I recently was introduced to Raven Grimassi’s The 13 Goals of a Wiccan by a friend. To say I was amused is putting it lightly. Here I thought that my goals as a Wiccan were to honour nature, the divine and myself. I guess I was wrong. According to Mr. Grimassi, I’m supposed to be curing disease, speaking with spirits, and having power over wild beasts. I must be a pretty sad Wiccan then, since I can’t even get my cat to obey me.

Why would anyone consider these things goals of a Wiccan? Since when is our religion about divination and spirits? Some of these goals are practices that can add to one’s religious experience, like divination. Others are things that are part of the religious process, like transformation if one considers personal and spiritual growth as transformation. But these things aren’t goals. Spirituality is the goal; honouring the divine is the goal, just as it is with other religions.