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[from http://www.dragonwood.com/whatwicc.htm ]

Subject: What is Wicca
                                    [IMAGE]
                                       
     HISTORY
     
     [IMAGE] 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
     worshipped by Wiccans to this very day. By these standards, the
     religion that is now called Wicca, is perhaps the oldest religion in
     the world.
     
     [IMAGE] In 1951, the laws against Witchcraft were repealed in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.
     
     MISCONCEPTIONS
     
     [IMAGE] 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. While we
     modern witches have been known to stir up herbal remedies in a
     cauldron, we are a far cry indeed from the horrifying Wicked Witch
     of the West!
     
     [IMAGE] 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. [From my
     own experience, I must say that the only evil I have ever observed
     in the world has come from Man. There are no ax-murderers, or
     child-abusers to be found in the animal kingdom, or in nature as a
     whole.]
     
     [IMAGE] Witches Do Not Cast Evil Spells. Modern Witches have a very
     strict belief in the Law of Return. Whatever we send out into our
     world shall return to us, so even the most ill-tempered Witch would
     not consider doing magick to harm another being. The spells that we
     do involve things like HEALING, LOVE, WISDOM, CREATIVITY, and JOY.
     The "potions" that we stir might be a headache remedy, or a cold
     tonic, or an herbal flea bath for the family dog.
     
     
     BELIEFS
     
     [IMAGE] 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 we must treat
     our peers, and all the beings of the Earth as aspects of the Divine.
     We attempt to honour and respect life, in all its many and diverse
     expressions.
     
     [IMAGE] Nature. Wiccans learn from and worship nature by celebrating
     the cycles of the sun, and the cycles of the moon. We look into
     ourselves for the cycles within that correspond to those of the
     natural world, and try to move in harmony with the movement of life.
     Our teachers come in the form of trees, rivers, lakes, meadows, and
     mountains, as well as other humans who have walked the path before
     us. This belief infers a reverence and respect for the environment,
     and all of life upon the Earth We revere the spirits of the elements
     that create our world. Air, Fire, Water, and Earth combine to
     manifest all creation. From these four elements we gain wisdom, and
     understanding of how the universe unfolds. The rhythms of nature are
     the rhythms of our lives. Wiccans attempt to dance in step with the
     pulse of the Earth.
     
     [IMAGE] Other Faiths. Modern Witches believe in freedom first! We do
     not choose to look at our path as the "one true right way," but as
     one path among many to the center. We do not convert new members to
     the Craft, nor do we advertise or prosteletize. We 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.
     
     [IMAGE] 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.
     
     [IMAGE] 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.
     
     [IMAGE] 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. It encourages us to strive not to harm any
     living thing - including ourselves - except perhaps to survive.
     Whether this means that you must become a vegetarian or a passivist
     is up to the individual. 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.
     
     [IMAGE] 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. [In our tradition, the word High Priest/ess means
     servant; one who serves the God, the Goddess, the community, nature,
     and Life. It does not mean that a High Priestess is higher or better
     than anyone else. I think of the title as one that I will spend the
     entirety of my life striving to live up to.]
     
     [IMAGE] Churches and Temples. Wiccans do not usually have churches
     created specifically for the worship of the gods. Our temple is
     found in nature, among the creations of the divine. We meet in a
     circle that represents the Circle of Life, and the equality that we
     share. There is no head, no top, no beginning and no end. When
     necessary, our circles take place indoors in houses, apartments, or
     wherever we can find a sacred, protected space. But ideally, a
     circle will take place in a grove beneath the stars, with the silver
     moon shining down from above.
     
     [IMAGE] 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, we can create change for ourselves and for our
     world. We use herbs, oils, colours, stones, crystals, and other
     symbolic materials to represent the change we 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, we have the power to change it. As aspects
     of the divine, we are each Creator and Creatress, filled with the
     power to manifest all that we dream of or desire. [A more personal
     description of magick can be found under the title "What is Magick?
     in the Reading Room.]
     
     [IMAGE] What is Wicca? Wicca is a forest in the light of the silvery
     moon...a glade enchanted by the light of the Faery. It is the
     dewdrop on the petals of a flower in bloom, the warmth of the summer
     sun on the skin, the fall of colourful autumn leaves, and the
     softness of winter snow upon the Earth. It is light, and shadow and
     all that lies in between. It is the song of the wind, and the tune
     of the tides. It is the symphony of life! To be a Witch is to be a
     healer, a teacher, a seeker, a giver, and a protector of all things
     living and alive. If this path be yours, may you tread it with
     honour and with light!
     
     Blessed Be.
     
   Copyright © 1997 Dragonwood, Inc.

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