Seven Seasons of Buffy: Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors Discuss Their Favorite Television Show (Smart Pop series)
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Despite all the hurt, the loss of innocence, she still retains her Self. Unlike Angel’s, her soul is bruised, but still intact. The tremendous courage and integrity she has always possessed have endured the trials of initiation and she has emerged on the other side even stronger than she was before. That is what makes her a hero in the truest sense. And that is what makes love worth taking the risk.
Carla Montgomery began as a reluctant voyeur, but is doing her best to make up for that naughty behavior now. Her essays and short stories have appeared in several anthologies and her commentaries aired on the local NPR station. For really weird story ideas, she highly recommends working as a late-night cop reporter. She currently lives with her family in Utah . . . but that’s another story.
Christie Golden
WHERE’S THE
RELIGION IN
WILLOW’S WICCA?
Yes, Virginia, Wicca is a real religion and there are real witches. And no, Willow is not one of them.
ONE OF THE MANY GREAT things about Buffy the Vampire Slayer is it gives hope to the geek in all of us. I’m not talking about the Über-geeks Warren, Andrew and Jonathan, but our geek heroes Xander and Willow. Especially Willow, who gives computer nerds a warm and cozy feeling, like we’re wrapped in warm blankets. Except, of course, when she’s Dark Rosenberg, when she makes everyone want to dive under the blankets.
Willow’s evolution from computer nerd to powerful sorceress (I chose this word with care, more on that later) has been a fascinating journey over these last seven years. All of the characters on Buffy have grown, but Willow’s arc has perhaps been the most profound. A very large part of that growth has to do with her becoming, in the words of Anya, “A very powerful Wicca (sic).”
This phrase bugs me for myriad reasons, and I’m going to tell you why. In a nutshell, I’m going to say that while the creators of Buffy are presenting Willow as a witch/Wicca(n), they are, alas, wrong. Remember I said that I deliberately chose the word “sorceress” earlier? It’s a much more appropriate word, largely because it’s a fantasy term that has no real practitioners in the Real World. A “sorceress” can be whatever the writers want her to be. But a witch, or a Wiccan, is something very real, and the creators of Buffy don’t get it right.
I could go on for a whole book (and many have) exploring the differences between the Hollywood Witch, the Real Witch, the Wiccan, the Neopagan, the Santarian, the Asatruar, etc. but I’ve only got this one essay. So, for convenience’s sake, I’ll be working with the following definitions:
HOLLYWOOD WITCH: The version of “witch” we see in the movies.
REAL WITCH or just WITCH: Real live person who may practice spell craft, but who does not necessarily believe in a god or goddess.
WICCAN: A follower of a religion that believes in a god and goddess, works with natural energies, and incorporates spell casting into ritual. Wiccans are usually Witches, but not all Witches are Wiccans.
Is this all clear as mud? It’s no wonder the Buffy folks have trouble with it.
(Very important note: Witches of all kinds [except for Hollywood Witches, occasionally, depending on the script] do not worship or even believe in Satan. Satan is a Christian concept and witches have nothing to do with him. For most people, whose whole definition of “witch” comes from the Salem witch trials, in which innocent folks were accused of consorting with the Devil, this is quite a shocker. But it’s also very true.)
Having said all this, I will readily admit that Willow is a “Hollywood Witch,” which is now becoming trendy again. The Hollywood Witch is a lot of fun for the writers, the actresses, and the viewers. She usually comes in two flavors, with slight variations.
First, there’s the Scary Hollywood Witch, personified by the Wicked Witch of the West and other haggy beings. This is the gal we’re all used to seeing around Halloween. Usually she’s got green skin, but at the very least, she dresses in black, she rides a broom, and there’s a wart.
Then there’s the Sexy Hollywood Witch, sometimes overlaid with a bit o’ sweetness to make the brew easier to drink. Such witches are Samantha from Bewitched, the heroine of Bell, Book and Candle, or Sabrina from the Archie comics. She’s been joined in recent years by the sisters from Charmed and Practical Magic. It’s cool to be a Sexy Hollywood Witch these days.
