Bruxas na virada do milénio: a Bruxaria Wicca no Brasil: história, símbolos, rituais. Visão de mundo e resgate do feminino

Abstract

This dissertation has the main purpose of looking into Wicca Witchery in Brazil, namely in São Paulo, and its contribution to a re-reading of the feminine aspects that have been repressed by the patriarchal system, which has as a consequence the bringing out of a new feminine world view. This section deals with the history of Witchery, mainly the aspects concerning some traditions that are crucial to elucidate the study of Witchery in our days. This work discusses some particular features of the Wicca's followers, as for the use of certain tools and instruments and the preparing of the rituals. A most special attention was dedicated to ritual; the central mythology on which the Wicca is grounded; the basic structure of the Eight Sabbaths which constitute the Witches' Year Wheel (the time when they celebrate the cycle of birth, maturity and rebirth of the God and his link with the Goddess, keeping in mind the fact that this is a religion grounded on the belief in an old polarity — masculine and feminine — as the main element for the creation of the universe and of life as a wholeness). Some special characteristics of the Esbats, or meetings under the Full Moon, are also investigated„ One part of the work is dedicated to the analysis of magic, for this is a natural constituent of religion, witchcraft and charmings. The final part of this research presents the data that testify, in the realm of Witchery, a redemption of the feminine, as well as a transformation of the way woman sees herself, other people and the world as a whole