Witch speaks of Wicca beliefs, practices

Lindsay Anderson

As part of their weekly program, The USU Museum of Anthropology invited Daneen Deuel, senior majoring in Creative Writing, to come and speak Saturday about her religion, Wicca.

“The focus of this program is on trying to bring more of the community into the museum and make it everyones museum, not just students,” said Amanda Woolston, docent at the museum, and a USU student majoring in history.

“We are trying to reach out to a lot of different cultures and have decided to try and help people understand the differences between cultures, and that how you perceive something is not always what it is,” Woolston said.

Deuel, who gave three discussions Saturday on her religion, said, “Wicca is more than just being a witch.”

Wiccan’s have a deep love of nature, and work on self improvement, and sending good out toward the universe, Deuel said.

Deuel first heard about Wicca from a friend, then read some literature on the religion and said she “felt it was right.”

Wicca is an ancient Celtic religion which was revived around the twentieth century, Deuel said.

“It’s really hard to explain Wiccanism because there are really broad principles, and you can take whatever you want from it,” Deuel said.

“We believe that all Deity are aspects of the same universal power that we are all a part of and we are here in this sphere to learn and grow,” Deuel said, but each Wiccan decides for themselves which gods they choose to call on and worship.

Deuel said while most Wiccan’s worship the earth goddess Gaea, Wiccan’s also worship those gods and goddesses that fall under their particular elemental personality.

“Fire elementals usually go more towards Egyptian gods and goddesses,” Deuel said. “Whereas earth goes more towards Norse mythology, and air and water go Greek and roman respectively. A lot of water elementals also choose to go towards more Arthurian, or kind of Celtic mythology.”

“If you are going to cast and be a witch, you need to worship a Deity who is a little bit closer to your temperament, so that it is easier to call on that universal power,” Deuel said. “As a writer and as a fire elemental, when I do cast, I cast towards the Egyptian god Thoth, the god of writing and knowledge, and also the messenger god.”

Deuel said not everyone who practices Wicca is a witch, “I am, but my fiance is not.”

A Wiccan witch can cast for several different reasons, Deuel said.

“A lot of the reason I cast are for meditation purposes, the same reason a Buddhist will light a candle before they meditate, its just something to focus on,” she said. “A lot of times I do cast for specific purposes, if I have a term paper due and i am freaking out then the whole cast for inspiration and a little bit of help in that direction, then I do a specific spell and invite the four elements in, with salt for earth, incense for air, a candle for fire, and holy water for water.”

An important belief in Wicca Deuel said, is the rule of three in witchcraft, that “anything you send out into the universe will come back at you threefold.” For example, casting a spell to hurt someone will result in triple the harm back at the caster.

“A lot of what I believe is that we are all here, we are all a part of the same giant something so anything we do to each other, affects that. so if I did something evil, that would come back and haunt me, because we are all a part of the same something, and any evil I send out there will come back to me,” Deuel said. “So when I do cast, its to help me become a better person, not to make other people think I am a better person.”

Deuel also clarified some misconceptions held about Wicca.

“I have been asked if people can see my horns,” she said. “A lot of people think that I just practice witchcraft, and that’s all that it is, which it is not. A lot of people believe that its just devil worship, which its not.”

Another misconception, Deuel said, is that Wicca’s are not Christian. “We can pray to any deity, including Christ, and still know that our prayers are reaching God.”

There are three Wiccan covens in Cache Valley, but Deuel says she does not associate herself with any of them.

“I don’t like organized religion. I like doing my own religion,” Deuel said. Wicca is a religion that can be practiced in several ways to personalize for each individual. For example, “I personally believe in reincarnation and multiple lives, some Wiccan’s don’t.”

For a good example of Wiccanism, Deuel suggests watching one of her favorite movies, Practical Magic.

“It has a really grounded view of Wiccanism, that is more of the middle ground most Wiccan’s go. We are not either really good, or really evil and set out to destroy everything. We are really middle ground,” she said.

As far as practices on Halloween, Deuel said that varies between each individual Wiccan.

“A lot of Wiccan’s I know do hold rights, and cast a lot on that night,” she said. “Personally I like dressing up. You can see me on campus with my elf ears. A lot of times I do say a special prayer for the dead before I go to sleep.”

Next Saturday, the USU Museum of Anthropology is featuring a discussion on folklore surrounding Halloween. The Student Folklore Society will be there to talk about all the modern urban legends associated with the holiday.

-lindsay.anderson@aggiemail.usu.edu