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Volume CXXXIII, Number 7 |
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Witch brews lecture about misperceptions
ASHLEY HARVARD
STAFF WRITER
When thinking of witches most Americans conjure up images of black-cloak-wearing, frog-toting, spell-casting women who dance around bonfires at night chanting. Marilyn Pukkila, a librarian at Colby and self-proclaimed Quaker witch, tried to dispel these views when she spoke on Wednesday night about witchcraft and its modern day implications in her discussion "What is it With Witches? Contemporary Wicca: Neither Oz, Hogwarts, Nor Buffy the Vampire Slayer."
"We're not what society and culture has made us up to be," Pukkila said as she explained the cultural roots of witchcraft. For thousands of years, people practiced pre-Christian forms of Paganism with their own rites and rituals, which were the precursors to modern day witchcraft.
Around the 16th century, preconceptions of witches began to circulate primarily through the folktales of Western European tradition. Written by two Dominican monks, the 1486 witchhunting manual Malleus Maleficarum establishes "the explicit relationship between women and Satan worshipping."
Said Pukkila, "These two Dominicans are responsible for misconceptions of witchcraft due to their misogyny and sexual hysteria. It was a very [sexually] repressive book."
From here, misconceptions of witches lead to accusations of witchcraft by neighbors, midwives, and family members. During the Reformation, according to Pukkila, "things really begin to heat up," and millions of people were persecuted for supposedly being witches.
"Being a witch doesn't mean I go around putting spells on people, and it's certainly nothing like Buffy or what popular culture says it is," Pukkila said. She described witchcraft as a nature-based religion, where the seasons and cycles of the sun and moon are important. "Right now, the moon is waxing. So it's a good time to increase your energy, to start exercising, perhaps. When the moon wanes, it symbolizes the end of things. You may want to clean out your closet or stop smoking."
Contrary to popular belief, witches do not worship Satan. "Witches can't worship Satan because he is a Christian idea," said Pukkila. Additionally, witches believe that the Earth is divine and wish to protect the Earth and its inhabitants. Consequently, many witches are involved in environmentalism and political causes and take part in protests against organizations such as the World Trade Organization and World Bank. "You can be certain that where there has been a large protest, witches have been at the forefront," said Pukkila.
With the popularity of the Harry Potter books over the past few years, the issue of witchcraft has experienced a resurgence as parents and educators worry that these books are teaching the practices of witchcraft. Pukkila says that there are similarities between the books and witchraft, and they are positive. Just as with witchcraft, the Harry Potter books stress personal responsibility, respect for diversity, and explain that the word is more complex than just good and evil. "But as many similarities are there are, Hogwarts [the witchcraft like religion in the books] is just not a religion nor witchcraft."
Witchcraft is recognized by the World Parliament of Religions and the Interfaith Alliance. Over the decades, with more and more witches becoming more outspoken about their beliefs and practices, some of the stereotypes and misconceptions of witchcraft have been broken. Pukkila, who will be an ordained priestess next week, said that priests are given the same legal status as clergy of other faiths such as Christianity or Judaism. Therefore, the priests are afforded the same privileges, such as ordaining marriages.
"We don't run around casting spells on people," she said. "And for us, witchcraft is a religion of personal responsibility, respect and love. Power-trippers need not apply."
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