I have never really told a lot of people, including my mom, about what I believe in for fear of rejection. I believe in the Pagan religion called Wicca. Now it might be Pagan, but it’s not satanic whatsoever.

Wicca is a Pagan religion centered around the idea that nature is a higher power. It promotes a very peaceful, harmonious and balanced way of life which encourages oneness with the divine and all which exists. The divine is what Wiccans consider to be nature itself. We also worship gods and goddesses but most Wiccans use the term deity instead of god or goddess.

There are several Wiccans that worship Greek deities and or other ancient deities. It varies on whom they are more connected to. However the main two that Wiccans who are new or do not worship a certain deity are, the Horned God and Mother Goddess.

However, we do deal with witchcraft, though it is not vital that one practices spellwork. Wiccans are normally classified as witches since we believe in healing properties of crystals and we cast spells. We do not cast spells against people, but we do make charms to help with our personal lives or others. However, not all Wiccans do the spellwork, some just meditate with the crystals.

There have been times when I wanted to tell others about my religion, but just kept it to myself. When someone asked about my necklace I would usually just say someone made it for me, which is not necessarily untrue as it was made by a close Wiccan friend.

Coming out about my religion can be hard as well when it comes to friends who practice other religions. As I have stated earlier, a lot of people think that Wicca is a satanic. It can be hard to keep my religion to myself. There have been times where I have wanted to talk about it. Though with how people think that it is wrong to be Wiccan, you never really know if they will be accepting of it.

For example, a friend of mine and I were talking and the question of my religion was brought up. They wanted to know if I was religious or not. I consider myself religious because I am Wiccan, but there is this fear in the back of my mind about the consequences of aligning myself with an opposing religious viewpoint. I didn’t want them to think I was a Satanist. So, I simply said I was atheist.

With keeping to myself about being Wiccan can be hard. I will admit that myself for a lot of people don’t know about me believing in what I believe in. I have to keep my altar small to where it’s not noticeable by my mom. I can’t cast any spells with her around her.

An altar is what we consider to be our center. It’s where we bring all our energy to and where we worship our deities. I have been wanting to tell my mom about Wicca but, part of me can not. I think it is because I am afraid of being disowned or judged for not believing in one of the main religions.

Though it may seem that what I believe in is wrong, it’s not. Wicca is about harmony between a person and nature. Being stereotyped can be offensive, it feels like people think that we believe in things that are not true. However, we may do some witchcraft, but we are very peaceful.

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of The Oracle, Columbus East High School, and Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation.