A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE WICCA RELIGION

Our earliest confirmed artifacts of the Wiccan Religion date back to at least 20,000 to 40,000 years ago and reflect the Goddess of the Witches. This is complimented by paintings of the God of the Witches and their Rituals, which have been dated to about 12,000 to 15,000 years ago. This makes Witchcraft one of the oldest religions on Earth.

By Classical Times, the Witch religion had been influenced by the Celtic Religions and both borrowed extensively from each other.

As Christianity expanded its political power, it passed laws to repress other religions and many of these were aimed at Wicca, which was seen as being in competition with the new religion. However it wasn't until the 15th Century when two Dominican monks forged a paper from the catholic pope (a letter which was later accepted by the Vatican) that the churches began to actively persecute the Witch religion and Her followers. Before these Burning Times, or the Inquisition, were over, some 9,000,000 people, mostly women and children, had been horribly killed.

By the late 19th Century, the Witches had come to realize that a new age was dawning and they began to slowly tell the truth about their religion. By the 1950's, Witchcraft had, at last, become legal again and modern Witches began to claim that same freedom of religion that had been espoused by so many others.

The modern Witch will refer to him/herself as a follower of the Old Religion or Wicca (now pronounced "wik-ka") and the word Witch now refers to both male and female Witches.

A male Witch is NEVER called a warlock for this word means 'traitor' and modern Witches consider it to be an insult.

Other terms used for Witchcraft are: The Craft, The Old Religion, Wicca, Witchcraft and The Hidden Children of the Goddess.

The Great Mother is Mother Nature. It is She who gave birth to the universe. She is the primal source from which all comes. She has connotations with the Moon and so is often worshipped as a Triple Moon Goddess in Her aspects of Maiden, Mother and Crone.

From the Goddess came the Horned God, Her Consort. He is the Lord of the Hunt, the Lord of the Dead and the Underworld and the Lord of Life who is shown with antlers to show that he is an Earth God.

The Wiccan religion has few hard beliefs, but one of them is that of Reincarnation. Since Witches see the universe as cyclical, we also see our lives as following a regular cycle of birth, death and rebirth. The exact method for this is not completely understood so each Witch is allowed to discover for themselves exactly how reincarnation works.

One common belief is that if we are faithful, we will be reborn among our loved ones to know and love them again. Others believe that we choose our parents in each life in order that we may learn a new lesson and be a better person.

In Wicca, there is no forgiveness so whatever we do, good or ill, will return to us three times as strong. If we do good, we will receive three times as much good in return and if we do bad, we will receive three times as much bad in return. Thus we are taught to be responsible for our own actions by following this positive moral code.

The Circle may be taken apart after that Ritual or it may be saved and used on other occasions, but anyplace the Witch draws their Circle is considered to be a Temple to the Goddess.

Other Traditions will have one or thirteen Degrees depending on how they separate their coven, but almost all traditions will have some form of Initiation where the Witch is formally accepted into the Brotherhood of the Wicca.

Within each of these broad categories, there may be a number of Traditions, each of which was developed by one person who interpreted the Craft in a way different than their own teachers. Some of these Traditions are Gardnerian, Alexandrian, Welsh, Celtic, Feminist, Dianic, Eclectic, Hereditary, Family-tradition and so on.

Some Witches believe that the Goddess gave magick to Her children to make their lives easier and to free them from slavery. However you believe, the idea is that magick is there to aid us and not to replace material efforts, it simply assists it and gives that effort strength.

First, the Sacred Space or Circle is consecrated to the Gods. Second, all within are purified and blessed before the specific nature of that Ritual is done. Later a ritual meal is shared in Peace and Love and finally the Circle is dismantled as the Ritual ends.

Rituals generally tie us to our Gods and celebrate our connections with nature. There are four main types of ritual. First are the Esbats, which are Lunar Rites, dedicated to the Goddess. Second are the Sabbats which are Solar Rites and are usually dedicated to the Horned God and the Cycle of the Year. Third are Passage Rites and celebrate Wiccanings (birth), Puberty Rites, Handfasting (weddings) Rites and Passing Rites (funerals).

The Sabbats are generally thus:

Samhain (pr.Sowen). Called by many names, this Sabbat celebrates the New Year, the change from the Goddess to the God and is a time of remembrance of those loved ones who have died in the last year and are awaiting rebirth.This is the most important holiday of the year.

Yule is the time when the Horned God is reborn as the Sun-God. Later, Christians took this holiday and created Christmas.

Imbolc. This Sabbat celebrates the recovery of the Goddess and the beginnings of life.

Ostara. The first day of Spring is celebrated now and the return of life in all its glory is praised. Easter is a copy of this Ritual.

