches, both my interviewees and on various websites are either critical of her representation of Wicca, or feel that it is a beginner’s level text that is moved on from. Nearly all of the articles studied, whether for or against teenage interest in Witchcraft, consider film and TV to be highly influential in stimulating interest. Films like The Craft,32 Practical Magic33 and the Harry Potter series,34 The Lord of the Rings trilogy35 as well as TV programmes like Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (featuring the teenage witch Willow), and Charmed are held responsible for popularizing positive images of the witch among teenage girls. However, the messages given by or taken from such forms of entertainment can vary greatly. Although teenagers have been known to copy the rituals in The Craft (as seen in the Channel 4 documentary Witch Craze),36 as Ezzy points out the girls in the film ‘ultimately end up paying a high price for their transgressions’.37 As for Harry Potter, an interesting article by Michael Ostling argues that rather than representing a ‘re-enchantment of everyday life’, the series portrays magic as a kind of alternative technology, where having the latest model of broomstick echoes children’s consumerist world, and which offers no real challenge to the cultural status quo.38 The attitude of my interviewees to films like The Craft was generally that they enjoyed them, but did not see them as representing what ‘real’ young Witches were like. Heartening for parents or teachers concerned about the influence of commercial media on teenagers, my focus group of sixteen-year-olds, including some who identified as pagan and interested in ‘Witchcraft’ was their reassurance that, well educated by their Media Studies teachers, ‘we know how these things work’, and 29 Ibid., pp. 13–17. 30 For example, F. Horne, Witchin’: A Handbook for Teen Witches (London, 2002). 31 D. Ezzy, ‘New Age Witchcraft?’. 32 Directed by Andrew Flemming, 1996. 33 Directed by Griffin Dunne, 1998. 34 Harry Potter series ongoing, written by J.K Rowling. 35 Directed by Jackson 2003 onwards, based on the books by J.R.R Tolkein. 36 Channel 4 Teenage Kicks: The Witch Craze, aired 28/08/2002. 37 D. Ezzy, ‘New Age Witchcraft?’, p. 53. 38 M. Ostling, ‘Harry Potter and the Disenchantment of the World’, Journal of Contemporary Religion 18/1 (2003): 3–23.

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that films, TV programmes, magazines, and some of the books were regarded by them as entertainment rather than giving any serious information about Witchcraft or religion ‘in the end, it’s entertainment’. However, although most rejected the more commercialized materials, the general feeling expressed by my interviewees was that such texts were for many young people a useful first step into the world of Witchcraft and paganism. There is no shortage either of other adults writing about and to teenage Witches and offering suggestions as to why young people and young women in particular are attracted to Witchcraft. These include those who might be called ‘serious’ adult pagans, extremely critical ‘anti-cult’ approaches (often from the more evangelical or fundamentalist wing of Christianity), and serious academic studies. In journals such as Pagan Dawn, the journal of the Pagan Federation, and countless internet sites, there is much discussion of ‘teenage Witches’. For insiders, that is, older, adult practitioners, some are annoyed that silly little girls are giving Wicca and paganism a bad name and want to distance ‘real’ Wicca, paganism or whatever from the commercialized phenomenon. In Pagan Dawn, writers Iain Steele and Mary Dodsworth complain about the confusion between paganism, Wicca and Witchcraft, particularly the ‘commercialized plastic rubbish’39 and argue for paganism, a serious religious path, to be distinguished from both Wicca and Witchcraft that could be practised by anyone of any religion. Many are very critical of the images portrayed in film and media (for example Taranatha40). Many internet critics I suspect are from the somewhat older sixteen+ or eighteen+ age group who have moved on to a more serious interest in paganism as a religion and are dissociating themselves from the younger ‘teen Witches’, rather as they might from their younger sister’s ‘boy bands’. Interestingly, some criticisms of commercialized teenage Witchcraft target films and TV programmes that include drinking blood, conjuring up demons, and incredible magic spells when real Wicca/paganism is positive and sensible – whereas others seem to be criticizing ‘teenage Witchcraft’ for what seems to be the opposite – creating a bland, harmless, sweet, ‘fluffy bunny teen religion with minimal content that the world outside can find nothing to dislike in.’41 The ‘fluffy bunny’ criticism is a phrase repeated by Wiccans, Witches and pagans, both adult and teenaged, including my interviewees. Against all the usual protests of ethical respectability found in the teen witch books, Marsden42 claims that his practice does include ritual nudity, sexual initiatory rituals, bondage, use of mind-altering substances and other things that would not be acceptable to other religions or the general public. Ezzy also found that ‘popular witchcraft has an ambivalent relationship with older forms of the Craft that are variously encouraged, amused and appalled by it’.43

39 26–27. 40 41 42 43

I. Steele and M. Dodsworth, ‘Towards Recognition’, Pagan Dawn 147 (2003): Taranatha, Teenage Kicks. For example, A. Marsden in a letter to Pagan Dawn May 2003 p. 44. Ibid. D. Ezzy, ‘New Age Witchcraft?’, p. 48.

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An Internet search revealed plenty of material on ‘teenage witches.’ An interesting website article called ‘Stupid Teenage Wiccans’,44 written by an author who claims to be a kind of Witch and pagan but not a Wiccan, criticizes such teenagers for thinking it is all easy, that you can just make up your beliefs and rituals, for thinking that it is all about having romantic pseudonyms and wearing occult jewellery, annoying teachers and parents and Christians, for believing in the myth that Wicca is ‘the old religion’ when it was all invented by Gardner in the 1950s. And – worst of all – everything on their websites is purple. Another Wiccan website45 discusses why teenagers are attracted to Wicca and lists media and film images, the sense of belonging, rebellion, ‘Goth’ fashion, attention seeking and a cool image, while also recognizing that teenagers may actually be seriously attracted by the beliefs of paganism. The Pagan Federation, which can only be joined by the over-eighteens, responsibly produces information for interested teenagers and concerned parents, and their previous Youth Manager has taken over a network called ‘Minor Arcana’ for young pagans, which you have to have parental permission to join.46 Against the barrage of criticism ‘serious’ pagans level at ‘teenage witches’, Jess Wynne, the current organizer of Minor Arcana, a Witch but not a Wiccan, argues that ‘teenagers have as much right as adults to find out about paganism if they wish’ and that in her experience ‘they are a sound, sensible, thoughtful bunch, who ask questions, listen, discuss, exchange ideas, read and think’.47 Attempts at objective unbiased study were few and far between when I started this research, but are increasing, as this volume demonstrates. In 2002 Channel 4 produced a documentary called Teenage Kicks: The Witch Craze in which two groups of young female Witches, a young man who called himself a vampire and their parents were interviewed. There do not appear from the credits to have been any pagan or academic advisers for this programme. This programme was severely criticized on the website of nineteen-year-old Enharmiel Taranatha48 as giving a completely wrong picture of Wicca. The girls were too young to know what they were doing, had copied their initiation ritual from a film, and came across as going through a silly phase. The programme gave no understanding of Wicca as a serious spiritual path. On the other hand, in my study, the young people interviewed spoke frankly, and the themes that emerged rang true. Calling themselves Witches and practising spells seemed to give the girls a sense of identity, made them feel special, was part of their group friendship, helped them deal with their problems, was fun, and most of all gave them a sense of control over, and meaning in their lives. Several questions emerge from the survey of resources above that provide an important context for the interview data, which follows. These include the question of whether there really is an increase in interest in Witchcraft among young 44 Anon A (2003), ‘Stupid Teenage Wiccans’. http://www.unpuppet.com/ilBegotten/ stupid/teenagewiccans.html accessed 5/11/03. 45 Anon B, ‘Witchcraft: Trendy Teenage Fad?’. 46 Minor Arcana, PO Box 10, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, WF4 1YX. 47 Jess Wynne, ‘For you over-18s: the future of paganism’, Pagan Dawn, 151, (2004): 10–11. 48 Taranatha, Teenage Kicks.

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women, and the role of magazines, popular spell books, the Internet, film and TV in stimulating this interest. Is there a category of ‘teenage Witchcraft’ and how does it relate to the wider world of adult paganism? Is any interest superficial and on the level of entertainment, or does it reflect a genuine spiritual commitment? Should educators and parents be concerned about this interest in Witchcraft, or is it on the whole a positive influence in the lives of young women? What do young Witches actually believe and do? My interviews to date have included two categories of young Witches, university students in their late teens or early twenties, who first identified themselves as Witches in their younger teens, and younger teenagers between the ages of thirteen and sixteen. I also interviewed three thirteen-year-olds who were interested in religion and spirituality but did not identify themselves as Witches (the ‘control group’), and conducted a ‘focus group’ discussion with a class of sixteen-year-olds that encompassed a cross-section of religious beliefs including Christian and pagan. All interviews followed the same list of questions (see Appendix), although the discussion was allowed to deviate from these to focus on whatever seemed important to the interviewees themselves. Older students’ dialogues The older students (eighteen-year-olds and above) were asked to talk both about their present beliefs and practices and also to look back on what first attracted them to this form of religion as younger teenagers. In the interviews they demonstrated that they were able to look with a certain critical eye upon the ‘teen Witch phenomenon’ whilst having been teen Witches themselves. The three young women interviewed in 2003 and the one interviewed in 2005 were at time of interview eighteen (A), twenty (B) and twenty-four (C) and twenty (D), but had started calling themselves Witches aged fourteen, sixteen, fifteen and thirteen respectively. All are white and English. C identified as a Christian as well as a pagan, and had Romany ancestry that included inherited magical practices. They had been exposed to one semester of studying religion at University, which had given them some technical vocabulary and a more critical approach to some of the ‘received wisdom’ about the ‘Old Religion’. Some common themes emerged in the interviews and are outlined in what follows. All quotations in this section are from interviewees unless otherwise indicated. None of those interviewed in 2003 belonged to an organized Wiccan coven which they viewed as too formal, organized, esoteric and hierarchical, but practised in their own individual way. ‘Believing without belonging’ was identified by Grace Davie49 as a common feature of the contemporary British religious scene. Paul Heelas talks of a ‘spiritual revolution’50 in Western countries where individual experience is paramount. Two of the interviewees used the term ‘hedge-witch’ to indicate this

49 G. Davie, Religion in Britain Since 1945 (Oxford, 1994). 50 In P. Heelas, ‘The Spiritual Revolution: from “Religion” to “Spirituality”’ in L. Woodhead, P. Fletcher, H. Kawami and D. Smith (eds), Religions in the Modern World (London, 2002); P. Heelas and L. Woodhead, The Spiritual Revolution (Oxford, 2005).

