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Religions, Medicines, and Healing
Wiccan Healing and Psychology: How Ritual Magic Could Benefit Psychosis
By: Selena Clements
Spiritual oriented psychology seeks to nurture mental health and overall well-being using
techniques derived from clients’ faith traditions. Most of the research in this field has focused on
interventions rooted in Abrahamic traditions1 and in the past few decades, Eastern traditions such
as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism.2 To date, little scholarly attention has been paid to
interventions suited to those who practice earth-based faiths, such as Wicca. Magic, a pagan
spiritual and religious practice, has been written about extensively in popular literature 3, but little
attention has been paid to it within the field of psychology. This paper will be intended to show
how the phenomenology of Pagan magic, specifically Wiccan healing methods, could help
psychologists and psychiatrists improve their client’s over-all mental health within certain areas,
such as depression and anxiety.
1
For more information, see Meyerstein, Israela. “A Jewish Spiritual Perspective on Psychopathology and
Psychotherapy: A Clinician’s View.” Journal of Religion and Health, vol. 43, no. 4, Springer, 2004, pp. 329–41,
Saged, Ali Gobaili et al. “Impact of Quran in Treatment of the Psychological Disorder and Spiritual Illness.” Journal
of religion and health vol. 59,4 (2020): 1824-1837, and Levin, Jeff. “How faith heals: a theoretical model.” Explore
(New York, N.Y.) vol. 5,2 (2009): 77-96.
2
For more information see Kakar, Sudhir. “Psychoanalysis and Eastern spiritual healing traditions.” The Journal of
analytical psychology vol. 48,5 (2003): 659-78; discussion 679-81.
3
Popular literature that depicts magic are the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling; the World of Warcraft novels
written by Christie Golden, Richard A. Knaak, William King, and Micky Nielson; and the Dungeon and Dragons
novels written by R.A. Salvatore, Richard A. Knaak, Margaret Weis, and a dozen others.
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What is Wicca?
Wicca is a modern-day nature-based religion that revolves around the practice of magic. It
was founded by Gerald Gardner4, an English writer, after the Witchcraft Act5 in Britain was
repealed in 1951. This neo-pagan religion is considered a modern interpretation of pre-Christian
traditions and has some commonalities with Druidry.6 Wicca is also considered the inspiration of
the goddess movement in spirituality.7 The Wiccan religion has a very wide diversity among
individuals and groups that practice the various branches of the Wiccan religion. Wiccans observe
the yearly solstices and equinoxes and honors a male god, the Horned God, and a female goddess,
the Mother Goddess, or the Triple Goddess.8 Practitioners incorporate herbalism and other natural
objects, such as crystals and herbs, into rituals and practices and adhere to an ethical code.9 Almost
all Wiccans believe in reincarnation.
Ritual and Everyday Lives
For Wiccans, rituals are an essential way of performing magical acts. Rituals provide a
form to convey meaning through the manipulation of symbolic objects, specific activities, or
actions. Symbols themselves are not magical, except by what significance and power they are
4
For an autobiography on Gerald Gardner see Heselton, Philip. Witchfather: A Life of Gerald Gardner. Vol. 2, Thoth
Publications, 2012.
5
The Witchcraft Act defined witchcraft as a crime and was punishable by death.
6
See Hopman, Ellen Evert, and Lawrence Bond. Being a Pagan: Druids, Wiccans, and Witches Today. Destiny
Books, 2002 for more information.
7
See Dijk, Denise. “The Goddess Movement in the U.S.A. A Religion for Women Only.” Archiv Für
Religionspsychologie / Archive for the Psychology of Religion, vol. 18, no. 1, Brill, 1988, pp. 258–66 for more
information.
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The Triple Goddess is viewed as a trinity of three distinct aspects or figures united in one being, the Maiden,
the Mother, and the Crone, each of which symbolizes both a separate stage in the female life cycle and a phase of
the Moon, and often rules one of the realms of heavens, earth, and underworld. In various forms of Wicca, her
masculine consort is the Horned God.
9
Wiccan follow two main guidelines: Threefold Law (that every action, whether it be beneficial or harmful, returns
to the practitioner three times over) and Wiccan Rede (and it harm none, do what ye will).
