Wicca explained
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Wicca explained
by FIRE June 26th 2009, 9:09 pm
is a neo-pagan, nature-based religion. It was popularized in 1954 by Gerald Gardner.
some wiccans consider themselves pagan, some don't.
NOTE: not all witches are wiccan.
Wicca is a duo-theistic religion worshiping both a God and a Goddess, including the rituals of magic, a basic code of morality called the Rede), and the celebration of eight seasonal-based festivals.
It is the embodiments of a life-force manifest in nature. The God is sometimes symbolized as the Sun, and the Goddess as the Moon. A couple of types of Wicca: Gardnerian and Alexandrian. These are now collectively known in North America as British Traditional Wicca
Traditionally the God is associated with nature, wilderness, sexuality and hunting. The God is given various names according to the tradition, and these include Cernunnos, Pan, Atho and Karnayna. At other times the God is viewed as the Green Man, a traditional figure in art and architecture of Europe, or as a Sun God (particularly at the festival of Litha, or the summer solstice). Another depiction of the God is as the Oak King and the Holly King, one who rules over Spring and Summer, the other who rules over Autumn and Winter.
The Goddess is usually portrayed as a Triple Goddess with aspects of 'Maiden', 'Mother' and 'Crone',though she is also commonly depicted as a Moon Goddess. Some Wiccans see the Goddess as pre-eminent, since she contains and conceives all; the God is the spark of life and inspiration within her, simultaneously her lover and her child. This is reflected in the traditional structure of the coven. In some traditions, notably feminist Dianic Wicca, the Goddess is seen as complete unto herself, and the God is not worshiped at all, though this has been criticized by members of other traditions. Secondarily, the God is also sometimes viewed in a triple form (possibly in a reflective religious homage to the triple Goddess, referencing their complementary polarity) that being the aspects of 'Son', 'Father' and 'Sage
The duo theism of the God and the Goddess is often extended into a kind of dual pantheism through the belief, in the words of Dion Fortune, that "all gods are one god, and all goddesses are one goddess" —that is, the gods and goddesses of all cultures are, respectively, aspects of one supernal god and goddess. For instance, a Wiccan may regard the Germanic Eostre, Hindu Kali, and Christian Virgin Mary each as manifestations of one supreme Goddess—and, likewise, the Celtic Cernunnos, the ancient Greek Dionysus and the Judeo-Christian Yahweh as aspects of a single, archetypal God.
A more polytheistic approach holds the various gods and goddesses to be separate and distinct entities in their own right. Pantheistic systems may conceive of deities not as literal personalities but as metaphorical archetypes or thought forms. While these conceptualizations of deity—duo theism, polytheism and pantheism—may seem radically different from each other, they need not be considered mutually exclusive: Some Wiccans may find it spiritually beneficial (or magically practical) to shift among one or another of these systems, depending upon time and circumstance.
Beliefs in the afterlife vary among Wiccans, although reincarnation is a traditional Wiccan teaching. Raymond Buckland said that a soul reincarnates into the same species over many lives in order to learn and advance one's soul,[28] but this belief is not universal. A popular saying amongst Wiccans is "once a witch, always a witch", indicating that Wiccans are the reincarnation of earlier witches.
Typically, Wiccans who believe in reincarnation believe that prior to this, the soul rests for a while in the Otherworld or Summerland, known in Gardner's writings as the "ectasy of the Goddess". Many Wiccans believe in the ability to contact the spirits of the dead who reside in the Otherworld through spirit mediums and ouija boards, particularly on the sabbat of Samhain, though some disagree with this practice, such as High Priest Alex Sanders, who stated "they are dead; leave them in peace". This belief was likely influenced by Spiritualism, which was very popular at the time, and which Gardner had had experience with.
Despite some belief in it, Wicca does not place an emphasis on the afterlife, focusing instead on the current one; as the historian Ronald Hutton remarked, "the instinctual position of most pagan witches, therefore, seems to be that if one makes the most of the present life, in all respects, then the next life is more or less certainly going to benefit from the process, and so one may as well concentrate on the present"
Wiccans believe in magic that can be manipulated through the form of witchcraft or sorcery. Some spell it as "magick", a term coined by occultist Allister Crowley, though this spelling is more commonly associated with the religion of Thelema than Wicca. Wiccans cast spells during ritual practices inside a sacred circle, in an attempt to bring about real changes Common Wiccan spells include those used for healing, for love, for fertility, or to banish negative influences. Wiccans do not practice any dark arts and far from satanic!
Many Wiccans agree with the definition of magic offered by ceremonial magicians.[33]Aleister Crowley, for instance, declared that magic was "the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with will", and MacGregor Mathers stated that it was "the science of the control of the secret forces of nature".[33] Wiccans believe magic to be a law of nature, as yet misunderstood by contemporary science.[33] Other Wiccans do not claim to know how magic works, merely believing that it does because they have seen it work for them.