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individualism (a term coined by Rae Beth in 199051). The third preferred to call herself a pagan, but had used the term Witch when younger. However, D was in training to join a local coven led by a friend of her mother. Information about paganism and Witchcraft was mostly gained from books rather than interaction with a community, though B was more involved with organized pagan activities, and D borrowed her first books from her mother’s friend. All were aware of the pagan festival year, and marked these special days with varying degrees of importance and involvement in the wider pagan community. Rituals used by the interviewees were fairly simple, sometimes taken from spell books and sometimes invented. The majority of rituals were private and personal. They might employ candles, stones, or more traditional ‘witch’ paraphernalia such as crystal balls and tarot cards. Meditation and visualizations are expressed as an important part of directing energies (whether external or one’s own mind): ‘A witch is someone who believes in nature as magical and that we can use that magic for useful ends.’ The interviewees mentioned rituals and visualizations that could help in preparing for examinations. Magic was admitted to be attractive to teenagers because it held out a promise of gaining one’s ends in a way that was easier than hard work. As they became older, they reflected, they had realized the importance and efficacy of the latter: ‘ritual probably cannot change the exam questions’. As to how ritual magic works, the young women generally felt that the answer to whether it drew upon real powers or worked psychologically was probably both. There was much talk of the mind, and the main way in which magic works was seen as psychological (incidentally, psychology is one of the most popular degree subject choices nationally at present). It may also draw upon external powers, but that was seen as secondary and optional: ‘even if it is just in your mind, it works’, ‘I don’t care why it works, if it does’, ‘I’m a great believer in mind over matter.’ This attitude was also noticed in the research carried out by Hannah Johnston (nee Sanders),52 ‘if it works do it, and don’t ask where it comes from’. Magic rituals are used by the interviewees to enhance confidence and self esteem. Whether they are considered to work in a realist, metaphorical or psychological way, for the interviewees engaging in such rituals is a positive way of taking hold of life rather than passively letting it happen. In many ways, the practices described in ‘spell books’ and enacted by these young women can be compared to the ‘power of positive thinking’ type self-help books, or even to the techniques of ‘experiential religious education’ popularized by for example Hammond et al.53 This form of pedagogy employs activities such as visualizations, meditation and guided fantasies in order to develop the pupil’s awareness of their own spirituality and that of others. The only uniting factor among the interviewees was the feeling that the Witch sees more to life: ‘A witch is someone who recognizes what is beyond face value in what you see’ who ‘sees significance in things and events.’ Whether this something was identified as God, Goddess, Gods, or spirits varied. D talked articulately about 51 R. Beth, Hedge Witch: a Guide to Solitary Witchcraft, (London, 1990). 52 H. Sanders, ‘Why are the young attracted to the Goddess?’, Unpublished paper delivered at the Fellowship of Isis annual conference, London 2000. 53 J. Hammond et al., New Methods in RE Teaching (London: 1990).

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the One, the spirit or consciousness behind all things and in all things, everywhere, but hard to talk about, immanent rather than transcendent. God and Goddess refer to the two aspects of this One. Interviewee A felt that Gods and Goddesses were not real beings but metaphors for energies existing within humans and other parts of nature. C, who identified as a Witch but also a Christian, had the most ‘realist’ view of supernatural powers, in the sense that these were seen as existing as separate entities rather than for example as metaphors for psychological powers. These included God, Goddess, lesser Gods and Goddesses, animal spirits and elementals that are ‘not necessarily benevolent’. B was clear that ‘I do not believe in anything supernatural’ and ‘I do not invoke Gods, Goddesses or sprites.’ Interestingly, concentration on the Goddess, popular with older female pagans, was not really stressed by any of these four interviewees. Perhaps the concept of the divine as parent is not particularly attractive to those in or just out of their teens, whether God the Father or Mother Goddess. All four interviewees found the beliefs and practices associated with being Witches empowering. The sense of control over life and destiny gained from ritual magic was seen as particularly important to these young women and springing from similar needs which found more negative outlets in anorexia and self-harming. Comments such as ‘it makes you feel you can actually do something to change the situation’ were typical; ‘It makes you feel special’ seems to sum up part of the appeal to young women. For two of the interviewees it was associated with a desire to be ‘different’ and connected with fashion style such as the ‘Goth’ look, part of the adolescent quest for identity and a place in the world. Being a Witch gave these young women a sense of personal control over their life and/or destiny. Three connected their Witch identity with bullying from classmates. In some cases, the Witch identity seemed to have been a defence and means of coping with bullying, whereas for others, bullying could result from having identified themselves as a Witch. However, tolerance of alternative beliefs appears to have increased in recent years; ‘when I was at school it was bad [to be a Witch] but now it’s really cool and fashionable’. These interviewees seem to express opinions found throughout research with young women identifying themselves as Witches. For example, Ezzy’s study of ‘New Age Witchcraft’ reveals similar themes emerging from an analysis of the sort of popular spell books available to teenage girls and others: ‘witchcraft provides a technology of self-empowerment for young women’.54 Being a Witch or pagan may also be part of a larger countercultural protest, whether seen as such by those engaged in the practice or not. As Höllinger and Smith point out, involvement with ‘esoteric practices’ tends to be correlated with counter-cultural political engagement.55 However, although paganism in general tends to be aligned with countercultural activities such as ecological protest, many popular spell books describe ‘empowering prosperity and inner harmony rather than countercultural living’.56 It may be that the sense of meaning and purpose in life given by religious beliefs and practices, whether Islamic, Christian or pagan 54 D. Ezzy, ‘New Age Witchcraft?’ p. 48. 55 Höllinger and Smith, ‘Religion and Esotericism among Students’. 56 D. Ezzy, ‘New Age Witchcraft?’, p. 62.

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does serve to build up self-esteem. Jones and Francis surveyed twenty-seven studies that show contradictory relationships between religious belief or practice and selfesteem, but in their own study demonstrated ‘a small but statistically significant correlation between attitude towards Christianity and self-esteem … consistent with the view that Christianity promotes a positive view of self during childhood and adolescence’.57 Thus the development of a pagan or Witch identity may serve to enhance self-esteem and a sense of meaning in life in a similar way to belonging to other traditions. Another attraction is the libertarian ethic associated with contemporary paganism (the so-called Wiccan Rede, ‘An it harm none, do what thou wilt’, is thought to be a Wiccan development from Aleister Crowley’s ‘do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law’58). There was a perception from interviewees that in traditional religions like Christianity there was a repressive association between ‘fun’ and ‘evil’. The libertarian ethic of doing what you will as long as it does not harm others is attractive to teenagers who perceive themselves under restrictions imposed by parents, school, or religion. More than one respondent mentioned that lesbian and gay teenagers appreciate the non-judgemental approach to sexual orientation. The positive valuation of the material world and love of nature was an important factor for all. The environmentalist emphasis of contemporary paganism was seen as very important. All considered natural sites to be their ‘sacred spaces’. As one commented, ‘this world is not something to be shunned, to try to get somewhere else, there are good things here to use and learn from’. One stated that we should ‘try not to make such a mess of the place’. All were much happier to be associated with the label pagan, as suggesting the sacredness of nature, than New Age, which was viewed as unrealistic, too optimistic, laughable, associated with hippy culture or meaningless. Though having studied New Age and paganism academically, two of the four interviewees admitted that others might categorize some of their beliefs, practices and interests as New Age. Whether their beliefs and practices were a religion, evinced answers including yes, no, don’t know, and ‘a way of life’. Their answers suggest that paganism is understood as a religion and Witchcraft as a practice. These answers are relevant to current academic debates regarding the meaning and usefulness of such terms. All four had mixed feelings about the current explosion of interest from younger teenagers. In part this is expressed by their perception that it is rather ‘tacky’, embarrassing, gives Witches a bad name and is largely commercial exploitation. They felt that it could possibly be dangerous for young teenagers to take up magical practices, but probably on the whole not. From the vantage point of eighteen to twenty-four, teenage Witchcraft was viewed mostly as amusing, harmless fun, quite sweet ‘cool but twee’. It could be a first step to a more serious and positive interest, as it had been for them. As for books like those of Silver RavenWolf, some of the young women still used spells from such texts, whereas others felt they had moved on. They did have answers to the question of why more girls were interested than boys. 57 Jones and Francis, ‘Religiosity and self-esteem during childhood and adolescence’, p. 200. 58 Pearson, ‘The History and Development of Wicca and paganism’, pp. 31, 41.

