The first thing you'll notice in any REAL book or web page about Wicca is that it begins by talking about religion, not spell casting. There is a very important reason for this: casting spells does not make you Wiccan. Believing in the RELIGION does. That said, your next question is what is the religion of Wicca? The easy answer is: everything. Well, if it's everything, then can't we just skip to the spells? Nope, stay with me here, because you still have no clue.

- All gods are one god, all goddesses are on goddess, and the god and the goddess are one. This means that everyone worships the same Supreme Being, whether their prayers are dedicated to Jesus, Buddha, Allah, or Diana. The Supreme Being, whom most Wiccans refer to as Spirit, is genderless and bodiless. People cannot grasp that concept; you can't love something that logically can't exist--so they have created their own ideas of what Spirit is. For example, Christians best comprehend Spirit as the omniscient God, perfect, yet merciful, willing to sacrifice his son for them. That imagery is a lot easier to love than an undefined Spirit. It goes the same way with Hinduism, Buddhism, and others, therefore making Wicca a polytheistic religion (believing in more than one deity).  Silver RavenWolf describes this concept very well.  She explains that every god ever idealized is part of a huge diamond in the sky.  This diamond has many, MANY facets-one for each deity.  This image is a wonderful depiction of the fact that we all worship Spirit, no matter how many aspects or personalities it may have.

- Do what thy wish, lest it harm none. At first this seems like the basic peace-and-love sixties-hippy do-what-makes-you-happy theory, but it's not. What makes it not, is the key words lest it harm none. With the hippy version, you could say 'If I kill myself, it won't hurt anyone else, so it's all good', but it isn't. It does hurt someone; it hurts you. This goes the same with drugs and such. It may not hurt anyone else, but it hurts you, therefore it's taboo. Key point to remember: Lest is harm NONE!

- "Ever mind the rule of three, what you give out comes back to thee." Translation: Whatever you do, whether it's for good or bad, will come back to you times three. This is all the more incentive to not go hex people. If you consciously try to hurt someone, then you're gonna get screwed in the end. And it's not just with magick either, it also goes for everyday life. A quote and an example: What goes around, comes around. You know how people always say that one lie leads to another and soon the whole thing blows up in your face? Rule of Three. But the Rule of Three also works the other way around. If you do a selfless act for someone else, you'll be rewarded. But don't expect it to be immediately. It isn't likely that it will be, but it WILL come. Just watch and wait.

Those are the three basic principles on Wicca. If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail Valleri at Valleri@goddess.com and she'll try to help you.