What Is Wicca?
Contrary to what
those who choose to persecute or lie about us wish to believe, Wicca is a very
peaceful, harmonious and balanced way of thinking and life which promotes
oneness with the divine and all which exists.
Wicca is a deep appreciation and awe in watching the sunrise or sunset, the
forest in the light of a glowing moon, a meadow enchanted by the first light of
day. It is the morning dew on the petals of a beautiful flower, the gentle
caress of a warm summer breeze upon your skin, or the warmth of the summer sun
on your face. Wicca is the fall of colorful autumn leaves, and the softness of
winter snow. It is light, and shadow and all that lies in between. It is the
song of the birds and other creatures of the wild. It is being in the presence
of Mother Earths nature and being humbled in reverence. When we are in the
temple of the Lord and Lady, we are not prone to the arrogance of human
technology as they touch our souls. To be a Witch is to be a healer, a teacher,
a seeker, a giver, and a protector of all things. If this path is yours, may you
walk it with honor, light and integrity.
Wicca is a belief system and way of life based upon the reconstruction of
pre-Christian traditions originating in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. While much
of the information of how our ancestors lived, worshiped and believed has been
lost due to the efforts of the medieval church to wipe our existence from
history, we try to reconstruct those beliefs to the best of our ability with the
information that is available.
With recent archaeological discoveries, we now have basis to believe that the
origins of our belief system can be traced even further back to the Paleolithic
peoples who worshipped a Hunter God and a Fertility Goddess. With the discovery
of these cave paintings which have been dated to be around 30,000 years old
depicting a man with the head of a stag, and a pregnant woman standing in a
circle with eleven other people, it can reasonably be assumed that Witchcraft is
the oldest religion known in the world toady. These archetypes are clearly
recognized by Wiccans as our view of the Goddess and God aspect of the supreme
creative force and predate Christianity by roughly 28,000 years making it a mere
toddler in the spectrum of time as we know it. Sorry guy's, carbon dating is a
little hard to dispute no matter how bad you want to try...
Witchcraft in ancient history was known as "The Craft of the Wise"
because those who followed the path were healers, were in tune with the forces
of nature, had a knowledge of Herbs and medicines, gave council and were
valuable parts of the village and community as Shamanic leaders. They understood
that mankind is not superior to nature, the earth and its creatures but instead
we are simply one of the many parts, both seen and unseen that combine to make
the whole. As Chief Seattle said; "We do not own the earth, we are part of
it." These wise people understood that what we take or use, we must return
in kind to maintain balance and equilibrium. Clearly, modern man with all his
applied learning and technology has forgotten this. Subsequently, we currently
face ecological disaster and eventual extinction because of our hunger for power
and a few pieces of gold.
For the past several hundred years, the image of the Witch has been mistakenly
associated with evil, heathenism, and unrighteousness. In my humble opinion,
these misconceptions have their origin in a couple of different places.
To begin, the medieval church of the 15th through 18th centuries created these
myths to convert the followers of the old nature based religions to the churches
way of thinking. By making the Witch into a diabolical character and turning the
old religious deities into devils and demons, the missionaries were able to
attach fear to these beliefs which aided in the conversion process. Secondly, as
medical science began to surface, the men who were engaged in these initial
studies had a very poor understanding of female physiology, especially in the
area of a women's monthly cycles. The unknowns in this area played very well
with the early churches agenda lending credence to the Witch Hunters claims and
authority. The fledgling medical professions also stood to benefit greatly from
this because it took the power of the women healers away giving it to the male
physicians transferring the respect and power to them.
Unfortunately these misinformed fears and superstitions have carried forward
through the centuries and remain to this day. This is why many who follow these
nature oriented beliefs have adopted the name of Wicca over its true name of
Witchcraft to escape the persecution, harassment and misinformation associated
with the name of Witchcraft and Witch not to mention the bad publicity the press
and Hollywood has given us simply to generate a profit.
What
Witchcraft is:
Witchcraft is a spiritual system that fosters the free thought and will of the
individual, encourages learning and an understanding of the earth and nature
thereby affirming the divinity in all living things. Most importantly however,
it teaches responsibility. We accept responsibility for our actions and deeds as
clearly a result of the choices we make. We do not blame an exterior entity or
being for our shortcomings, weaknesses or mistakes. If we mess up or do
something that brings harm to another, we have no one but ourselves to blame and
we must face the consequences resulting from those actions. No if's, and's or
but's and no whining...