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According to one interviewee, girls ‘have different ways of coping with the problems of adolescence’ and are ‘more imaginative and whimsical’. This correlates with the finding of research of Sanders with teenaged girls in Britain.59 Boys, they argued, would not relate easily to skills associated with Witchcraft practice, such as sewing herb bags. Further, such interest might connect with earlier childhood experiences associated with girls such as an interest in fairies, which Witchcraft allows older girls to re-discover. Another important factor that they identified was the contemporary marketing of teenage Witchcraft. The books, magazines and ‘Witchcraft kits’ are targeted primarily at girls, expressed in part through the predominance in packaging and design of pink and purple, images of young women, and reference to media texts where girls play dominant roles. The Witch as popularly imagined, according to these young women, is an image of a powerful woman, rather than a male figure, hence the appeal to girls and women. Even though focus on the Goddess did not feature much in the practice of these young women, paganism with its Goddess or goddesses was appreciated for having feminine imagery for the divine. However, as Ezzy60 points out, in much of the commercially available material there may be no real critical questioning of feminine stereotypes in, for example, spells to make you more attractive to boys. Thus the Witch as a powerful woman may be an enabling motif for young women, but may also serve to reinforce rather than deconstruct gender stereotypes. Younger students’ dialogues When interviewing the school students aged thirteen and fourteen, I expected less sophistication in the responses, especially as the university students had engaged in some academic study of religion. However, I came away deeply impressed by their wide reading, knowledge and critical thinking. This made me conscious of how educators and academics may be in danger of underestimating and patronizing teenage Witches. E (aged thirteen) and F (aged fourteen) were at different schools and in different school years. Both practised as individuals, though they had started as part of groups of friends, but took Witchcraft seriously as the others lost interest. Both called themselves Wiccan, in the generalized rather than specific sense, as they did not belong to any groups. The younger was knowledgeable about the history of Wicca, and talked in an informed way about Gerald Gardner. In many ways the themes that emerged were identical with those emerging with the older students: being a Witch is about empowerment, being in touch with nature, being special, practising ritual magic, open and responsible ethics, and having a positive attitude to life. Even less than the older teenagers did they relate to the term New Age, which did not mean very much to them. E felt it would be impertinent to claim to be a Witch; it would be more accurate to claim that some time in the future ‘I will be a Witch.’ Both practised rituals, some of which they obtained from books, and others they developed themselves. E also meditated three times a week. 59 H. Sanders, ‘New Generation Witches: The Teenage Witch as Cultural Icon and Lived Identity’. Doctoral Thesis. Anglia Ruskin University 2004. 60 D. Ezzy, ‘New Age Witchcraft?’, pp. 56–57.

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Compared with the older students, they had a rather negative view of the current state of the world, and saw one of the major attractions of Wicca/Witchcraft as a way of dealing with the way things are. Witchcraft is seen as a positive response to a negative situation. Instead of simply putting up with difficult circumstances, one can take action to change things. In response to the question about why young women become Witches, F stated that ‘they don’t like the world around them’ and that it is ‘as a way of not being brought down by the world around you’. Ritual practice is a way of taking control and gaining empowerment ‘it gives you confidence because you can change the world and change your life to be more the way you want it to be’. Magic rituals are ‘things you do knowingly, to change things’. Like the older students, they were happy to remain agnostic about whether rituals drew on mental powers within or on external energies – probably both, stating ‘if it gives people hope and strength to keep going in this horrible world does it matter?’ They could articulate their ‘theologies’ quite clearly, and as with the older students, it was in the area of beliefs where most individual divergence was seen. E defined the divine as ‘the essence of everything’, and stated that the Witch is one who cultivates awareness of this essence. Gods and spirits are manifestations of this essence, not physical beings but energies. She stated that she had a spirit guide who was explained as not so much a separate entity but ‘an idealistic vision of yourself which looks after you’. The conventional concept of God did not seem adequate to her as a label for the divine essence. Goddess was an improvement as having overtones of nature, but still not quite right. F was more atheist or agnostic in her philosophy: ‘There may be something, but I don’t know what it is … certainly, there is no God above man.’ Again, Goddess is preferable, but seen as meaning the beauty of nature, not something apart. This student was exploring whether in her rejection of any power outside of the human, the term Satanist might be a more appropriate label – not the Satanist of popular imagination, but one who sees that the only resource for improving the world is the human will. Both admitted to liking the feeling of being different and special. Although they did not read the girls’ magazines, they felt that commercially available witch kits and spell books, and the images of Wicca in films and TV, were probably positive on the whole as at least they raised awareness of Wicca, Witchcraft and paganism as a possible way of life. When asked why girls seemed more attracted to Witchcraft than boys, the suggestions made were that the term Witch is traditionally associated with females, and that perhaps males would find relying on religion, rituals and magic a sign of weakness and lack of self-reliance. However, although F did not know any males who called themselves Witches, Wiccans or pagans, E did, and thought that there was probably little difference in the reasons why young men would be attracted to Witchcraft. Control group responses The control group were three thirteen-year-old girls who were identified by their teacher as interested in alternative spirituality but did not call themselves Witches. This group of friends enjoyed popular culture featuring Witches, such as the TV

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programme Charmed, but as entertainment. They did not identify themselves as Witches or pagans, but were clear that they did not believe in God as they perceived the concept in Christianity. They did believe in ghosts, fairies, and spirits and recounted experiences suggestive of the existence of such entities. They thought there might be Gods or Goddesses. They believed (at least to some extent) in destiny, prediction and astrology. They considered the spells found in teenage magazines as ‘silly’ but had tried them. Two of the three believed in reincarnation and karma and were aware from religious education lessons that these beliefs were connected with Hinduism and Buddhism. They were attracted to these traditions and felt that there should be more in Religious Education about Native American and Australian traditions, Chinese religions and ancient Egyptian religions. Their explanation for teenage Witches and their own interest in spiritualities was that the world as revealed by logic and science was just too ‘boring’ – seeking ‘re-enchantment’ perhaps. The beliefs and concerns of these students is of interest in that although the number of teenagers calling themselves Witches is small, there is a larger circle of students more generally interested in the ‘unexplained’ and in exploring alternative spiritualities. Although sharing some cultural references, this group were not as able to articulate their beliefs, values and practices as the young Witches, and had perhaps not developed such a coherent worldview or means of dealing with the issues facing them as had the young Witches. Focus group responses This was a group of fifteen young people aged sixteen who had chosen to take Religious Education for an examination subject, so had some interest in religion and spirituality. They were chosen to take part in this research as the class had been identified by the teacher as containing some who identified with paganism and Witchcraft (four/fifteen). The same list of questions was used to form the basis of a general group discussion rather than the more intimate and personal individual interviews. All agreed that the media presentations of Witches and Wiccans were not accurate portrayals, any more than the media images of Islam, and that they were for entertainment value only. They were aware of the popular spell books and teenage magazines, and the majority had used them at least once, but they did not seem to take them very seriously. They got interested in debating whether spells were any different from prayers, and whether religions with a long established history and organized structures deserved more attention than traditions that ‘seem to have been made up yesterday’. They were clear that Witchcraft was more attractive to girls than boys, and claimed that the reasons were that the stress on the feminine in Wicca/ Witchcraft/paganism was a welcome counterbalance to the male domination of the ‘mainstream’ religions, and because the marketing aimed products such as spell books at girls. However, they also maintained that some young men are interested, and one of the four who identified with paganism and Witchcraft was male. Because of the association with the female, they felt that it might be more difficult for young men to take up something clearly identified with women, and there was some goodhumoured teasing of the one male Witch.

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Conclusion: The influences at work in the adoption of Witchcraft by young women, their beliefs, values and practices and the implications for religious education Although the themes that emerge are somewhat obvious and might have been predicted, and also correlate with other research in this area, the value of in-depth interviews is that they enable the researcher to engage with the complexities and subtle difference of individual beliefs, practices and values. This diversity was revealed most strongly in the area of beliefs, which as with adult pagans ranged through a large proportion of possible alternatives. I was not surprised to find that Witchcraft was attractive because of positive images of the female, because of identity and empowerment, concern for the natural world, and a libertarian ethic. Comparisons with other treatments of the same topic reveal similar themes. For example Robinson61 lists lack of sexist beliefs and practices, concern for the environment, more positive public and media perceptions of Wicca, morality, personal involvement (for example being able to create you own rituals), lack of discrimination, flexibility and the quest for power as the major reason why ‘teens’ are drawn to Wicca. However, it is useful to have these reasons given by young people themselves rather than guessed at by adults. I was however, pleasantly surprised by the seriousness with which my interviewees took their religion, their knowledge and breadth of reading, and the articulacy with which they were able to express their beliefs, particularly the younger students. I was also impressed by their ‘media savvy’ attitude and their personal discrimination when relating to the images and discourses presented to them. The relevance for religious educators of examining teenage interest in Witchcraft is that although a minority of girls and young women will actually label themselves Witches, Wiccans or pagans, there is likely to be at least one in any class, and a considerable larger number who have engaged in some of the practices associated with Witchcraft, or who are interested in a more general way in alternative spiritualities. Before reacting to the labels ‘Witch’ or ‘pagan’ it is therefore imperative to explore with those using these terms what they might mean by them as an individual. It is important to realize that for some young women, calling oneself a Witch and practising magic is harmless fun, and a mere fashion; perhaps for others (although none of my interviewees fell into this category, they allowed this possibility) it could be a dangerous obsession (if for example locked away in the bedroom casting spells instead of revising for examinations or making friends). However, for a growing number it is, or may lead to, a serious spiritual path that makes a positive contribution to their lives. We need to take account of this in religious education. Further, I would argue that it is important to take account of the beliefs, attitudes and values of young Witches in religious education, not only for the sake of the minority of students who identify with these labels, but also for the much larger group who are interested in spirituality in a much less focused way. Young Witches have a vocabulary and grammar from their identification with a tradition with which they can articulate concerns and interests that are shared by a wider peer group. Such concerns include an interest in personalized or individual religion/spirituality rather 61 Robinson, ‘Teens and Wicca’.

