"Scientology is the spanner."

[Yeah, registration required. If you're that paranoid, head to bugmenot.]

It seems the Pagan Article to Comment On du jour is Carl McColman's discussion of spellbooks. I read it somewhat after reading this WaPo article on the Scientologists. I was struck by this common thread:

...the new spell books are all about "getting your own way," presenting magic not as an inner pursuit, but merely as a tool for wish fulfillment.

And...

"If your car is broken down and you fix it with a spanner, you might also pray," says Cochran. "Scientology is the spanner."

Owie. Wicca and Scientology, talkin' the same talk. Not really surprising, though; the popular form of Wicca is selling the same bill of goods that every other religion has tried to move: It gives the feeling of power to those who perceive themselves as powerless. They appeal to a need. Or, to translate that into capitalist-speak, "They sell."

You know what it comes down to? You know why Pagans hold a particular loathing for Pop Wiccans?

Proselytization.

McColman again (here translating Trish Telesco's self-serving puffery about her sacred duty in writing spellbooks):

In other words, a spell book may not tell the whole story about Witchcraft and magic, but if it helps someone to find even a cursory sense of the sacred in their everyday life, and-more critically-invites the novice or "weekend Witch" to delve deeper into the world of the craft; well, then it has done its job.

Of course, like the Scientologists, Wiccans don't want to say they're proselytizing. Certainly, teaching basic spellwork isn't the same as teaching religion.; it's not an "inner pursuit."

The ministers stress that they are not here proselytizing and, in fact, are not part of a religion, that their Scientology is compatible with any and all faiths.

But, you might say, Wicca isn't "compatible with any and all faiths." Of course, many Wiccans have gone out of their way to distinguish between witchcraft, a skill, and Wicca, a religion. But the specific worldview, symbols, and so forth of spellcasting lead directly into Pagan practice just like Scientology's "locational processing" and "touch assists" lead to sentient clams. To claim the two are unrelated is disingenuous at best. Not that this stops Oberon Zell in his Grimoire for the Harry Potter Wannabe, when he talks all about wizardry being a skill, not a religion, but then goes on to outline a whole series of deities and how to work with them. But, then, when has honesty ever stood in the way of making a buck or picking up some followers?

And that's the bottom line, as far as I'm concerned: honesty. That's why responsible Pagans should decry spellbooks and the culture of gimmegimme they foster. Because it is about religion, and what we, as Wiccans, heathens, Hellenismos, or whatever, want for our future. Do we want our next generation to come to us because of the pretty baubles that got dangled in front of their eyes, or because they had questions, questions that needed answering? Do we want to offer to help folks, or do we want to play a game of bait and switch?