Wicca-Neo: Questions from a non-Wiccan for a project!

[sasoracire]

Hello! My name is Erica, and I'm a sophomore at Ursinus College in Pennsylvania. As part of our final project in anthropology we're tasked with learning about different subcultures, and the culture that I am studying is Wicca. I'm not Wiccan myself (but I am very interested!) and though I have done a lot of research for this project, the last part of it requires asking questions of people within the subculture. I hope this is an alright place to post this and please let me know if anything about the questions are off, I wrote them myself and they were approved by my professor-- neither of us are Wiccan ourselves!

1. How do you feel about the general public's view of Wicca?

2. How do you feel about certain aspects of copycatting that are common in the form of fashion and aesthetics in relation to Wicca and other Pagan religions?

3. How do you interact with the Internet, and does it have any impact on your beliefs in relation to Wicca, or is it simply another aspect of modern life and you don't use it much in how you practice?

4. Is there anything you would like to say to the broader public regarding misconceptions about Wicca?

5. Bonus, how has social distancing affected you personally? Do you tend to practice in a coven, and if so, what are you having to change due to that not being possible right now?

6. Is it alright to use your answers anonymously in my project?

I would love to get as many responses as possible but if you feel uncomfortable in any way I understand! Also, if you would prefer to answer these privately for whatever reason please let me know and we can talk over email or private messaging. Also, answers must be from people over the age of 18!

Thank you so much for your help and if you have any additional questions for me please let me know!

[Jenett]

Hello! My name is Erica, and I'm a sophomore at Ursinus College in Pennsylvania.

Hi, Erica -

We actually have a specific process for people who are interested in asking research questions here (you can find that over here.)

Your professor is probably familiar with the idea of an institutional review board (IRB) process. We do something similar to make sure that research questions like this don't pose a risk to the board or the people answering, and to handle any concerns that might be raised by specific questions or how the material might be used.

We've had a change in hosts since our policy was last updated, so it will take a little (a day or two, probably) for us to sort out the best process on the staff end.

For the moment, please, no one respond to this request until we okay it.

A staff member will post when we have a response.