The New Witchcraft

1. Wicca's contribution to women's spirituality

Modern-day witchcraft had its rebirth before the resurgence of women's spirituality in the last two decades. There are those who claim that it has a long lineage, extending back centuries, even before the persecution of witches in medieval Europe. The witches of that time were the herbalists, the wise women, the pagans - all those belonging to earth-based religions and practices that resisted the domination of Christianity.

This is a big topic. In order to comprehend some of its aspects, the focus in this paper is on the work of Starhawk, one of the most visible and articulate of the new witches.

Beginning with The Spiral Dance (Simos, 1979), Starhawk began to set forth a new vision of witchcraft that was earth-based and political, but not supernatural. Her focus was on reconnecting people to the earth through ritual, song, and process. The process emphasis meant that she was concerned with relationship, rather than just content. Process includes the underlying feelings and thoughts within the group, and the dynamics of the group's flow.

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g or purification, casting the circle, invoking the powers, raising the power of the group itself, focusing the power, and then re-grounding the power, celebrating, releasing the invoked powers and opening the circle. The intent is to remove the group from ordinary time and space within the circle in order for the group to focus its energy and perform its task (Plaskow and Christ, 1989). Conclusions Wicca contributes to the growth of women's spirituality in several ways. It provides an image of the goddess that is powerful and clear. It allows women to play important roles as priestesses. It emphasizes women gaining, and working with, their personal power. It values nature, love, creativity, and connection above other more patriarchal values, such as control and order. The rebirth of Wicca is particularly meaningful because it represents a repudiation, almost an overthrow, of modernity. It is a return to a world in which all of life is vested with meaning, rather than stripped of it.  References Adler, M. (1981). Drawing down the moon. Boston, MA: Beacon Press. Simos, M. (1979). The spiral dance: A rebirth of the ancient religion of the great goddess. San Francisco: Harper and Row. Simos, M. (1982). Dreaming the dark
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Tree Life, Dianic Wicca, Plaskow Christ, Witchcraft Introduction, D D, Dance Simos, Oral Presentation, Spirit North, Wicca Starhawk, Mother Earth, d d, simos 1979, ordinary space, returns returns, mother earth, plaskow christ, people feel, circle cast, nuclear power, simos 1982, north south east, south east west, boston ma beacon, cp christ eds, ma beacon press,
Approximate Word count = 2105
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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