Oath of Secrecy

Oath of Secrecy

The oath administered to those initiated into the mystery religions. The word "mystery" is from the Greek word meuin, meaning "to shut the mouth or eyes; to keep mum; to keep secret." A mystery is a rite, or religion, that is kept secret from all but its initiates. Since Wicca is a mystery religion, Wiccan initiates take such an oath of secrecy. In a few Wiccan traditions, however—for example, Seax-Wica, or Saxon Witchcraft—the rites are not kept secret, so no oath is extracted.

According to Nicolas Remy's Demonolatry of 1595, "It has long been the practice of those who are associated in the crime of witchcraft to bind themselves together by an oath under the heaviest of curses in order to give them greater confidence in each other; and so that they may be less ready, in the event of their being taken up by the law, to betray that which they have together plotted." He also says that "they do not trust to that alone: for they take further precautions against such a risk by covering their faces with a mask or veil or some such thing."