Apparently the influence of vampire slayers lives forever, at least in England. Joss Whedon's beloved cult tv show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which ran from 1997 to 2003, is now being "blamed" for droves of women leaving the Church of England for Wicca.

According to the New York Post, Buffy's themes of female empowerment appeal to young women. Ladies find the Wicca religion, which they apparently just discovered on the show, attractive because women play a central role in the rituals.

Women who lead? What a groundbreaking concept! Leave it to those Brits to ferret out Whedon's "secret" avante garde gender and religion politics, and only five years after the fact. Brilliant!

No word on whether the his n' her's purple robes with gold embroidered pentagrams play any part in the Buffy/Wicca recruiting process, but we'd join just for the chance to make out with Willow.