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than in the ‘organized religions’ that are dominate the school curriculum; a sense that there is a further dimension or meaning to life but that this is not expressed for them in traditional religious vocabulary; a concern for the natural world and its future; a need to feel a sense of identity and of control over one’s destiny and that of the planet; a need for new forms of ceremony and ritual; and the desire for a non-repressive and liberating ethic which values diversity and non-harming. My control (non-Witch) group were interested in Ancient Egyptian religion, Buddhism and Hinduism, and the whole area of ghosts, dreams, mysterious occurrences under the heading of ‘the unexplained’. The latter also came out top in research undertaken by an MA student a few years ago. Research with school students in Estonia62 revealed an interest in ethics, world religions other than Christianity, religion and culture and religion and science, sexuality and relationships, love, UFOs, destiny, life after death, alcohol and drugs, soul, spirits and ghosts and reincarnation. Further research on the religious affiliations and interests of sixteen- to nineteen-year-olds in England by Lat Blaylock,63 led him to describe contemporary adolescents as a generation characterized by ‘plasticity of spirituality’, post-modern in the sense of being eclectic, anti-tradition and relativistically inclined, plural, ‘religion-lite’, in their relationship to the ‘faith communities’, rarely anti-spiritual, more open to ideas like God and life after death than they are often portrayed, and very much in search of meaning. This would suggest, in agreement with my research interviews, that for the sake of the minority of students who are Witches or pagans, and for their ‘just interested’ classmates, taking Wicca and other forms of paganism seriously in the religious studies curriculum at school level as well as university, would be a step in the direction of making the curriculum more inclusive and relevant to the needs of the students. The reasons why some young women are attracted to Witchcraft seem to be well established and agreed upon by both those writing about teenage Witches and my sample of teenage Witches themselves. However, as my research has shown, each young woman had her own individual approach to her involvement with and expression of Witchcraft and pagan beliefs and practices. This is in fact a significant element of this form of religious expression. What did impress me was the seriousness of their commitment to their chosen path, and the articulate way they could talk about it, even at the age of thirteen. Teenage Witchcraft may be a passing fad for some, but is a serious spiritual path for others. Another important finding is that although much of the practice described by my interviewees was similar, their actual beliefs about the nature of the divine differed quite widely. This would support the view that whereas paganism may be a religion, or a family of religions, Witchcraft is a practice that can co-exist with a variety of religious or non-religious beliefs. Finally, although the number of young women calling themselves Witches is relatively small, they may be symptomatic of a generation of young people whose 62 P. Valk, ‘Training for Holistic Education’, paper delivered at Educating the Whole Child, EFTRE conference, Helsinki 2004. 63 L. Blaylock, ‘The Plasticity of Spirituality: reshaping RE to meet the moods of 21stcentury 11–19s’, paper given at Crossing Frontiers in Religious Education, AULRE Conference, Gloucestershire 2004.

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attachment to traditional religions like Christianity is weak, but whose interest in the spiritual dimension and in exploring a whole range of ideas, practices and values is stronger than some adults might think. Appendix Interview Questions: Questions are both about the present and looking back on younger self. What would you call yourself: Witch, Wiccan, pagan, hedgewitch etc? What does that term mean to you? When did you first become interested and why? How do you relate to the terms ‘pagan’ and ‘New Age’? How do you relate to ‘organized’ paganism – PF, the festival wheel, the Wiccan Rede...? 6. What is magic(k)? How do spells work? 7. What sort of rituals do you engage in – is it possible to tell me something about them? 8. Do you believe in God, Gods, the Goddess, Goddesses, spirits, fairies or other supernatural entities? 9. Is Wicca/witchcraft/paganism different for men and women? 10. How do you view the ‘teen witch phenomenon’ e.g. books by Silver RavenWolf, teen magazines? 11. Would you call your tradition a religion? A spirituality? 12. How have your attitudes and belief changed since you first became interested? 13. Is your tradition ancient or a phenomenon of the last century? 14. What is your attitude to Christianity? 15. Any other comments? Do you have any sacred places? 16. Why do you think so many young women are interested in witchcraft? 17. What is the appeal for young men? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Bibliography Anon A (2003) ‘Stupid Teenage Wiccans’, http://www.unpuppet.com/ilBegotten/stupid/teenagewiccans.html accessed 5/11/03 Anon B (2003) ‘Witchcraft: Trendy Teenage Fad?’ http://members.tripod.com/~jack_in_the_green/teen/trend.html accessed 5/11/03 Beth, R., Hedge Witch: A Guide to Solitary Witchcraft, (London: Hale, 1990). Blaylock, L., ‘The Plasticity of Spirituality: reshaping RE to meet the moods of 21st century 11–19s’, paper given at Crossing Frontiers in Religious Education, AULRE Conference, Gloucestershire, 2004. Cush, D., ‘Paganism in the Classroom’, British Journal of Religious Education 19/2, (1997) pp. 83–94. Davie, G., Religion in Britain Since 1945, (Oxford: Blackwell, 1994).

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Ezzy, D., ‘New Age Witchcraft? Popular spell books and the re-enchantment of everyday life’, Culture and Religion, 4/1, (2003) pp. 47–65. Francis, L.J. and Kay, W.K., Teenage Religion and Values (Leominster: Fowler Wright Books, 1995). Hall, J., ‘Why do Young People Chose to become Witches?’ Unpublished MA dissertation, Bath Spa University, UK (2004). Hammond, J. et al., New Methods in RE Teaching (London: Oliver and Boyd, 1990). ‘Harry Potter Spesh’, Mizz (November 2003) London: IPC Media Ltd (UK). Harvey, G. and Hardman, C., Paganism Today: Wiccans, Druids, the Goddess and Ancient Earth Traditions in the Twenty-First Century (London: Thorsons, 1995). Heelas, P., ‘The Spiritual Revolution: from “Religion” to “Spirituality”’, in L. Woodhead, P. Fletcher, H. Kawami and D. Smith (eds), Religions in the Modern World (London: Routledge, 2002). Heelas, P. and Woodhead, L., The Spiritual Revolution (Oxford: Blackwell, 2005). Höllinger, F. and Smith, T., ‘Religion and Esotericism among students: a CrossCultural Comparative Study’, Journal of Contemporary Religion, 17/2 (2002), pp. 229–249. Homan, R., ‘Toil and Trouble: Hallowe’en as an Educational Theme and Political Issue’, British Journal of Religious Education, 14/1 (1991) pp. 9–14. Horne, F., Witchin’: A Handbook for Teen Witches (London: Element/HarperCollins, 2002). Hutton, R., The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern pagan Witchcraft (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999). Jackson, R., Rethinking Religious Education and Plurality: Issues in Diversity and Pedagogy (London: Routledge Falmer, 2004). Jones, S. and Francis L.J., ‘Religiosity and self-esteem during childhood and adolescence’, in L.J. Francis, W. Kay and W.S. Campbell (eds), Research in Religious Education (Leominster: Gracewing, 1996). Nesbitt, E., Intercultural Education: Ethnographic and Religious Approaches (Brighton: Sussex Academic Press, 2004). Ostling, M., ‘Harry Potter and the Disenchantment of the World’, Journal of Contemporary Religion, 18/1 (2003), pp. 3–23. Pearson, J., ‘The History and Development of Wicca and paganism’, and ‘Witches and Wicca’, in J. Pearson (ed), Belief Beyond Boundaries: Wicca, Celtic Spirituality and the New Age (Milton Keynes: Open University/Ashgate, 2002). Plater, M., ‘The Educational Significance of Halloween’, paper given at the annual conference of the Association of University Lecturers in Religion and Education, University of Gloucestershire, 2004. RavenWolf, S., Teen Witch: Wicca for a New Generation (St Paul, Minnesota: Llewellyn, 1998). Robertson, A., ‘The Learning Teacher: Alison Robertson identifies why it’s good to be a pagan and an RE Teacher’, RE Today 23.1 (2005). Robinson, B.A., ‘Teens and Wicca: Why (and how many) youth are drawn to Wicca’ http://www.religioustolerance.org/wic_teen1.htm. (1999 updated 2005).

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Sanders, H., ‘Why are the young attracted to the Goddess?’, http://www.lillyweb. btinternet.co.uk/witchwords/goddess.htm accessed on 5/11/03, (2001). ——, ‘New Generation Witches: The Teenage Witch as Cultural Icon and Lived Identity’, (Doctoral Thesis. Anglia Ruskin University, 2004). Steele, I. and Dodsworth, M., ‘Towards Recognition’, Pagan Dawn, 147, (2003), pp. 26–27. Sugar Special Report (December 2001) ‘Wild About Wicca’, Sugar, London: Hachette Filipacchi (UK) Ltd. Sutcliffe, S. and Bowman, M. (eds), Beyond New Age (Edinburgh: Edinburgh UniversityPress, 2000). Sutcliffe, S., ‘Category Formation and the History of “New Age”’ Culture and Religion, 4/1, (2003) pp. 5–29. Teenage Kicks: The Witch Craze, Channel Four documentary, available on http:// www.enharmiel.co.uk/teenagekicks.htm accessed 5/11/03. Valk, P., ‘Training for Holistic Education’, paper given at Educating the Whole Child, EFTRE conference, Helsinki, 2004. Wynne, J., ‘For you over-18s: the future of paganism’, Pagan Dawn, 151, (2004), pp. 10–11. York, M., The Emerging Network: A Sociology of the New Age and Neo-Pagan Movements (Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield, 1995). Organisations Cited The Pagan Federation BM Box 7097 London WC1N 3XX Minor Arcana PO Box 10 Wakefield West Yorkshire WF4 1YX

