On the plus side, this site is actually quite pretty. Yeah, it’s stereotypical black, but the white text on the background is easy to read, and the moon graphic that’s used for navigation is quite lovely. On the downside, the front page is too long. And there’s burning times stuff about actual folks that were killed. (Didn’t click, but I hate those things since the majority of the people burned/hanged/etc weren’t actually witches. And I’m just plain sick of burning times stuff.) Also mention of Tempest Smith, which, while quite sad, isn’t something completely unexpected. But here’s a good thing: they actually seem to value copyright and make mention of Fair Use.

Let’s take a look at “What is Wicca”. *headdesk* The Rede is Law?! It most certainly is not. Rede means “advice”. And if you read the whole thing, instead of four lines (which is an improvement from the usual 8 words…), you’ll realize that it doesn’t say anything about what you can’t do. Just what you can. (If it doesn’t hurt anyone, do whatever you want. However, there’s no injunction in that lovely poem about if you can/can’t do something that does hurt someone.) There is no rules? So, does that mean that Wicca is whatever you want it to be, and if you worship the toilet bowl, you can still claim to be Wiccan? Feh.

“You choose what works for you and spit out the rest”?! The problem with this is that you end up with these rabid bunnies who attempt to call… say, Kali and Eris into the same circle. There’s so much cultural pillaging and god-shopping that one ends up with a hopeless mess that makes no sense and can actually be offensive to the gods. Not to mention the fact that the one who cobbles this mess together learns nothing beyond “this looks kewl!” without understanding the how’s and why’s behind it.

Fluffy. Very fluffy.

It is now with great trepidation that I click on “What is Wicca”.

Oh, ick! Quote: “it’s a way of life — in perfect love and perfect trust.” Yeah, right. I’m sorry, but this is another example of a concept that the fluffies have run wild with: Perfect Love and Perfect Trust. I’m sorry, but that’s reserved for covens, and my marriage. That’s about it. Perfect Love and Perfect Trust is not something that I’m going to give to the “good pagan” who has been stalking me for years. I’m not going to give Perfect Love and Perfect Trust to just some random person who walks by. Perfect Love and Perfect Trust is reserved for those who deserve it, not just anyone.

And “we are all one and we love life in all its forms.” is the philosophy of the religion? Psh. I’m guessing the authors have never spent time with an initiate of the religious path they claim to teach. That’s not to say that initiates in general (or IME) are hateful people, but that doesn’t mean they go around dropping lovebombs on all and sundry.

And she fucking cites Starhawk as a source on Wicca. Starhawk isn’t Wiccan, or of the Wica. She’s Dianic. If you want to try to learn Wicca from books, maybe you should try learning from decent sources. Not going to give you the knowledge of an initiate, but, Christ on a Crutch, this is getting ridiculous.

“Witchcraft is a religion of ecology”, or so they claim. Funny, I thought it was a religion of the gods. A priesthood with no laity.

Then there are some decent quotes. But, mind you, it’s quotes that are good, not the original thought. Don’t get me wrong, I *love* quotations. However, the purpose of a good quote should be, IMO, to get you to think. When you just parrot what Cunningham or Eileen Holland have to say, but you don’t expound upon it, then you’re missing the whole purpose of a good quote.

The original stuff, however, can be such drek that maybe it’s better that they didn’t expound upon the authors’ words. Take this gem, for example: “What Wicca is not is Satanism. We do not worship the Devil, kill small animals or sacrifice children. We are not evil, nor do we practice evil acts or black magick or manipulative or exploitative magick.”

Oooh, we’re not like those ooky, spooky Satanists! First of all, most Satanists don’t worship the Devil as defined by Christians. IME, the ones who worship Satan are just high school kids out to shock people. They usually outgrow it, or escalate from killing small animals to killing people. The Satanists that I’ve met love animals and children. In short, in the rush to say what they *aren’t*, they cast aspersions on something they know nothing about. Shame on the webmaster/mistress for perpetuating such misinformation when they claim “perfect love and perfect trust” is something that they *live* by.

But this just takes the cake: “We are also not “new age.” Although we do share some characteristics (divinity, working with energies, etc.) with the new age movement, Wicca is a RELIGION that has been practiced for hundreds, maybe thousands of years.” Oh, fuck. I’m going to guess that this person has never heard of Gardner, New Forest Coven, Dafo, or anything else relating to the period. As an aside, I’d have to say that this person’s practice and Newage (rhymes with sewage) have more in common than s/he likes to think.

The glossary isn’t too terrible. The only words that I found heinous were those that specifically relate to Wicca. Go figure. The book reviews for their recommended reading (which seems to be just an excuse for an Amazon store) are painfully brief. It’s more like the commentary you find inside mass market paperback books of the best seller variety: one paragraph or a one liner. The difference is, in the mass-market paperback world, those are just a portion of a longer book review. In this case, that’s the *whole* review. Honestly, if I want to read book reviews, I’d prefer something with a little more substance, like what’s on Daven’s Journal. And now that I’m further through the “What is Wicca” section, I’m finding that area’s navigation to be annoying. Relies too heavily on a “back” button.

It comes with the standard fare, as well: The Wiccan Rede, The Witches’ Crede, Charge of the Goddess…. Again, a lot of stuff that can be found on pretty much any basic site. But at least it’s very pretty. But the original stuff? Meh. I frequently find myself wishing that this site were terrible to look at so that less people would be inclined to stay.

The humor section, however, rocks. Lots of great stuff, some of it I’ve seen before (and have on this site), some of it I haven’t. Also, this site has a very active message board. A bit on the fluffy side, but an active message board, none the less. (I speak from experience when I say that putting together a busy community is not an easy thing. Kudos to the webmaster/mistress for pulling it off!)

Additionally, there are other sections, such as Correspondance charts to help the newbie plot his/her spells, rituals, spells, astrology, dreams, tarot, runes, and a store.

It has a lot to offer, and could be a valuable resource. In fact, I’d think it were already a great resource if it lost the fluff and relied more on originality and less on quoting Cunningham.

Score for the intended audience: 7/10
For the unintended audience: 4/10
Link: Bewitching Ways