Wicca's Charm: Understanding the Spiritual Hunger behind the Rise of Modern Witchcraft and Pagan Spirituality »

Catherine Edwards Sanders is a journalist with experience in radio, television, and print journals such as The Weekly Standard, The Washington Times, Insight, World Magazine, and Coastal Living. She has written for The McLaughlin Group and was the producer of Janet Parshall’s America talk-radio program. She lives in Virginia.

How Wiccan Spirituality Is Filling a Spiritual Hunger in America

Hundreds of thousands of people practice Wicca and other forms of modern Pagan spirituality in America today, and journalist Catherine Edwards Sanders wanted to understand why such belief systems are rapidly attracting followers. When a routine magazine assignment led her to realize that her stereotype of Wiccans as eccentric spiritual outsiders was embarrassingly misinformed, her curiosity compelled her to understand the Wiccan mystique. With the support of a journalism fellowship, Sanders spent a year interviewing neo-Pagans and witches and found that the lure of this emerging spirituality was not the occult, but rather a search for meaning in an increasingly fragmented and materialistic culture.

With keen observation, challenging insight, and compassionate critique, Sanders produces a lively narrative about what she experienced and discovered during her travels: Halloween rituals in Salem, anti-globalization protests in New York, and the contrasts between what seekers find in neo-Paganism that they perceive as lacking in Christian tradition. In Wicca’s Charm, Sanders explains the powerful attraction of an increasingly mainstream spirituality that celebrates the wonder of creation and the life-giving energy of women while also exploring why Christian churches often fail to engage these seekers, but how they can learn to tap into the deep roots of Christianity to nourish the hunger of so many who seek a holistic and authentic worship experience.

Library Journal

The powerful attraction of Wicca has captured the attention of two different writers addressing two different audiences. Both try to get those interested in Wicca to discuss the choices they make. School assembly speaker and talk radio host Russo begins his book by first explaining what Wicca is. He knows his topic and has obviously spent a great deal of time talking and listening to the teens he is addressing. Though his aim is to get teens to talk about why Christianity would be a better choice, he's not overly preachy or condescending, and he repeatedly states that it is the reader's choice whether or not to practice Wicca. In fact, he is so good at explaining Wicca's appeal that, at least initially, he makes Wicca seem even more appealing than he intends. Wicca's Charm, on the other hand, is intended for adults trying to understand why others practice Wicca. Sanders was a journalist on assignment when she was forced to examine her own stereotypical views of Wicca; subsequently, she secured a journalism fellowship to spend a year learning about Wicca and what makes it so appealing to its practitioners; an objective view of the tradition results. Discussion questions at the end of the book correspond to each of the chapters. The result is a good, basic overview of the origins and theories of the religion as well as plenty of firsthand accounts from current and former practitioners of Wicca. Both books will spark conversation if used as the writers intend, and both are fine choices for public libraries.-Jennifer Kuncken, Williamsburg Regional Lib., VA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.