Wiccan Principles

The Council of American Witches finds it necessary to define modern
Witchraft in the terms of the American experience and need.

We are not bound by traditions from other times and other cultures,
and we owe no allegiance to any person or power greater than the Divinity
manifest through our own being.

As American Witches we welcome and respect all teachings and traditions and
seek to learn from all and to contribute our learning to all who may seek it.

It is in this spirit of welcome and cooperation that we adopt these few principles
of Wiccan belief. In seeking to be inclusive, we do not wish to
open ourselves to the destruction of our group by those on self-service
power trips, or to philospohies and practicies contradictory
to those principles. In seeking to exclude those whose ways
are contradictory to ours, we do not want to deny participation
with us to any who are sincerely interested in our knowledge and beliefs.

We therefore ask that those who seek to identify with us accept those few basic principles

1. We practice rites to attune with the natural rythm of life forces marked by the phases of the
   
Moon and seasonal Quarters and cross quarters.

2. We recognize that our intelligence gives us a unique responsibility toward our environment.
   
We seek to live in harmony with nature, in ecological balance offering fulfillment
to life and consciousness within an evolutionary concept.

3. We acknowledge a depth of power far greater than that apparent to the average person.
   
Because it is far greater than ordinary it is sometimes called "supernatural",
but we see it as lying within that which is naturally potential to all.

4. We conceive of the Creative Power in the universe as manifesting through polarity - as
   
masculine and feminine - and that this same creative power lies within all people,
and functions through the interaction of the masculine and the feminine.
We value neither above the other. We value sex as pleasure, as the symbol and
embodiment of life, and as one of the sources of energy used in magickal practice
and religious worship.

5. We recognize both out worlds and inner, or psychological, worlds sometimes known
   
as the Spiritual World, Collective Unconscious, Inner Planes, etc. - and we see in the
inter-action of these two dimensions the basis for paranormal phenomena and
magickal exercises. We neglect neither dimension for the other, seeing both necessary
for our fulfillment.

6. We do not recognize any authoritarian hierarchy, but we do honor those who
   
teach, respect those who share their greater knowledge and wisdom, and acknowledge
those who have courageously given of themselves in leadership.

7. We see religion, magick and wisdom in living as being united in the way one
   
views the world and lives within it - a world view and philosophy which we
we identify as Witchcraft - The Wiccan Way.

8. Calling oneself "Witch" does not make a Witch - but neither does heredity
   
itself, nor the collection of titles, degrees and initiations. A Witch
seeks to control the forces within her/himself that makes life possible
in order to live wisely and well without harm to others and in harmony with
Nature.

9. We believe in the affirmation and fulfillment of life in a continuation of
   
evolution and development of consciousness giving meaning to the Universe
we know and our personal role within it.

10. Our only animosity toward Christianity, or towards any other religion or
    
philosophy of life, is to the extent that its institutions have claimed to
be "the only way" and have sought to deny freedom th others and to suppress
others ways of religious practice and belief.

11. As American Witches, we are not threatened by debates on the history of the
    
Craft, the origins of various terms, the legitimacy of various aspects of
different traditions. We are concerned with our present and our future.

12. We do not accept the concept of absolute evil, nor do worship any entity
    
known as "Satan" or "the Devil", as defined by the Christian tradition.
We do not seek power through the suffering of others, nor accept that
personal benefit can be derived only by the denial of another.

13. We believe that we should seek within Nature that which is contributory
    
to our health and well-being.