ABSTRACT
The above is a parody of the astonishing array of images which can still be found in tabloid reports of witchcraft, and which have been prevalent in horror-porn witch movies since Hiixan and The Magician in the 1920s. It can be difficult to remember that what is being referred to is a religion which is taken very seriously by its practitioners. The power of the imagery is that (apart from the goat!) it is based on fact rather than rumour-there is scourging and binding in Wicca, the initiate's measure is blooded, ritual nudity is pretty much the norm, inverted as well as upright pentagrams are used, and yes, there is sex. Yet all of these elements of ritual have deeply symbolic meanings ascribed to them which allow for a very different interpretation than that of the sensationalist tabloid reports.
