Thanks to an uninformed media with a helping hand from Hollywood there are several commonly held beliefs amongst the general public that are in fact simply popular misconceptions about Wicca.
- Wiccans Are Satanists: This is blatantly untrue and is probably the biggest misconception held by the general public as a whole. Satan is part of the Christian and Islamic faiths and Wiccans neither acknowledge nor worship a supremely evil being.
- Wiccans Engage In Ritual Orgies: Another popular misconception that is false. Although some Wiccans do worship in the nude (skyclad) many, if not most, do not. Nudity within ritual enhances both the psychic and the spiritual as well as conveying a sense of equality between the participants. It is not a sexual free-for-all and it’s insulting to suggest it is.
- Wicca Is A Cult: Wiccans believe that each individual’s path of spirituality is equally valid, and no one path is better than any other. Wiccans do not convert or recruit anyone and most are solitary practitioners although there are many covens in being.
- Wicca Is Just For Women: Although Wicca has attracted many women because of its Goddess orientation it is by no means a “women only” religion. Wicca is equally open to men.
- Wicca Is Lawless: Wiccans follow the code of the Wiccan Rede. As this prohibits a practitioner from doing any harm whatsoever to another then really, what else is needed?
- Wiccans Use Spells To Control Others: This too is untrue. The practice of using spells to attempt to control others is called black magick. This may be a path followed by some witches but it is NOT a path followed by Wiccans, who practice white magick. Wiccans are bound by the Rede (In it harm none, do what ye will.) and in addition Wiccans have a karma-like belief called the threefold law of return or law of three – whatever you do will come back to you three times over.