THE GODDESS AND MAGICK
What is Wicca?
Wicca is a deeply spiritual religion. It is sometimes called Witchcraft or the "Craft".
Wicca is a nature-based religion that honors both the Goddess and God.
Wicca recognizes the divine spark in all things.
Wiccans hold a deep reverence for the Earth, her cycles, and all of nature.
Wiccans are witches, but not all witches are Wiccan.
Celebration of nature is central to the practice of Wicca, a contemporary religion that reconstructs pre-Christian religions of Europe and combines them with the modern sensibilities of self-improvement and creativity. Often referred to as The Old Religion, Wicca is a life-affirming, polytheistic religion that borrows from many traditions, and one may find a number of diverse influences in the practice of Wicca, including New Age philosophies, Buddhist, Hindu, Native American, Christian, and other traditions.
The central beliefs in Wicca are gender equality, reverence for nature, and a creative sense of the Divine that manifests itself as God and Goddess. There are no scriptures and laws in Wicca other than a guiding principle called The Wiccan Rede.
The Rede is "An it harm none, do what ye will," which implies both freedom and responsibility. Coupled with the Three-Fold Law - which states that every action good or bad returns to the person three-fold - the Rede guides the actions of Wicca practitioners.
There are as many traditions and practices of Wicca as there are Wiccans. The absence of scriptures and proscribed behavior creates a wildly diverse spiritual community that actively disavows codification. The term "witch" is also used for Wicca.
Many Wiccans use witch and witchcraft interchangeably with Wicca, and others make distinctions between the practice of Wicca and the practice of witchcraft. Many Wiccans disavow the word witch because of the historical witch-hunts and the ugly old witch of Halloween. One of the more unfortunate things that Wiccans must do when explaining their religion and spirituality is to define what they are not, meaning that they must explain they are not Satanists, devil-worshipers, or baby-killers.
Wicca is about moving forward on your spiritual path. It is a life affirming path of growth and spirituality. It is understanding and interacting with Deity. Wicca is not all about magick, although Wiccans do use it.
Wicca is about honoring the Goddess and God. We hold rites to celebrate the turning of the Wheel of the Year (Sabbats), and the cycles of the Moon (Esbats).
To be a follower of the Wiccan religion means to live in harmony with the Earth and all of her creatures.
Wicca is a spiritual journey that can be hard at times, but very fulfilling. Each of us is a child of the Goddess and we all have a part of Her in ourselves. To welcome the Goddess into your life is to fill it with magick.
Wiccans worship Deity that has both a Mother and Father aspect. Contrary to some beliefs, Wiccans do not worship Satan and do not believe in a devil, hell or sin.
The majority of Wiccans honor the Goddess as the Triple Goddess in Her forms of Maiden, Mother and Crone. Her symbol is the moon. The Maiden is the waxing moon, the Mother, the full moon and the crone, the waning moon. The Triple Goddess' consort is the God as the Sun King. He rules the cycles of the year and His symbol is, of course, the sun. This will be further explained in the next chapter.
Besides the Triple Goddess and her consort the God, Wiccans worship many different Goddesses and Gods from many different cultures and pantheons such as Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Celtic to name a few. Some Witches have a Patron Goddess and a Patron God. A Patron is a Goddess and/or God that holds a special affinity for you. Sometimes a Wiccan chooses their own Patron(s), but sometimes the Patron(s) chooses them.
Wicca is not a book religion like Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Satanism are. All of these religions have a few basic beliefs in common; they believe in one vengeful god, they believe in sin, hell, a final judgment day and the superiority of the male sex. The book religions have their priests who head their religion and write their laws. In Wicca, we are our own Priests and Priestesses. We do not believe in sin, hell or the devil. We are one with the Goddess and God and we do not need a go-between. Wiccans do not believe in the superiority of the male sex. Wiccans believe in the equality of all people.
Unlike the book religions, Wicca does not preach or seek to convert. We won't come knocking at your door; you have to find your own way to us. Wiccans believe there is more than one path to spiritual growth, and it's up to the individual to find the path that is right for them.
Wiccans use Magick in ritual, in spell work and in everyday life. The universe is composed of energy, and Magick is the art of directing and transforming that energy to bring about your will. The art of Magick will be discussed in the next lesson.
The Wiccan Rede and The Three-Fold Law
As stated above, Wiccans do not believe in sin or hell. However, we do believe in the law of three and the Wiccan Rede. The Wiccan Rede states, "Do As You Will, But Harm None". Magick is a great responsibility, and it should never be used to cause harm.
When a Wiccan performs magick, it is usually qualified by saying something like "with harm to none". In this way you can be sure that whatever you are manifesting or trying to change will happen without it being detrimental to someone else.
Wiccans also believe in the Three-Fold Law of Return. The Goddess charges us to exercise great care in all that we as Witches do, say or even think. To be a Witch is to have great power and even a stray thought can have an effect on others. The Three-Fold Law of Return states that what we reap, we will sow, and it will return to us three-fold.
This Law of Return might sound harsh, but it is in fact a blessing. Wiccans seek to heal and help all life and when we do, the good that we do comes back to us three-fold.
When you think about the Law of Return you can understand why Wiccans prefer justice over revenge. If you take the matter in your own hands and seek revenge, that revenge will come back to you in triplicate. Instead of revenge, Wiccans ask the Goddess and God for justice to be done. In this way, we leave it in Their hands and know that we are asking in the right way and that They will take care of it as They see fit.
*** This is a broad-based view of Wicca as it exists in the world today and includes Neo-Wiccan ideas and beliefs. British Traditional Wiccans have much more specific parameters as to what constitutes Wicca***