Index

abortion 114, 116 abuse 101, 102, 126 academic studies 1, 4, 5, 26, 36, 37, 38, 140, 144, 152, 153 academics 2, 65, 141, 144, 153 accessibility 33, 35, 42, 53, 57, 62, 63, 74, 130 ACLU 122, 125 actions 86, 105 actresses 118, 123, 124 Adler, Margot 3, 38, 41–2, 44, 101 Drawing Down the Moon 3, 41, 43 44, 101n., 110n. adolescents 6, 117, 153, 157; see also teenagers; young people adult practitioners 5, 7, 25, 119, 144 and teen Witches 20–21, 27–9, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35–6, 74, 75, 77, 78, 86, 101, 121, 147–8 see also pagan community; Paganism adults 6, 7, 8, 27, 28, 75, 76, 99, 100, 101; see also adult practitioners age 6, 7, 27, 28, 29, 30, 74, 99, 143 agency 42, 97, 98, 99, 100, 103, 105, 109, 114 Aldridge, A. 37 alienation 77, 79, 80, 90, 126 allegory 126 Aloi, Peg 6, 8, 20–21, 113, 119, 121 alt.pagan 129, 130 alt.religion.wicca. 129, 130, 131 alternative spiritualities 32, 97, 141, 142, 151, 154, 155, 156 American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) 14, 15, 16 animals 31, 86, 151 Animism 15, 16, 17 anthropology 1, 2, 101 anti-cultists 144, 147 anti-hero 59 antiquity 1, 2, 4, 5, 37, 46, 59 anti-war movement 2, 3, 115 archetypes 74 art 3, 31, 124

and life 123–4 Arthurian legends 3 articles 1, 4, 7, 28, 43, 50, 73, 76, 77, 144–5, 146 Asatru 15, 77 astrology 31, 52, 155 Atlantis Bookshop, London 33, 43 attitudes 118, 123, 126, 131, 133, 140, 145, 146, 150, 152, 153, 156, 158 audience 8, 9, 44, 48, 98, 120, 137 female 100 interpellated 6, 100 Australia 8, 14, 17, 44, 48, 50, 76, 144, 146, 155 authority 8, 53, 106 autonomy 78, 102 Badley, Linda 127 Balk, Fairuza 123, 124, 127 Baptist Church 89–90 Barnes & Noble 19, 20 Barnstaple, Devon 60, 61 Bath Spa University 140, 143 beauty 20, 118, 127 behaviors 6 beliefnet.com 130 beliefs 1, 2, 5, 26, 35, 38, 46, 52, 65, 68, 114, 145, 149, 156 development of 41 diversity of 156, 157 research methodology 143 teen Witches 105, 107, 108, 154 terminology 142 Berger, Helen 6, 44, 47 Berger, H. and Ezzy, D. 49 Berger, Peter 36–7 Beth, Rae 74, 150 Beverley Hills 90210 117 Bewitched 87, 103, 104 Bible 90, 91, 92 biological identity 104 black dress 125–6 Black Forest Clan 131 Blair Witch Project 118–19, 120, 123, 127

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Blaylock, L. 157 blood 103, 119, 120, 145, 147 body 68, 102, 103–104 boline 68 bonding 77, 79, 103, 104, 106 book circles 27 Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, 123 books 2, 3, 19, 20, 21, 26, 34, 35, 41, 42, 43, 46, 47, 48, 49, 51, 52, 53, 54, 58, 63, 67, 74, 85, 90, 91, 92, 104, 149, 150 pre-actionary critiques 129, 132–3, 137 and research 143, 144, 145–6, 147, 148 in US 113, 121, 126, 129, 130, 132, 134, 136, 137 boys 126, 152, 153, 154, 155 Bradley, Marion Zimmer 3–4, 47 Mists of Avalon, The 8 Brew Witch 129 Bristol 28 Britain see United Kingdom British Traditional Witchcraft 130 Bryant, M. see Lamb, C. and Bryant, M. Buckland, Raymond 60 Buddhism 3, 46, 114, 139, 155, 157 Buffy the Vampire Slayer 9, 20, 26, 34, 35, 50, 62, 63, 66, 69, 87, 98, 105, 119, 121, 124, 146 female bonding in 104 teen victims in 101, 102, 103 bulletin boards 48, 126, 129, 130; see also message boards, chat rooms bullying 85, 89, 143, 151 Cabot, Laurie 134 Campbell, Neve 118, 123 Canada 13, 14, 15, 16 candles 29, 50, 59, 67, 68, 85, 150 Carvajal, Doreen 21 Carrie 103 Casanova J. 36, 37 Castle, William 123 Catholicism 4 Cauldron, The 73n., 80 celebrities 124, 145 census data 14–17, 21, 22, 48, 139 ceremony 37, 58, 59, 60, 68, 74, 157 challenges 79 change 45, 48, 57, 64, 69, 70, 73, 74, 78–9, 154 fear of 79, 86 Channel 4 146, 148

Charmed 20, 63, 87, 98, 101, 102, 103, 104, 119, 120, 146, 155 marketing of 117 teen critiques of , 121, 123, 124, 125 chat rooms 49, 122, 123, 126, 132 children 6, 25, 75, 115–16, 120, 143 Children of Artemis (CoA) 27–8, 70 website 47, 52 choice 28, 42, 51, 53, 86, 110 Christianity 3, 4, 38, 46, 90, 91, 92–3, 105, 106, 117, 122, 143 Christians 21, 113, 115, 116, 120, 149, 151 Church of Satan 115 Clarke, Lynn Schofield 98 clothes see dress Columbine High School shooting 125 comedy 119 commercialization 20, 61, 74, 117, 130, 131–3, 144, 147, 152 commitment 6, 25, 29, 30, 32, 33, 36, 54, 104, 109, 140, 149, 157 communication 108, 129 communities 6, 44, 70 online 19, 27, 106, 107 community 25, 44, 45, 51, 53, 54, 62, 102, 103, 134 female 103 mediated 42, 53, 54, 108 conferences 27, 31, 32, 70, 75 conflict resolution 105 consumerism 7, 8, 9, 47, 116, 117, 132, 146; see also commercialization; consumers consumers 6, 7, 100, 114, 117; see also commercialization; consumerism context 4, 5, 47; see also social context control 9, 106, 110, 148, 151, 154, 157 control group 142, 149, 154–5, 157 conversion 28, 41, 42, 44–7ff., 53, 92 psychological model 46 cords 69 Cornwall 78 Cosby Show, The 116 cosmology 49, 53 counter-culture 25, 26, 37, 151 Covenant of the Goddess (COG) 13, 118 covens 2, 4, 21, 27, 33, 46, 52, 62, 68, 115, 116, 131 Alexandrian 29–30, 32, 60 Cowan, Douglas E. 44

Index Craft, The 8, 20, 21, 22, 26, 34, 35, 44, 52, 63, 98, 113, 146 authenticity of 119 complexity of 126–7 female bonding in 104 marketing of 117 message of 118, 126 teen critiques of 121, 123, 124 teen victims in 101, 103 teen witch community in 103, 104 creativity 32, 69, 79, 122, 126 Crowley, Aleister 32, 58, 59, 67, 126, 152 Crowley, Chris 30, 33 Crowley, Vivianne 29, 30–31, 34, 35, 61, 76 cruelty 101, 102 crystal healing 3, 61, 69 ‘cultic milieu’ 42, 50, 51, 53 cults 116, 144, 147 ‘cultural orientation’ 42–3, 50 cultural studies 98, 100 culture 3, 5, 6, 8, 41–2, 97, 98, 99, 116, 141–2, 143 esoteric 25–6, 34 mediation 47, 51, 103 Cumbria 29, 30 Cunningham, Scott 19, 54, 61, 63, 67, 74, 129 Wicca: a Guide for the Solitary Practitioner 19, 54 cup 68 curriculum 140, 141, 157 Cush, Denise 8 Dallas 116 dance 3, 19, 41, 43 Davie, Grace 149 Dawson’s Creek 117 death 53, 86, 114, 127 deities 74, 85, 93 demons 102, 108, 122, 136, 147 Denver Book Fair 135 desires 104–105, 109 destiny 102, 151, 155, 157 Dickinson, Cynthia 28n. differences 6, 49, 57, 85, 106, 117, 154 discourses 6, 8, 9, 44, 74, 97, 99, 100, 102, 104, 105, 110, 145 discrimination 9, 51, 120 disempowerment 98, 101, 106, 107–108, 109 divination 144

163

divinity 68, 90, 92, 145, 151, 153, 154, 157 doctrines 26 documentaries 7, 117, 120 Doherty, Shannon 123 dollar sign icon 131, 132, 137 dominant culture 25, 26, 99, 101, 103, 104, 105 dreams 66, 79, 140, 157 dress 60, 117, 118, 124, 125–6, 127 drugs 2, 60n., 145, 147, 157 druids 3, 15, 16, 38, 48, 74, 139, 140, 139, 140, 141 earth 4, 16, 17, 34, 60, 86 Eastern religions 3, 31, 60, 92, 114 Ebay 130 Echols, Damien 126 eclecticism 42, 48, 57 ecology see environmentalism education 140 Egyptian mythology 49, 59, 155, 157 elites 143 email 30, 67, 69, 119, 122 empowerment 8, 37, 53, 97, 98, 102, 106, 109, 110, 126, 151, 153, 154, 156 energies 87, 150, 151, 154 England 2, 3, 15, 44, 48 entertainment 120, 146, 147, 149, 155 entities 154, 155 environmentalism 2, 3, 9, 37, 41, 46, 47, 145, 151, 152 esotericism 3, 25, 26, 38, 63, 151 essence 154 essentialism 102, 104, 108, 110 Estonia 157 ethics 101, 132, 145, 147, 153, 156, 157; see also morality ethnography 1, 26, 41, 42, 43, 98, 100, 121, 122, 143 ethos 37 Europe 2, 5, 9, 59, 76, 78, 140 evil 34, 50, 79, 114, 115, 116, 121, 122, 152 examinations 146, 150, 156 Exorcist, The 2, 115, 123 experience 8, 38, 99 mediated 46 experimentation 32, 33, 34, 50, 98 Ezzy, Doug 6, 142, 144, 145, 146, 147, 151, 153; see also Berger, H. and Ezzy, D.

