Sunday, February 19, 2012

Britain's Wicca Man

Britain's Wicca Man - Matchlight from Matchlight on Vimeo.


Being wrapped in mystery & mythology seems to help legitimize religions. The more we know about the origins of religious groups, the less compelling they are. While advances in printing helped the Reformation, they kinda put the kibosh on any potential new movements. Al Crowley said it's best not to discuss your beliefs because you tend to wind up looking foolish as George Carlin demonstrated in his "Invisible Man in the Sky (who needs money) routine. Crowley's much publicized antics certainly didn't do him much good.
About a year ago the BBC commissioned a documentary on Wicca's founder Gerry Gardener that was scheduled to be aired around now. Patheos suggested 2/20/2012, but searching BBC.co.uk finds nothing. Even if it was scheduled, dunno when it might be available in the US.
Dunno if this documentation is better or worse. The ominous tone of the trailer seems to reinforce the whole scary/Satanic image of Wicca which is pretty corny & not really representative. The film showcases the work of historian Ronald Hutton who claims to have studied Wicca for 20 years which should be pretty thorough for a movement that's only about 70.
Anyway, looks like it might be interesting. Who knows if it will ever see the light of day.

4 comments:

esbboston said...

Perhaps there should be a saying, "Who knows if it will ever see the dark of night".

Quimbob said...

carpe noctem

Mark said...

The most positive media image of Wiccans is probably Scooby Doo and the Witch's Ghost. Wiccans are portrayed as superpowered saints who heal the sick and soothe the dispossessed. One character can perform magic because she's 1/16 Wiccan.

It was a very bad movie. The nicest thing I can say about it is that it didn't have Scrappy.

Quimbob said...

I never liked Scooby Doo. Too old I guess.