Beltane. This is a fertility Ritual as the influence of the year shifts from the Horned God to the Great other Goddess. Many Witches consider this to be as important as November Eve.

Litha. This day celebrates the Strength of the God and reminds us of the Three-Fold Law.

Lughnasadh (Lunasa, Lammas) is the first celebration of the Harvest.

Mabon. This is the final harvest Ritual and the time when the Horned God returns to the Summerland to watch over the souls of the dead until they can be reborn.

Each Sabbat may be called by different names depending upon the Tradition and many of there were converted into christian holidays under the orders of pope gregory in 601 c.e. (a.d. by the christian calendar).

WICCA This is the actual religion of the Witch. All who follow the religion of Wicca are Wiccans.

WITCH This is a term to refer to the actual Initiated Priesthood of the Religion. Most people tend to refer to Wicca as Witchcraft and to all Wiccans as Witches, Initiated or not.

COVEN This is the basic organization of the Witch. It consists of at least three unrelated people and rarely more than thirteen people who meet regularly for rituals, training or magickal workings. In Traditional Wicca, the Coven is divided into Inner Court and Outer Court. A Coven is generally run by a Third Degree High Priest and High Priestess.

OUTER COURT This is a training group composed of those who wish to join the Coven. It teaches the Prospects and Novices how to act in a Coven without giving a lot of rules and secrets. The Outer Court is run by the Elders of the Coven.

INNER COURT This is the actual Coven where the Witch attends school, church and other areas of importance.The Inner Court is run by a Third Degree High Priestess and High Priest.

ESBAT These are the Rituals where the Witch does magick and complex training. Esbats are dedicated to the goddess.

SABBAT These are the Great Rituals where the Witch celebrates their relationships with nature and the Gods. Sabbats are generally dedicated to the Horned God.

DEGREES This is the level of advancement of the Witch. In Traditional Wicca there are three Degrees.

BINDING This is a pre-initiation in Traditional Covens where the Novice promises to be loyal to the Coven and to be faithful to the Religion for the next year.

INITIATION This is the actual, ritualistic recognition of the Wiccan becoming a Witch. It is the most important ritual in the life of a Witch and marks them as a serious student who has dedicated their life to the God and Goddess.

COWAN Any person who does not follow the Wiccan religion.

PROSPECT Any person who seeks to join the Coven and follow the religion but has not been Initiated.

NOVICE This is a person who has been accepted as a student into a Traditional Coven and has undergone a Binding Ceremony to show that they have dedicated the next year and a day top the religion and coven. The Novice wears a green cord as a sign of rank.

INITIATE This is the person who has dedicated their life to the Wiccan religion forever and sees no reason to leave.

FIRST DEGREE This is the first level of accomplishment of the Witch. It shows that the individual is serious about the religion. The First Degree wears a red Cord as a sign of rank.

SECOND DEGREE This is the transition of the Witch from a student to the practitioner and Priest/ess and Elder. The Second Degree wears a blue Cord as a sign of rank.

THIRD DEGREE This is the graduation of the Witch where they now become qualified to start and operate their own coven. The Third Degree wears a white Cord as a sign of rank.

ELDER This is any Second or Third Degree Witch in the Coven. All Elders together form the ruling body of the Coven.

HIGH PRIESTESS This is the female leader of the coven. She wears a silver Moon Crown as a sign of position and is called "My Lady" during the Rituals. She represents the Goddess. A Second Degree High Priestess of a Coven may wear an amber Necklace while a Third Degree High Priestess may wear an amber and jet Necklace.

The First Degree makes one a Witch and a Priest/ess in training, or a student.

The Second Degree makes one a Priest/ess and a practitioner, or one who actually knows what they are doing.

The Third Degree makes one a High Priest/ess and a teacher.

In those Traditions which have more than three Degrees, consider that the top of the religion is the top and you cannot go higher. Therefore, a 4th Degree Welsh = a 13th Degree Frostie= a 3rd Degree Gardnerian.

Consider the M-1 Carbine. This is a combat weapon that has been used effectively in three wars and is still being used by hunters and foreign armies. It is a rapid fire semi-automatic weapon which fires a 240 gram piece of lead or steel-jacketed lead at a speed exceeding 2400 feet per second with a firing rate of up to 90 rounds per second. Loaded with hollow points, it will put a small hole one-third of an inch in diameter in you chest and an exit hole an inch across in your back. Armed with steel jacketed rounds, it can penetrate a block wall and kill the person behind that wall.

Question? Should I give that weapon, fully loaded, to anyone who asks for it? As a Traditional Witch I must say no!