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face-to-face relationships 42, 44 fairies 153, 155, 158 family 8, 46, 51, 74, 101, 102, 106, 110, 116, 120, 143 fan websites 123, 124, 130 fantasy 22, 46, 47, 52, 90, 91, 113, 116, 150; see also fiction Farrar, Janet 29, 59 Farrar, Stewart 29, 43, 59, 66 fashion 31, 60, 61, 123, 125, 144, 145, 151; see also dress fear 76, 79, 86, 92, 98, 116, 117 female power 8, 98, 99, 102, 103, 153 females 17, 21, 87, 98, 100, 107, 108, 153, 154, 155 embodied power 97, 98, 99, 102, 103 see also girls; teen Witches; women; young women femininity 8, 37, 47, 49, 102, 108, 141, 153, 155 feminism 3, 4, 9, 41, 46, 47, 99, 100, 107, 108, 115 festivals 18, 140, 141 fiction 8, 66, 61, 66, 101, 105, 115, 130 films 2, 20, 21, 26, 35, 41, 44, 47, 50, 52, 53, 61, 63, 113, 114, 115, 122, 123–5, 126 and real life 123 research 143, 146, 147 filtering software 122 Fiske, John 100 focus group 142, 149, 155 ‘folk magick’ 59 folklore 1, 2, 3, 34, 59 Fortune, Dion 66 forums 27, 122, 126 Foucault, M. 98 Fox, Charis 32–3, 34, 36 Fox, Jim 32–3, 34 Francis, Leslie 143; see also Jones, S. and Francis, L.J. Frazer, James G. 2, 65 freedom 36, 109, 110 friendship 42, 49, 50, 54, 61, 62, 74, 146, 148, 154 Frost, Liz 6 Fuller, Kathryn 13 future 37, 38 Gaiman, Neil 61, 63, 66

Gardner, Gerald 2, 5, 30, 32, 35, 43, 57, 119, 141, 148, 153 Witchcraft Today 2, 35, 43, 119 Gary, Shane 78 gay rights 3, 114, 152 gender 17, 99, 107–8, 153 ghosts 155, 157 Giddens, A. 46 girl power 8, 102, 110 girls 37, 97, 98, 100, 105, 125, 126, 127, 152–3, 154, 155, 156; see also girl power Glastonbury, 3, 140 God/Gods 65, 66, 74, 75, 90, 92, 145, 150, 154, 155 Goddess 3, 37, 66, 68, 75, 92, 99, 140, 145, 150, 151, 153, 155 Google 35, 64, 130, 131, 143 Goths 31, 60, 61, 118, 123, 124, 126, 148, 151 Graduate Center of the City University of New York 14, 15 Grant, Kenneth 58, 70 Graves, Robert 2 Great Goddess 1, 2 Great Rite 68 Greek myths 90, 92, 93 Green, Marian 74, 77 Greenwood, Susan 101 grimoires 32, 130, 136 group rituals 18, 62, 68, 69 Halloween 59, 116, 140 Hammond, J. et al. 150 handbooks 3 handfastings 28, 33 Hannam, Matthew 7, 8, 76, 77, 80 harassment 101, 120 Hardie, T ‘Titania’ spell books 35 Hardman, C. see Harvey, G. and Harvey, C. Harrington, Melissa 6, 28n., 30, 46, 47 Harrington, Rufus 33, 34 Harris, Anita 102 Harry Potter books/films 22, 26, 50, 51, 63, 113, 144, 146 Harvey, G. 44–5 Harvey, G. and Hardman, C. 144 healing 1, 3, 61, 86, 87, 146 heathens 1, 15, 18, 48 heavy metal 126

Index ‘hedge-witch’ 149–50 Heelas, P. 149; see also Woodhead, W. and Heelas, P. herbs 60, 61, 67, 68, 69 Hermeticism 26, 59, 69 heroes 59, 90, 114 heroines 104, 144 Hinduism 105, 143, 155, 157 hippies 2, 115, 152 history 1, 3, 5, 26, 46, 99, 108, 130, 136, 153 Holland, Eillen 61, 63 Wicca Handbook 61, 63 Hollinger, F. and Smith, T. 140, 145, 151 Homan, Roger 140 Home Office 28, 29 homogeneziation 130, 132 Hopkins, Susan 47 Horned God 2 Hume, Lynne Hutton, Ronald 4, 5, 65, 136, 139, 144 Triumph of the Moon: a History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft 4, 5, 136 identity 9, 42, 43, 69, 79, 101, 109, 148, 151 feminine 99, 108, 156, 157 reflexive 46 images 8 imagination 3, 59 incense 61, 67, 85, 86, 130 inclusion 8, 100, 129, 141 individual seekership 41, 42, 44–7, 49 individualism 37, 41, 42, 45–6, 51, 53, 54, 149–50, 156, 157 individuals 18, 22, 44, 45, 49, 143; see also individual seekership; individualism; solitaries information 28, 44, 46, 50, 51, 53, 57, 62, 63, 64, 69, 70, 75ff., 121, 122, 129, 130, 136, 141, 145ff., 150 initiation 25, 29, 30, 32, 34, 36, 54, 62, 103, 141 innovation 26, 36 inspiration 6, 29, 36, 57, 99, 101 institutions 25, 106, 129 intellectuals 3 Internet 8, 13, 27, 35, 41, 44, 49, 51, 53, 54, 57, 62, 63, 69, 70, 75, 86, 99, 101, 117, 129ff. adult critiques on 147–8

165

archives 129, 130, 133, 134, 135 censorship 122 and growth of paganism 18–19, 47, 97 and research 143–4 teen critiques on 119, 121–7 victim dialogues 105–110 see also message boards; newsgroups, chat rooms interviews 25, 30ff., 49, 58, 132, 140, 142–3, 144, 146, 148, 149ff., 155, 156, 157 Islam 93, 155 Italy 78 Jackson, Robert 143 Jedi 15 Jenkins, Heather 85–7 Jesus 91, 93 John, June 33 Johnston, Hannah 6, 8, 98, 101, 150; see also Sanders, Hannah Jones, S. and Francis, L.J. 152 Jorgensten , D. and Russell, S. 13, 18 journals 48, 63, 73, 75; see also magazines Judging Amy 120 Jung, C. 68, 79 Kabbalah 144 karma 145, 155 King, Stephen 126 Knight, Sirona 132 knowledge 66, 67, 153, 154, 156 Komeda, K. 123 Lakoff, Robin 107–8 Lamb, C. and Bryant, M. 45 Lammas, festival of 79 language 107–8 Leek, Sybil 58, 92 Leerhsen, Erica 123 legal advice 28 lesbians 104, 122, 152 Lewis, James 6, 18n. libertarian ethic 152, 156, 157 libraries 41, 51, 58, 92, 122 life and art 123–4 meaning of 151, 152, 157 life after death 157 life cycle 74 life journey 74, 79

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The New Generation Witches

lifestyle 5, 7, 108, 116, 120, 145, 152 Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous 116 lineages 131, 141 linguistic theory 107–108 literature 3, 7, 8, 21, 25, 36, 47, 58, 59, 67, 98, 98, 99, 100; see also books; texts Llewellyn Publications 19, 21, 74, 132, 133, 134, 136, 145 London 30, 33, 43, 60, 61 love 146 Lucas, George 113 Luhrmann, T. 42, 43, 44, 45–6, 47, 101 MacGowran, Jack 123 McLaine, Shirley 47 McRobbie, Angela 102, 104 Madonna 100 magazines 7, 19, 27, 44, 47, 49, 54, 59, 63, 74, 141, 143, 144–5, 149; see also teen magazines magic 1, 3, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 47, 52, 58, 59, 102, 105 black 66, 67, 146 books on 136 ceremonial 37, 58, 77 ‘chaos’ 68, 77 cultural orientation to 42 discourse 45, 46 history of 26 low 37, 69 operation of 150, 154 positive 150 and religion 64–9 results 57 and science 66, 68 sex 32 and teen Witches 108–109, 110, 127, 146, 152 and transformation 78–9 see also magicians; spells magicians 3, 29, 32, 45, 58, 75, 78 Magliocco, S. 26 mailing lists 122, 130, 132 mainstream 4, 22, 28, 35, 36, 42, 43, 44, 47, 51, 53, 54, 74, 77, 98, 103, 104, 118, 119, 141, 145 males 8, 17, 21, 143; see also masculinity marginalization 64, 125, 126 market 7, 8, 9, 26, 74, 132, 133, 134, 144, 145; see also

commercialization; consumerism; marketing; mass market marketing 19, 20, 35, 38, 52, 117, 124, 132, 134, 153, 155 Marsden, A. 147 martial arts 91, 92 Martin, Stephanie 8 masculinity 8, 104, 105, 141 mass market 47, 50, 51, 53, 54 Meadows, Dawn 31–2, 34 Meadows, Tony 31 meaning 9, 25, 26, 100, 148, 151, 157 shared 108 media 2, 8, 20, 25, 26, 30, 51, 54, 61, 74, 98 critiques of 120–122 hostility of 28, 50, 108, 114, 115 influence of 34–5, 41–2, 44, 46, 97 positive images 50 and research 143–5, 149 see also books; films; Internet; magazines; media texts; new media; television media texts 7, 20, 34, 35, 98, 99, 101–105, 108, 114, 115, 118, 119, 121, 122, 124, 125, 153 meditation 31, 33, 58, 92, 150, 153 menstruation 103 mentorship 20, 21, 27, 28, 93, 121 message boards 121, 122, 130, 135, 137 metaphors 68, 151 metaphysical changes 58 methodology 73, 98–9, 100, 142–3, 156 mind 67, 68, 106, 145, 150 Minor Arcana (MA) 7, 9, 28, 73–80, 148 establishment of 76 function 75, 77–8, 80 website 77 misunderstanding 28, 79, 85, 99, 105, 106, 147 Mizz 144 modernity 36, 37, 43, 46, 51 Moorey, Teresa 34 moral codes 9, 34, 37, 61, 102 Moral Majority 115, 117 moral panic 64, 78; see also Moral Majority morality, 3, 28, 37, 89, 105, 114, 115, 122, 156, 145, 146, 156; see also moral codes; moral panic Morley, David 100 mothers 31, 51, 85, 86

