(If you are the author, e-mail me and tell me who you are, so I can give credit where credit is due.)
I've been a witch since 1982. Back then, I couldn't find a fellow practitioner of the Craft if my life depended on it. Except for a few select few, who have held something of celebrity status, most of us were unwilling to let others know our secret. I have remained in the broom closet ever since. I can't help but notice however, that a large number of young people have taken to the Craft. I have dealt with these young people by e-mail and visited many of their sites on the Internet. Many are fine young men and women who are assets to the Craft. Others, however, make claims and portray themselves in ways that downright scare me.
Before I address the situation today, I think it would be helpful if we reviewed a little history. The Burning Times forced Witchcraft underground. You didn't dare let anyone outside of the coven know that you were a witch. With this state of affairs, covens slowly lost contact with each other. Small pockets of practitioners, in complete isolation, carried on the practice of Witchcraft as a religion. This was how things were when Gerald Gardener began the modern Witchcraft movement after World War II. Up to this point, being a known witch could subject you to everything from being viewed as a freak to death.
When I slowly became aware that this was the path for me, I was a little scared. If it ever became known, I stood to lose a lot, including my relationship with my parents. There was no support from fellow Wiccans, either. I didn't know where to find any and there was no Internet as such at that time. It wasn't until a couple of years later that I found a periodical called Circle Network News, that I was able to find a place where I might be able to meet another witch like myself. There was a small section for people wishing to network. There would only be a handful of listings in each issue, and finding one from your home state didn't happen that often. I finally did meet fellow witch through this publication, but I had been a witch for several years by then.
In the past several years, the Internet has brought the Wiccan community closer together. It is easy enough to get online and correspond with other witches in a matter of a couple of days. This has made us all come to the realization that there are many others like us out there. There is a downside, however. While there have always been an abundance of books making false claims about Witchcraft, it seems to be more rampant with web sites. Anyone with a computer can now lure people into something with the promise of wealth, happiness, love, or whatever he or she desires.
From what I see, many teens start practicing Witchcraft for the right reasons. They are drawn to this religion because it sings to their soul. These Pagan youths use the Internet and read books to practice Wicca as a religion. Others seem to be in it for other reasons. Some want attention and have noticed how much attention being a public witch can bring. Others have seen movies like The Craft and want to have powers like the teens in that picture did. Another group thinks that being a witch will instill fear into many people and bring them power in that way. Still others come in contact with other teen "witches" and either want to be witches to gain a sense of belonging or to be fashionable.
I think that some teens want to either impress people, have people come to them for help, or have control over others in some way. Wicca offers the general practitioner with preist(ess) status, which can be conferred upon ones self. I've been to web sites by kids as young as 12 who claim to be high preistesses. They claim that they are starting a coven and will welcome all students. It makes one wonder if they are building a clubhouse to meet in.
Another factor is probably rebellion. When I grew up, we rebelled against our parent's norms by wearing our hair long and other such fads. This is all they were though, just fads. I think many teens are rebelling and doing so on a spiritual front. Youth always has the luxury of this type of rebellion. They don't need to hold down career type jobs and support families. They are not often in positions that demand respect from an organization, group, or the community. Finally, anything they do as teens can be written off when they are adults as just being a kid.
Witches have always been portrayed on television and in the movies. Up until recently, however, no one looked at these portrayals as anything more than entertainment or fantasy. No one believed that Samantha Stevens could really pop in and out by twitching her nose on Bewitched. I don't think anyone takes Sabrina any more seriously today. These are fun shows and I often find myself laughing and enjoying them, too. While they don't portray real withes at least they don't make us out to be evil. I've noticed that most episodes of Sabrina even try to teach a moral. These witches are not real witches, but neither are the Professor or Gilligan real castaways. We know this and suspend our belief. The Craft [the movie] portrayed the four girls in a way that many young teens perceived them as potentilly real. I still get an occaisional e-mail from a kid who couldn't get the expected results from one of the spells in the movie. They want to know what they did wrong. With real witches on the Internet, and this movie, it is easy to see how kids can become confused.
Another issue I feel the need to address here is that of the goth style. Let me start off by saying that goth has nothing to do with Witchcraft. Goth is short for Gothic and people who tak on this lifestyle do so to varying degrees. The mode of dress often resembles vampire type fashions. In fact, many goths are really into vampires and some may make the claim to being one. These kids are often seen wearing white foundation makeup, black lipstick, and black nail polish. They usually wear black clothing and may even include a cape. They often try to surround themselves with horror movie type items. This is just a brief definition and this lifestyle is far more complicated than I've depicted here. My point is that this has nothing to do with Witchcraft.
I bring it up, because I noticed that many teen witches are also goth. Often the public thinks that their mode of dress and everything else is because they are witches. Wicca is a religion, whereas goth is a lifestyle and outlook. Goths can be witches, but they can also be Christian, Jewish, or Buddhist, too.