A Hollywood Witch, be she Scary or Sexy, can be easily spotted by the special effects guy who is always at her side. She chants in a funky language, her eyes go black, lightning shoots from her fingers, winds come out of nowhere (prettily tousling her long hair), things levitate, fly around the room, lose their skins, etc. It’s pretty cool.
REAL WITCHES CAN’T DO THIS. And yes, there is definitely such a thing as a real witch.
The greatest problem in the depiction of Willow and her witchiness is that the creators of Buffy were not content with making her a sorceress, or even a Sexy Hollywood Witch. They decided to go one step further and fold the current hot religion of Wicca into the mix.
And there, my fellow Willow fans, is where things start falling apart.
The problem lies in the fact that Wicca is a real, genuine, bona-fide religion recognized and protected under the United States Constitution. Despite challenges from such noted conservatives as Jesse Helms, cases such as Dettmer vs. Landon (1986) stand to establish its authenticity as a viable religion. Even the United States Military Chaplains Manual recognizes Wicca as a religion. Yup, that’s right—a Wiccan is every bit as real a follower of her or his faith (Xander’s hilarious comment about “manwitches” notwithstanding, there are male Witches and Wiccans and they aren’t called “warlocks”) as a Methodist or a Jew. (“A Wiccan, a Methodist, and a Jew walk into a bar . . .”)
And unfortunately, if one goes by what we’ve seen on the show and in the various official books such as The Watcher’s Guide, nobody connected with the show has done a lot of research into what being a Wiccan means.
Heck, they haven’t even gotten their grammar right. Willow is repeatedly and very clearly referred to as a “Wicca,” which is comparable to saying a “Christia.” One who follows the faith of Christianity is a Christian, one who follows the faith of Wicca is a Wiccan.
What’s worse is what you’ll find in The Watcher’s Guide. On p. 146 is an essay on “Witches and Sorcerers.” Giving credit where it’s due, there’s a lot of good info on the history of witchcraft, and in general it’s a positive piece. And then the words “devotees of the goddess Wicca” appear.
Um. Well. First of all, there is no “goddess Wicca.” There are many speculations as to the origins of the word “wicca,” but it’s never been the name of a goddess. The most likely origin is from the Indo-European word Wikke or Weik, which pertains to magic or sorcery.
Now, admittedly, as I have indicated, it’s not as if it would have been easy for the creators of Buffy to come up with a nice, simple definition of Wicca that all practitioners would agree on. However, at the risk of not satisfying everyone, let me give it a whirl and we’ll see if Willow really can accurately be called a Wiccan or if she’s just another Sexy Hollywood Witch.
1. FIRST AND FOREMOST, WICCA IS A RELIGION. Divinity is represented in a pair of opposites: a god and a goddess. The goddess is regarded as the primary divinity and the god is her consort. Some believe that each god and goddess who has appeared in mythology is separate and real; others think that there is a main divinity with different aspects, much the same way an actor can play many roles.
Wiccans often honor the god and goddess through the Celtic Wheel of the Year, with eight holy days known as Sabbats:
February 2: Imbolc (Candlemas, or St. Brigid’s Day). This holiday belongs to the goddess. Her light in the world is fire and candlelight, not the sun; we begin to believe that spring really is on the way. (If you view these holidays as spokes on a wheel, its opposite is Lughnasad, which is traditionally a day to honor the god.) In the U.S., this is also Groundhog Day, which is a contemporary “ritual” involving a groundhog testing to see if winte
r is really over (a sort of divination spell), or if it will last six more weeks—coincidentally, when the next Sabbat is celebrated. Most Wiccans love a good laugh and get a chuckle out of this.
March 21–23: Ostara, the Vernal Equinox. The Christian holiday of Easter is derived from “Ostara” or “Eostre,” an Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring. Rabbits and eggs represent fertility and the awakening world. Day and night are of equal length. It lies opposite the Autumnal Equinox, of course.
