Pop-Cultural Wicca
With regard to the lens of Pop-Cultural Wicca, I shall be using three fanworks as my primary The first, “The Speaker and His Wraiths”, by ATiredAndDeadWriter, “Blue of Blood” and “A Touch of Death”, by something_rotten (a user on both Archive of Our Own and Fanfiction.Net.) Whilst differing from the use of a single work as seen in Part 3 Subsection 1, there is a prescient reason. These three works, I find, are rather representative of how “The Olde Ways” is most typically presented. That is not to say that they are bad, rather, I quite enjoy them. Less forgiving members of this fandom may try and present such a premise, but I do not believe that using the understanding one has of a religion prominently presented as being ancient is a sign of a bad writer, merely one that might be new, or a novice, which many in the realm of fanworks are. It is not their profession, it is an enjoyable hobby.
With this preamble established, I will be examining the use of Samhain within these works, with The Speaker and his Wraiths used for belief and theory, and Blue of Blood and A Touch of Death used for practices. The Speaker and His Wraiths presents Samhain as a quiet celebration one that “honors the dead” to quote the character of Blaise Zabini. He then furthers this sentiment, regarding the “Veil”, and its state on the night:
“[…]on Samhain, it’s practically not even there. Samhain is the easiest night to communicate with the dead[…]”
The use of Wicca as a base is clear within The Speaker and His Wraiths is clear, even beyond the use of The Wheel of the Year as a term. We see the emphasis on the dead, honoring them, and reconnecting with those who have passed on, and the abandonment of the harvest as a key element. Within the context of Harry Potter, however, such would make sense. Ghosts exist, and the existence of dementors and their ability to consume the soul provides evidence of there being more to existence than the material. Compounded by the ability to duplicate food, the context of celebrating the harvest is rather unnecessary, and the greater emphasis on contacting the dead more logical.
The premise of the practical is covered shortly after, though no demonstration occurs within the relevant chapter, thus we will move along to something_rotten’s works. Multiple celebrations occur within Blue of Blood, however, I have elected to use a single instance within this specific work as a reference. It is relevant to note, however, that the first celebration occurring in the First Year section of the work provides context for the instance that will be discussed. The relevant quote follows:
“[…] It’s usually done outside underneath the stars, where we walk together and one by one extinguish our candles to symbolize the descend into darkness as one cycle of birth and regrowth ends and another begins.”
The element of being outside holds further importance, however, I find it relevant to note that, though the beliefs are influenced by Wicca, the practice still diverges. Within my research, I found no note of traditions having to occur outside within contemporary Wicca, merely notes that Gardner’s coven chose to hold their rites outside.
With regard to the actual instance we shall examine within Blue of Blood, it occurs during the Fourth Year section, outside as is traditional within the work. The space allowed by the exterior allows the adherents
[…] enough space to perform it in circles of seven, as it was originally intended[…]
a note that is relevant, given the supposed magical strength of the number seven within the original work, something that is never truly demonstrated. As for the actual rite, each adherent holds a lit candle and should a spirit choose, walks with the dead, so long as the candle is lit, with it snuffing out once the spirit no longer communes with the individual. In A Touch of Death, we see our point of view character, an original one named Lynea, light her candle with a ghost flame, and proceed to light the other candles before returning to her position.
The evidence of a pop-cultural understanding of Wicca is present as a basis within this framework. The use of a specific, magical number as the size of the group, the coven one might posit, is a reflection of the origin, adapted to the source material. The use of fire through candles is representative of candles as used within contemporary Wicca, as well as the idea that one might commune with the dead. However, one must note that this is evidence of a basis, not of pop-cultural Wicca as the entirety.
Whilst the foundation is Wiccan, it still adapts the core concepts into a new formation. Many who are adversarial to the concept of Wizarding Britain as being adherents to a religion that isn’t Christianity will claim that the “Olde Ways” are simply a wholesale copying of Wiccan practices. This is simply not true. As was established earlier in this work, Wicca is a mystery tradition in most branches, and those that are not, simply do not have the same exact traditions as the Pureblood Culture trope tends towards. Similar, yes, but not identical. The implementation of the base form necessarily requires adaptation and alteration, even if on an unconscious level, so as to synthesize the ideas with the reality of provable magic.
Whilst not accurate to folk traditions of history, that is not the point of most stories. The majority of fanworks exist to entertain, and the majority of consumers are the laymen, not the historians. The research required for historical accuracy is simply not what many hobbyists wish to perform. They wish to write, and if the refiltered Wiccan base serves to further the story they have chosen to write, then it has done its job as needed.
This, I feel, is a point detractors have a tendency to forget. Whilst yes, there are a great many authors who will conduct great lengths of research prior to first writing their works, the majority of authors merely wish to create fanworks for other fans to read and interact with. They are not professional authors as a generality, they are not religious historians as a generality. To demand that the hobbyist creators of that which you read perform labor they do want to is simply an entitled position that is caused by the use of the internet as a means of dispersal, creating a separation between author and personhood.
The ultimate takeaway for this lens is that, when using pop-cultural Wicca as a backing, the implementation is best done when considering how it might have been adapted.