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Witches on the Air
By
Elysia Gallo
If you're anything like me, you take notice when anything even slightly
witchy turns up on TV. And if that's a Pagan family on Wife Swap or Tyra
Banks' all-out assault on our witchy sisters, it really gets your
attention!
Now if you happen to live in a box that's not hooked up to the Internet,
chances are you have missed the flurry of blogs and web commentary galore about
the "Lives of Witches" episode of The Tyra Banks Show that aired on
January 29 (check out some of the blogs in the links section to get caught up!).
However, if you're like the rest of us, you've been reading them all and
rolling your eyes. How dare Tyra say she needed to burn sage (our thing) because
she got the "heebie jeebies" from her own guests? How dare she insinuate that it
was offensive to her viewers to refer to Wicca as a religion? And what roles do
Satanists and born-again Christians have to play on a program about Witchcraft?
In the end, I guess it's just sad that anyone felt that she would even attempt
to be unbiased; she showed clearly enough that she was petrified of offending
her Christian audience.
But just how right-wing Christian is her audience? I did a very, very
informal analysis of the viewer
comments that appeared on the network's web site by the next day. At that
point, I counted roughly 150 peeved Pagan voices, some demanding an apology;
about 50 comments that didn't admit being Pagan or not but said either that they
enjoyed the show or that they thought Tyra was being too biased; and less than
50 that said they were irate with Tyra for being so irresponsible as to
brainwash all these innocent, susceptible teens who watch her program because
all witchcraft is of the devil. That's about two hundred against fifty. So all
in all, Tyra did a much better job at garnering Pagan wrath than the Christian
variety.
But let's back up just a bit. Tyra may or may not be deserving of this outcry
(did she ever claim to be an unbiased journalist, or is she a daytime talk show
hostess?) but what about Fiona Horne? Pagan venues have been saying some rather
unfriendly things about her, mainly about being too light, fluffy, and who knows
what else. Does she deserve this? She is simply putting her best face forward as
a non-threatening, clear-spoken, mediagenic representative of Witchcraft. Pagans
are more tolerant of people from other religions than from their own, even
though we know and acknowledge at every turn that Paganism - and witchcraft - is
a highly personal belief system that differs for everyone. Who is anyone to say
that Fiona is "too light" in her beliefs or practices, or in her public image
for that matter?
I'll tell you what (here comes my two cents). There are always going to be
newcomers to Wicca, who will seek out those 101 books so many of us are bored
with; who are curious about a new, empowering belief system that works for their
lives; and if they find even a grain of interest in what gorgeous blonde Fiona
had to say, then Fiona did deserve to be on that show. And you know what? There
were tons of viewer comments asking who she was, what the book she mentioned
was, how they can do the spell she talked about. And if she can get these
curious seekers into the metaphysical section of the bookstore or library, or
even to do a little exploring on the Internet, it is widening their horizons and
opening their minds. As Fiona wrote in her blog, "Despite the ending being so
loaded with negativity against Modern Witchcraft (as the show wrapped on the
Christian girl's negative opinion and Tyra echoed that) something wonderful
happened. I have had so many Christians emailing me and saying they didn't
support Tyra's opinion and saying positive things about Modern Witchcraft."
(Check out her blog for the full account of what happened behind the scenes that
day with Tyra, and afterwards!)
Later this spring we will be publishing a book by Fiona, L.A.
Witch, that details in a fun and rather bubbly way how to get together with
like-minded people to form a coven. (Having fun is a good way to get people
involved in their spiritual life - just look at Christian youth groups for a
case in point.) In it, Fiona never says that her way is the only way. She
encourages readers to go further, to form reading circles, attend workshops, and
"experiment, explore and enjoy!" She outlines a whole slew of study topics that
wouldn't fit into just one book, and recommends her favorite books, including
ones by Phyllis Curott, Amber K, the Farrars and Gavin Bone, etc.
So what's my point? Simply that we have enough Tyras to bash Pagans; why
should Pagans bash each other? In today's American media, yes, sometimes we need
a beautiful, articulate celebrity just to open the door for people to actually
consider us as something other than evil, dark, scary and Satanic. I say go for
it, Fiona!
This article is courtesy of Llewellyn's Witchy Update newsletter. If you'd like to have this newsletter or one of their other informative newsletters delivered straight to your inbox click the link below and sign up now.
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