Claiming Identity Through a Reading of Fantasy Withcraft Jessica Satterwhite Gray Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College

Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2011 Modern myth in performance: claiming identity through a reading of fantasy withcraft Jessica Satterwhite Gray Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the Theatre and Performance Studies Commons Recommended Citation Gray, Jessica Satterwhite, "Modern myth in performance: claiming identity through a reading of fantasy withcraft" (2011). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 225. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/225 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. MODERN MYTH IN PERFORMANCE: CLAIMING IDENTITY THROUGH A READING OF FANTASY WITCHCRAFT A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Theatre by Jessica Satterwhite Gray B.A., University of North Carolina, 1999 M.A., Florida State University, 2001 May 2011 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This project was born from the love and support of many. I give my sincere thanks… To my beloved Rhye and sweet girl Ariana for giving me the space and support to manifest this work. May our family grow in love and prosperity. To my mom and dad for raising me to be a spiritual seeker. May the love and understanding between us increase. To the Witches, Pagans and others who are forging ground in this new religious tradition. May we continue to stir the cauldron and change reality as we know it. To my loyal friends who stood by me through the darkest winter. May you reap the good that you have sown. To my advisor, Dr. John Fletcher, for pushing me as a good dissertation advisor should and not giving up on me. May some of your brilliance reflect in my work. To the staff of Starbucks for countless pumpkin-spice lattes with caramel drizzle. May you know peace and joy. To Wisdom House in Litchfield for giving me the space and silence needed to finish this work. Whatever power we achieve through these sincere practices, may it be for the benefit of all. As above, so below. So mote it be! ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments ………...…………………………………………………………..……...........… ii Abstract ……..………………………………………………………………………………………… iv Introduction: Witchcraft and Performance …………..………………………………………….…... 1 Chapter One: Constructing the Wiccan Dramaturgical Lens …………………….…..………........ 33 Chapter Two: From Witch to Wicca - Wiccan Culture in the Land of Oz ……….……………………….………………………………...... 70 Chapter Three: Further Up and Further In - Wiccan Beliefs in Narnia …………………………….…………………………………………….. 100 Chapter Four: Alohamora - Wiccan Practices in the Wizarding World ………………………………..………………………. 135 Conclusion: Wiccan Performed Spectatorship of Modern Myth ….....………………………….. 162 References ……..……………………………………………………………………………………..... 175 Appendix A: Reprint Permission from Fantasy Fiction into Film ………...……………………... 190 Appendix B: Reprint Permission from The Baum Bugle………………………………………….... 193 Appendix C: Reprint Permission from Phoenix Rising: Collected Papers on Harry Potter .……... 196 Appendix D: Reprint Permission from Patheos.com ……………………………………………..... 199 Vita …………..……………………………………………………………………………………….... 201 iii ABSTRACT In this dissertation, I create a Wiccan dramaturgical lens to analyze three key fantasy sites: The Wizard of Oz film and stage adaptations (especially the Broadway musical Wicked), The Chronicles of Narnia film and theatrical adaptations, and the Harry Potter films and paratheatrical adaptations. These three fantasy stories have significant cultural impact and strong images of folkloric witches. My alternative reading shows how a subgroup can appropriate popular images for their own identity formation. I will analyze how signs, themes, and narrative tropes that otherwise seem ancillary or even anti-witch become highlighted and privileged, creating a different but equally legitimate counter-text for the Wiccan spectator (or for any spectator looking through a Wiccan dramaturgical lens). I model my primary methodology on Stacy Wolf‘s A Problem Like Maria, where she gives a ―queer‖ reading of popular musicals. Following Wolf‘s lead, a Wiccan reading of these texts highlights how the witch images offer opportunities for Witchcraft practitioners to perform their own faith identity. Using the theories of Neo-Pagan identity as developed by academics well-grounded in the field of Witchcraft studies, I distill nine specific ―identity markers‖ in three categories to locate and describe Wiccan spectatorship. After grounding my methodology in performance studies in my introduction, I explain the