Index motivation 6, 29, 30, 104, 121, 156 murders 123, 126 Murray, Margaret 1–2, 59 Murray, Susan 100 Museum of Magic and Witchcraft 43, 80 music 3, 31, 60, 90, 91, 113, 117, 126 My So-Called Life 100, 117 mystery 1, 92 mystery religions 25, 26, 35, 36, 62, 74, 77, 79 mysticism 29, 31, 47, 52, 92 mythology 2, 49, 52, 90, 99, 141 narratives 46, 99, 100, 101, 102, 104, 117, 127 National Survey of Religious Identification (NSRI) 14, 15, 16 Native Americans 30, 155 nature 2, 3, 31, 49, 61, 79, 86, 108, 141, 145, 150, 151, 152, 156, 157 Nature Religions 17 neopagans 3, 4, 8, 18, 45, 48, 99, 115, 122 networks 27, 30, 42, 44, 54, 75, 76, 77, 121 New Age beliefs 3, 9, 47, 52, 60, 114, 131, 132, 139, 140, 151, 152, 153 definition of 141, 142 new media 99; see also Internet New Zealand 14, 16–17, 21 news shows 117, 120 newsgroups 122, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 137 newspapers 43, 47, 117, 120, 123 norms 3, 4, 45, 98, 122, 145 North America 13–14; see also Canada; United States Norwich Chant Collective 86 O’ Keefe, Daniel 26 objectivity 1, 3 occult 2, 3, 25, 34, 47, 52, 60, 61, 69, 77, 114, 115, 119, 120, 122 interest in 139–40 paraphernalia 68–9 and real life 123–4 online communities 19, 27, 106, 107, 121–3, 130, 134 online dialogues 105–10 online stores 19, 130, 135 ontology 65 openness 64, 70 Oprah 115

167

organizations 7, 3, 18, 27, 28, 31, 48, 73, 74, 77, 80, 117 Ostling, Michael 146 others 85, 104, 105, 108, 110, 117, 119, 145, 152 outsiders 54, 102, 105, 115, 117–18 ‘pagan’ 1, 3, 4 Pagan Census 48 pagan community 1, 6, 8, 16, 27, 28, 62, 76, 101, 129–30ff., 150; see also paganism Pagan Dawn 27n., 48, 63, 75, 80, 144, 147 Pagan Federation (PF) 27, 28, 31, 32, 33, 50, 54, 70, 75, 80, 139, 144, 148 Journal 48, 63 and teens 27, 28, 76 Pagan Network (PN) and teens 27 Pagan Teenage Voice, The 73, 76, 77, 78, 80 paganism 13, 79 academic study of 140–41, 144, 148–9 accessibility of 33, 35, 57, 74 changes in UK 74 courses in 85–6 decline in standards 48 growth in U.S. 18, 21–2, 114–15 interest in 139 and media 34–5, 118–19 misunderstanding of 28, 85, 147 as a religion 36, 37, 38, 65 social organization 18 and teens 25, 27–9, 74, 75, 77, 78 terminology 1, 4, 141–2, 152 see also neopagans; pagan community; pagans; Witchcraft pagans in education 140 and media portrayal 119–21, 126 numbers of 13–17, 139, 140 protests by 120–121 social background 13 see also paganism; teen Witches; Witch/Witches pagans, teenage see teen Witches Pair Dynion Grove 132 pantheism 15, 16, 17, 37 paradigm shift 3, 25–6, 36, 37 Paradise Lost (film) 126 parapsychology 67, 68

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parents 21, 27, 28, 29, 32, 35, 36, 51, 101, 120, 122, 132, 142, 143, 146, 148, 149, 152 Patavino, Kerri 120 patriarchy 3 Pearson, Jo 26, 144 Pengelley, James 76 persecution 99, 120 personal difficulties 9, 51, 73, 79, 85, 89, 99, 100, 101, 102, 109, 110, 126, 127 personal power 67, 70, 97, 105 personal relationships 42, 45, 48, 64, 90, 91, 104 personalization 69 physical appearance 118, 127 Pike, Sarah 44 Plater, Mark 140 Polanski, Roman 114, 123 politics 3, 4, 37, 99, 104, 114, 115, 116, 117, 151 popular culture 8, 42, 43, 47, 69, 70, 113, 154 popular media 8, 22, 26, 44, 113, 114, 118 pornography 114, 116, 122 post-modernism 157 power 6, 8, 9, 66, 97, 98, 102, 104, 105, 107, 126, 153; see also control; empowerment; female power Practical Magic 20, 26, 103, 104, 113, 126, 146 practices 1, 2, 6, 7, 26, 33, 50, 51, 52, 74, 109–110, 140, 147, 149, 150, 156 diversity of 156 esoteric 151 and terminology 4, 142, 152 see also ceremony; rituals practitioners 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 30, 36, 57; see also adult practitioners; teen Witches Pratchett, Terry 47 Prediction 29, 43 pre-teens 7 priesthood 32, 60, 65, 75 Prison Visitors 28 process 42, 43, 45, 51, 54 profit 130 Pro-Life movement 116 psychological dissociation 78 psychology 46, 59, 66, 67, 69, 73, 150 PTL 116 public, general 28, 74, 114–15 publishers 19, 26

Purkiss, Diane 5 Purpleglitter.com 124 Quart, Alissa 7 Quest 80 Quine, Richard Bell Book and Candle 103 racism, 89, 93, 101, 127 Ragan, Taran 132 RavenWolf, Silver 8, 20, 34, 35, 49, 144, 152 criticism of 131–3, 135–7 defence of 133, 134 pagan perceptions of 130–37 personality of 130, 131 publications 129, 130, 136, 137 Silver’s Spells for Protection 136 Teen Witch 20, 21, 51, 131, 145 Teen Witch Kit 20, 132–5, 136, 137 and teen Witches 129, 132–3, 135, 145, 146 To Ride a Silver Broomstick 34, 131, 136 To Stir a Magick Cauldron 136 Ultimate Book of Shadows for the New Generation Solitary Witch, The 136 Witch’s Notebook: Lessons in Witchcraft, A 131, 136 Reagan, Ronald 3, 115, 117 rebellion 8, 29, 92, 117, 148 Reclaiming Witchcraft 48 recruitment 42, 43, 47, 53 re-enchantment 146, 155 reflexivity 46, 47, 53, 122 Reiki 87 reincarnation 145, 155, 157 relationships 104, 110; see also personal relationships religion 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 17, 21, 22, 25, 29, 35, 36, 37, 38, 53, 59, 61, 85, 87, 93, 98, 105, 106, 139, 140, 145, 152 choice of 28, 46, 51 and conversion 42, 45 and magic 64–9 popular media 113, 114 teen Witches 117–27, 157 in US 114, 115, 116, religious beliefs 65, 87, 143, 145

Index and self-esteem 151–2 Religious Education 140, 155, 156 religious practices 51 Religious Studies 140, 142, 149, 157 Renaissance 26 research 7, 9, 13, 22, 26, 36, 37, 43, 48ff., 98–9, 100–101, 121, 140–41, 142, 148–9, 153, 155, 156, 157 researcher/respondent relations 99–101 responsibility 3, 9, 35, 62, 63, 86, 132, 145, 147, 153 retailers see online stores; stores reviewers 20, 115, 118 rituals 1, 2, 4, 31, 32, 33, 51, 59, 68, 69, 74, 75, 86, 92, 103, 145, 150, 154 creation of 43 new 157 Roberts, Jess 80, 148 Robinson, B. 13–14, 19, 156 role-models 20, 59, 87, 119, 121, 124–5 romance 48, 104, 110, 148 Roof, W. 46 Rosemary’s Baby 2, 114, 115, 123 Rowling, J.K. see Harry Potter books runes 92, 130, 140, 144 Russell, S. see Jorgensen, D. and Russell, S. Sabrina the Teenage Witch 44, 49, 51, 102, 103, 119, 146 sacralization 25, 37, 141 sacrifice 79 Sanders, Alex 29, 30, 31, 33, 57, 60, 141 Sanders, Hannah 110n., 150, 153; see also Johnston, Hannah Sanders, Maxine 30, 31 Sapphire, Elspeth 136 Satanic Ritual Abuse (SRA) 63–4, 78, 114–16, 119 Satanism 2, 59, 114, 115, 119, 122, 126, 131, 145, 154 Saxon witchcraft 60 scholars 1, 4, 5, 7, 25, 37, 142 schools 48, 105, 106, 121, 122, 125, 140, 142, 143, 157 Schreck, N. 114 science 26, 65, 66, 68, 91, 155 science fiction 90, 114 Scorcese, Martin 120 Scotland 2, 28, 30, 32 secularization 3, 25, 36–7, 114