Many early Wiccans, such as Alex Sanders and Doreen Valiente, referred to their own magic as "white magic", which contrasted with "black magic", which they associated with evil and Satanism. Some modern Wiccans however have stopped using this terminology, disagreeing that the color black should have any associations with evil.
Wiccan morality is largely based on the Wiccan Rede, which states "an it harm none, do what ye will". This is usually interpreted as a declaration of the freedom to act, along with the necessity of taking responsibility for what follows from one's actions and minimizing harm to oneself and others. Another common element of Wiccan morality is the Law of Threefold Return which holds that whatever benevolent or malevolent actions a person performs will return to that person with triple force, similar to the eastern idea of karma.
Many Wiccans also seek to cultivate a set of eight virtues mentioned in Doreen Valiente's Charge of the Goddess, these being mirth, reverence, honor, humility, strength, beauty, power and compassion. In Valiente's poem, they are ordered in pairs of complementary opposites, reflecting a dualism that is common throughout Wiccan philosophy. Some lineaged Wiccans also observe a set of 161 Wiccan Laws, commonly called the Craft Laws or Ardanes. Valiente, one of Gardner's original high priestesses, argued that these rules were most likely invented by Gerald Gardner himself in mock-archaic language as the by-product of inner conflict within his Bricket Wood coven
Wiccans believe in the five classical elements, although unlike in ancient Greece, they are seen as symbolic as opposed to literal. These five elements are invoked during many magical rituals, notably when consecrating a magic circle. The five elements are; Air, Fire, Water, Earth and Aether, or "Spirit", which unites the other four.
Various analogies have been devised to explain the concept of the five elements, for instance, the Wiccan Ann-Marie Gallagher used that of a tree. A tree is composed of Earth (with the soil and plant matter), Water (sap and moisture), Fire (through photosynthesis) and Air (the creation of oxygen from carbon dioxide). All these are united through Spirit.
Traditionally, each element has been associated with a cardinal point of the compass; Air with east, Fire with south, Water with west, Earth with north and the Spirit with centre. However, some Wiccans, such as Frederic Lamond, have claimed that the set cardinal points are only those applicable to the geography of southern England, where Wicca evolved, and that Wiccans should determine which directions best suit each element in their region, for instance, those living on the east coast of North America should invoke Water in the east and not the west because the colossal body of water, the Atlantic ocean, is to their east.
The five elements are symbolized by the five points of the pentagram, the most prominently used symbol of Wicca.
some wiccans consider themselves pagan, some don't.
NOTE: not all witches are wiccan.
Wicca is a duo-theistic religion worshiping both a God and a Goddess, including the rituals of magic, a basic code of morality called the Rede), and the celebration of eight seasonal-based festivals.
It is the embodiments of a life-force manifest in nature. The God is sometimes symbolized as the Sun, and the Goddess as the Moon. A couple of types of Wicca: Gardnerian and Alexandrian. These are now collectively known in North America as British Traditional Wicca
Traditionally the God is associated with nature, wilderness, sexuality and hunting. The God is given various names according to the tradition, and these include Cernunnos, Pan, Atho and Karnayna. At other times the God is viewed as the Green Man, a traditional figure in art and architecture of Europe, or as a Sun God (particularly at the festival of Litha, or the summer solstice). Another depiction of the God is as the Oak King and the Holly King, one who rules over Spring and Summer, the other who rules over Autumn and Winter.
The Goddess is usually portrayed as a Triple Goddess with aspects of 'Maiden', 'Mother' and 'Crone',though she is also commonly depicted as a Moon Goddess. Some Wiccans see the Goddess as pre-eminent, since she contains and conceives all; the God is the spark of life and inspiration within her, simultaneously her lover and her child. This is reflected in the traditional structure of the coven. In some traditions, notably feminist Dianic Wicca, the Goddess is seen as complete unto herself, and the God is not worshiped at all, though this has been criticized by members of other traditions. Secondarily, the God is also sometimes viewed in a triple form (possibly in a reflective religious homage to the triple Goddess, referencing their complementary polarity) that being the aspects of 'Son', 'Father' and 'Sage
The duo theism of the God and the Goddess is often extended into a kind of dual pantheism through the belief, in the words of Dion Fortune, that "all gods are one god, and all goddesses are one goddess" —that is, the gods and goddesses of all cultures are, respectively, aspects of one supernal god and goddess. For instance, a Wiccan may regard the Germanic Eostre, Hindu Kali, and Christian Virgin Mary each as manifestations of one supreme Goddess—and, likewise, the Celtic Cernunnos, the ancient Greek Dionysus and the Judeo-Christian Yahweh as aspects of a single, archetypal God.