relevant Wiccan history, beliefs and practices in my first chapter. In my second chapter, I analyze ―Wiccan culture‖ (relationship to other faith groups and society) in the film The Wizard of Oz (1939) and the musical Wicked. In my second chapter, I discuss ―Wiccan beliefs‖ (theology) through a close reading of the film The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005) and the stage musical Narnia. In my fourth chapter, I identify Wiccan ―practices‖ (the use of costumes, tools, and space in rituals) as found in the Harry Potter films and paratheatrical activities. In my final chapter, I make conclusions about this type of subcultural performance of identity and introduce the concept of ritual innovation iv based on ―modern myth.‖ I argue that performance of fantasy witch images can be a tactical syncretism that alters/assimilates a new authenticity, bridging ancient folklore to modern religious identity. v INTRODUCTION: WITCHCRAFT AND PERFORMANCE What does it mean to identify as a Witch1 in an age of secular skepticism? In August 2010, Newsweek writer David Graham listed ―Witchcraft‖ as one of the top ten ―Dumb Things Americans Believe.‖ Accompanied by a photo of two iconic witches from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, Graham claims, ―It seems obvious that it's not a good idea to put too much stock in witchcraft. But it turns out that 21 percent of Americans believe there are real sorcerors [sic], conjurers, and warlocks out there.‖ What does this say to those who claim the title ―Witch‖ as their religious identity? Is he equating their religion with The Wizard of Oz? In the fall of 2010, senate hopeful Christine O‘Donnell was shown in a clip from an old Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher as having ―dabbled into witchcraft.‖ Her description of a ―picnic on a satanic altar‖ upset religious Witches and Christian conservatives alike. In response, she circulated a video insisting ―I‘m not a witch, I‘m you‖ (to which, many Witches responded, ―You‘re not me.‖). The entire controversy illustrates how a large number of people still think there‘s something wrong with being a Witch. 2 Religious Witches claim the label ―Witch‖ as part of their religious subculture of shared aesthetics and practices, but the term has so much historical and cultural baggage that it raises suspicions from the secular world as much as it does from those of other religions. Historian Ronald Hutton calls modern Witchcraft ―one of the most sensational and radically 1 Throughout my dissertation, I distinguish modern, religious Witchcraft from fantasy witch images through the use of capitalization. The only exception to this is when the word ―witch‖ is part of the proper name of a fantasy witch, as it is with both the Wicked Witch of the West of Oz and Narnia‘s White Witch. 2 Many Wiccans and Neo-Pagans responded to what Jason Pitzl-Waters called O‘Donnell‘s ―Dabble- gate.‖ See his blog ―The Wild Hunt‖ for many comments, and Youtube.com for Witches‘ response videos. In an article in October 2010, O‘Donnell made light of the entire controversy and responded that she will not be dressing as a witch for Halloween. In that interview she again invoked The Wizard of Oz: ―‘I was thinking about just going as Dorothy,‘ O'Donnell said. ‗I killed the witch. There you go.‘‖ (Madison). 1 countercultural of the world‘s mystery religions, which had taken to itself the glamour and fear associated with the traditional stereotype of the witch‖ (Hutton, Witches 260). Some words and images have such powerful associations that they become like magnets, both attracting and repelling at the same time. For example, the term ―queer‖ has been claimed by many people with alternative sexualities, but the word itself still carries a negative connotation for much of the dominant culture. The word ―Witch‖ conjures up images of power, seduction, and unexplained phenomena. A connotation of danger can be both empowering and fear-inducing. As folklorist Sabina Magliocco explains, ―Embracing the W word may have empowered American witches to validate their intuition, sexuality, and emotions, but it has also made them the targets of prejudice, misunderstanding, and even hatred by those for whom the traditional meaning of the word has not changed‖ (72). To claim the name and image of ―Witch‖ carries many risks. Though validated by the courts as a legitimate religion,3 many Pagans and Witches feel a need to hide their religious identity for fear of persecution, judgment, and mockery. Those who are open about their religious identity face discrimination in the workplace,

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