Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Pagan
Does It Matter How Many of Us There Are?

Does It Matter How Many of Us There Are?

Last updated on: September 12, 2017 at 5:31 pm by Jason Mankey

Does It Matter How Many of Us There Are? 2017-09-12T17:31:47-06:00 Jason Mankey

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Last week I published a piece speculating on the number of Wiccans in the United States. I think most people responded to the article positively, though there were several folks who thought my numbers were a bit pie in the sky.* One of the criticisms which came up was that the number of Wiccans in the United States “doesn’t matter.”

In some ways “doesn’t matter” is most certainly true. I’m not a Wiccan-Witch because it’s trendy or popular, and I’d be a Wiccan-Witch if there were only a few hundred of us. In many ways how many of us there are doesn’t matter, and that line of thinking has some historical precedent. For many years many Wiccans identified as “Hidden Children of the Goddess” and kept their religious choice quiet and/or secret. There are still many hidden children today, and I don’t think anyone has an obligation to come out of the broom closet.

“Young Witches on Brooms” from Good Free Photos, Public Domain Image

However, I think there are times when our numbers might very well matter, and more of society being aware of our presence might actually do some good in this country. How much our numbers matter will probably depend on how much you care about some of the following items.

Appeal to Us as Voters

Pagandom is an extremely diverse place. There are liberal Pagans and (gasp!) conservative Pagans. We are not a monolith, but our politics generally drift left, and even my more conservative Pagan friends are supporters of the environment. (I’m sure there are some Pagan climate change deniers out there, but I haven’t met one yet.) So while we as a community do not agree on everything, we are all generally tree-huggers.

Because of this, maybe we as a known voter block would encourage politicians to worry a little more about our planet? As I write this half of the West Coast is in flames and parts of Florida and Texas were just swallowed whole by hurricanes Irma and Harvey. Much of the devastation from these events is a direct result of climate change. All sorts of interest groups have influence in Washington because of their political beliefs, why not us?

Actual pumpkin growing in my backyard.

Stop Misconceptions

People are a lot smarter when it comes to Pagan (and especially) Wiccan beliefs today than they were twenty years ago, but misconceptions still abound. People still ask me if I sacrifice things, believe in God, and dozens of other ridiculous things. The more people know about us, the less we’ll have to answer stupid questions about our beliefs and practices.

Note that I would never want our (Pagan) culture to change in some weird quest to be seen as respectable by society at large. I’m going to keep doing magick while dancing naked around the maypole. We should never sacrifice our beliefs in order to been as socially acceptable, but I’d like to not get sideward glances from some of my neighbors when I take out the garbage.

Early 20th Century Halloween Postcard. Public Domain image.

Keeping Jobs, Houses, Children, Etc.

Though it doesn’t happen with the frequency it used to, I’m sure there are still people who are on the receiving end of negative things simply because they identify as a Pagan or a Witch. In this era of “at will” employment, a business owner/manager can fire nearly anyone for any reason. There are some protections for certain kinds of jobs, but all sorts of people are “at will” employees and if your boss doesn’t like Wiccans you can be fired for it. (Though I doubt they’d give that as a reason, and at-will employees don’t have to given a reason when they are fired.)

If more people knowing about us makes such things a thing of the past, then I’m all for people knowing about us. And if more people start realize that there are a few million of us out there, maybe they’ll be worried about mistreating us because we can vote with our wallets? I’d love to know that a boycott by Witches of intolerant businesses might have repercussions.

Prevent a Second Satanic Panic

The Satanic Panic of the 80’s and 90’s feels like a lifetime ago, but the fallout from it continues into today. A couple falsely accused of all sorts of absurdities finally had their convictions overturned in June of this year, after being released from jain in 2013, and serving 22 years in prison.

And if you think Satanic Panics don’t effect Wiccans you are very much mistaken. The Memphis Three were most likely railroaded in part because Damien Echols dabbled in Wicca at the time of the murders the three were falsely accused of. Yeah, it was the 90’s, but certain segments of America seems more than willing to demonize anyone who disagrees with them or looks different than they do.

Certain elements of Satanic Panic live on in certain churches too. I know people today who are convinced that Satanic Witches are sacrificing thousands of baby every year, even though there’s never been any evidence supporting such lunacy. The Satanic Panic has gone into the Christian underground, but that’s also where it started. It could always rear it’s ugly head again.

I went to Tintagel, so I just want to sneak these in when I can.

It All Depends On How Much Infrastructure You Want in Our Community

We have a thriving Pagan subculture today. People still buy Pagan books, and lots of people read Pagan blogs (thanks!), listen to Pagan music, and go to Pagan festivals. We’ve built a very real community over the last several decades. How much we’ll build in the future will probably depend on what we want to do as a community going forward.

Will there be lobbyists representing Witches in Washington? Will we ever become more organized? Will there ever be Wiccan meeting houses or temples? I don’t know. Some of us don’t see the greater Pagan movement as something that will ever embrace such institutions, and others think such things will be beneficial. How big we get will probably influence such things, but would that then change our traditions? I don’t know.

I think the future of Paganism (and especially traditions like Druidry and Witchcraft) probably lies with solitary practitioners. One of the reasons it’s hard to set up Pagan institutions is because more and more practitioners are solitaries. To get Witch ritual fifty years ago one either had to be an initiate or make up their own ritual. Now it’s as simple as hopping on line and doing a Google search.

So It Matters, And It Doesn’t

I don’t want to say that the size of the Pagan or Wiccan communities matters in the United States, because not everyone believes that it does. I think there are benefits that might result from more people being aware of us, and I think there are downsides too. I don’t want an institutional form of Witchcraft emerging, and sometimes it’s nice to leave the neighbors a little bit scared. Whether it matters or not, it is an exciting time to be a Witch!

*Three million might be a bit much, but I’m convinced there are probably two million people who self-identify as Pagan (and/or hang around our spaces) in the United States. I base that on several things, attendance at festivals large and small, book sales, and blog readership.

Previous Post

September 6, 2017

Wicca: A New Major Religion

Next Post

September 14, 2017 8 Ways to Celebrate the Autumn Equinox/Mabon

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Editorializing Gateways to Paganism Guest Posts Holiday Histories Led Zeppelin News and Views Occult Pagan Pagan TV Club Paganism polytheism Ramble On Reviews Ritual Strange Days Uncategorized

Select a Month August 2026 March 2026 February 2026 November 2025 September 2025 August 2025 April 2025 August 2024 April 2024 February 2024 December 2023 October 2023 August 2023 June 2023 May 2023 January 2023 October 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 April 2012 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" while dying?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Stephen Paul David Jesus