joss.whedons.witchcraft
Witchcraft - Joss Whedon Mythology
Joss Whedon's Wicca Mythology is sort of a blend between currently accepted Wiccan philosophy with a few old myths thrown in. I've excerpted small sections from both The Watchers Guide, Volume 1* and The Monster Book**. No copyright infringement is intended.
There is a striking difference in the way witchcraft and/or magic using is portrayed between Seasons 1-2 and Seasons 3-5. In the beginning, Willow hadn't begun to study and practice witchcraft and they didn't go into too much detail. They didn't really delve into it too much until Season 4.
Seasons 1 & 2
According to The Watchers Guide, Volume 1: Witches, in Buffy parlance, seem to be powerful female magic users. Little else in their nature is explained [in the first two seasons]. However, a line is clearly drawn between witchcraft and paganism, because Jenny Calendar is specifically referred to as a pagan, but the two witches (mother and daughter) discussed in the series so far are never portrayed with any kind of religious belief. At one point, Giles actually asks Jenny if she is a witch, and she replies: "I don't have that kind of power," suggesting that the "source" of power - or the use of that power - is a distinguishing factor. Also, both Giles and Willow use magic at one point or another, and are not classified as witches [in the first two seasons].
When Jenny is introduced in Season 1 - she is a big influence on Willow. Willow only begins to study "the dark arts" after she meets the self-proclaimed techno pagan. After Jenny's death, Willow continues to study witchcraft - learning how to float pencils and perform small spells. She graduates in a sense in Becoming, part II when she successfully returns Angel's soul to him (even if Buffy ends up having to send him to Hell with Acathla anyway).
Seasons 3 - 5
In Season Four - things change again when she joins a Wicca group in hopes of going further with her craft. She's ultimately disappointed in the self proclaimed Wiccans as they have no interest in performing spells. Willow: Talk! All talk: blah blah Gaia blah blah moon, menstrual lifeforce power...I thought after a few sessions we'd get into something real but... Buffy: No actual witches in your witch group. Willow: Buncha wannablessedbe's. It's just a fad. Nowadays every girl with a henna tattoo and a spice rack thinks she's a sister to the dark ones. However, she does meet Tara in that same group and they strike up a friendship (and something more). They discover that together they have great power - although Tara believes that Willow is quite powerful in her own right.
According to The Monster Book: "We have seen a great many magicians on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In truth, most of our major characters have taken part in one spell or another and might then be called magicians if the definition stretched to it's finest point." "For the most part, we can merely offer conjecture about whether a given character is a magician, sorcerer or witch. In the case of the elder gods, Lords of Chaos, and other ancient supernatural beings, it seems obvious to say that they have power of their own. But it should be noted that demons in the Buffy universe are seemingly definable in the same manner as humans. Some have innate magical power of their own while others merely wield it. "Willow, it should be noted, is a believer in Wicca, the modern religion based on ancient paganism and the natural powers of nature. Wicca is also known as witchcraft, though the stigma attached to the pop-culture imagery surrounding witchcraft frequently causes confusion.. "The writers and producers of Buffy have undertaken a difficult task by walking the line between the religious beliefs of Wiccans and the legends and pop culture about witches. Although they have not focused in great detail on defining what Wicca means to the witches on the series, they have attempted to infuse those characters with many of the essential ideals of Wicca. "While Wiccans believe in magic - the power to access the energy of the world around us to effect change upon it - they also believe that once a spell is cast, it reflects back upon the caster with three times the energy. Thus a benevolent spell will bring good things to the one who cast it, but a malicious spell will return that malice threefold upon its originator."
"In the first four seasons of Buffy, we have seen both humans and demons utilize magic, but most of them are merely magicians, accessing that mystical energy and the powers both natural and unnatural that control our world. It appears that, according to the mythology of the series, almost anyone can do this, but not without endangering himself. Even a person who has been trained in it's use, such as Buffy's friend and former Watcher, Rupert Giles, is always vigilant and cautious while using magic."
The most recent developments in the show regarding "witchcraft" are that Willowused magic to bring Buffy back from the dead. Since Buffy didn't die a "natural" death - Willow was able to use powerful magics to bring her back. This had it's own consequences, however, as when they created the spell they also created a demon. The demon was destroyed by Buffy.
*The Watchers Guide, Volume 1 © 1998 by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Written by Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder
**The Monster Book © 2000 by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Written by Christopher Golden, Stephen R. Bissette, and Thomas E Snigoski.