May 1: Beltane, or May Day. Some traditions, such as the Maypole dance, still survive—and well, let’s just say that the rather phallic image of the “maypole” isn’t an accident. This holiday marks the union of the god and goddess. The reason there are traditionally so many weddings in June is that it was bad luck to be wed in the same months as the Divinities, but the month after was believed to be blessed. On the Wheel, it is opposite Samhain. Both are major holidays.
June 21–23: Summer Solstice, or Litha, often associated with the Fairy Folk. A very magical time.
August 1: Lammas, or Lughnasad. This was often the first harvest of the autumn, and marks the moment when the god (often believed to live in the crops) willingly sacrifices himself so that humans may survive the winter.
September 21–23: Mabon, or the Autumnal Equinox.
October 31: Halloween, or Samhain (pronounced “sow-ahn”). This is considered the Witches’ New Year and is the highest of the holy days. The time between Samhain and Yule, the birthday of the god, is often considered to be time out of time, for reflection and settling into the still, quiet darkness. It’s a good time for magic, as the “veil between the worlds” is believed to be quite thin.
December 22: Yule, the Winter Solstice. This marks the time when the days grow longer, the return of the light, the birthday of the sun god.
Wiccans also celebrate what are called Esbats, which are the new moon and the full moon. Witches and Wiccans work with the energy of the seasons and the waxing and waning energies of the moon.
Many things we’ve learned about Willow seem to contradict or ignore much of the above. Admittedly, there are indeed references to various gods and goddesses. Hecate, the Greek crone goddess who is often linked with Persephone and Demeter to form the Maiden, Mother, and Crone trio of the moon’s cycles, is known as “the witches’ goddess” and is frequently invoked on the show. And when Willow decided to raise Buffy from the dead, she asked for the aid of Osiris, the Egyptian god of the dead. Perhaps the most “Wiccan” ritual we’ve seen came at the very last, during the series finale. From what I saw, it appeared to me as though Willow was performing what is known as a “drawing down,” when the supplicant draws Divinity directly into herself (or himself—one can “draw down” the god as well). Essentially, it’s channeling. For a few moments, Willow actually became a goddess—or The Goddess—and had all Her powers. Kennedy said, “You’re a goddess,” and she was correct, right down to the hair color change. (Which, by the way, doesn’t happen to real Wiccans when they perform this rite.)
But there are goofs that no self-respecting Wiccan would make. Invoking “Diana” as a “goddess of love” is certain to piss off that famous virgin, whose best-known involvement with a suitor ended badly for the gentleman in question when she turned him into a deer and set his own hounds on him. Not exactly the most romantic of encounters.
Oz’s comment to Willow in which he said she stopped keeping track of the full moon after he left is also peculiar, since witches make it a point to know when the moon is full, and are aware that its energy is different from the new moon.
Judging by what we’ve seen on the show, it’s safe to conclude that Willow does not look at her magic as a part of a religious, spiritual path, nor does she truly worship and honor the gods she calls on for assistance in her spells.
It would have been nice to see more attention paid to this—I can picture Willow and Tara wearing flowers in their hair and holding hands on Beltane, or doing serious magic on Samhain, or singing “Happy Birthday” to the sun god on Yule.
2. A GUIDING PRINCIPLE OF WICCA IS CALLED “THE THREEFOLD LAW.” This is essentially karma—the belief that what you do comes back to you threefold. It’s not to be taken literally. It doesn’t mean that if you nicely stop to help someone change a flat, that people will stop three times to help you change one. It does mean that if you do something good and helpful, when you are in need of help, you’ll have it in abundance.
The converse is equally true. If you do something vindictive and cruel, be prepared for it to come back to you like a boomerang, three times as bad. It’s important to understand the Threefold Law if you are someone who shapes and bends things to your will. It’s kind of a “Slow Down, Proceed with Caution” sort of thing.
