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Wiccans: Often misunderstood, yet more popular as new year looms

She was born into a family with deep Catholic beliefs, with aunts and an uncle devoting their lives to serving the church.

She was born into a family with deep Catholic beliefs, with aunts and an uncle devoting their lives to serving the church.

By age 13, she broke the news to her family: Rebekah Benner found Wicca and aspired to be a witch. The reaction was not as some might expect. She was not shunned. Rather, she was encouraged to follow her heart.

“They wanted us to explore life and find a way for ourselves, so they honored it,” Benner said.

Forty-five years later, she’s now known as Rev. Rebekah Benner, a Wiccan high priestess, interfaith minister and a chaplain at the Veterans Administration. She performs weddings and funerals and a form of blessing for children of Wiccans.

And, yes, she’s a witch.

“The people that are offended or surprised or aghast if I call myself a witch are people that I will either talk with more, or if they don’t [want to talk], and they walk away, those are the people that I don’t need in my life,” she said. “I only hope that people will say, ‘OK, that’s another way of life, another way of looking at things.’”

Wicca, to many, is one of the world’s most misunderstood religions.

Witches within the Wiccan world are not the cartoonish or evil characters that often come to mind from movies or TV shows.

Witches are, however, most often symbolic of the misconception that so many have about Wicca and their beliefs.

Wiccans believe in feminine and masculine spiritual deities. They believe in the gift and value of earth, air, water, spirit and fire, the very heart of life on this planet.

Yes, they cast spells, but only for good. Their mantra is to do no harm to others.

And no, they don’t worship the devil. They don’t even believe in Satan’s existence, which they view as a creation borne from Christian beliefs.

What they do see and feel, what sustains them, is what a Wiccan values most.

“What I get out of Wicca is a sense of wonder every single second,” Benner said. “I feel that I am blessed every time with the entire world. It’s a blessing. It’s a miracle.”

While some form of pagan spiritualism dates back centuries, Wicca is a 20th century creation in Europe. It made its way to the United States in the 1960s, largely because of the efforts of Raymond Buckland, considered the father of American witchcraft.

Inside a century-old storefront in Cleveland’s historic Tremont neighborhood is the Buckland Museum on West 14th Street. The museum houses Buckland’s personal collection of Wiccan artifacts as well as whimsical witch-related items.

"It's just a very beautiful religion," said Jillian Slane, the museum’s director.

The museum draws people from all around, and for a variety of reasons, from practicing Wiccans to the curious.

"I really like it when people come in and they have that [negative] attitude in a way because we can usually talk them through a lot of issues or preconceived ideas that they have and make them see it in a different way," Slane said.

For Toni Rotonda, a former Catholic, Wicca is a religion that she feels connected to as a woman. Wiccans view female and male deities as equals.

It was Rotonda who acquired and owns the Buckland’s collection. The two were close friends. While the collection is vast, she believed its historical significance was important to retain and keep intact for future generations to see, and perhaps understand, the religion.

"For me, it represents the freedom to choose, the freedom to pray to whatever deity that I want," she said. “When I found Wicca, I found that you can pray to the Goddess and that opened up a lot for me.

“It’s given me the freedom to choose what I wanted to do and not be told what I had to do.”

Some studies have shown Wicca to be America’s fast-growing religion with an estimated 300,000 followers. Even more are practicing in secrecy because of the stigma attached to the religion, supporters say.

Wiccans can practice their faith anywhere. Some come together in numbers to create covens and meet regularly, forming a circle outdoors for various ceremonies.

An altar is often included for the priestess, who uses a variety of items for the ceremony. A bowl of salt, for example, represents earth and incense are used to mark air.

The Wiccan pentacle, pointing to their beliefs of earth, fire, air, water and spirit, is its symbol. They celebrate eight holidays, all tied to the changing seasons of the year.

“Our sacred temple is wherever we want it to be,” Rotonda said.

For Wiccans, Oct. 31 marks Samhain (pronounced Sow-en) one of the religion’s most important days. Samhain commemorates the end of the harvest season and the beginning of a new year. It’s also a time to commemorate the lives of friends and family who have died.

Samhain marks a fresh start, and to Wiccans like Rev. Benner, perhaps a better understanding from others.

“My hope is that really, like any religion, people will allow you to be who you are without judgment.”

For anyone interested in learning more about Wicca, Benner invites the public to a Samhain ceremony Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Akron, 3300 Morewood Road.

The Buckland Museum is located at 2676 W. 14th Street in Cleveland. Visit www.BucklandMuseum.org for more information.

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