We acknowledge the cycles of nature, the lunar phases and the seasons to
celebrate our spirituality and to worship the divine. It is a belief system that
allows the Witch to work with, not in supplication to deities with the intent of
living in harmony and achieving balance with all things.
The spells that we do involve healing, love, harmony, wisdom and creativity. The
potions that we stir might be a headache remedy, a cold tonic, or an herbal flea
bath for our pets. We strive to gain knowledge of and use the natural remedies
placed on this earth by the divine for our benefit instead of using synthetic
drugs unless absolutely necessary.
Wiccans believe that the spirit of the One, Goddess and God exist in all things.
In the trees, rain, flowers, the sea, in each other and all of natures
creatures. This means that we must treat "all things" of the Earth as
aspects of the divine. We attempt to honor and respect life in all its many
manifestations both seen and unseen.
Wiccans learn from and revere the gift of nature from divine creation by
celebrating the cycles of the sun, moon and seasons. We search within ourselves
for the cycles that correspond to those of the natural world and try to live in
harmony with the movement of this universal energy. Our teachers are the trees,
rivers, lakes, meadows, mountains and animals as well as others who have walked
this path before us. This belief creates a reverence and respect for the
environment, and all life upon the Earth.
We also revere the spirits of the elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water which
combine to manifest all creation. From these four elements we obtain insight to
the rhythms of nature and understand they are also the rhythms of our own lives.
Because Witches have been persecuted for so many centuries, we believe in
religious freedom first! We do not look at our path as the only way to achieve
spirituality, but as one path among many to the same end. We are not a
missionary religion out to convert new members to think the same as we do. We
are willing to share our experience and knowledge with those who seek our wisdom
and perspective however. We believe that anyone who is meant for this path will
find it through their own search as the Goddess speaks to each of us in her time
and way. Wiccans practice tolerance and acceptance toward all other religions as
long as those faiths do not persecute others or violate the tenant of "Harm
None."
What
Witchcraft is not:
More information about Witchcraft is available in the Frequently Asked Questions
section, but in the interim, here are the main points.
· Witchcraft
or Wicca is not a cult. We do not proclaim ourselves to be spokespersons for the
divine or try to get others to follow us as their leaders.
· We
do not worship Satan or consort with Demons. Satan is a Christian creation and
they can keep him. We do not need a paranoid creation of supreme evil and
eternal damnation to scare us into doing the right thing and helping others. We
choose to do the right thing and love our brothers and sisters because it IS the
right thing and it feels good to do it. I suppose it is a maturity thing.
· We
do not sacrifice animals or humans because that would violate our basic tenant
of "Harm None." Anyone who does and claims to be a Wiccan or a Witch
is lying.
· We
have no need to steal or control the life force of another to achieve mystical
or supernatural powers. We draw our energy from within, our personal
relationship with the divine and nature.
· We
do not use the forces of nature or the universe to hex or cast spells on others.
Again, "Harm None" is the whole of the law.
Witches have a
very strict belief in the Law of Three which states that whatever we send out
into our world shall return to us three fold either good or bane. With this in
mind, a "True Witch" would hesitate in doing magick to harm or
manipulate another because that boomerang we throw will eventually come back to
us much larger and harder then when we threw it.
This is not to say that Witches are perfect, we are human too just like everyone
else and make mistakes and errors in judgment. Just as there are parents who
love and nurture their children, there are parents who abuse their children. As
there are many who devote their lives to giving and helping mankind, likewise
there are those who devote their lives to taking advantage of and using people
for their own gain. Unfortunately the same flaws in human nature applies to
witches too.
Most of us continually strive to consider all potential outcomes of our thoughts
and actions pausing to seriously consider the consequences before undertaking a
ritual, spell or rite that could go astray. It is when we follow the path with
the love of the Goddess in our hearts and adhere to the basic tenant of the Rede
that our works are beneficial and we achieve harmony and balance with all
things.
The heart of Wicca is not something summed up into a few short words and can
often take on different meaning to each since the Lord and Lady touch us in
different ways. To gain a fuller understanding of the Craft, I urge you visit
the other pages on this site as well as following the links to a select group of
exceptional Wiccan and Witchcraft sites. Through the wisdom and words set down
through the ages, you will find that you are able to understand the basis of our
beliefs and how they may apply to you. Your inner voice will also quickly let
you know if the intent of what you are reading is for superficial purposes to
benefit self instead of working to benefit the whole. Remember to read with your
heart, for it is when you see life and the world with your heart and spirit that
you truly gain an understanding of what Wicca is.