What IWS Fans Are Saying

Monday, October 28, 2013

An it Harm None, Do as Ye Will

Hola all you heathens! Woo-Boy! Let me tell ya, we had a EPIC show yesterday on IWS Radio! We had Rev James Smith PhD High Priest and founder of the Celtic Wicca Coven on and he rocked the house. He told us all about Wicca and Druidism and shot down a whole lot of the myths about both.

I’ll be honest with you guys, when I threw the idea out there to Matt-Man last Sunday that we find someone involved with Wicca for our Halloween Show, I was really thinking about someone similar to Michelle Pfeiffer from “Witches of Eastwick.” I really didn’t think we could find an actual Wicca High Priest who would be so personable and knowledgeable.


We tried to trip Dr. Smith up. We threw all the big myths about Wicca at him. You know, witchcraft, sorcery, devil worshiping, dark arts and the idea that Wiccans (and Druids) are just a bunch of dope smoking hippies getting jiggy with it out there in a field under the full moon. I was especially disappointed to find that the dope smoking hippies getting jiggy with it wasn’t true. But, we’ve all had our hopes shattered before. All we can do is accept it and move on with our lives.

Dr. Smith pointed out a number of things that people don’t know about Wicca…

- Wicca is not patriarchal like most religions are.
- There is no central “governing authority” over Wicca.
- Wiccans don’t believe in or acknowledge Satan or Hell.
- Very few people engage in Wicca practices nude. (Bummer, right?)
- Wiccans do spells which are very much like blessings and prayers.
- Wiccans believe that the spirit of the Goddess and God exist in all things.
- No magick is done for the purposes of hurting anyone. Whatever you do others, will come back to you threefold.
- The witches and Wiccans you see in modern pop culture like movies and TV shows don’t exist.
- Wiccans (and Druids) are still persecuting in many ways by society.
- Wiccans only want to live in harmony with nature, be good members of society and respect one another.
- Not all Pagans are Wiccans, not all Wiccans are Pagans.
- The Pentagram is a five point star that means “Water” Earth” “Fire” “Air” and “Spirit” (It isn’t the sign of the Occult.)
- They do cool chants, one of which Rev Smith shared with us on the air.

Is that so wrong? Does that sound like the monsters and/or evil hag witches that you see on TV and in the movies all the time? Hell no! In fact, one could actually make the argument that what most people who practice religions like Christianity are most afraid of is Wiccan’s ability to be tolerant and accepting of everyone and everyone’s choices. (Well, not really bad people like pedophiles and wife beaters and that kind of shit.) Another thing that “tradition” religions fear is how Wiccans don’t try to take control of your life. They don’t use judgment, shame and fear to try and control people and keep them in line.


I really don’t see why so many people are so afraid of Wiccans. They seem pretty harmless to me. I would say the really bad people are the two closed-minded and intolerant people who defriended me on Facebook after I posted a link to the show. No Wiccan would ever do that!

Anyway, there’s lots more cool stuff in yesterday’s show about Wicca AAAAAND a dramatic reading of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” by the IWS Players! You should totally check it out. If you don’t it will only result in bad karma for you in the future. Or something.



5 comments:

Mike said...

Do the Wiccans ask for money?

I'm With Stupid said...

Mike: They don't tithe, but I'm sure they need money. Cauldrons and fancy robes aren't cheap ya know.

Jay

I'm With Stupid said...

Other than the no sex thing, it was an awesome time with Rev. Smith. Cheers!!

Matt

I'm With Stupid said...

Matt-Man: Maybe we could start out own, sex-positive coven?

Jay

jAMiE said...

It was an awesome show and I'm enjoyed listening to it live as well as in archives.

You guys are da bomb!

Peace to Rev Smith.