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So. I decided to answer the Ottawa Sun reporter's questions.
This is what I said:
_____________________________________________
Question: – For one thing, please tell me about your research project. How many families you spoke with, what kind of questions did you ask and what were the results?
Okay. My research project was a very small one. Only three interviewees, most of which had quite young children. All the parents I talked to were Moms with daughters (there was only one son in the group) and all of my respondents had at one point or another acted as coven Priestesses (this may have skewed my data a little bit).
What I was looking to find out was if, and how, Wiccan parents incorporated the Wiccan world-view into their everyday lives.
I asked about what kind of schools their kids went to (those who were school-aged, anyway), what “being Wiccan” meant to them, whether or not they involved their kids in ritual, celebrated the feast days with them, or things like that, and whether or not they were “out of the broom closet” to their coworkers and the staff at their children’s schools.
My findings were as follows:
The parents I talked to are very much of the “find your own path” school of religious choice.
Also, they tend to treat questions about their faith as and when they come up, neither being secretive nor aggressive about the fact that they are Wiccan.
One respondent said that, while she doesn’t involve her daughter in Ritual, she does celebrate the high feasts with her (for example, at Yule, the Winter Solstice festival, she tells her daughter Stories of the Dark from various religious traditions including, of course, Wicca’s “Birth of the Sun” story). She says that her daughter knows that she is a Witch (like Professor McGonagall), but that she doesn’t make a big deal about it.
Another respondent informed me that, while part of her really wants to do the whole “altar in the back yard, family rituals, tell the kids What We Believe” thing, she knows that it’s wrong to force your religion onto someone else who might not wind up seeing the world in quite the same way. She would rather just show her kids all the wonder in the world and let them find their own way.
Similarly, another respondent said that her daughter can attend rituals if she wants to, but isn’t obligated to do so if she doesn’t.
Personally, I did not grow up Wiccan. I grew up in a Christian house – mine was quite liberal and so there wasn’t much of a problem for them accepting my new faith.
I started practicing Wicca when I got to University, but I was leaning towards Paganism in general by the time I was sixteen (Dr. Shelley Rabinovitch, at U of O, can tell you for sure whether this is a typical age or not, but I’m pretty sure it is).
Seeing as I still celebrate the secular aspects of holidays like Christmas and Easter with my family, it hasn’t been a big deal for anybody. (Although those who might have problems with it simply haven’t been told).
Regarding “regular” school. As mentioned above, I asked my respondents about what kind of schools their children attended.
If you look online for articles about Wicca and School-aged children, what you will probably find is U.S.-based websites talking about the joys of home-schooling your children.
However none of my Respondents home-schooled their children and, going by the people I’ve talked to, the main concern for Wiccan parents is (A) quality of education and (B) How the child feel at the school.
For example, one respondent enrolled her daughter in a Montessori school because it focuses on child-centered learning. Another respondent let her daughter choose which middle school she was going to attend.
Regarding bullying, unnerved teachers, and other stuff like that:
As one respondent said to me: “Ottawa’s diverse”. Most people are not going to be upset if there’s a Pagan child in the class. One of my respondents said that she had a talk with the staff at her daughter’s primary school just because, when you’re under ten and someone asks you to explain your Wiccan-specific terminology, you may have some trouble articulating things. However, this respondent said that she didn’t feel the need to do so with the staff at her daughter’s middle school because her daughter can explain things herself if questions come up.
Another respondent (whose children aren’t yet school-aged) informed me that she would very much like to be involved in her children’s school. She is of the opinion that rather than pretending that religion doesn’t exist, all religions should be acknowledged and celebrated – for example, a Winter Concert would involve secular pieces like “frosty the snowman”, but also seasonally appropriate songs from a multitude of different faiths.
Question: Do you find people are generally more tolerant? How has that changed over the years? Do you think shows like bewitched, sabrina the teenage witch and Harry Potter serve to help in this area? As a result, are Wiccan children quite possibly the coolest kids in a class full of muggles (ha ha!)?
Answer:
Hmm... I don’t think that Wiccan kids are more popular (or more of a curiosity, for that matter) because of their faith than anybody else. I think that as long as teachers do things right and let their students know that celebrating Ostara or Beltain is just as normal as celebrating Id al Ada, then no-one’s going to think too much about it. In urban centres like Ottawa multi-faith classrooms are the norm and a Wiccan kid would be just another kid.
As far as being more tolerant goes... Yes, probably. In Ottawa, at least, (in a less diverse area, possibly not). However: To use an example one of my respondents gave me:
When she was doing her undergrad degree, she noticed a debate club sign listing the topic for that week’s debate. It was something along the lines of “Does Witchcraft exist and, if yes, should Witches be Burned?” My respondent had a good talk with the debating society and they don’t use topics like that any more.
A note regarding shows like “Bewitched”: If you look at the shelves of Chapters you will notice that there are a lot of books featuring titles like “The Good Girl’s Guide to Wicked Spells” that are directed at the same audience as shows like “Sabrina” and “Charmed”. If the sheer numbers of these books are any indicator, there are a lot of early-teen girls who are reading these sorts of “magic for fun and profit” books and thinking that they’re learning Wicca when they’re not.
In that regard, shows like “Sabrina” are actually detrimental to Wicca because they give people the idea that it’s all about casting spells when really it’s a religion wherein the practitioner has a direct relationship with the divine.
As a final note: The “fifteen second sound bite”, if you will:
Wiccan families are just families. They have bills to pay, they have soccer practice to go to, they have left-overs in the fridge. They’re families.
