| What is Wicca? |
There is a popular saying in the Pagan community that goes, 'If you ask 10 different Wiccans what Wicca is, you'll get 12 different answers'. That quote holds a lot of truth. Unlike other popular religions, Wicca really has no set definintions or laws and rules. Fifty years ago when Wicca was just emerging, there was only one way to practice it - only one definition. But today Wicca is accessible from anywhere in the world. Over the years it has been changed, molded, and re-shaped to accomodate to peoples needs. No longer are we all Traditional (Gardnerian) Witches. We are Dianics, Alexandrians, Celtic Pagans, Kitchen witches, Solitaries, Eclectics, Seax-Wicans, and a number of other groups and traditions. Wicca is reported to be the fastest growing religion in the United States and possibly the UK and Australia, its no wonder that things have changed over the years. Religions change just as everything in life must change at one point. If you think about how the Christian Church was a few hundred years ago, you will see that the ways Christians practice today is different. They are similar, but still different. And that is Wicca today. These religions have changed to fit the peoples needs. For example, most Wiccans today are solitay practitioners and are not a part of a coven. It is acceptible for people to be solitaries today because now there is such a high demand for knowledge in this religion. The things you read in modern books about Wicca are very different from the way things were practiced 50 years ago. There are still some things that make Wicca what it is, and those things cannot be changed, but there is a lot of freedom in Wicca today. I don't necessarilly agree with the bastardization of Wicca, but that doesn't really matter. The fact is that Wicca has changed, and it will continue to change. Within this page I will try to explain the popular beliefs of most Wiccans today. There is much room for opinions and personal beliefs in Wicca but there is also set beliefs and rules as well. First off, I want to talk a little bit about what Wiccans are not. Unfortunaly its still necessary to deal with these misrepresentations. Wiccans are not devil-worshipers. The devil is a Christian character, not a Wiccan one. We are not Christian, therfore we don't acknowledge the Devil. We do not believe in an evil entity out there trying to corrupt us. Likewise, we don’t deal with evil spirits or demons (and personally I don’t even believe in those either)! We do not sacrifice animals or children. We can thank Hollywood for that misrepresentation. In Wicca there is a rule called the Wiccan rede. It states ‘An it harm none, do what you will.’ meaning, you can do what you want, both mundanely and magically as long as it hurts no one, even yourself. So that means no curses or even loves spells, because doing a love spell would go against somebody’s free-will.Wiccans also don’t fly on broomsticks, have warts (well maybe some!) send out our black cats to do our bidding (although I do wish my cats could do some stuff around the house for me) stir frogs and newts in a cauldron or do any of that other stuff were rumored to do. Now, here are some things that Wiccans are. First off Wicca is a religion. We are recognized by the government and the military as an official religion, just like Christianity, Buddhism or any other religion out there. Wicca was “created” in the 40's and 50's by a man named Gerald Gardner (and further developed by Doreen Valiente) who took his ideas for this religion from ancient Pagan practices, folk magic, the Masons, Rosecrutions, Aleister Crowley, Margaret Murray, and various ceremonial groups and other people’s (anthropologists, folklorists, magicians) ideas. With the help of the peopel in his covens, he successfully formed the religion he called Wicca. All Wiccans are witches, but anyone else can be a witch as well. A Christain can be a witch, yet a Christian cannot be a Wiccan because they are already a Christian! It would be like being Jewish and a Buddhist, they just don’t mix. A lot of Wiccans practice magic, but as I’ve already stated, we never do magic to harm, we always to it to help or heal. Anyone can be a Witch and Wiccan and do magic. It just takes some study and a lot of practice. We are not born witches, we become them. We also work with herbs, crystals and stones, charms, and various other objects from nature when doing magic. Nature is a big part of wicca and an even bigger part of my Craft, Green Witchcraft. An important part of Wicca is the role of diety. We honor a God and Goddess, because there must be balance in life. There is no specific God and Goddess though, we usually look to ones from various pantheons, such as the Greek, Roman, Celtic, Norse, Irish, etc. The God and Goddess represent perfect balance, yet are really one energy.They are everything in nature - the trees, flowers, lakes, oceans, birds, animals, rocks, the air, fire, the earth and the universe - they are everything, even you and me! They do not reside far away... they are in us, around us and are always there for us. You can talk to them anytime and they will listen. Wicca is a way of life. I notice about a year after I started practicing Wicca that my whole outlook on life changed. I started to see the beauty in nature and in people, and my attitude on various topics changed and matured. Wicca is a religion, so it should be taken seriously, but not too seriously! If you goof up during a ritual dont panic, the God/Goddess understands. Dont be afraid to laugh at yourself. We also don't go around telling everyone we meet that were witches. Most people still dont understand what Wicca is all about and are likely to judge you based on the misinformaton they have heard. You can tell friends and family but don't be shouting it off the rooftops! If you decide that Wicca is the religion for you, the the most important advice I can give it is to do two things - Read, read and read some more! Check out all the websites you can and either check out books in your library or buy then. Yeah I know you'd rather buy other things (right now that is, once you get started, buying books on Wicca gets addicting!) but it is well worth the money to have good books to learn from. And when I mean good books, I dont mean the popular books on Wicca today. Most are filled with rubbish. I will say however, that buying those books can really give you a good idea of 'modern' Wicca, and later once you have read a lot about different paths and viewpoints, you can make your own assumptions. The second thing I recommend you do is to get outside and experience nature. Interact with it and feel it. Just talk to the god and goddess, feel each of the elements and meditate on nature. If you have space make an herb garden, and if you live near nature, take a walk, sit beneath trees and talk to the nature spirits. Believe me, interacting with nature and observing the changing of the seasons will do a whole lot for you. For me its the most important thing about being a Wiccan. So there you have it. Of course I wasn't able to cover everything so I would recommend you get out there and study and practice some more. I wish you well on your journey into Wicca and I hope you will find the path thats right for you! |
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