I do not personally perceive Wicca to be a cult, in the modern sense of the term (remember that the term "cult" technically means any group of believers, and only in fairly recent times has it taken on a negative connotation). One of the signs of a destructive cult is that it is very difficult to leave the group. I know plenty of people who've left Wicca, and nobody's come hunting them down. There's no coercion to join, or to stay in. People are free to come and go. In my experience, and I've met plenty of Wiccans, I don't know of anybody who's experienced negative effects from being Wiccan.
Hey, I might be a good person to answer this, considering the fact that I'm Wiccan.
It is not a cult. It is simply a religion. Many people look at Wicca as Satanism, and evil, because it practices withcraft.
Wicca is very similar to Paganism. It's a very peaceful religion. It doesn't practice "Magic" persay, more of just peaceful rituals that are used to soothe the soul.
People probably mistake it for a cult due to the people who are Wiccan and don't really know what Wicca is. These people make the Wiccan culture look terrible. Also, some people go to group gatherings to practice rituals, kind of like a Christian would go to church, and I guess a whole bunch of "witches" together isn't exactly acceptable by society today.
I'm sure there are plenty of people who have had problems in their life, and have blamed it on Wicca, but as for solid PROOF that it's Wicca's fault, there is none.
Another thing, Wiccans do not cast hexes on people. The Wiccan religion is strictly to be used for positivity. Besides, hexes are a mere myth anyways, they don't work to begin with.
And any true Wiccan would know that everything you do comes back at you three fold. (kind of like karma)
And I would try and give you a website, but I have my hands full at the second and can't find a good one by quickly searching, I'd have to search deeper then what I have time for.
Under the sociological/anthropological definition of a cult, it is. However, this definition is not common usage.
In common usage a cult is generally characterized by a charismatic leader or leaders
Wicca as a whole does not have this
Leaders in a cult are generally considered to have all the answers and to be all-knowing
Wiccans are encourage to find their own truth within
Cults generally do not allow outside viewpoints
Wiccans are encouraged to learn about different religions and belief systems and often incorporate them into their own system
People in cults are generally encouraged to reject society at large as being "wrong" or sinful and are often separated from it ideologically or even physically
Wiccans may disagree quite a bit with "society at large" but they generally live normal lives like anyone else.
Cults are generally well-organized
Organizing Wiccans is like herding butterflies
That all being said, there are definately individual Wiccan groups out there that are cult like and may be called cults themselves. However, Wicca as a whole does not fit the definition.
It's a religion, not a cult. A cult is a sect within a religion, which contains dogmas that dilute or conflict with the tenets of the religion. Cults also usually are headed by a single leader, or by an oligarchical group of them.
For example, the pseudo-Christian RRR (Religious Radical Right) Cult pretends to be Christian (and couldn't be much more UN-Christian), and is headed by an oligarchical leadership that was started by the late Jerry Falwell, and today includes James Dobson, Gary Bauer, Cal Thomas, Chuck Colson, Beverly La Haye, D. James Kennedy, and Donald Wildmon, followed by some lesser-known ones.
And within Christianity, the Catholic Church is the world's largest cult.
Wicca is a stand-alone religion. There MAY be cults within it, but if so, I haven't heard of them. A Wiccan could better answer that part.
Not at all. Cults are controlling, Wicca is a free non dogmatic religion. No one is forced into anything. If one wanted to argue, Christianity could be considered more cult-like than Wicca because some sects control their members very closely.
A: A cult by definition is a group of people who blindly follow one leader. As Witches, Wiccans and pagans tend to be free-thinkers, there is no one person that we consider to be THE leader. Thus we cannot be called a cult.
No, its not a cult. Cults need a central figure that they rally around (Jesus in Christianity's case), that demands things from them (10 commandments anyone?), with weird practices that tell them not to talk to loved ones (Mormonism comes to mind in that one. They're encouraged to cut ties with anyone not part of the religion. Yes, I know this. An old friend of mine is Mormon).
Wicca doesn't do anything like any of those. It encourages freedom, education, information, questions, it doesn't prostelytize, there is no central figure, or anything else that would make it a cult.
I think you should go do your research. Go get wiccan books. Go talk to pagans in your area (you know. The normal ones. Not the ones doing it because it's 'cool')
It's no 'cult'. We don't stand around fires and raise the dead to do our evil bidding... and I've got a feeling that's the perspective you've got on pagans in general (wicca only being a small branch of it all, of course).
