Inaccuracies in ‘Wiccans and witches’

As a someone who considers herself pagan, I read Chelsea Merta’s article about “Wiccans and witches” from the Oct. 25 issue of Weekend with a mixture of irritation and frustration. While it is good to examine student angles on issues, it is just poor journalism to not do any research whatsoever on a topic and rely on two random members of a group for all your information. Wiccans do not “believe in reincarnation” any more then Jews eat kosher or Christians believe in saints. Members in SOME Wiccan traditions believe in reincarnation, but Wicca is not a monolithic religion. There is enormous variation among traditions and sects, between Wiccans and pagans and Neo-pagans and witches. There was nothing in Merta’s article about the vast diversity among Wiccans, which is misleading to the point of almost being incorrect.\nWhile it was nice that Merta found a Wiccan and a witch, I have to question the credibility of the two students she relied on for her info. There was no indication that Amy Payne or Sarah Downs are leaders, teachers or experts in their religions. Neither of them has any credibility to speak for anyone but themselves, yet they seem comfortable implying that their personal beliefs are universal to all Wiccans and witches. I find it odd that Merta didn’t find someone who actually knew what they were talking about for the Weekend article, since she spoke with a knowledgeable local Wiccan priestess for her article in the IDS on Oct. 30.\nFinally, I have never heard Downs’ story about witches riding brooms in wheat fields and can find no source for this story besides a personal Geocities page (not exactly a reputable source). However I can find numerous articles on scholarly and Wicca Web pages about the well-documented associations between brooms and domesticity. I’m appalled that Merta couldn’t even bother with a five-minute search on Google to verify the facts of these claims before she printed them. That is just sloppy journalism, and as a result her article just encourages more misinformation and stereotypes about our beliefs.\nSarah Stumpf\nIU graduate student