I continue to be amazed as to how much people think what they see in the movies and on TV is real. With so much information available on Wicca and other pagan groups, you would think that people would realize how witches are portrayed in these mediums is make believe based on little to no fact. The true facts they do use are overshadowed by the more exciting flash and dash. This was brought home to me during a conversation with someone who contacted me because I am involved in taking classes at Magicka School. The particular movie in question was The Craft (1996) For those who missed the movie, see following link for plot summery, pictures, and list of cast (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Craft_%28film%29). I personally saw the movie years ago and had to go refresh as to what it covered so I could answer this person.

In the article on wikipedia, there is a section on Impact on Pop Culture that was interesting. It summarized that this movie bought the world of paganism and witchcraft to "the MTV Generation". Teenagers have always felt that they didn't have any power over their lives or anything else for that matter. This "new" religion could give them the control and power they crave. Many went out to learn as much about witchcraft, paganism, and especially Wicca as they could. This was both good and bad. On the good side, it brought attention to Wicca and the other groups out there which up to that time were very secretive. On the bad side though, it gave people the impression that by becoming a witch that you could have anything you want good or bad just by taking the power offered through the craft. I wonder how many who saw this movie got the point that if you abuse the power given to you that only disaster will come to you. When told this person that there was only a grain of truth in the movie, he became upset and demanding to know what was true and want wasn't. The answers were not what he was looking for. He fell into that bad category mentioned above. He wanted instant power instead of finding the power to change his life through study and harmony.

Now my question is "How do we as pagans dispel the myths of Hollywood?"

It has come up in conversation recently about when we turn to our deities. Some turn to them in crisis only while others turn to them daily. I wasn't sure how I should be dealing with this issue. I was raised a Christian. My mother went every Sunday to church while my dad tried to find reasons not to go. I grew up hearing how we are unworthy of asking God for anything until we have groveled in a specified amount. I always imagined God as some important Father who was too busy to deal with our "small" problems when there was world hunger and other more important things to worry with. You know the kind of fathers I am talking about. Those who run big companies and such that deal with multi-million dollar issues being bothered with a child's lost toy during a high level meeting.

Now I have adopted as my deities Freya and Odin. I have gone to them when I needed their help in dealing with life's problems. I ask them for help in finding the answer to the problem or the strength to get thru it then I grovel to be worthy of their help. I do find myself wanting to go to them but being afraid that I am bothering them. I am unhappy with this trend that I find myself following. Has anyone else had a similar problem?

Well enough of my musings for now.

This is Lynx and I just wanted to say hi. I look forward to making new friends on here.