Is canon sacrosanct re: "Wicca"?
Since we're approaching an equinox (which happens to be one of the eight festivals of the Wiccan year), it seems like an appropriate time to address an issue that occasionally bugs me in fanfic: the use of Wicca when one actually means Wiccan. Many fic writers have picked up the skewed usage based on original lines from the series, such as “Willow is a very powerful Wicca.”
For those who aren't familiar with the terms, Wicca is the name of the religion, while Wiccan is the name of the practitioner - the same as Christianity/Christian, Judaism/Jew, Islam/Muslim, etc. So saying that Willow is a very powerful Wicca is like saying someone is a very devout Christianity or an observant Judaism. Grammar-wise, it just doesn't work!
I'm not sure why the BtVS writers got their terminology so wrong. (That same question has been raised - without answer - in one of the essays in Jana Riess's book, What Would Buffy Do: The Vampire Slayer as Spiritual Guide.) The writing staff certainly seemed like hip folks who knew their way around modern culture, and it's hard to believe that someone related to the show didn't give them a heads-up about the error fairly early on.
So when I occasionally see fanfic writers who mistakenly use Wicca when they should use Wiccan, I'm a tad irritated but also sympathetic: I realize they are simply being canon-compliant and may not even realize their error. I'm hoping that, as writers and betas, we can stop inadvertently perpetuating the canonical error and instead choose to correct it. Doing so would benefit proper grammar and word usage, as well as show respect for others' spirituality by referring to their religion accurately.
Which brings up the issue: is canon sacrosanct when it is an ill-informed or mistaken reference? I'm interested in others' views on this.
Cross-posted on riters_r_us