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seekership see individual seekership; see also teenagers Seifferly, Crystal 125 self 98, 105, 106, 110, 142, 152 self-creation 51 self-definition 48, 51, 61 self-discovery 46, 53 self-esteem 152 self-formation 43 self-help books 150 self-identification 7, 140 self-initiation 60, 75 selfishness 102, 103, 105, 146 self-transformation 42, 45, 78–9, 104 700 Club, The 116 sexual independence 97 sexuality 2, 32, 104, 114, 117, 119, 120, 121, 127, 147, 152 shamanism 48, 59, 122 Shintoism 3, 114 Simos, Miriam see Starhawk ‘Smiling Panther’ 135–6 Smith, T. see Hollinger, F. and Smith, T. soap operas 116 social bonds 6 social conservatism 114, 115 social context 42, 43, 44–7, 51, 68 social exclusion 103, 105, 118 social groups 6, 7, 19, 54, 62, 70, 76, 143 social relationships 22 social structure 26, 42 socialization process 41 society 2, 26, 28, 37, 42, 46, 50, 51, 64, 74, 77, 78, 79, 92, 93, 118 sociology 22, 25, 26, 36, 101 solitaries 18–19, 22, 57, 62, 68, 74–5, 130, 131; see also individuals spell books 35, 63, 66, 144, 149, 150, 151, 154, 155 spell kits 20, 47, 50 spells 20, 31, 32, 34, 48, 59, 65, 67, 70, 109, 141, 145–6, 152, 155 Spielberg, Stephen 114 SPIN 117 spirits 60, 150, 151, 154, 155 spiritual evolution 79, 80 spirituality 3, 4, 9, 29, 33, 38, 140, 142, 150, 155, 157 individual 22, 51, 73, 79 Starhawk 3, 19, 43 Spiral Dance, The 3, 19, 41, 43

170

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statistical analysis 143 status 6, 8, 101, 102, 106, 107 status quo 146 stereotypes 108, 153 stone circles 31 stones 31, 144, 150 stores 19, 57, 61, 85, 92, 120, 130 stories 73, 99, 101 students, 140, 142–3, 149, 155 style 6, 31, 60, 98, 118, 124, 151 subcultures 7, 8, 13, 18, 31, 100, 104, 118 amorphous 6 subjectivity 100, 102 subjugation 99, 100, 103 sub-system 26 suffering 87, 98 Sugar 144–5 Summers, Catherine 60 supernatural 32, 98, 103, 105, 151, 158 support 28, 76 surveys 7, 14, 15, 21, 48, 140, 148, 152 symbolism 68, 103, 110, 119, 125, 141 Symonds, John 58 Taoism 3, 114 Taranatha, E. 147, 148 tarot 3, 31, 33, 52, 134, 135, 136, 140, 141, 144, 150 Tate, Sharon 123 teachers 140, 142, 143, 146, 155, 156 technology 69, 70, 146, 151 ‘teen’ 6, 7 teen magazines 7, 144–5, 155 teen Witches 5, 7–9, 31, 32, 33ff., 47ff. and adult pagans 20–21, 74, 75, 77, 78, 121, 147–8 articles on 144–5 and community 102, 103, 106, 107 growth of 18–22, 26–30ff., 144 knowledge of 153, 154, 156 and magic 108–109, 110, 127 and media 34–5, 101ff., 122, 143–7 motivations 29–30, 37–8 online media critiques by 121–7 post-1990 47–8ff., 57 practices 109–10 research on 140, 149 terminology 7, 8 training 85–6, 92 in US 117–27 as victims 101–110

see also Minor Arcana teenagers 20, 28, 37, 47, 77, 98, 131, 144 as consumers 117 older 149–53 outsiders 117–18 research 100, 142–3, 149 seekers 5, 20, 21, 25, 29, 32, 36, 38, 41, 42, 46, 49, 51, 121, 122 terminology 6 as victims 101–102, 127 younger 152, 153–4 see also teen Witches Telesco, Patricia 132 television 7, 26, 34, 35, 36, 41, 42, 44, 47, 50, 58, 63, 87, 113, 114, 115–16, 117, 119 female teen victims in 101–2 online critiques of 121ff. research 143, 146–7, 148 terminology 1, 4–5, 6, 8, 43, 48, 85, 119, 141–2, 152 texts 1, 2, 37, 47, 63, 66, 144, 145, 147, 152 inspirational 101 see also media texts thirtysomething 116, 117 Thomas, Keith 26 Tiryakian, Edward 25–6 ‘Titania’ spell books see Hardie, T. tolerance 64, 151 Tolkien, J.R.R 22, 47 Lord of the Rings, The 22, 146 tools 67, 68–9, 132, 133 traditions 3, 4, 5, 19, 26, 30, 37, 38, 42, 48, 69, 74, 75, 76, 77, 79, 114, 141, 142, 143, 152, 155 transformation 109, 110; see also self-transformation tropes 8, 101, 104, 105 Tulloch, John 100 Tunney, Robin 118 Ulrich, Skeet 118 ‘unexplained, the’ 155, 157 United Kingdom 7, 8, 28–30, 35, 46, 47, 48, 63, 64, 70, 144 changes in Paganism 74 pagan groups and teens 27, 28–9 pagan numbers 15, 139, 140 research 98–9, 100–101, 153 see also England; Scotland; Wales United States 2, 3, 8, 26, 44, 48, 76

Index African-American religion 92–3 growth of paganism 18, 21–2, 47, 114–15, 117ff. pagan numbers 13–14, 15–16 popularization in 48 religious right 51, 114, 115, 116, 117, 122 Satanic Ritual Abuse 114–16 teen market 7 unity 104, 130 universities 48, 140, 149, 153, 157 Valiente, Doreen 29, 43, 50, 54 values 25, 26, 143, 145, 156 vampires 31, 125, 148 Vayne, Julian 6, 7, 58–60, 69 vibrations 69, 70 victimization 99, 100, 101, 102–103, 105, 106, 108, 109, 110 violence 116, 126 visualizations 32, 150 voices 77, 100, 106, 107 Wales 15, 30 Walker, Wren 119, 121, 133 Walkerdine, Valerie 101, 102, 105 Warner Brothers TV network 98, 117, 121 Weschcke, Carl 19, 133, 134 West Memphis Three 126 Western society 25, 26, 45, 52, 141, 149 Wicca 13, 25, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 48, 57, 58–9, 65, 74, 92, 93, 122 academic study of 140 different from Witchcraft 65, 69 generic 19 history of 26 initiation to 46, 62 and magic 29 media portrayals 119 online critiques of 148 population 15, 16, 17, 139 terminology 4, 5, 43, 48, 65, 141, 147 theology of 145–6 tools 68–9 see also alt.religion.wicca; Paganism; Witchcraft Wiccan, The 48; see also Pagan Dawn Wiccan Rede 61, 66, 67, 152 will 67 ‘wise woman’ 85 W.I.T.C.H. 115

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Witch/Witches 153, 154 ‘coming home’ 41, 44, 45 as ‘cunning man/woman’ 62 numbers of 13–17, 21, 22 special role of 150–51 terminology 4, 5, 48, 85, 141, 149–50 as victims 99ff. see also teen Witches ‘witch craze’ 2, 5 Witchfest 70 witchcraft 1–2 cults 2 terminology 1 see also Witchcraft Witchcraft 27, 61 acceptability of 52 community 54 conversion to 41, 42, 44–7ff., 53 and culture 26, 97, 98 dangers of 118, 126, 146 development of 57, 69, 70 female nature of 108 and historical accuracy 130, 136 modern 2, 3–4, 29 negative images 28, 50, 51, 64, 78, 108, 114 popularization of 42, 43–4, 48, 54, 113, 114, 130, 142 positive images 34, 47, 50, 118, 119, 126, 145–6, 153, 154, 156 post-1990 growth 47–8ff., 57 as a practice 152, 157 terminology 1, 4–5, 8, 43, 48, 65, 69, 141, 147 see also Paganism; Wicca; Witch/Witches Witchcraft and Fraudulent Mediums Act 2, 29 Witchcraft and Wicca 27 Witches’ Runes Kit 130 Witches’ Voice, The 9, 54, 120, 121, 126; see also Witchvox.com Witchvox.com 18, 19, 47, 48, 52, 62, 119, 121, 130, 133 Witchwords.net 101, 105ff. Wolf’s Den message board 135 women 3, 21, 41, 85, 87, 99,100, 153 disempowerment 107–8 see also young women Woodhead, W. and Heelas, P. 37

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world 9, 35, 37, 42, 44, 47, 78, 79, 90, 92, 99, 152, 154, 155 World Wide Web see Internet worship 65 Wynne, Jess see Roberts, Jess X-Files, The 116, 119 Yahoo groups 63, 130, 135 Yates, Francis 26 York, M. 144 Young, Iris 103 young men 8, 9, 154, 155, 158; see also boys

young people 6, 18, 20, 26, 27, 28, 42, 47, 48ff., 53, 74, 75, 77, 79, 80, 113, 116, 142ff., 147, 148, 155ff.; see also young men; young women young women 8, 9, 47, 53, 98, 140, 142, 143, 144, 147, 149–58; see also girls; teen Witches youth 6, 28 youth cultures 98, 104, 118 and esotericism 25, 26 Zimmerman, D and Gleason, K.A. Complete Idiot’s Guide to Wicca and Witchcraft, The 20