Campus Wiccans spell out their beliefs
Irene Chen
Issue date: 11/9/07 Section: Campus News
|
Faith on Campus: Third in a series on religious life at the University.
When other freshmen plastered their walls with posters of movie stars and filled their shelves with pictures from home, Ashley Tuccero '11 took a different approach to decorating the bookshelves in her Keeney Quadrangle dorm room. She placed gourds, 13 nails, a decorative rune, part of an asteroid rock, a cornhusk doll and an assortment of books about the practice of Wicca on her shelves. The books on Wicca are carefully concealed with brown paper, and next to them is a copy of the Bible.
Tuccero, while hesitant to describe herself as Wiccan, does practice some elements of what she calls "solitary eclectic" Wicca - that is, she does not adhere to traditions of secrecy and hierarchy that are part of the formal religion but instead incorporates elements into her own brand of spirituality.
The more formalized Gardnerian Wicca, popularized by Gerald Gardner in 1954, is supposedly a revival of an old religion of witchcraft, originating in paganism. Wicca is only one form of pagan witchcraft and varies in beliefs and practices across individuals and traditions.
Tuccero said her own practice of Wicca has helped her transition to college and her daily life.
"It is definitely a practice that coincides well with being a young adult, being a freshman in college, being a woman, trying to figure out how the world works, and who I am, and my place in it," Tuccero said.
Tuccero was baptized three times. Describing her religious background, Tuccero said her religious roots are in Christianity. "My mom was Catholic, my dad was Episcopalian, and I think when I was born they had an idea, 'We'll raise her … in a Christian household,' but that kind of petered out," she said.
With her Baptist grandmother, Tuccero attended baptismal classes and Bible camp, finding a spiritual community in the church. This experience has stayed with her - the copy of the Bible placed side-by-side with Wicca books on Tuccero's bookshelf was given to her at her baptism.
Rhys Hackford '10 was drawn to Wicca, where she found a spiritual home, because of her family's Celtic cultural traditions.