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WICCA
Wicca or modern day witchcraft? Call it what you like. The name is unimportant to me. I’m more concerned with where I am now and how I feel. I personally have arrived at a point where I simply refer to myself as being pagan, or a simple witch.
This is a very simple explanation of Wicca and I don’t mind admitting so, because to explain Wicca would take a whole book. However, I truly hope from my heart that this will answer the one question 'What is Wicca'? Or at least go some way towards making it clearer for you.
Wicca or modern day witchcraft can be considered a modern day construction based on time-honoured practices, which are usually pagan in origin. It is a meshing of ancient principles of the earth itself, the elements, the movement of life and the flow of the seasons. All these aspects are part of the earth herself. It is a feeling or memory resonant in us all, that we have come home to a natural way back to the mother.
Wicca is an experience best felt not explained. In ancient times people realised the awesome forces of nature, and thus worshipped them. Some say it dates back to the Stone Age. Modern Wicca, in its current form has been around since the 1950’s. It is as unique as the individuals who practice it. It becomes personal, and that’s what makes it so comforting for me to be a Wiccan.
There is a balance of female and male polarity honouring a natural mother, the Goddess. She is the earth herself, and she wears many faces from Isis, Aphrodite, Gaia, to the dark goddess Hecate. The celestial moon is her symbol, and the earth and sea. You need only look around you to discover her beautiful gown of autumn leaves at this time of the year. As the Goddess she takes form as the Maiden, Mother and Crone – aspects of a women’s life. As the moon waxes and wanes and the seasons come and go she rebirths herself once again from spring to winter, winter to spring – she is eternal. She lies in all, even in ourselves because she is part of us.
Alongside the Goddess is the God, the hunter and the hunted, the watcher of the grains, the forests and cathedrals of the woods. He is the playful spirit and the consort of the Goddess. He can be seen as the playful Pan, Odin, Thor or simply Cernuous, or Horne. He takes the sun as his symbol, and fire and air. The sun gives warmth to the earth, the Goddess, and brings her to life nourishing her. The goddess and god in Wicca are separate yet one part of the same whole. They can be called many names, but in the end they all lead back to the same source. I personally don't give the Goddess and God names because I believe names are restricting and for me the Goddess and God are limitless. But sometimes as I take a walk, I refer to the Goddess as Gaia.
There is no Satan or devil. No malevolent being rubbing its claws together. Sorry to disappoint you. Witchcraft or Wicca simply has nothing to do with Satan. Some people don’t like the thought of not being believed, so they give any other ideas the name of devil worship. Similarly, one of the mass marketing campaigns of Christianity was to say that any spiritual practice not Christian was surely the work of the devil. But how could worship of the earth and nature ever be considered that malicious! Nature knows nothing of the evils of man. The nature of Nature is dark and beautiful, but it's certainly not evil.
All people are different and Wicca too has differences within its groups, called traditions. Each tradition worships the pantheon of gods they choose, and stick to their own ritual formats such as casting circle or calling quarters. The Goddess and God will also be known by the names appropriate to that group. Wicca is an evolving spirituality, as it must be in order to move forward, because stagnant things die. We come to know the Goddess and God in a way which is personal to us. The seasons follow a story of growth, maturity, death and rebirth, and a love story between the Goddess and God – their natural connection. The eight Sabbaths or seasonal celebrations mark the changes in nature as it progresses. These celebrations may be marked by elaborate rituals, or perhaps simply in silent observation of the world around us. There are eight seasonal celebrations. Imbolc on February 1st; spring equinox between March 21st and 23rd and Beltane on May 1st. Summer solstice may be any day between June 21st and 23rd depending on the position of the sun. Where the sun reaches its highest point we have the lonest day. Lammas is on August 1st; autumn Equinox between September 21st and 23rd; Samhain on October 31st and Yule between December 21st and 23rd – the shortest day. By being in touch with the seasons we become in touch with ourselves and attuned to the world around us. Some wiccans will hold elaborate ritual, some may observe in silent ways, simply by acknowledging the changes they see around them.
Magic is one of the most alluring aspects to Witchcraft. The prospect of receiving our heart's desire or having people fall prey to unsuspecting curses like in the movies, delights us! The movies are endless and so is the hype. I have no desire for revenge and would love to think that in our time and age enlightenment has set in. The level of how we handle our emotions is the level of our maturity. Dressing in black, spouting profanity, or putting curses on people is certainly nothing to do with Wicca. No offence to any Goths reading this! I have great appreciation for this type of dress – it's quite beautiful! But it should not be used as a spiritual statement. Dress as you feel but please don’t suggest it’s a requirement of being a Witch. You wouldn't know us if we met on the street because we look like everyone else, we have no need of such attention seeking.
Anyway, I lost my train of though didn’t I? Magick, yes Magick – the art of changing consciousness at will. Magick is using our personal power combined with the universal energy (call it God, nature, whatever you will), to reach a desired result, but not necessarily in the way we wanted or suspected! Personal power is the power we each contain within us. It's our own spark, our own energy; it's unique to us alone. Whilst universal power is the power which lies within all of us – even inanimate objects. This power is the breathing power of the Goddess. The energy that spouts the creativity of life and death. When walking through fields in autumn, I sense a greater presence that transcends my own. A feeling of complete wholeness – it just can't be put into words.
