BREAKING BREAD #2: Coffee with a Wiccan

Hello, my favorite readers!
I started a blog series a couple years ago where I interview people of different faiths and get to know their beliefs. I called it Breaking Bread because I love the idea of having community over a meal and in the New Testament that was referred to as breaking bread together. In this conversation I just want to listen, instead of debate or argue. I want to hear about someone else's journey and learn more about a faith that is unlike my own!

Last time I interviewed my friend Rose who is an atheist and you can read more about that here. Today I interviewed my friend from high school, Ariana Elizabeth. She has been a Wiccan for a long time and wanted to share some of her story.  


For those of us who aren’t familiar with Wicca, how would you describe it?

Let's see, well, Wicca is a nature based religion, although I prefer to call it a type of spirituality since that tends to upset less people! It is a branch of Paganism, which is an umbrella term that covers several other practices such as Shamanism and Druidism, just to name a couple. So anyone who is Wiccan is also Pagan, but not all Pagans are Wiccan. Wiccans are also called witches, but that has a negative stereotype associated with it. From my personal experience, every Pagan or Wiccan that I have ever met follow their own paths, no two Wiccans are alike! There are just too many different paths to explore, and it is one of the least strict religions out there.

At its core, Wicca is a love of nature; to worship the sun every day and the grass beneath our feet and mother earth. From that basis, any belief can be practiced. There is no sacred book or temple to worship at. Our temples are the forests and the rivers that cover the earth. I myself am an Eclectic Green Hedge Witch. (That sounds like a mouthful haha!) What it means is that I don't follow the old traditional path of Wicca which would require me to be initiated into a coven (a group of witches) by another member. I practice Wicca by myself or with a group (Eclectic) and I also narrow the specific studies of my path to herbs and plant related teachings (Green). Other kinds of studies that other Wiccans learn are tarot cards, spellcraft, or gemstones. A hedge witch refers to home related focuses. My life revolves around my home; it is the heart and center of everything I do.

As for worship, there is no one god in Wicca. We worship a Goddess and a God that can go by many names, but the importance is the masculine and feminine aspects of each. Because of my Irish roots I tend to focus on the Celtic gods when casting, but I had another coven member a few years ago who focused on Egyptian gods, and a third who preferred Greek. No set of gods is better than another and the fact that we had an affinity to different ones didn't affect our magick.

What is the difference between magick and magic? 

The "k" is added to magick in order to differentiate it from street magic; the type that involves card tricks and disappearing acts. It also gives it a bit more credibility as new age religions are becoming quite popular now. The use of the letter “k “also gives the word a mysterious feeling. Much like how we differentiate a Faerie, a magickal being that lives in the woods and other places of nature, from the typical fairy from fantasy books such as Tinkerbell from Peter Pan. With the increase of media in our society, it is important to differentiate our old ways from the stories created for children.

What was your journey to becoming a Wiccan? 

I feel as if I have always been on this path, even though I might not have known it when I was younger. I was 15 when I first discovered the term "Wicca". My best friend and I were playing make believe and needed some spells to defeat the bad guy, so I started searching on the internet for spells. As silly as it seems, I am so thankful that we were so imaginative even at that age. Once I read one article about Wicca, I just couldn't stop. The more I read, the more it felt as if all the pieces of my life began to fall into place. I had always been a witch for Halloween since I was 2 years old, and I liked making healing potions in the yard with rain water and leaves. It wasn't until later on that I found out my grandfather had been a high priest (coven leader) back in England before my family moved to Canada. So all along it had been in my blood and I had no idea!

How do these beliefs affect your everyday life?

Well, another common practice between witches (though not all of them) is the Three Fold Law, which is very similar to Karma. Basically, whatever you put out there into the universe comes back at you, so I try to live everyday being as generous and happy as I can. I love to volunteer and help people where I can in the hopes that good things will one day come my way. 

I also think that having a spiritual or religious practice (regardless of which one) is a very healthy outlet for anybody, especially teens trying to get through high school, so it couldn't have come to me at a better time. I truly believe that “what is meant to be will be” and that helps me to de-stress about a lot of things which are ultimately out of my control. I also incorporate the witches’ eight Sabbats (holidays) into my everyday life. These Sabbats follow the harvest cycle of the year and begin with the witches new year, Samhain on October 31st, and follow as such: Yule (December 21), Imbolic (February 2), Ostara (March 21), Beltane (May 1st), Midsummer (June 21), Lammas (August 1), and Mabon (September 21). For example, every Yule my family and I create peanut butter and seed holders for the birds and squirrels, to help them get through these cold winters as well.

What are some "myths" or stereotypes about Wicca that aren't true?

The first would probably be the idea of devil worship. Pagans don't even believe in the devil. We don't have heaven and hell, in fact most of us believe in reincarnation. We do have the symbol of the stag to represent masculine energy and the energy of the forest, and so the antlers can often be mistaken for devil’s horns. The second stereotype is probably the idea that witches can turn people into frogs and silly things like that. Yes, we do perform spells, but a spell is nothing more than a prayer. We include props such as incense and ritual tools, but these all represent something in nature usually, and intent is the biggest factor we focus on. Even with no props, the intent of a spell or prayer is what makes it effective. We do spells for luck, or healing, or to help us get a new job. While there are witches out there that practice magick with the intent to hurt people, I do not associate with such whack jobs and prefer to pretend they don't exist. However, it is important to note that being Wiccan does not make them like that. They could just have easily chosen to be an extreme Christian or Muslim. Faith has no responsibility for their choices of how they use it. Also, we don't ride brooms haha! I do have one, but it is used as a ritual tool used to "sweep" the space where we will be working magick; a representation of sweeping the space clean of negative energies.

What would you say to someone who was interested in becoming a Wiccan? 

I would say congratulations! I hope they find what they are looking for in Wicca. Also they can check out a few informational websites and books about the subject to make sure they understand what it is about (such as it is not about curses and black magick).  I would also encourage them to prepare for a lifetime of studying. Everything in Wicca has a meaning; every ritual tool, herb, gemstone, color, and scent. Everything means something, and it can feel daunting at first, but there is no pressure, since everyone learns at their own pace, and if they find a particular topic of interest, then they can focus on that.

Thank you for helping us to learn more, Ariana! 

If you or someone you know would like to talk about their spiritual journey on this blog, please comment or message me and I would love to talk to you.