Today's useless fact - Is there any truth to the claim that young people are converting to Wicca after reading "Harry Potter" novels?

We need to differentiate between those who convert to Wicca AFTER reading the "Harry Potter" series, and the argument that people convert to Wicca BECAUSE they have read the "Harry Potter" series. Simply stating that one event occurred after another event is insufficient to prove a cause and effect relationship between the two events.

We probably have quite a few people (young and old) who have converted to Wicca after reading the Harry Potter series. Because the dates that they read the Harry Potter books chronologically predate their conversion to Wicca, one could easily say that they converted to Wicca AFTER reading them. This would be factually true. (It would also be factually true to state that they converted to Wicca after having eaten ketchup.)

However, did they convert to Wicca BECAUSE of anything contained in Harry Potter? No. Wicca is a religion, and the Harry Potter series does not address religion at all. People convert to Wicca because of their theological views.

Do people experiment and adopt the use of magic because they read the books? Most likely there are quite a few who have. However, casting spells and using magic simply makes one a magician or witch; it does not make one a Wiccan. Theology makes one a Wiccan. Check out the links in our Wicca category for more.