3. ANOTHER PRINCIPLE OF WICCA IS THE PHRASE “AN YE HARM NONE, DO AS THOU WILT.” This means, as long as you don’t hurt anyone, do what you want. Key phrase: “An ye harm none.” This doesn’t just mean you can’t go out and beat people up and take what you want. This means harm none, including yourself.
To the best of my knowledge, neither of these important philosophies has ever been mentioned on Buffy. One might think such phrases might have given Willow pause long before she became “addicted” or tried to thwart the natural order by raising Buffy.
4. WICCANS USUALLY INCORPORATE RITUAL INTO SPELL WORKING. While the Hollywood Witch only needs her FX guy and some fun-sounding words, real witches require ingredients for spells. They’re more like the sage, rose quartz, and green candle ingredients than the eye of newt and fawn blood that we’ve seen on Buffy. (Remember that “harm none”? Killing a fawn is certainly harming it. Wiccans love animals and would never, ever hurt them.)
Wiccans also often use physical components, but don’t need them. Their “spells” are prayers, supplemented with a little practical working. The Wiccan god and goddess really do “help those who help themselves.” Contrary to the ways in which many other religions view fate and destiny, witches and Wiccans have always known that they need to take an active part in bending and shaping their own lives.
Some quickie examples regarding prosperity: The Hollywood Witch turns lead into gold. A Christian may pray to God for wealth, then sit back and wait for it to appear. A real witch may do a money spell. A Wiccan may pray, but as part of the prayer ritual he’ll also do a money spell AND get out the classified ads and look for a part-time job.
Here’s a more detailed “for instance.” This a possible description of how a Wiccan and a Hollywood Witch might go about casting the same spell.
Say it’s a love spell. Our Hollywood Witch manages to obtain a lock of hair of the desired person, or makes a voodoo-type doll, or snaps a picture. Browsing through the mysterious shop on the corner, she finds an ancient tome with crackly, dusty pages. At home, surrounded by about a million candles, she recites a very complicated spell. Bright pink light shoots up from the book. Several blocks away, the desired person’s eyes glaze over. He rushes to our Hollywood Witch, her love slave.
The Wiccan might think that her coworker is cute, but she knows she can’t “make” him love her. Remember the Threefold Law and “an ye harm none?” If she casts a spell to make someone else fall in love with her when he normally wouldn’t, that’s violating the other’s free will—definitely harming him. Also, she could find herself the victim of others who try to bend her to their will.
So while she might long for this cute coworker, she takes the bigger view. She purchases essential oils, perhaps rose and ylang-ylang, known as romantic scents. She takes a long bath by candlelight using red and pink candles. They’re the color of love, and the bath purifies her body and spirit. She might choose to wear something romantic or sexy, in anticipation of the love that will arrive soon. She sits in front of her altar, which is filled with flowers, red candles, and a beautiful seashell. She has perhaps written out a spell, or maybe she makes one up on the spot. Either way, she knows that her own words carry much more weight than some stranger’s spells.
Over the next several days, our Wiccan lady dresses more romantically, uses perfume, and accepts invitations to go out where she’ll have a chance to meet men she wouldn’t otherwise meet.
They’re rather dramatically different takes on the same thing, aren’t they? Both are magic, both involve spells, but one is much more real than the other.
One thing I have to address before I close is the infamous “Wicca Group” at which Willow and Tara meet. They’re hilarious, and rightfully deserve Willow’s contempt. You’ll find people like these in Wicca, and they’re usually referred to as “fluffy-bunny Wiccans.” But I find it very interesting that in the original script there was a mention of “healing energy” that the members used. That line got cut, and when Willow mentioned “spells,” they all jumped down her throat for using negative stereotypes. According to The Watcher’s Guide, Vol. 2, the line was cut for length. While that may be true, I also think it would just get too complicated for the show if there were “fluffy bunnies” out there working magic too, so the writers chose to make the Wicca group “wimmin” completely without power, full only of hot air. Willow comments that she was talking about “real” spells; the irony is, of course, that the healing energy that the Wicca group wimmin performed is much more real and closer to what Wiccans actually do than Willow’s FX-created black eyes and levitating tricks.