The Future: Positioning of Wicca, Part 1

Over the last few weeks, I have seen a more powerful movement of a long term trend. That is the positioning of Wicca in the public eye. There is no question that Wicca has been evolving a public persona over the last fifty years, and witchcraft proper for at least a couple centuries. It was never a centrally focused identity nor did it have highly charismatic leaders, it simply was and is ordinary people doing extraordinary things believe in incredible ideas that have created the most positive opinions in the community.

The idea that Wicca is a direct threat to the Christian has always existed as well, but now Christian ministries are making Wicca a direct and personal threat against teens. This is a trend that can have profound effects on the movement. They seek to reposition us in public opinion.

What is positioning? Positioning, in advertising terms, is the place or position a product holds in a customers mind. The higher and more acceptable a position on a consumers list more likely they will buy your product. It is a constant judgment we all have to make constantly as we seek to make purchases. Positioning, in political terms, is to have a individual, party or concept to mean something in particular to as many people as possible. The idea in politics is that you position yourself on a issue or your opponent positions you unfavorably. Positioning then in all cases is what people think of a product or word, and all that it represents. Positioning for Wicca then means what does Wicca stand for and what is it's value in society, especially in the mainstream.

Who decides what Position Wicca has in society? Well, ultimately individuals have the right to make a choice about everything that affects their lives. But in reality choices are based on circumstances and situations. So people will make choices, individually and collectively, based on the circumstances and situations they are involved with. This means where they get their information and data is the most likely place that will affect one's positioning or understanding of any given word or concept. So anyone who can influence and create opinion among individuals, especially if they can follow this with action has the right to position anything in our society. Anyone that can develop a following, that helps form opinion in individuals and collectively, about Wicca has the ability to position Wicca as they choose. It is simply a matter of getting people to accept your opinion over others, or at least consider it when making choices.

So what is Christian Ministries doing? They are seeking to equate Wicca as a direct threat to teens, that it fills them with different ideas, not unlike drug use, oral sex parties, cutting, and mental disorders. That different forces of Wicca are particularly targeting teens and they want them to be introduced to occult thought. Even if the teen is unaware that they hold Wiccan thoughts, they could be in terrible danger. So they are seeking to position Wicca as a source of motivation for dangerous behavior.

The second major way Christian ministries are targeting Wicca is that the followers do not believe they are Satanists. That Wiccans are outside Jesus and God, but are not worshiping Satan by their own words. In fact, Wicca is really Satanism-lite, a Gateway religion to worse forms of dark forces. That Wiccans themselves can be good people but a dubbed by Satanic forces, and need to be handled differently. That screaming Satanist won't work as a conversion force, and that there are ways to make a Wiccan a friend and then convert them. So they are positioning Wiccans as religiously naive and capable of being saved.

So our move towards so many different positions, mostly unfocused, decentralized, and thoroughly independent, is finally being countered that we are a dangerous force, even though legally recognized, that is very dangerous to families and especially teens. If they succeed then teens will continue to join Wicca as a protest, and we will see more and more problems blamed on the faith and not on the real sources of the problem. It will act as a discouragement towards our full rights.

This is a bad position to be moved into.

Next time: How can Wiccans reposition themselves?