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given. As human beings, we externalize beliefs and personal processes through symbols. It is
through these symbols that we get the awareness the symbol signifies back to ourselves in a deeper
way. Within rituals, it is through the vehicle of symbols that we give our psyches the messages we
choose to internalize. For example, a Wiccan performs a ritual to charge or empower a candle in
the shape of a fertility goddess with magic to help better her chance of conceiving a child. For it
work, once the candle is charged, it is set next to the bed and the wick is lit whenever sexual
intercourse is taking place. This is to ensure that the magical power that is in the candle will work
and help conception be achieved.
When ritual is consciously understood and performed, the consciousness of the participant
is changed and carries the potential to link the past, present, and future into a continuum that can
be observed, felt, and learned. From any life passage or transition, one experiences, they internalize
attitudes or beliefs about themselves, their bodies, their sexuality, and life in general based on that
experience and how they and others respond to it. In the aftermath of a significant transition, one
often formulates life decisions, either consciously or unconsciously, act on, and are influenced by
these decisions through behaviors and future choices. In other words, what one does or does not
do in treating or responding to a significant passage or transition has an enormous effect on the
self.
The psyche is connected to a larger consciousness that Carl Jung called the “collective
unconsciousness”10 and is the part of our awareness and being that resonates with symbols, myths,
and stories. In ritual, both the right and left hemispheres of the brain are involved through the
10
Collective unconscious refers to structures of the unconscious mind which are shared among beings of the same
species. See C., Hull R F, et al. Collected Works of C.G. Jung, Volume 9 (Part 1): Archetypes and the Collective
Unconscious. Princeton University Press, 2014 for further information on Jung’s notion of collective
unconsciousness.
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simultaneous use of visual symbols, spoken words, movements, and/or rhythms. There is potential
for the rhythms of the two brain hemispheres to synchronize on the alpha level of consciousness
that create feelings of euphoria, expand mental powers, and increase creativity. This hemispheric
synchronization11 may be the neurological basis for a higher state of consciousness. To be
transformed by ritual, a person must be willing to be fully present in their consciousness. This is
the only way for the ritual that is being conducted to be successful.
Healing Within Wicca
Healing others is a traditional part of operative witchcraft and a major focus of Wiccan
activity. Wiccans can carry out healing magic alone, but it frequently takes place in the context of
coven rituals. There are four types of healing that is carried out by witches: herbalism, psychology,
auric,12 and spells. Herbalism and psychology involve no magical powers to create healing, while
the auric and spells rely entirely upon magic. Herbal medicine is a recognized form of
complementary treatment and psychological approaches to healing are common in both
conventional and complementary medicine. The Book of Shadows13 recognizes that emotional
well-being influences physical health in a mind-body scale. The book advocates several healing
practices that can be termed “psychological” and involve belief by the patient in the practitioner.
Some of these practices could include allowing a sick person to believe a witch has the power to
cure them, placebo potions, hypnotism, amulets, prayer, and assisting the sick to help themselves
by encouraging them to dwell on “happy thought.”
11
For a complete explanation of what hemispheric synchronization is, see Trafton, Ann. “Synchronized Brain
Waves Enable Rapid Learning.” MIT News, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 14 June 2014,
https://news.mit.edu/2014/synchronized-brain-waves-enable-rapid-learning-0612.
12
The process of harmonising the aura/energy field around a person’s body.
13
The Book of Shadows is a collection of spells and rites that are hand copied by witches from their initiators. Each
witch has their own personalized book.
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The Wiccan worldview is that the material world is comprised of energy and that energy
can be manipulated by the mind and by the witches own etheric energy.14 Physical and emotional
illness will manifest as damage to the etheric aura. Healing the aura will in turn heal the physical
or emotional illness that is plaguing a person. For auric healing to be successful, the presence of
the person being healed must be mandatory. However, with some healing spells that are required,
the person seeking treatment is not necessarily required to be present since these spells involve
transmitting energy over a distance. Objects that have been in physical contact with someone are
infused with the ailing person’s etheric energy, therefore, the object is used in healing spells to
create a link between the healer and the ailing person to be healed from a distance.