The universe understands symbols best, so when we do Magick we use things which represent what we want. These 'things' are called correspondences. Remember the old rule – like attracts like. The ancient cavemen show us that they believed that rule, and it can be witnessed in cave paintings. These show people wearing masks made of antlers and doing ritualistic dances to attract that animals spirit for a good hunt. So, similarly, we use as many things as possible to represent representations to tell the universe what we want. All these props act as a way to communicate to the universe. However as my friend Norm Vogel said, "Magick is not a cosmic Santa Clause". It's not an easy way to pursue your indulgences. It's simply a natural way in times of need. You see, the universe knows what is truly needed, and what are simply the whims of the ego, an attempt to indulge the trivial things. Maybe someone you know is sick, or you somehow need to pay for a bill and your funds are insufficient? Maybe you want the best possible opportunity to get a better job? Well, first you need to get out there and apply for jobs don’t you! Magick needs to be applied in the psychical world. You have to be very specific. Magick pulls things into perspective. It removes the negative blocks which stop us from receiving what we truly were meant to receive; and it pushes away things we don’t really need. It pulls or pushes. When using Magick we usually ask for the best possible outcome, being to the free will of all, and harm to none. This means that we are asking that Magick occurs in the best possible way without infringing on another’s free will and that the Magick doesn't harm anyone else to bring what you want. You don’t really want a relative dropping off just so you could somehow receive that money to pay a bill do you?
The phases of the moon are used to plan a spell. When the moon is waxing to full it is a good time to attract things to you, and from full to waning it’s a good time to push things way. For example pushing away goals that are no use to you, to banish poverty, to rid yourself of old habits. The waxing moon could be used to do healing, to attract love to yourself (without taking someone’s free will), to have more confidence to pass a test, and so on.
I am a simple witch. I acknowledge that the whole world is Magick, so I rarely feel the need to use it. At first when you come to Wicca it seems exciting, but you then begin to understand the spiritual content of Wicca. You see Magick is not spiritual – it could be paired with any spirituality. Magick is a part of Wicca yes, but practicing Magick does not make you a witch. You may meet witches who practice mainly Magick and hardly any of the spiritual side of the craft. You may meet witches who are mainly spiritually orientated such as me. What attracted me to Wicca was not the Magick but the spirituality. After all Wicca is a spiritual practice. Some witches like regimented rituals with candles or casting circles, and this is fine, but for me its as simple as nature.
A lot of ritual that is Wicca comes from ceremonial Magick. We have altars and tools such as the athame, the witch’s broom, the pentacle and many more. The athame is a simple knife used to direct energy to cast a circle, the broom to sweep away negativity, and the pentacle is a symbol of the elements, earth, or prosperity used to empower objects placed on its surface. There is no summoning of devils or demons, only the greater power of the universe. The circle is used to contain the positive energy we raise within it and to protect from outside influences. The Goddess and God don’t get hung up on that one perfect moment when you decide to do a ritual. No. They are here all the time and you can decide to attune to them at any moment – even when you're taking a shower! I believe this is how witchcraft was. Simple and flowing – a natural way to be. Some witches might do Magick with crystals, some use candles, others may even do Magick in the kitchen and bake that special pie or soup.
So to be a witch you don’t have to practice Magick, but it's there. Confusing isn’t it! Witchcraft is a big part of my life. Magick is not black or white – that's like asking are you a white or black Christian? It's all about intent. Magick for evil is not commonly used because it’s a twisting of nature and all it represents. What goes around comes around, usually three times stronger – or more, and even though Wicca is not set in stone, the use of negative Magick is a high price. You are using universal energy. Do you dare use it for negative purposes? Look at a stone cast in the water. The ripples affect everything – even you. Witchcraft is life affirming, and in all my days I have yet to meet a true witch who uses Magick to harm another for gratification or revenge – we are wiser than that. Sure there are exceptions, but when you use such energy you become infused with it because we are all infused with universal energy! So using it negatively would be locking inside you all that negative junk! Oh, no, not me!
Thousands of years ago people worshipped gods and goddess’s, and honoured and respected nature. Is said that in Stone Age times they worshipped a goddess of fertility and a god of hunting. As the world developed, and people migrated to other areas, the goddess and god took on many different names, and people developed many different ways to worship them. This is just one theory – perhaps you have heard others? The past is important but not as important as now. Paganism predates Christianity and Magick in itself is timeless. But put aside your beliefs for a moment and look around you at the natural world. She is singing, she is calling to be noticed, buried under concrete. Forgotten but re-awakened in the witches heart.
For some witches Halloween or Samhain is their New Year. Others prefer to celebrate the New Year when the sun, the life force of the earth, is being renewed at the beginning of the year. Samhain is a time when the veil between our world and the spiritual realms are thin. Spirits are free to travel to and from their realms. Of course there are the decorated houses, the 'trick or treaters' and the pumpkins to shed light in the darkness, which seems to have conquered the light for now. This is a good time to honour our deceased loved ones and our ancestors. Some people leave plates of food outside or bury apples in the ground to feed the friendly spirit wanderers as they pass by.
Pagans and witches know that death is never the end. It is transformation and renewal, and a change from the old. From endings come beginnings. It is a time of reflection. Ancestors are honoured, friends, people who we have loved but lost are remembered. A candle in the window guides spirits. Carved pumpkins scare away negative spirits. We bob for apples because it was thought that when a person caught the apple in their mouth, a little of their soul crept into it. You either ate the apple for prosperity, or buried the apple on the property to ensure continued bounty over the long winter months.
So, I wish you a very happy halloween. But however you choose to mark it, remember to give thanks to the Goddess and God for the great wonder and Magick of our world.
