When most people think of Wiccans, they usually envision gothics wearing cloaks waving around sticks, brewing love potions, and hanging out with Hermione Granger at the Three Broomsticks. In reality, most Wiccans can’t even be recognized as Wiccans, and certain covens don’t even practice “magic”.

At the beginning of my month as a Wiccan, I found that I had the most difficulty following the Law of Threefold Return, which states that for every good deed done to you, you must do three good deeds to other people. It’s very similar to the movie Pay It Forward. At first, I found myself overwhelmed by the Law because I would apply it to every good thing that happened to me, like a wave or a hug. Later, I changed it to follow the guidelines of the movie, meaning that the good deed had to be something I couldn’t do myself.  Unlike other mainstream religions, Wicca doesn’t have a set of ethical or moral codes, but rather has a simple rule: "an it harm none, do what ye will". In a nutshell, this is like karma in that it tries to balance out the good and bad energy in the universe while promoting good thinking. In the world of high school, positive thinking is a giant challenge.

Wiccan experiences and self-written rituals are kept in what is called a Book of Shadows, or in my case, a journal with a picture of Tinkerbell on the front covered in sequins. In my Book of Shadows, I recorded instructions for two types of divination, more commonly known as fortune telling, that I decided to study. Bibliomancy tells the future through books. Whoever is performing it balances a book on its spine, lets it fall open, and reads from a random passage. The other, and the type I preferred over bibliomancy, is palm reading. In order to palm read, all you have to do is memorize half a dozen hand markings, finger shapes, and the lines of the hand: life, heart, head, and fate. Since the lines of your hand are always changing, palm reading can be done frequently and can be a load of fun if it’s not taken too seriously.

What I really wanted to play with was part of the Wiccan stereotype: magic. Only about half of Wiccans actually do rituals, and none of them involve dancing around naked in the forest to control demons to strangle the teacher who gave you a C on your English paper. Rituals involve casting a circle, welcoming the God or Goddess (or both of them. In this case, they’re referred to as the “All”) into the circle, chanting a few self-made rhymes, and trying to picture energy flow in the circle. Rituals include many different colored candles that each represent different elements, herbs, and a few hand motions.  The ones I tried included blessing water and attempting to create a prosperity jar. In the case of the water, I had to politely ask the water whether it accepted its fate of being drunk, wait for an answer or disturbance in the energy of the room, and then continue.

While the idea of covens and witchcraft is alluring, Wicca is a very serious religion that takes a lot of patience to practice and involves trying to change your way of thinking and acting in a positive way. While I only spent a month trying out a few practices, a true Wiccan must spend a year and one day to complete their training and then can choose to join a coven in their area.

Blessed be.