Wicca's Charm By Catherine Sanders: Book Review

Katie Freer 12/7/12
World Religions Fall 2012
Wicca
I read Wicca 's Charm: Understanding the Spiritual Hunger behind the Rise of Modern Witchcraft and Pagan Spirituality by Catherine Sanders for my project. This book was very insightful into the religion and into reasons why people are no longer conforming to the church. I learned quite a few things from reading this book. The book begins with Sanders explaining why Wicca has grown in recent years. She comes to the conclusion that there are a number of factors. However, the two main ones she notes are the media and the church. The media is accessing it and making in more normal. She cites the Harry Potter phenomena as an example. She writes, "Unlike Wicca,
. . The stories and themes that fill the pages of the Harry Potter books have little to do with Wicca at all, in fact." However she adds, “The books do glorify magic and make fun of ordinary humans know to Harry and his friends as ' 'muggles. '" However, the media’s influence goes beyond these books. There is a section of the publishing world dedicated to Wiccan themes and it is widely successful. The themes also appear in TV shows and movies that are widely popular. Sanders goes on to list and describe five reasons why Wiccans leave the church and turn to the religion. The first is concern for the earth. Wiccans love the earth and feel that Christians have turned a blind eye to environmental concerns. The second is empowerment for women. Many Wiccans believe that the church has denigrated women and that Wicca empowers them, particularly with
Any practitioner can add or subtract to his or her beliefs. One practitioner told the interviewer "if you ask three witches to describe their beliefs, you 'll probably get about four answers." The author goes on to talk about the most common beliefs. The first is all is one. "Wiccans hold the monistic and pantheistic belief that all living things are of equal value. Humans have no special place, nor are they made in God 's image. They have, for example, the same value as flowers, trees or grass. The cosmos is undifferentiated universal energy, and everything is one vast interconnected process.” The second is you are divine. The third is personal power is unlimited. It is not limited by a deity, as in Christianity. The fourth is consciousness can and should be altered through the practice of rite and ritual. The final one is there is no belief in absolute good and evil. Sanders also mentions the invoking of the Mother Goddess or earth as a symbol. She also specifically points out their disavowal of Satan to prove a