Comments
I do not personally perceive Wicca to be a cult, in the modern sense of the term (remember that the term "cult" technically means any group of believers, and only in fairly recent times has it taken on a negative connotation). One of the signs of a destructive cult is that it is very difficult to leave the group. I know plenty of people who've left Wicca, and nobody's come hunting them down. There's no coercion to join, or to stay in. People are free to come and go. In my experience, and I've met plenty of Wiccans, I don't know of anybody who's experienced negative effects from being Wiccan.
Hey, I might be a good person to answer this, considering the fact that I'm Wiccan.
It is not a cult. It is simply a religion. Many people look at Wicca as Satanism, and evil, because it practices withcraft.
Wicca is very similar to Paganism. It's a very peaceful religion. It doesn't practice "Magic" persay, more of just peaceful rituals that are used to soothe the soul.
People probably mistake it for a cult due to the people who are Wiccan and don't really know what Wicca is. These people make the Wiccan culture look terrible. Also, some people go to group gatherings to practice rituals, kind of like a Christian would go to church, and I guess a whole bunch of "witches" together isn't exactly acceptable by society today.
I'm sure there are plenty of people who have had problems in their life, and have blamed it on Wicca, but as for solid PROOF that it's Wicca's fault, there is none.
Another thing, Wiccans do not cast hexes on people. The Wiccan religion is strictly to be used for positivity. Besides, hexes are a mere myth anyways, they don't work to begin with.
And any true Wiccan would know that everything you do comes back at you three fold. (kind of like karma)
And I would try and give you a website, but I have my hands full at the second and can't find a good one by quickly searching, I'd have to search deeper then what I have time for.
Under the sociological/anthropological definition of a cult, it is. However, this definition is not common usage.
In common usage a cult is generally characterized by a charismatic leader or leaders
Wicca as a whole does not have this
Leaders in a cult are generally considered to have all the answers and to be all-knowing
Wiccans are encourage to find their own truth within
Cults generally do not allow outside viewpoints
Wiccans are encouraged to learn about different religions and belief systems and often incorporate them into their own system
People in cults are generally encouraged to reject society at large as being "wrong" or sinful and are often separated from it ideologically or even physically
Wiccans may disagree quite a bit with "society at large" but they generally live normal lives like anyone else.
Cults are generally well-organized
Organizing Wiccans is like herding butterflies
That all being said, there are definately individual Wiccan groups out there that are cult like and may be called cults themselves. However, Wicca as a whole does not fit the definition.
It's a religion, not a cult. A cult is a sect within a religion, which contains dogmas that dilute or conflict with the tenets of the religion. Cults also usually are headed by a single leader, or by an oligarchical group of them.
For example, the pseudo-Christian RRR (Religious Radical Right) Cult pretends to be Christian (and couldn't be much more UN-Christian), and is headed by an oligarchical leadership that was started by the late Jerry Falwell, and today includes James Dobson, Gary Bauer, Cal Thomas, Chuck Colson, Beverly La Haye, D. James Kennedy, and Donald Wildmon, followed by some lesser-known ones.
And within Christianity, the Catholic Church is the world's largest cult.
Wicca is a stand-alone religion. There MAY be cults within it, but if so, I haven't heard of them. A Wiccan could better answer that part.
Not at all. Cults are controlling, Wicca is a free non dogmatic religion. No one is forced into anything. If one wanted to argue, Christianity could be considered more cult-like than Wicca because some sects control their members very closely.
Q: Are Witchcraft or Wicca cults?
A: A cult by definition is a group of people who blindly follow one leader. As Witches, Wiccans and pagans tend to be free-thinkers, there is no one person that we consider to be THE leader. Thus we cannot be called a cult.
No, its not a cult. Cults need a central figure that they rally around (Jesus in Christianity's case), that demands things from them (10 commandments anyone?), with weird practices that tell them not to talk to loved ones (Mormonism comes to mind in that one. They're encouraged to cut ties with anyone not part of the religion. Yes, I know this. An old friend of mine is Mormon).
Wicca doesn't do anything like any of those. It encourages freedom, education, information, questions, it doesn't prostelytize, there is no central figure, or anything else that would make it a cult.
I think you should go do your research. Go get wiccan books. Go talk to pagans in your area (you know. The normal ones. Not the ones doing it because it's 'cool')
It's no 'cult'. We don't stand around fires and raise the dead to do our evil bidding... and I've got a feeling that's the perspective you've got on pagans in general (wicca only being a small branch of it all, of course).
Nope, it has too many members to be listed as a cult, so it is now considered a religion. Just like all religions.
No, I don't think it falls under the definition of a cult. It's a pagan religion. It's a belief in earth gods and goddesses.