Wiccans who are in the healing and helping professions are more likely to meet with those
needing physical or emotional healing. The incentive to use magical powers as a means of helping
people is therefore strong. There is some evidence that spiritual healing, such as those practiced
by witches, is effective.15 Numerous medical practitioners and nurses have received training in
recent years in the form auric healing known as therapeutic touch.16 It is the healing of emotional
damage that the processes involved in Wiccan participation may be the most helpful. For those
with low self-esteem, Wicca is a means to empowerment. Janet and Stewart Farrar,17 two of
14
To Wiccans, every person has an energy field that surrounds their bodies. The Etheric body is the densest of the
energy systems. This is because it is the system for the physical body, which is dense itself.
15
See Tausiet, María. “Healing virtue: Saludadores versus witches in early modern Spain.” Medical history.
Supplement ,29 (2009): 40-63; Munyaradzi, Mawere. “Ethical quandaries in spiritual healing and herbal medicine: a
critical analysis of the morality of traditional medicine advertising in southern African urban societies.” The Pan
African medical journal vol. 10 (2011): 6; and Esther P, Archibong, et al. “Witchcraft Beliefs in Diseases Causation
and Health – Seeking Behaviour in Pregnancy of Women in Calabar South – Nigeria.” IOSR Journal of Humanities
and Social Science, vol. 22, no. 06, June 2017, pp. 24–28.
16
In Therapeutic Touch, therapists place their hands on or near their patient's body with the intention to help or
heal. In doing so, therapists believe that they are consciously directing or modulating an individual's energies by
interacting with his or her energy field. The focus is on balancing the energies of the total person and stimulating
the body's own natural healing ability rather than on the treatment of specific physical diseases.
17
For the autobiography on Stewart Farrar, see Guerra, Elizabeth, and Janet Farrar. Stewart Farrar: Writer on a
Broomstick: The Biography of Stewart Farrar. R.J. Stewart Books, 2008.
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Wicca’s best-known practitioners, claim that “the purpose of Wicca, as a religion, is to integrate
conflicting aspects of the human psyche with each other.”18 In other words, the aim of Wicca is to
make a person whole.
Wiccan Approaches to Healing
Research shows that the intrinsically religious experience higher levels of mental
health and well-being, responsible social behavior, purpose, personal competence and control, and
lower levels of depression, guilt, worry, and dogmatism.19 A need for the inclusion of a spiritual
dimension in therapy is now accepted in many areas, mostly in a Christian context, but also from
Shamanistic traditions. For many people, involvement with witchcraft can be a healing experience,
especially those who have low self-esteem and/or feel powerless. Those who follow the Wiccan
path, psychological conditions are particularly responsive to magic because they involve
movement of energy and changes to consciousness.
The Wiccan concepts and practices of healing has a great deal in common with
contemporary therapies. Both share the ideas that healing involves integration and empowerment,
crises offer opportunities for growth, addresses imbalances in the mind, body, and spirit to different
degrees, and acknowledges their interrelationship. For both Wiccans and counseling clients,
healing takes place in a ritual space. Both Wiccan concepts and contemporary therapies utilize
ritualized behavior in the creation of a boundary space created for the purpose of facilitating
healing activities. Wiccan and other Pagan therapists tend to choose from a wide, nonempirical
range of tools, such as tarot cards, geomancy, etc., to reach a wider understanding of the issue. It
18
Crowley, Vivianne. “Healing in Wicca.” Daughters of the Goddess: Studies of Healing, Identity, and
Empowerment, pp. 156
19
See Behere, Prakash B et al. “Religion and mental health.” Indian journal of psychiatry vol. 55, Suppl 2 (2013):
S187-94.
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could be argued that therapists use both intuition and more formal scientific tools side by side since
both methods effect change.
Ritual and Psychosis
Therapists are bound by a professional code of ethics. However, Wiccan ethics are simple,
“And it harms ye non, do what thou wilt.” In other words, if spells do not harm the self or others,
then it is okay to conduct. Both code of ethics offers some latitude for individual interpretation.
