There's a lot of things that you must know about Wicca before you make any uninformed judgements about the religion and those who practice it. In writing this I'm aiming at an audience of non-Wiccan people who may not know much about the religion but might have someone near them who does practice it. Also, in writing this article I'm not trying to set any standards or set beliefs. My aim here is simply to inform and educate.
The list of facts is below in no particular order of importance.
Source:
1. We do not worship or believe in the "devil," Satan, or any Christian concept of such an entity.
2. We believe in Karma. Whatever we do comes back on us threefold.
3. We don't conform to any specific set of rules and beliefs although we all have many things in common.
4. We believe in justice for all.
5. We practice what we view as The Old Religion, something that existed well before Christianity. We commonly call it "The Craft."
6. Some people who are Wiccan, (or practice Wicca, according to what you want to call it - the official religion is named Wicca), do not practice witchcraft and others do. It's a personal choice.
7. Both male and female practitioners call themselves "Witches".
8. We see magic in everything and especially in the cycles of nature.
9. We care about others and our community. We help others and the Earth.
10. We don't have an official "bible" or other dogmatic religious text that dictate what we think or believe. We have thousands of study texts where we gain our knowledge and also by learning through other who practice Wicca. We constantly learn and gain knowledge.
11. The Craft is not for lazy people. It is an everyday, constantly changing and evolving, working practice for all those involved. You live Wicca everyday and not just at certain times.
12. Our calendar is called "The Wheel of the Year" and is the cycles of nature and the Equinoxes. It includes both Sabbats and Esbats (full moon) holidays when we practice magic and Ritual.
13. We have never killed in the name of Religion.
14. We believe that the cycles of nature and the Cosmos actively effect our bodies, minds, and souls. We try to live in a balance within those cycles and use them for our greater benefit.
15. We constantly educate ourselves on our Craft and the world around us.
16. We believe that the Divine is in the forms of both a God and Goddess, both male and female aspects as found in nature, and are very alive and present with us. We do not have a set Pantheon and choose for ourselves which is best suited for us individually to work with. We do not worship them but instead we work with them. To help understand this, the one Godhead has both a male and female form.
17. We are both Solitary and also have Covens. Solitary Practitioners work alone and do magic and Ritual alone, where as a in a Coven environment a group of Witches have certain jobs and responsibilities concerning the Ritual working. It is up to the individual Witch whether to be solitary or be a part of a coven.
18. When someone that is Wiccan casts a spell, what they are essentially saying is that they are praying. Spells are our way of praying.
19. Wicca specifically does focus on feminism but there are just as many male Witches as there are female.
20. When we do a religious ritual we call it "casting a circle" or "doing Circle." This is our sacred space.
21. Many other religions that speak and act against us have"borrowed" a lot of our practices and beliefs while speaking out against us and those same practices from the other side of their mouths.
22. We are open minded towards everyone.
23. We defend ourselves from the harms that others direct at us. We are proud of who and what we are. We should never be in any kind of danger because of it, yet many of us are.
24. There is still witch hysteria in the world today. There are still witch hunts, burnings, hangings, and other witch executions happening as I speak. This is what happens in an uneducated population.
25. We are still being accused as attackers of all that is wholesome and good. Again, from an uninformed population.
26. We dress appropriately for our beliefs. Every article of our clothing has a meaning and magical purpose. The stereotypes that are out there about our style of dressing are unfortunate. Our attire is no different than a priest putting on his collar or monk donning his robes.
27. We believe in celebration and fun on our holidays and full moon Esbats.
28. We strive to live a magical life. This is our work. We live it everyday. Hypocrites are hard to come by within the ranks of those who practice The Craft because it is real work. Those who would pretend will soon give up on the cherade because no amount of pretending is worth what you would have to do to keep up the facade of not actually being a practitioner of Wicca. This is why I said earlier that The Craft it's not for lazy people either. I'm not trying to be mean, it's just a fact. We are constantly doing. Yes they are pretenders out there but you can spot them because they will not be doing the real work that the religion and practice entails. These are not real Witches because real Witches do the work.
29. We are not your average fortune tellers on the street, although some of us might do that to earn a well needed extra buck or two. Usually you can look directly at us and not ever know that we are Witches unless we tell you. Not every Witch practices divination! There is no set practice or formula that will match everybody.
30. When we congregate it's usually a party. We firmly believe in joy and happiness and try to bring it to everyone around us if they will accept it. Most of us enjoy it but there are a few reclusive people in The Craft and that is okay, too.
31. We do not judge others. We accept each other and work together most of the time.
32. We don't evangelize. We seek to spread knowledge of who and what we are to accomplish a more educated public. We are not trying to convert you. We believe that those who were meant to practice The Craft will find it on their own and then come to us to learn.
33. We accept all of those who have other beliefs except for those that act against us. We do not attack others or other religions.
