It is a religion and a way of life that is full of love and celebration and reverence for our deities. Wicca itself may be a fairly new term possibly the 60's by Gerald Gardner, but it stems from an even older way of life called Witchcraft. Witchcraft actually came about before Christianity was developed and so widespread. (Some may disagree with that statement.) Witchcraft is thought to have its roots in the ancient shamanic culture of the paleolithic times and heavily influenced by their sympathetic magickal ways. The tribe hunters would act out the actual hunt beforehand with symbolic representations in hopes that they would be successful in their true hunt for meat to feed their clan or tribe. This is sympathetic magick. Generally the women stayed behind to tend to the children and the elders of the group and prepare the meals. The women were generally the healers and midwives and weaved their own magick as well.They also used herbs for both its medicinal and magickal properties. In the olden days this was called wortcunning and still is by some people.

Wiccans believe in karma and reincarnation. Let me describe what that means. Some religions believe that when you die, your soul goes to either heaven or hell, depending on how much faith you had, or what kind of person you were in your life. Their God is the sole judge. But Wiccans feel you make your own destiny. The God and Goddess are always there to guide you in life, but they don’t judge your soul, or make your actions. This is where karma comes in.

Say you do something bad in your life. When you are reincarnated, or born again into another body in your next life, you will receive the same treatment that you did in your past life, only three times more. The opposite is true if you do something good. So that means there is good karma, or bad karma. But no matter what kind of karma you get, you will learn from it, and be a better person! You decide what kind of karma you will receive- you make your own destiny!

In the previous two sections, I summed up the more important parts of Wicca- the All Mighty Ones, and the philosophy of death. I feel that all religions are the same in that way- the God(s) and the afterlife are the most important parts. Wicca is no different, as you see. But there is a misconception about Wicca. Most people that have been mislead by hearsay, wrong information, and Hollywood movies. People that don’t understand the Wiccan religion, feel that we are devil worshipers or evil. That is so far from the truth. Wiccans don’t believe in hell, and we definitely don’t believe in Satan. So how can we worship Satan if we don’t believe he exists?

The Wiccan Rede is this-AN’ IT HARM NONE; DO WHAT THOU WILT!

That simply means, don’t harm anyone, or it will happen to you. I would like to know, how could our religion be evil with a rede like that? Most Wiccans live by that rede. We also have a three fold law. That means whatever we do to someone else, whether good or bad, it will come back three times the same(karma). What sane Witch would want something three times worse to happen to him/her if they harmed another person? None that I know of.

Wiccans do perform magick, but it isn’t to be confused with illusions. The magick we perform are not tricks, like a slight of hand that will make a dove appear. This magick comes from nature. It’s for spiritual and inner growth. There are no tricks, just the God and Goddess’ love. We ask Them for something, and They will deliver. If we need something, we can do a spell (magick) and the God and Goddess will answer. I hate to use this terminology, but it’s like a prayer. But it’s much more than a prayer because we use all the energy in ourselves and nature, to make results. To learn more on magick,visit my other webpage. I go into much more detail about this subject!

We have many rituals too. Rituals are basically to give praise to the Deities. Rituals can be performed in a coven (a group of Witches) or by a solitary Witch (one that would prefer to practice alone) . We do a ritual for everything from an Esbat to a Sabbat( a holiday, yes we have holidays! ) Everything in nature matters to a Wiccan, especially the moon. So when the moon is full, we have a ritual called "A Full Moon Rite". Every phase of the moon is important, but when it’s full, it’s at it’s height in glory.

Wiccan rituals are full of dance, chants, meditation, music, and magick. (But during Sabbats we don’t usually perform magick, because they are solely for the Deities. It’s Their day.) To me, rituals are very beautiful and spiritually fulfilling. Everyone that is involved with a ritual gets to participate, instead of sitting on a bench listening to someone else lecture, like in some religions.

I want to thank all who read this article. There is so much more involved with Wicca, but I touched on the basics. Here are some book titles for anyone that would like to learn more about Wicca. I recommend them highly for first Wicca books.

Blessed Be to all!

1. Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft –By Raymond Buckland
2. Wicca- A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner-By Scott Cunningham
3. True Magick- A Beginners Guide-By Amber K
4. Earth Power- By Scott Cunningham