Therapists, informed by their own cultural values and theoretical approach, have a map of the
healing process and the clients’ experience is viewed from within this framework. Difficulties can
ensue when therapists are unfamiliar with the world inhabited by some of their clients, especially
those who are seen as members of “deviant” minority groups. It has been suggested that because
people “suspect that admission of magical beliefs might be an open indicator of pathology, most
people are reluctant to admit to any reliance on magical thinking.”20
There is some evidence to imply that therapists who follow a spiritual path can offer greater
acceptance and empathy to clients on spiritual journeys.21 There are ethical and practical
consideration to the integration of religious themes and rituals into traditional therapy models. Dr.
William Perlstein,22 a psychology associate professor at the University of Florida, suggests that “it
may be useful to offer the spiritual dimension when themes of anomie, disconnectedness,
emptiness, isolation, or somatic symptoms frequently recur.”23 Perlstein describes utilizing
20
Saymour, Estelle. “Pagan Approaches to Healing.” Integrating Traditional Healing Practices into Counseling and
Psychotherapy, pp. 239
21
See Good, Jennifer J., "Integration of Spirituality and Cognitive-behavioral Therapy for the Treatment of
Depression " (2010). PCOM Psychology Dissertations. Paper 55.
22
For a complete list of Dr. Perlstein’s works, see “William M Perlstein " Department of Clinical and Health
Psychology " College of Public Health and Health Professions " University of Florida.” UF Monogram, University of
Florida, https://chp.phhp.ufl.edu/profile/perlstein-william/.
23
Saymour, pp. 240.
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therapeutic techniques that are familiar to Pagans, such as cocreation of rituals, to provide
continuity and to bolster ego, strength, and stability. These events can help clients learn
empowering ways to support clinical issues they are working on, all while learning to honor the
sacred in themselves and others.
There is a need for therapists to be able to distinguish between episodes of psychosis and
the progressive episodes of spiritual awakening. Counselor training courses in which facilitators
wish to explore issues of spirituality and its place in counseling relationships, students could
initially be encouraged to examine their own beliefs, values, and attitudes toward spirituality. Once
students have shared their own frameworks, they will be able to draw boundaries and establish
their levels of comfort around spirituality. The students would then need to explore the relevance
of spirituality in their own counseling relationships, how and when it might be relevant to address
it with clients, and what tools might be helpful. Students who follow a spiritual path would need
to be clear about the boundary between being a counselor and a spiritual advisor. Trainers may
choose to offer experimental workshops that include techniques for connecting with faculties. This
is just one potential model to help incorporate Wiccan healing techniques into therapy sessions.
Conclusion
Healing is an important part of Wiccan practices and beliefs. If Wicca is meeting needs for
healing within its own culture, why would it not benefit those who are seeking help within a clinical
atmosphere? With spiritual techniques of Buddhism and Hinduism having positive effects on
clients becoming more and more popular with therapists, it would be safe to assume that Wiccan
techniques would have the same positive effect that the others do. Healing others is an age-old
need that will ultimately continue. To clients, Wicca would be a therapeutic process that serves
similar needs to many New Age therapies and practices. Once the result has been successfully
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achieved, participants can be expected to move on. With the influence of the transpersonal in
psychology and the growth of respect for nature-based religions in the helping professions, a need
for the inclusion of a spiritual dimension in therapy is now accepted in many medical practices. If
Wiccan healing offers only positive outcomes, then one should argue that its practice is worth
exploring.
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Sources
Barrett, Ruth Rhiannon. “The Power of Ritual.” Daughters of the Goddess: Studies of Healing,
Identity, and Empowerment, by Wendy Griffin, AltaMira Press, 2000, pp. 185-200.
Crowley, Vivianne. “Healing in Wicca.” Daughters of the Goddess: Studies of Healing, Identity,
and Empowerment, by Wendy Griffin, AltaMira Press, 2000, pp. 151–165.
Saymour, Estelle. “Pagan Approaches to Healing.” Integrating Traditional Healing Practices
into Counseling and Psychotherapy, by Roy Moodley and William West, Sage
Publications, 2005, pp. 233–245.
White, Doyle Ethan. "Wiccan History." Wicca: History, Belief, and Community in Modern
Pagan Witchcraft. Sussex Academic, 2016, pp. 11-74.