Wicca is the fastest growing religion in the U.S.

[the truth]

While many Christians today are closely monitoring the growth and activity of Islam, especially after 9/11, another religious movement has been steadily growing under the radar and could become among the largest religions in the United States in less than five years.

Wicca is the fastest-growing religion in America, set to be the third largest religion by 2012, claims Marla Alupoaicei, who co-wrote the recently released book Generation Hex with fellow Christian author Dillon Burroughs.

The numbers of adherents are doubling every 30 months, she says.

Furthermore, every major city in the United States has networks of Wiccans, adds Burroughs.

Certain parts of the country, such as the Pacific Northwest, the mountain states (New Mexico and Colorado) and areas near Salem, Mass., are the strongest in the U.S.,he says. However, I live in Tennessee and have found pockets of Wiccans in Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia to interview. I didn't have to travel far or even outside of the so-called Bible belt to find Wiccans.

Click here for complete article:

Wicca Experts Encourage Christians to Engage America's 'Fastest-Growing' Religion| Christianpost.com

For a good booklet on Wicca go here http://www.pfbaptistpress.org/204.htm

[Ashley274]

I am not shocked by this I know 3 people who are wiccan

[FaithfulSheep]

It is growing in our area too. I actually saw someone with a sticker on the back of their suburban promoting Wicca the other day.

[Ta-An]

I suppose the "bait" can be ; you can be a Christian and a Wiccan at the same time

[HisLeast]

I've never met a Wiccan who can competently explain to me what "being Wiccan" means. Most of the ones I've met use the word to mean a pseudo-spiritual set of the goth subculture.

It seems all religions are gaining momentum in North America and Western Europe. Our cultures obsessions with leisure, consumption, and celebrity worship just aren't speaking to peoples' hearts.

[Bethany67]

I suppose the "bait" can be ; you can be a Christian and a Wiccan at the same time

You won't find many Wiccans who would say that - just a few of the young fluffy confused ones. In my experience it's one of the few points on which Christians and Wiccans agree - the twain do not mix.

[Buzzword]

It's also a great way to anger your parents, while still being "spiritual".

Most of the Wiccans I've met fit ^that^ bill, moreso than my atheist friends.

[apothanein kerdos]

Can I just say I'm not too terribly surprised?

If you look to Hellenistic history, you see that after Socrates (who was an "atheist" in the classical sense, believing in only one god) most of Greece began to abandon its belief in the gods, viewing them merely as symbolic. Then the Romans came along - Stoics the lot of them - and didn't emphasize the gods too terribly much. In fact, prior to Cicero most Romans held to a sort of paganistic Deism - if the gods existed, according to the Romans, they were impersonal and didn't care about humans. The key word here, of course, is "if." Most Roman weren't even convinced about the existence of the gods.

This led to a more secular view, which of course causes a colder view of the world. Humans can't live this way, to the pendulum swung back to the other side. Less than 100 years after Cicero the Romans were deeply pagan and using the gods as an excuse to live the life they wanted.

When we look to the United States, we are coming out of a secular/postmodern age. We saw the coldness that secularism causes (though we're still in the throws of it) and so we're seeking something spiritual. It's not that most Wiccans choose Wicca to rebel against their parents (though some do), but more that deep down they really are confused. They can't accept that there is nothing there, but they can't accept that He is there either. Thus, they make a compromise and accept this neo-pagan movement (that is really spiritual atheism...quite odd).

[Rebelnote]

I'm trying to get a little inside view of the Wiccan beliefs. A friend and classmate of mine is from a Celtic branch of Wiccan, and we're both working on an in-depth research project together on various faiths, including a group of Wiccans in my home town.
I doubt my beliefs will have any impact on the group, but my friend was impacted by the service at my church, (especially the openness of my congregation towards her, even though she was wearing a wiccan charm necklace). I'm still hoping, and praying for her, and that through this project God can work within her heart.

[stillforgiven]

While many Christians today are closely monitoring the growth and activity of Islam, especially after 9/11, another religious movement has been steadily growing under the radar and could become among the largest religions in the United States in less than five years.

Wicca is the fastest-growing religion in America, set to be the third largest religion by 2012, claims Marla Alupoaicei, who co-wrote the recently released book Generation Hex with fellow Christian author Dillon Burroughs.

The numbers of adherents are doubling every 30 months, she says.

Furthermore, every major city in the United States has networks of Wiccans, adds Burroughs.

Certain parts of the country, such as the Pacific Northwest, the mountain states (New Mexico and Colorado) and areas near Salem, Mass., are the strongest in the U.S.,he says. However, I live in Tennessee and have found pockets of Wiccans in Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia to interview. I didn't have to travel far or even outside of the so-called Bible belt to find Wiccans.

Click here for complete article:

Wicca Experts Encourage Christians to Engage America's 'Fastest-Growing' Religion| Christianpost.com

For a good booklet on Wicca go here http://www.pfbaptistpress.org/204.htm

I honestly don't know if this qualifies,, but we have a "church" here that I think qualifies. Here is something copied from their homepage.

