There are some people, incarcerated by the state, who want to learn about and discuss one of the oldest religions in the country, Wicca. They are prevented from doing this because they can't get the state to allow anyone to come in and council them and because it is not a christian religion. Is there anyone they can correspond with on this topic?
A few years younger than the con men who popularized them. Most of modern codified Wiccan thought comes back to three people who just sort of made it all up in the late 19Th and early 20Th century. "Old" Welsh and Druidic traditions don't fare much better; they have their genesis in 1792.
Who Made It Up?
Trust us when we say that the average author will write literally anything for sex, drugs, money or all of the above.
Charles Leland, Margaret Murray and Gerald Gardner all published books that, they claimed, held the ancient secrets of witchcraft. Leland pretended to have learned the doctrines of Old Italian witchcraft from a sorceress named Maddalena. Margaret Murray is the woman who coined the term "burning times," while Gerald Gardner asserted that Wicca began in Prue-history and went "underground" throughout most of recorded history.
Gardner was probably the chief founder. Some people even call him the father of Wicca, as he founded the tradition from which most current blends of Wicca descend.
This is a hard topic because there are so many different things going on out there now. If a prisoner believes in eye of newt, tail of rabbit, etc. the prison might not be able to find a person to come talk about the recipes.
You give up some of your rights as a prisoner. Felons often are barred from voting, getting bonded, or even buying firearms for the rest of their lives. Good idea too. Consequences should come with not being a decent citizen.
Hope you find someone who can make you feel better. Jesus is always out there for you too.
answer: 1) Wicca is NOT ancient. It is based on pagan beliefs that are ancient but it is not ancient
2) petition the board of Corrections of the state. See about becoming ordained clergy - Universal Life Church has on-line ordinations that might hold some weight with the board - might not.
3) point out that the prisons probably allow Muslim and Jewish clergy in the prisons. If they don't allow non-Abrahamic religions, that's discrimination and threaten with the ACLU.
4) have your ducks in a row: paperwork about Wicca/paganism - what it is, what it isn't, what the holidays are, how full moons are celebrated, tools (and what can be substituted for the Athene and incense)
There are lots of Wiccans currently in the prison system that learn their craft as well as practice. They can get "clergy" in to discuss with them topics and issues.
And Wicca is not one of the oldest in the country, its actually one of the youngest.
@Drake - You're mixing up Wicca with Alchemy. Two separate practices
The "Old Religion" stuff was debunked by the 70's. It makes us look stupid and misguided to cling to shoddy scholarship and myths about our origins.
There are some Wiccan chaplains and some Wiccans who work with prisoners. There are also books, one can also find pen-pals or many prisoners are allowed to use some e-mail now, it's not that hard to find Wiccan clergy anymore.
Who can we talk to about Wicca?
