Page:The Myth of the Burning Times and the Politics of Resistance in Contemporary American Wicca.pdf/1

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Glenn Wm. Shuck, Rice University

Abstract


 * Many contemporary Wiccans organize their narratives of oppression around the historical model of the Burning Times - the early-modern persecution of witches, i.e. women and marginalized persons, providing them a powerful set of symbols to organize their concerns. These narratives seek to transcend questions of victimization and provide Wiccans with a means of resisting totalizing pressures and also help create novel formations of the self and community. This remains a tenuous process, exacerbated by conflicting responses within Wicca to the needs of a growing religion. The creative aspects of the Burning Times mythology, however, do present an idealistic set of possibilities.

Introduction

[1] Contemporary American Wicca encompasses a diverse group of Pagan practitioners, who call upon ancient pre-Christian and Native American mythologies, along with developments in the Western Spiritualist tradition, to construct novel religious formations. Although many Wiccan groups claim a continuous lineage to ancient times, surviving on the heaths and moors of Great Britain, the attitude I encountered at a local Pagan circle is more common. A sign there reads, “Our religion is 100% true, we make it up as we go along.” This reflects a pragmatic attitude toward symbols, as the latter are appropriated as required by contemporary conditions. While some hold to a thesis of historical continuity, it is by no means a necessary or foundational belief. For many contemporary Wiccans, history is more a laboratory of ideas than a mere chronicle of events. Perhaps the finest example of this stance and one that permeates most of the Wiccan subculture is the narrative of the “Burning Times.” Thus, although Wiccans are likely to read these events as “that which happened,” the accounts assume greater importance as they reflect contemporary struggles against religious persecution and the oppression of women and give a powerful voice to these concerns.

Journal of Religion & Society