Spirituality In Jehovah's Scarlet

Lecturing to a freshman-year college religion class, a professor posed the above question to the students. While the majority of the class scoffed and immediately responded with a resounding “no, of course not,” one of the students, Scarlet Decker, hesitantly agreed. She did not necessarily believe in the corporeal manifestation of Witches in the physical world, but rather approached the concept in the context of her belief in the power of thoughts. In the case of magical manifestations, if she needs courage, strength, or love, she calls upon Freya (the Nordic Goddess of love and war), saying, “dear Goddess, fill me with your light, your strength…” and, through channeling, is filled with the strength and energy that she imagines Freya could …show more content…
For Scarlet, this visualization and idealization (in the sense of the creation of ideas) produces tangible results, giving her a sense of control over her world. Scarlet felt compelled to resist the “patriarchal, male-dominated world” in which she was raised in favor of a controllable, female-empowering one, because of her history of physical abuse and childhood in a staunchly Jehovah’s Witness household. Scarlet’s rejection of what she saw as a confining culture and religion transformed into a distinct, personalized, and capacitating spirituality. Although Scarlet’s spiritual beliefs and practice are specific to her, she was greatly influenced by the greater phenomenon of Neo-Paganism in America. American Neo-Paganism is defined by its oppositional stance against American mainstream culture and Christianity, by its naturalist tendencies, and by its practitioners’ highly personalized practices. Known for its individualism, this spirituality garners a huge amount of support in a predominantly Christian culture. Second-generation Pagan children’s upbringing, the spirituality’s inclusiveness to individuality, and its inherent decentralization are all factors that contribute to American Neo-Paganism’s allure and