A more polytheistic approach holds the various gods and goddesses to be separate and distinct entities in their own right. Pantheistic systems may conceive of deities not as literal personalities but as metaphorical archetypes or thought forms. While these conceptualizations of deity—duo theism, polytheism and pantheism—may seem radically different from each other, they need not be considered mutually exclusive: Some Wiccans may find it spiritually beneficial (or magically practical) to shift among one or another of these systems, depending upon time and circumstance.
Beliefs in the afterlife vary among Wiccans, although reincarnation is a traditional Wiccan teaching. Raymond Buckland said that a soul reincarnates into the same species over many lives in order to learn and advance one's soul,[28] but this belief is not universal. A popular saying amongst Wiccans is "once a witch, always a witch", indicating that Wiccans are the reincarnation of earlier witches.
Typically, Wiccans who believe in reincarnation believe that prior to this, the soul rests for a while in the Otherworld or Summerland, known in Gardner's writings as the "ectasy of the Goddess". Many Wiccans believe in the ability to contact the spirits of the dead who reside in the Otherworld through spirit mediums and ouija boards, particularly on the sabbat of Samhain, though some disagree with this practice, such as High Priest Alex Sanders, who stated "they are dead; leave them in peace". This belief was likely influenced by Spiritualism, which was very popular at the time, and which Gardner had had experience with.
Despite some belief in it, Wicca does not place an emphasis on the afterlife, focusing instead on the current one; as the historian Ronald Hutton remarked, "the instinctual position of most pagan witches, therefore, seems to be that if one makes the most of the present life, in all respects, then the next life is more or less certainly going to benefit from the process, and so one may as well concentrate on the present"
Wiccans believe in magic that can be manipulated through the form of witchcraft or sorcery. Some spell it as "magick", a term coined by occultist Allister Crowley, though this spelling is more commonly associated with the religion of Thelema than Wicca. Wiccans cast spells during ritual practices inside a sacred circle, in an attempt to bring about real changes Common Wiccan spells include those used for healing, for love, for fertility, or to banish negative influences. Wiccans do not practice any dark arts and far from satanic!
Many Wiccans agree with the definition of magic offered by ceremonial magicians.[33]Aleister Crowley, for instance, declared that magic was "the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with will", and MacGregor Mathers stated that it was "the science of the control of the secret forces of nature".[33] Wiccans believe magic to be a law of nature, as yet misunderstood by contemporary science.[33] Other Wiccans do not claim to know how magic works, merely believing that it does because they have seen it work for them.
Many early Wiccans, such as Alex Sanders and Doreen Valiente, referred to their own magic as "white magic", which contrasted with "black magic", which they associated with evil and Satanism. Some modern Wiccans however have stopped using this terminology, disagreeing that the color black should have any associations with evil.
Wiccan morality is largely based on the Wiccan Rede, which states "an it harm none, do what ye will". This is usually interpreted as a declaration of the freedom to act, along with the necessity of taking responsibility for what follows from one's actions and minimizing harm to oneself and others. Another common element of Wiccan morality is the Law of Threefold Return which holds that whatever benevolent or malevolent actions a person performs will return to that person with triple force, similar to the eastern idea of karma.
Many Wiccans also seek to cultivate a set of eight virtues mentioned in Doreen Valiente's Charge of the Goddess, these being mirth, reverence, honor, humility, strength, beauty, power and compassion. In Valiente's poem, they are ordered in pairs of complementary opposites, reflecting a dualism that is common throughout Wiccan philosophy. Some lineaged Wiccans also observe a set of 161 Wiccan Laws, commonly called the Craft Laws or Ardanes. Valiente, one of Gardner's original high priestesses, argued that these rules were most likely invented by Gerald Gardner himself in mock-archaic language as the by-product of inner conflict within his Bricket Wood coven
Wiccans believe in the five classical elements, although unlike in ancient Greece, they are seen as symbolic as opposed to literal. These five elements are invoked during many magical rituals, notably when consecrating a magic circle. The five elements are; Air, Fire, Water, Earth and Aether, or "Spirit", which unites the other four.
Various analogies have been devised to explain the concept of the five elements, for instance, the Wiccan Ann-Marie Gallagher used that of a tree. A tree is composed of Earth (with the soil and plant matter), Water (sap and moisture), Fire (through photosynthesis) and Air (the creation of oxygen from carbon dioxide). All these are united through Spirit.
Traditionally, each element has been associated with a cardinal point of the compass; Air with east, Fire with south, Water with west, Earth with north and the Spirit with centre. However, some Wiccans, such as Frederic Lamond, have claimed that the set cardinal points are only those applicable to the geography of southern England, where Wicca evolved, and that Wiccans should determine which directions best suit each element in their region, for instance, those living on the east coast of North America should invoke Water in the east and not the west because the colossal body of water, the Atlantic ocean, is to their east.
