What is Wicca?
Wicca is a neo-pagan religion based on the pre-Christian traditions of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Its origins can be traced even further back to Paleolithic peoples who worshipped a Hunter God and a Fertility Goddess. Cave paintings found in France (and dated at 30,000 years old) depict a man with the head of a stag, and a woman with a swollen, pregnant belly. They stand in a circle with eleven mortals. These archetypes of the divine are worshiped by Wiccans to this very day. By these standards, the religion that is now called Wicca, is perhaps the oldest religion in the world.
Some History on Wicca
Many may remember the trials of Witches all over the world where even in the United States we burned women and drown them at the "Salem Witch Trials". The puritans claimed that if the person drown or burned - then they were a witch - because if they were not "God" would protect and save them.
Puritanical views claimed the lives of hundreds if not thousands of men women and youth in those days. Many found there to be a need to the world to be free of anyone who was not christian.
In 1951, the laws against Witchcraft were repealed in England. A man named Gerald Gardner was the first to come into the public eye with a description of what modern witches were practicing. His information came from the traditions of a coven called the New Forest Witches, and from Ceremonial Magick and the Cabballah. He began what is now called the Gardnerian Tradition of Wicca. From Gardnerian came Alexandrian Tradition, and a host of other offshoots that today number in the hundreds.
Common Misconceptions of Witches and Wicca
For two thousand years the image of the Witch has been associated with evil, heathenism, and blasphemy. These ideas have their origin in Christian myths created to convert members of the Old Religion to that of the new. By making the Witch into a diabolical character of ill intent and action, the Christian missionaries were able to attach fear to a word that had once meant Healer, Wise One, and Seer. These fears are present to this day. When we think of the archetypal image of the Witch, we remember the evil enchantress of childhood tales. We think of an old, wrinkled hag with a nasty wart on her nose. We think of hexes, and devils, and foul incantations chanted around a bubbling cauldron. Whereas, modern witches have been known to stir up herbal remedies in a cauldron, they are a far cry indeed from the Wicked Witch of the West!
Witches Do Not Worship Satan. To believe in Satan, one must subscribe to the Christian mythos. We do not. Wicca does not have any belief in, nor do we worship a concept of evil incarnate. All life is perceived as a constant flow of positive and negative energies, which intertwine to create the balance of life.
Witches Do Not Cast Evil Spells. It is believed in Wicca that Karma is real. That means that if a witch is ill tempered and casts a spell to do harm she would expect it to come back three fold. Meaning 3 times as bad as what she sent out. So Witches will not cast bad spells. The spells they do involve things like Healing, Love, Wisdom, Creativity, and Joy. The "potions" that they stir might be a headache remedy, or a cold tonic, or an herbal flea bath for the family dog.
Beliefs
Immanent Divinity. Wiccans believe that the spirit of God/dess exists in every living thing: in the trees, the rain, the flowers, the sea, and in each other. This means that they must treat their peers, and all the beings of the Earth as aspects of the Divine. They attempt to honour and respect life, in all its many and diverse expressions.
Nature. Wiccans learn from and worship nature by celebrating the cycles of the sun, and the cycles of the moon. They look into themselves for the cycles within that correspond to those of the natural world, and try to move in harmony with the movement of life. Air, Fire, Water, and Earth combine to manifest all creation. From these four elements they gain wisdom, and understanding of how the universe unfolds.
Other Faiths. Modern Witches believe in freedom first! They believe that anyone who is meant for this path will find it through their own search. Wiccans practice tolerance and acceptance toward all other religions, as long as those faiths do not preach or commit harm to others.
Afterlife. Most Witches believe in reincarnation of some sort, whether it be the Eastern version known as the Transmigration of Souls (the spirit incarnating one body after another in an effort to learn all the life lessons that it can), or Ancestral Incarnation (where the spirit and life lessons of the grandfather transmute to the granddaughter, and so on down the genetic line). The latter is a more traditionally Celtic approach, but both are accepted.
Sin. In Wicca, we do not have a specific concept of sin. There is no heaven or hell that souls will go to based on their worldly actions. Wrong-doing is governed and determined by the individual conscience. With the belief in the Law of Return, one's actions will determine one's future. The individual is therefore responsible for his or her own fate, based on what he or she chooses to do internally and externally in the world.
Ethics. Wicca has but one law of action and ethics. It is called the Wiccan Rede or the Wiccan Law, and can be found under the Reading Room category of the same name. "And ye harm none" covers almost everything that the Ten Commandments do: don't lie, don't steal, don't cheat, etc. The Wiccan Law serves as a guideline to action, not a mandate. The only law that the Ten Commandments express that is not covered by the Wiccan Law is that of marriage and adultery. In Wicca, love itself is sanctified, with or without government authorization. As long as two individuals share a sincere bond of love that does not harm either party, it does not matter if they are legally joined, if they are heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or interracial.
Leadership vs. Hierarchy. There is no Arch Bishop of Wicca. There is no one person or organization that determines the practices and beliefs of Wicca as a whole. Instead, Wicca is formed of small nebulas groups and solitaries who are charged with the leadership of themselves. Wicca is a religion of clergy, not followers. Each person who seriously pursues the Craft, whether it be through study in a particular tradition, or through self-teaching and private learning, has the choice to become a priest or priestess of Wicca. Most modern traditions of Wicca offer a three year program of learning that will bring the student to the level of High Priest or Priestess.
Magick. Witches believe in the power of magick to create change. A prominent Wiccan author named Starhawk defines magick as "the art of changing consciousness at will." By being in tune with the rhythms of life, they feel as though they can create change for themselves and for the world. They use herbs, oils, colours, stones, crystals, and other symbolic materials to represent the change they wish to create. Wiccans believe that the individual is responsible for his or her own reality. If there is something that is not healthy, or conducive to happiness and growth, they have the power to change it. As aspects of the divine, they believe that they are each Creator and Creatress, filled with the power to manifest all that they dream of or desire.
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