Welcome to Church of the Pines. We are an interfaith community church in (my town). Our emphasis is the Ageless Wisdom Teachings (a synthesis of the philosophies and religious teachings of all ages) and an esoteric perspective of Christianity. These studies include Teachings such as Agni Yoga (sometimes called the yoga of "Living Ethics") and theosophy. Our ecumenical studies also include world scriptures such as the Bible, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Lotus Sutras, etc. Instead of focussing on differences, we honor the common strands of beauty linking all of these paths. It is our belief that as each person strives to expand their consciousness and incorporate the principles of the Teachings into their life, they are helping humanity pave a path of beauty for the future.

Also there are monthly pagan meetings that are listed on Eventful emails.

(my city) Pagan October Meetup:
Description SEPTEMBER MEETUP ATTENDEES PLEASE: BRING YOUR LIST OF THINGS THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO LEARN SO I CAN INCLUDE IT IN THE LESSON PLAN THAT WILL BE HANDED OUT AT THE OCTOBER MEETING. In addition to having the once a month meetup, we will be having once a month socials as well. This is where someone from the meetup group volunteers their house or public place of choice and everyone attending brings their favorite dish. It's a big Pagan Potluck. Future meetings will include topics such as: Paranormal issues as all Pagans believe in unexplained things. Incense making Rune making Tarot Books In-depth Pagan celebrations and more! Don't miss out on the (my city) Pagan meet up group!

And I thought I lived in a pretty nice town.


My own BIL is a Wicca, though he's not active really. His sister is pagan who lives her life by her astrology charts and is married to an atheist.

[Joe King]

I would have never thought it would catch on at the rate the article claims.

I do agree with the part of the title that says "Christians should engage Wicca". Absolutely. The definition of engage is a military combat term as well. We should engage it with the word of God.

[Bethany67]

Don't forget to love the people. I was Wiccan, and found most Christians aggressive and scared. It was the ones who modelled Jesus who reached me.

[stillforgiven]

Don't forget to love the people. I was Wiccan, and found most Christians aggressive and scared. It was the ones who modelled Jesus who reached me.

Fear is nearly always the reaction to something we don't understand, and yet, there's danger in studying something like this for young or immature Christians. It doesn't help that movies and books make people on the "other side" appear to be so powerful and such. Then there's the truth that many of us don't know our own religion (the Bible) enough to debate it with non-believers, which is embarrassing, which usually leads to aggression.

[ViolaSnapdragon]

Okay, I do have to ask this... What kind of Wicca are we talking about here? Are we talking about Gardnerian/Alexandrian/BTW Wicca, or Scott Cunningham/Silver Ravenwolf Wicca? Maybe I am just irrationally skeptical but from what I've learned traditional, coven practiced Wicca is basically a mystery religion that requires a lot of discipline and secrecy and I find it hard to think that it will be the third largest religion in barely over three years from now. Now the solitary, non-traditional(neo) Wiccans, maybe but most of them that I've known have gotten involved in that for various reasons and usually come out of it after they find other ways to deal with said reasons. I may be way off though... Correct me if I am wrong.

[Bethany67]

Amalthea - we're talking about the Scott Cunningham DIY version being the popular one. BTW is a lot more closely-guarded and as you rightly say is an initiatory religion; the concept of 'oathbound' material still exists, and you can't grab a couple of books from Borders or Amazon and learn it all. There's also the cultural divide between the US and the UK; over here it's the BTWs who are/were hardline and other Pagan groups such as Druids seen as laidback and eclectic, but in the US it's the other way round.

But in the past few decades there has been a crossover. Once the Farrars published their 'Eight Sabbats' (the argument still rages on just how accurate it is and the ethics of doing so), a lot of people took that, added in a splash of Gardner/Valiente, a smidgeon of $ilver Ravendollar and a pinch of Starhawk, and they were off to twirl their chakras, pick and mix their pantheons, and worship the ancient Irish potato goddess

Even in BTW circles things are less 'fundamentalist' than they were; the impression I get is that real BTW is shrinking, and BTW covens are few and far between. Janet and Gavin are less purely 'Alexandrian' than they once were (they call themselves 'Progressive Wiccan' now) and keep a slightly lower profile in Ireland, although they still run a local coven last I heard. But their books have set them up for life; Janet told me the royalties for the 'Eight Sabbats/Witches Bible' alone were £20,000/year.

Each year more 'Wicca 101' books are published - all saying the same basic things, for newbies. That's where the growing market is. A BTW coven won't have anything to do with you over here till you're 18, and not even then sometimes, so the disenchanted 15 year olds grab the nearest 'How to' books and call themselves Wiccan. It infuriates the BTWs no end.

These days you're far far more likely to meet a fluffy eclectic than you are a Gardnerian or Alexandrian. I did both - started as a feminist Starhawkite in my mid-twenties, ended up Gardnerian by my mid-thirties.