The five elements are symbolized by the five points of the pentagram, the most prominently used symbol of Wicca.
FIRE-
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Re: Wicca explained
by Spirit-Being July 1st 2009, 8:45 pm
As i was reading i saw a lot of what Wiccan's believe is also part of me. The chant was amazing as well.
Thanks for posting Fire
Many Blessings
Thanks for posting Fire
Many Blessings
Spirit-Being- Founder
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Re: Wicca explained
by d-knots July 15th 2009, 8:01 pm
i agree the chant was awesome
and so simplistically natural
what we all know; envoking nature so simply
was really sweet....LOL
the pics of the youtube video add interest
althought I have to say the first pic
scares me....it's dark and ghouly...LOL
the pentagram is so misunderstood isn't it
I've heard it said it's a femenine symbol associated
with Mary the wife of Jesus.... the Holy Grail quest
very intriguing what other folks believe and can prove...
Education is amazing!
and so simplistically natural
what we all know; envoking nature so simply
was really sweet....LOL
the pics of the youtube video add interest
althought I have to say the first pic
scares me....it's dark and ghouly...LOL
the pentagram is so misunderstood isn't it
I've heard it said it's a femenine symbol associated
with Mary the wife of Jesus.... the Holy Grail quest
very intriguing what other folks believe and can prove...
Education is amazing!
d-knots- Administrators
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Registration date : 2008-12-16
Re: Wicca explained
by Serenity - Dawn October 11th 2009, 10:10 am
Wicca, and other nature based beliefs have come along way, I think.
There are still some mis-understandings, but more and more people are compelled to look, and appreciate nature, & each other in a different way. These types of beliefs have been slowly gaining recognition through the years. I wonder if it's because of The Shift that's taking place.
There are still some mis-understandings, but more and more people are compelled to look, and appreciate nature, & each other in a different way. These types of beliefs have been slowly gaining recognition through the years. I wonder if it's because of The Shift that's taking place.
Serenity - Dawn-
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Re: Wicca explained
by canadianmind October 25th 2009, 10:26 am
THe shift, as me and everyone here probably knows, isnt going to happen overnight. In the last few years we have all seen the signs. More and more "findings" about our beginnings ( physics, spiritual, anthropology etc), and more importiant.. more and more people opening up there minds and for the firs time in there lives thinking and asking questions, other then blind obedience. I only say this becasue there are unfortunatly people who just take what there givin at birth, and dont bother to question, or ask questions on why.
Just think of the discoveries in the last 10 years or so, how many of our anscistors that we previously thought didnt exsist, or more and more pyramyds, the supposed tomb of jesus family ( just a side note, the dna sample was send to my city to be tested), rediscovery of improtiant incan/.mayan temples. The biggest thing I find is how many psycic/ghost/spiritual shows are on tv now. Even shows about aliens. The shif tis happening, and the closer we get to 2012, the faster its going to happen....
Just think of the discoveries in the last 10 years or so, how many of our anscistors that we previously thought didnt exsist, or more and more pyramyds, the supposed tomb of jesus family ( just a side note, the dna sample was send to my city to be tested), rediscovery of improtiant incan/.mayan temples. The biggest thing I find is how many psycic/ghost/spiritual shows are on tv now. Even shows about aliens. The shif tis happening, and the closer we get to 2012, the faster its going to happen....
canadianmind-
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Re: Wicca explained
by Serenity - Dawn October 25th 2009, 12:32 pm
I was just thinking about this, this morning..
About how far we've all come in the last 20, or even 10 years..
I agree, it will take time for everyone to become " Awakened".
Speaking of 2012, I want to see that movie that's coming out..
Boy, when Hollywood gets a hold of an idea, they sure run with it..
Take a look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVi_2lHBVhQ
About how far we've all come in the last 20, or even 10 years..
I agree, it will take time for everyone to become " Awakened".
Speaking of 2012, I want to see that movie that's coming out..
Boy, when Hollywood gets a hold of an idea, they sure run with it..
Take a look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVi_2lHBVhQ
Serenity - Dawn-
Number of posts : 284
Age : 57
Location : Canada
Hobbies : I love astral travelling...
Tell us about yourself : I love animals, and nature. I believe we all come from the same Divine Sacred Source, and we are all entwined as one, with the universe.
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Registration date : 2009-10-10
Re: Wicca explained
by freebie November 9th 2009, 1:28 pm
Thank you Fire for posting this I learned a lot about Wicca. The music video was wonderful as well.
freebie-
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Maggie-May-
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Spirit-Being- Founder
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