34. We do not worship nature, we honor it. Just as we do the pantheons and do not worship them but instead work with them, so likewise we do with nature and honor it.
35. We do not carry our tools as weapons, they are our magical tools that we use in ritual. Sometimes they do consist of swords of all sizes, knives, and daggers. They have meaning and are an essential part of our ritual. They are sacred.
36. We might carry weird stuff around with us like tarot cards. Again, these are our sacred tools.
37. We do not all work with spirits but some of us do. It's personal choice. Don't get the idea that Witches go around summoning spirits of the dead everywhere or even when they go into ritual Circle or do a spell. We don't. We do believe that all nature has spirit in it. This is a completely different thing than summoning lost loved ones or communicating with the dead. A lot of people get it mixed up so don't mix it up.
38. The act of sex is sacred. We do not go around having orgies although some of us might participate in them. That's a personal thing, not a religious thing, and all practitioners do not practice sex magic but some do. Do not approach us and expect sex. That's dumb.
39. We are open-minded and we speak our minds. Most of us are not shrinking violets. We practice and stand up for what we believe in.
40. A lot of us have altars. There could be a million different things on someone's altar because that is personal to them, it is their sacred space. Do not mess with our altars unless you have specific permission. It is a violation a personal and sacred space plus it will break our trust of you.
41. We write down our knowledge and things called Books of Shadows and Grimoires. Just like the altar, do not touch our books and tools without specific permission. Those are perhaps the most private aspect of practicing Wicca. It is an utter violation a personal space and rights and all that is sacred to us if you touch it, look at it, or mess with it in any way. With everything that belongs to us, simply practice human decency. Trust us and give us the privacy we need to practice what we believe. We will respect you for that.
42. Most of us will not cast a spell on anyone without their expressed permission. We have a code of ethics.
43. A lot of us work with something called Elementals. These are not demons as the Christian Church and other Abrahamic religions would have you believe! These are spirits of nature. As I said earlier we believe that all nature has spirit in it. It is very much alive. These Elementals come in many, many forms and are called by many names such as fairy folk. That's just an example.
We work with the four elements: earth, air, fire, and water. There is a fifth Element when you combine those four and this is what we live by, it's called Spirit. This is what the pentagram in pentacle stand for: the four lower points of the star represent the four physical elements while the top point represents them combined called Spirit. When there's a circle around the pentagram which is simply the five pointed star then it becomes a pentacle and the circle around it represents the turning Wheel of the Year and the Cycle of Life. The star is always pointed upward in Wicca and that represents the Witch living and ruled by Spirit. It encompasses the ethic of do no harm. As they saying goes "And it harm none, do what thou wilt."
44. Wicca is a combination of a lot of pagan beliefs. It was imagined in the 1950s by a British man named Gerald Gardner. It is a legal religion in the United States and protected by law.
45. Wicca has ordained clergy although we do not view them as authority. What they do is guide people spiritually, do weddings, or hand-fastings as we call them, and sometimes we lay people to rest. I am ordained clergy. I have been practicing Wicca and Witchcraft for over 30 years now. I choose to help others in every way that I can. Being ordained Wiccan clergy (priest or priestess) it's the legal side of the spiritual practice. You do not have to be ordained.
46. There are different types or categories of Witches. These are usually classified with a specific elements of The Craft that the individual practitioner favors. For example, I am a Solitary Celtic Priestess because of the aspects and style of The Craft that I have chosen. I could also be classified as a Green Witch because I love to work with herbs and stuff from nature. I could possibly be classified as a Fairy Wicca Practitioner because I do work with the realm of the Fae. It is very hard to classify any Witch who works hard at their craft because there's so much involved. Within the classification, if they decide to give themselves one, that they choose there are still many elements that witches usually work with and that makes the classification of the type of Witch that they are hard to pin down into one specific topic or category.
47. If we've not invited you into our Circle when we're doing a spell or ritual, please don't interrupt us or walk into it. We have drawn a sacred barrier and we believe that it is a barrier between our world and the world of Spirit and Magic. It is the utmost sacred space that we have. We have specific beliefs about people or entities crossing our magic circle boundary that will completely screw up our ritual and purpose. As with all things, wait for an invitation. Again, practice human decency.
48. Please learn what our magical tools are. If you see something and one of our tools is being used please don't touch that either. Just leave it alone and if you're that curious come and ask us. This is also sacred space.
49. If a Witch invites you to witness their ritual or participate in it, please view it as a high honor and treat the invitation as such. They have invited you into their most sacred space. Please be respectful of it. It is not a common honor, especially from a solitary practitioner.
50. We love our hats. Don't make fun of them!
Thank you for listening! I wrote this list as I thought about writing them down and not in a specific order. I wrote this article to help everyone. I hope it does just that.
Merry Meet, and Merry Part, and Merry Meet again!
Blessed Be!
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