______________________________________________________________
That's all. :-)
- Nam'ara,
- Amazon. :-)
This is what I said:
_____________________________________________
Question: – For one thing, please tell me about your research project. How many families you spoke with, what kind of questions did you ask and what were the results?
Okay. My research project was a very small one. Only three interviewees, most of which had quite young children. All the parents I talked to were Moms with daughters (there was only one son in the group) and all of my respondents had at one point or another acted as coven Priestesses (this may have skewed my data a little bit).
What I was looking to find out was if, and how, Wiccan parents incorporated the Wiccan world-view into their everyday lives.
I asked about what kind of schools their kids went to (those who were school-aged, anyway), what “being Wiccan” meant to them, whether or not they involved their kids in ritual, celebrated the feast days with them, or things like that, and whether or not they were “out of the broom closet” to their coworkers and the staff at their children’s schools.
My findings were as follows:
The parents I talked to are very much of the “find your own path” school of religious choice.
Also, they tend to treat questions about their faith as and when they come up, neither being secretive nor aggressive about the fact that they are Wiccan.
One respondent said that, while she doesn’t involve her daughter in Ritual, she does celebrate the high feasts with her (for example, at Yule, the Winter Solstice festival, she tells her daughter Stories of the Dark from various religious traditions including, of course, Wicca’s “Birth of the Sun” story). She says that her daughter knows that she is a Witch (like Professor McGonagall), but that she doesn’t make a big deal about it.
Another respondent informed me that, while part of her really wants to do the whole “altar in the back yard, family rituals, tell the kids What We Believe” thing, she knows that it’s wrong to force your religion onto someone else who might not wind up seeing the world in quite the same way. She would rather just show her kids all the wonder in the world and let them find their own way.
Similarly, another respondent said that her daughter can attend rituals if she wants to, but isn’t obligated to do so if she doesn’t.
Personally, I did not grow up Wiccan. I grew up in a Christian house – mine was quite liberal and so there wasn’t much of a problem for them accepting my new faith.
I started practicing Wicca when I got to University, but I was leaning towards Paganism in general by the time I was sixteen (Dr. Shelley Rabinovitch, at U of O, can tell you for sure whether this is a typical age or not, but I’m pretty sure it is).
Seeing as I still celebrate the secular aspects of holidays like Christmas and Easter with my family, it hasn’t been a big deal for anybody. (Although those who might have problems with it simply haven’t been told).
Regarding “regular” school. As mentioned above, I asked my respondents about what kind of schools their children attended.
If you look online for articles about Wicca and School-aged children, what you will probably find is U.S.-based websites talking about the joys of home-schooling your children.
However none of my Respondents home-schooled their children and, going by the people I’ve talked to, the main concern for Wiccan parents is (A) quality of education and (B) How the child feel at the school.
For example, one respondent enrolled her daughter in a Montessori school because it focuses on child-centered learning. Another respondent let her daughter choose which middle school she was going to attend.
Regarding bullying, unnerved teachers, and other stuff like that:
As one respondent said to me: “Ottawa’s diverse”. Most people are not going to be upset if there’s a Pagan child in the class. One of my respondents said that she had a talk with the staff at her daughter’s primary school just because, when you’re under ten and someone asks you to explain your Wiccan-specific terminology, you may have some trouble articulating things. However, this respondent said that she didn’t feel the need to do so with the staff at her daughter’s middle school because her daughter can explain things herself if questions come up.
Another respondent (whose children aren’t yet school-aged) informed me that she would very much like to be involved in her children’s school. She is of the opinion that rather than pretending that religion doesn’t exist, all religions should be acknowledged and celebrated – for example, a Winter Concert would involve secular pieces like “frosty the snowman”, but also seasonally appropriate songs from a multitude of different faiths.
Question: Do you find people are generally more tolerant? How has that changed over the years? Do you think shows like bewitched, sabrina the teenage witch and Harry Potter serve to help in this area? As a result, are Wiccan children quite possibly the coolest kids in a class full of muggles (ha ha!)?
Answer:
Hmm... I don’t think that Wiccan kids are more popular (or more of a curiosity, for that matter) because of their faith than anybody else. I think that as long as teachers do things right and let their students know that celebrating Ostara or Beltain is just as normal as celebrating Id al Ada, then no-one’s going to think too much about it. In urban centres like Ottawa multi-faith classrooms are the norm and a Wiccan kid would be just another kid.
As far as being more tolerant goes... Yes, probably. In Ottawa, at least, (in a less diverse area, possibly not). However: To use an example one of my respondents gave me:
When she was doing her undergrad degree, she noticed a debate club sign listing the topic for that week’s debate. It was something along the lines of “Does Witchcraft exist and, if yes, should Witches be Burned?” My respondent had a good talk with the debating society and they don’t use topics like that any more.
A note regarding shows like “Bewitched”: If you look at the shelves of Chapters you will notice that there are a lot of books featuring titles like “The Good Girl’s Guide to Wicked Spells” that are directed at the same audience as shows like “Sabrina” and “Charmed”. If the sheer numbers of these books are any indicator, there are a lot of early-teen girls who are reading these sorts of “magic for fun and profit” books and thinking that they’re learning Wicca when they’re not.
In that regard, shows like “Sabrina” are actually detrimental to Wicca because they give people the idea that it’s all about casting spells when really it’s a religion wherein the practitioner has a direct relationship with the divine.
As a final note: The “fifteen second sound bite”, if you will:
Wiccan families are just families. They have bills to pay, they have soccer practice to go to, they have left-overs in the fridge. They’re families.
______________________________________________________________
That's all. :-)
- Nam'ara,
- Amazon. :-)