Guest Post: Wicca and Interfaith Activism!

Dear friends and fans of Multifaith Alliance,

This semester, we are kicking off a great new concept: guest posts by real Hamline students who are passionate about multifaith and interfaith work. Today’s guest post is by Ryan M. Spies, a Hamline sophomore and active student participant in Multifaith Alliance, Spectrum, and theatre. Ryan is Wiccan, and he would like to share with us about his love for Wicca, his experiences being Wiccan on campus, and his vision of interfaith work!

“My personal faith journey began some time in sophomore year of high school.  I was also questioning my own sexual orientation at the time, so I didn’t feel comfortable anymore in the faith that I grew up in.  One day I talked to a friend of mine about her personal faith of Wicca, and it sounded interesting.  I started to do research on it at around that time, and after a while I came to find a sort of connection with what I found.  It hasn’t been until last year, however, that my faith journey has taken on a whole new level of devotion to The Goddess and Her Consort The God.  I’ve recently taken a closer look at the specific techniques involved in rituals and taken a more active observance of days like Esbats and Sabbats (Both of which are specific holy days in Wicca. The first takes place on the night of a full moon, and the other takes place every time there’s a solstice, equinox, or a day in between them.).

“My favorite part about being Wiccan is that I feel that there is a greater acceptance of diversity, especially around aspects like sexual orientation.  As part of Wiccan theology, we recognize that The Divine is within everybody and everything, and that even GLBT people are just as important a part of The Divine as everybody else.  In some circles it’s even argued that GLBT people make excellent High Priests and Priestesses because they possess a balance of the Masculine and Feminine energies present in The Divine.  On that similar note, Wicca is also an inherently Feminist theology because of the emphasis on this balance of Masculine and Feminine in The Universe.

“I also love how Pluralism is built into the theology, with phrases like “All Gods are the same God” coming to mind.  Wiccans generally believe that any religious path is valid, so long as it harms none.  Our effective equivalent to Christianity’s Baptism, Wiccaning, actually doesn’t also simultaneously initiate a newborn into the faith as Baptism does.  The child is given the choice later on in life, generally around their teens, whether or not to follow the path of their Parents, or to go on their own path.  This is an interesting choice to place before someone in their teens that I have not seen in too many other faiths.

“Finally, the third favorite part of Wicca for me is the emphasis on Nature.  The Sabbats reflect the wheel of the year and the changing seasons.  Each of the elements of Nature (air, earth, fire, and water) is represented in various ways during ritual.  Every leaf, rock, tree, and animal is considered to be an important part of The Divine as a whole.  A lot of the ways by which The Goddess and The God are represented involve some portions of the Natural World.  This naturally leads to a religious sense of Environmentalism.  We consider Nature and all of its components and processes to be sacred, so we believe that Nature should be preserved on that principle.

“The hardest part about being Wiccan on campus is that at times it seems that there are so few other Wiccans around.  It’s nice to be in an accepting environment like Hamline University where I can be open about my personal faith and such, but it would make things a little easier if I knew more people with the same faith that I have.

“Let me close on why Interfaith activism and Multifaith work to be of particular importance to me.  As a Wiccan I realize that The Universe is deeply interconnected, and this has many implications as to how I should behave in this world towards everyone else.  I extend my hand out in friendship to everyone I meet, regardless of their personal faith.  In addition to that, I realize how important it is to engage in Interfaith activism and Multifaith work for the sake of Universal Harmony.  If we can find more similarities than differences, build more bridges rather than destroy them, and work together, then we can realize a better future for all of us.

“Thank you for reading.  If you have any further questions feel free to look up more information on the Internet.  http://wicca.timerift.net/ is a particularly good starting point, and it also dispels a lot of the myths and assumptions made about Wicca.  Feel free to talk to me as well if you are interested on my particular perspective on anything in Wicca.

Blessed be!

-Ryan M. Spies”

Are you interested in learning more about Hamline students’ personal faith stories? Are you curious about why interfaith work is important to us? Stop by our events! Coming up soon, the “What If” Speak-In event is on Wednesday November 10 at 7:00pm in Manor Main. And every week all year long, Multifaith Alliance meets on Thursdays at 7:00pm in the Bush Student Center Chapel! Click here for our fall schedule!