Wicca
When I first started down my path as a child ~ witches, witchcraft and the burning times held extreme interests for me. I devoured every book our little library in town had. There was always a pull. As I got older I was bothered by peoples negativity and the images of witches they portrayed. Even with the ever present pull I did start being scared of the idea of knowing too much about witchcraft... You know how they always show bad things happening to innocents that are involved. About 10 years ago the pull was very strong to get involved and I shyed away again. It was always there but not enough to make me act upon it. A couple years agi I started reading about it and the more I read on Wicca the more I felt like I was home... I then started taking classes. I have learned if you are about to embark on taking classes from someone do some research on them first, not all teachers are what they portray - and follow your instincts. I have tried a coven but this particular one was not for me. I felt like I was not getting all that I wanted from the group - the mental link maybe? For now I am solitary but would love to find another group close to home with people with the same interests.
In my search and when talking with people I am still surprised in this day and age how people react about Wicca and witchcraft... "Do You worship the devil?" "I sure know someone I want you to do an evil spell on!" That is NOT what is is all about. I decided to try to reach out and help to open peoples minds through my website. I've found the following from the four corners (if anyone recognizes some of the writing please tell me and I will gladly give credit where it is due.) I hope the following will give you some sort of idea's about Wicca and witchcraft. I am not sure who the author is, it was something I found in an emailing that really was informative I thought. If you recognize who did it please let me know so I can give credit where credit is due...
So you want to be a Witch?
What is all this witchcraft stuff, anyway?
Does being a witch mean you can point your finger and make things happen? Does it mean you can learn to fly on a broom and turn people into toads?
Well, not quite.
Witchcraft, or WICCA, is a religion. Wicca is not primarily about magic, though it does use it. Wicca is about your place in the Universe and your evolution as a spiritual being. Wicca is about moving forward on your personal spiritual journey - about learning, growing, and becoming the most you can be.
Wicca is a religion. Wicca is a way of understanding and interacting with Deity and the Universe. It is a life-affirming path of growth and expansion.
Wicca is based on reverence for Nature and Her cycles, respect for the Earth and all Her creatures. Wicca reveres the natural forces of the Universe and sees them reflected in the world around us, and in every person and thing.
Wicca has great reverence for Deity, Who for us has both a Mother and a Father aspect. Wiccans approach Deity through many names and forms, both masculine and feminine, drawn from all over the world and from every age. We often compare Deity to a diamond with many facets; each name or image for Deity is like one facet on the diamond. Each facet may be considered separately and all are beautiful in themselves, but all are aspects of the single stone.
Wicca believes that Deity comes to each person in the way that is best understood by that person, and that this is different for different people. Wicca believes that the relationship between a person and Deity is highly individual, personal, and subjective. Not everyone will have the same understanding of Deity, because not everyone is in the same place, or able to understand from the same level or perspective. Because of this no one has a right to judge another person's relationship with Deity, because each person is different.
This is why we respect all the names and forms that have been used to honor Deity through the centuries - Deity needs them all in order to come to all people in the way they can best understand.
The most common way for Wiccans to approach Deity is in the form of the TRIPLE GODDESS, Whose three-forms are Maiden, Mother, and Crone, and Whose symbol is the Moon. Her consort is THE GOD, Who rules the cycles of the solar year and is called among other things Lord of the Dance. His symbol is the Sun. They are viewed as Polarities, opposing but complimentary powers, like the Eastern concept of Yin and Yang.
Wicca has a very strong moral base. By "moral" we mean treating each other in an honorable and loving manner. Wicca has only one law which all traditions agree on; DO AS YOU WILL, BUT HARM NONE. In other words how you dress and who you sleep with is not our business - those issues are not what we mean by "morality." But a moral person doesn't hurt other people, and this is the criteria for all moral action; "Am I harming anyone?" If you are, you are acting wrongly.
Wicca is a Pagan, or Native, religion. The word Pagan means "from the countryside" and reflects the fact that Pagans follow indigenous, native religions rather than the Book religions. Pagan religions are built up over millennia as a result of peoples observations and experiences - they are living, growing religions which can and do change when change is needed. Pagan religions revere the natural forces and cycles of life, and it is from observation and interaction with these that their beliefs developed.
Wicca is wholly unrelated to the Book religions; Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Satanism. The Book religions are all descended from the supposedly historical bargain between Abraham and Jehovah, which is recorded in their Bible. The Book religions all share common elements; belief in a final Day of Judgment, in a jealous and vengeful God, in the basic sinfulness of humanity (called Original Sin), the superiority of the male sex, and the idea of Hell; a place of eternal torture. Most of all the Book religions believe in the infallibility of their Book, the Bible (and it's related books the Talmud, the Q'uran, the Satanic Bible). Though these books were written by humans, the Book religions claim they were written by God - this is the hallmark of the Book religions. Absolutely NONE of these ideas are shared by Wicca. The Book religions have a totally separate origin from the Pagan religions, and a very different history.
In studying Wicca you must understand that you are not just learning some interesting things about magic and Pagan religion, you are undertaking a spiritual journey. If you apply the things you are taught and persevere in your studies, it will change you on the deepest levels of your being; you will learn about parts of yourself that you may never have known existed (your Higher Self, your Astral body, your Chakras and your aura, to name only a few), master psychic skills you've only read about or seen in movies (clairvoyance, divination, psychometry and many more) and, learn how to use magic to take control of your very Destiny. You will develop strengths you do not now know that you have, and you will in time face your deepest fears; and vanquish them.
Wicca is a path of transformation and growth which will challenge you and lead you to a renewed and enriched existence. Of course you don't necessarily get all of this just from reading. You have to do the work, and you need to continue your studies beyond just the basics to master all this.
Wicca is not an exclusive religion. Because we believe all paths lead to Deity, we do not believe that one must belong to any given faith or tradition to be a good person or to grow spiritually. Nor is it necessary to belong to only one. Your private beliefs and conscience are your own business. Wicca is about learning to make your own choices, and the Wiccan traditions exist to provide a framework in which to learn and grow. Wicca seeks to open your thinking, not to limit it.
You want to be a Wiccan?
To be a Wiccan is to move at one with Deity.
To be a Wiccan is to honor Nature and all that is in Her. To acknowledge the life in all things, and be in harmony with it.
To be a Wiccan is to work with the seen and the unseen. To learn the magical secrets of stones, of plants, and animals - to speak to the faeries and the spirits and to hear their replies.
To be a Wiccan is to use every tool available to grow, to learn, to become the best that you can be. To use magic, meditation, and ritual to overcome all limitations, all fears, all imperfections, and to move always in harmony with Deity, always to the good, always in accordance with your highest self.
This is what it is to be a Wiccan.
Witches Believe
The Witches Creed
Wiccan Manifesto
Wiccan Rede
Candle Magick Basics
Wiccan Holidays 3/16/01
The Witches Voice
A Great Source of Information
March 16, 2001.