Why? Because I don't know if that person has completed a firearms safety course. He may play John Wayne and accidentally shoot himself in the foot or accidentally shoot a neighbor. He may leave the weapon loaded and some child may pick up the weapon and play cowboys and Indians and kill the kid next door. He may be angry with this ex-wife and go hunting for her and her boyfriend. He may be on medications which will drive him berserk and so he could go into a MacDonald's and kill everyone in the place. He may simply be crazy or a serial killer and use the weapon to assist in his crimes. And until I KNOW that that person is safe, I cannot, morally, take that chance.

Does this mean that all firearms should be outlawed? No. A weapon is a tool. It can be used for good or evil depending on its owner. In England, they outlawed forearms so people began to kill others with knives. So England outlawed knives. It is now illegal for a Boy Scout in England to possess a Boy Scout knife. So people are using clubs to commit murder. In Japan, it is also illegal to possess firearms so the Japanese find other methods to kill each other. Switzerland, however, has a law requiring EVERY ADULT MALE to possess a rifle and ammunition and that country has the lowest murder rate in the world.

What about magick? Magick is a tool, no different than a knife or a firearm to be used for good or evil. Outlawing magick not only will not work (and I listened to a cop advocate the outlawing of all Athames because they possess the potential to be a weapon) it will punish the majority of the community which uses magick for positive uses only.

What is the answer? In Traditional Wicca, the answer is to know the student well before teaching them this tool. Pound into their head over and over and over the morals and ethics of Wicca until they are incapable of doing evil. Then, when you are certain that they are dedicated to the Goddess and the God, and you are certain that they are safe, you can teach them magick and those support functions that make magick work.

It has been said that the student will learn all that they need from the books so we may as well teach them the truth. Not so. As the early books written by Traditionals state, not everything is written down. And even if someone were to read a few books and try to put that information into practice, it wouldn't really work, simply because too much important information has been left out and can best be taught in a one-to-one situation.

Consider, can you learn to dance from reading a book? No. You need to have a teacher who knows show you and correct you and help you with constant feedback and helpful hints. Then, when you are accomplished, you can read the books and use your intuition to become a great dancer. Blindly following the teacher is as bad as not having one. You need a balance of both and in magick this balance is important because so much has been kept secret and is still secret.

Why do so many Traditional keep so many secrets even from other Wiccans? Because we are responsible for all of our actions and those actions of our students and we see too many bad people or unstable people seek to learn magick and we are unwilling to cause harm by "handing a firearm to someone we cannot know."

In Traditional Wicca, there are rules and each rule has a good reason behind it, from the how and why of Grounding and Centering which is vital to group workings to the exact methods for generating and raising energy and the types of energy raised as well as how to direct and perceive that energy to the procedures of poppet magick or...and we simply are not willing to teach those to someone simply because they say that they are a Witch.

Remember, in Tucson alone there have been two police officers who have made it a habit to infiltrate Covens to list all the Witches in the city so that they can know who to arrest in the event of a crime. There have been a large number of Satanists who have infiltrated Covens in the hopes of learning magick so that they can do evil and there are Wiccans who have joined Covens to learn magick so that they can help someone's karma return to them. And this is why there are still secrets and should still be secrets.

The Witch has rules of her/his own regarding her/his Tools. They are consecrated, made, adapted, made Holy, stored, cleaned, cleansed, exorcised and a number of other things, to make them the proper objects of the religion. Though rules vary with the Tradition, these are some of the Traditional rules and some of the Traditional tools that are used in Wicca.

First of all, although it is best to make your Tool by hand, Tools which are bought are acceptable so long as they are not bargained for. The reason is that by trying to get a bargain, you are saying that a few dollars are more important than the Goddess.

The Tool must then be cleansed as strongly as possible so as to remove all previous influences which may have been attached by another person of ... less moral character.

The Tool is then consecrated to the Craft and the Religion and so should be used only for that purpose. To spend a month preparing an Athame (pronounced ah-thah-may), and then use it to cut a steak may be considered by some to be sacrilege.

Finally, with most Tools, only the owner is allowed to touch it. Generally, if you charge a Tool and someone else touches it, that person may "short out" the energy that has been invested into that Tool, thus making it worthless.

Since each person has their own rules regarding which Tools to possess and how to make them, I will show only a few major Tools common to most Traditions:

The ATHAME is the prime Tool. It is used to direct energy and generally has a black handle and a straight blade. In most Traditions of Wicca, the Athame is never used to cut anything.

The CUP is the second Tool and holds wine, herbs, and symbolizes the Goddess.

The CENSER burns incense and usually has three legs and three chains.

The PENTACLE completes the major four tools and is a protection. It is thus the only one of these four that possesses power on its own. It has a star engraved onto it and may be made of ceramic, metal, clay, glass, wax or sometimes wood.

Other Tools are:

the WAND, a gentler version of the Athame;

the C