Question: Why Do People Become Wiccan?
A reader writes in, "I'm not Wiccan, and I'm trying to understand why people are leaving Christianity to follow Wicca. What is it that makes people turn their backs on a God of love and peace to worship wiccan gods?"
Answer:
This answer is going to come in a couple of different parts here, so bear with me for a minute. The first, and possibly most important, thing to remember is that not everyone was Christian to start with. There are many, many people in the Wiccan and pagan community who have never been Christian. Some were raised agnostic or atheist, others in Jewish families, etc. So let's try to set aside the concept that all wiccans are simply dissatisfied Christians.
The second thing that needs to be mentioned is that for the majority of Wiccans and Pagans, it's not a question of running away from something, but instead moving towards something. Those who were once Christian didn't simply wake up one morning and say, "I hate Christianity, I think I'll go be Wiccan." Instead, most of those people spent endless years knowing they needed something other than what they had. They spent time seeking and searching, until they found the path on which their spirit was most content.
Now, that having been said, why do people become Wiccans? Well, the answers to that are as varied as the people who are part of Wicca. Some possible reasons for becoming Wiccan include -- but are not limited to:
* wicca has polarity between the male and female. Some people find that this balance is more to their liking than a patriarchal community.
* A need for acceptance. Wicca has no restrictions or injunctions against homosexuality, bisexuality, or being transgendered. Someone in the GLBT community needing spiritual fulfillment may be drawn to Wicca because they know they'll be accepted without any regard to who they sleep with.
* A sense that there's something else out there. For many people, the idea of one single god seems illogical. Many people are drawn to the polytheistic aspects of paganism and Wicca.
* A need to reconnect with nature. In our fast-paced society, more and more people are becoming aware of a need to get outdoors, away from the city, and reconnect with the earth the way our ancestors did. Wicca embraces the connection between man and nature, and encourages people to find the Divine in all of nature's creations.
* Paganism and Wicca are pretty flexible. There is no set doctrine, no universal big book of rules, and no church hierarchy. This means that people can practice their faith any way they like.
* A need for personal empowerment. Wicca and most other Pagan paths put a lot of emphasis on personal responsibility. If someone makes a mistake, they must learn to live with the results, and they can't weasel out of things by saying it was the will of God.
Regardless of why someone has become Wiccan or Pagan, it's not uncommon to hear people say that finding their spiritual path gives them a sense of "coming home," as though it was where they were supposed to be all along. They haven't turned their back on another faith, but simply opened their spirits to something more.
Recommended books (Free download):
Aleister Crowley - The Necronomicon
Simon - The Complete Simon Necronomicon
Aj Drew - A Wiccan Bible
