Wicca

[Radha]

I am personally a bit disapointed in most groups who use the name "wicca".  There IS real Wicca.  And there is the "God-knows-what stuff some people do in the name.
For those who do walk the way, there is a village in a certain country.  Every man, woman, and child in the village are initiated members of the old way.  This village has been this way for centuries.  I have a dear friend who is allowed to go there once a year, and while there they will give this friend one hour.  During that hour my friend can access the greatest book of shadows the planet has probably ever known.  Their book goes back to beyond the 1200's AD.  My friend then let me study, and copy if I wished, from the notes taken.  Herb remedies hundreds of years in the proving by trail and error.  Psychological insights that became customs and ways they trod because they produced results.  A truly astounding group.
Do they have real practical powers?  One night a few years back, my friend invited me to take part in certain things they did on that day.  Half way into the evening, a lovely Druid Princess went to the altar, and when she raised her hands and began to chant, even the stars got quiet.  We were all asked to leave the room while she "prepared the place" for what was coming.  Little did we suspect.
While we were all outside a sudden silence fell over the space.  Like a vacuum that sucked all sound out and put it in a bottle for the djinn to keep.  Suddenly I felt the most intense, from-the depths-of-my-soul love welling up within me.  I stood there a second and then I recognized that "footprint".  It was ISIS.  I had not felt that presence in a very long time, and could hardly believe SHE was present.
We were summoned back into the room and the druid priestess stood tranposed before us.  She had willingly given her body to our Lady so she could preside.  And preside she did.  At the end, each of us was drenched in sweat from the high energy we were working in...and the priestess who was assisting said each of us could come to the Lady and ask her one question.
When I got there, before I could speak, she called me by a name.  I knew then that this was no imagining.  She then asked if I remembered a time I had done a certain deed for her.  I finally squeaked out a "Yes."  She said she had never forgotten and from this point on I was under her care...until another teacher came ready.  Then she touched 3 places on my head.
It took my days to get over that night.  And the teacher showed up just as she said.
There IS Wicca.  I know because I have seen it and been in it's working.  Just remember, SHE is there to all who reach for her.
Blessed BE
Blessed IS.

[Rob]

WOW incredible story, thats one place I'd love to visit.

[T_Kman0610]

im just getting into witch craft, does anyone have any basic books beginners should start out with? the book i have is called witch craft for everyday life and modern living. its got alot of spells and info on herbs, incense etc.

Thanx,
T_Kman0610

[Aristoles]

I myself dont believe in wicca,but i was wondering,why have every wiccan i have ever met been practicing "witchcraft"?

[AngelicSaiyan]

Because Wiccans are good witches/warlocks or whatever
Watch Charmed, you'll understand...

Men can be Wiccans, right?   Please forgive my ignorance, I do not know everything about every religion

[NatureWizard]

there is no such thing as Warlock
Warlock means liar on oath.Hollywood added Warlock to male witchs to make the movie sound more scary and evil.

[AngelicSaiyan]

Thank you, I was not aware of that fact

[Tenacious]

AngelicSaiyan-


Yes Men also can be wiccan.  Just yesterday I was reading the Wiccan Book For Men [].  However, the wiccan relegion seems to be more oriented towards women for some reason.  I'm not exactly sure why, but if I find an answer I'll let yah know!

Now Beth-

Since you have extensive knowledge of the bible, please try to answer my question .   In the bible, it states that those who practice magic will be banned from heaven.  Is this true in all cases or just those who are shadowed (satanists). (Note:  My term "shadowed" is not to be taken offensively.  I simply mean those who worship the dark lord.  Please don't get offended! T/Y)

[T_Kman0610]

i feel that wicca should be for bothe men and woma, it shouldnt matter what sex you are. i have seen books on wicca for men but i think it is sex oriented like love spells and all the love and sex life spells. but as far as regular wicca books are concerned i really feel it shouldnt matter wether you are man or woman.

bye,
T_Kman0610

[Tisha]

oh please please please don't get your ideas about Wicca from "Charmed," or for that matter ANY movie or television show.  THANKS!   I will get you a good FAQ on the topic, to clear up any misunderstandings.

[Tisha]

http://www.cog.org/wicca/faq.html

here is one from Covenant of the Goddess.  Enjoy!

[Tisha]

http://occoquan1.f2w.net/custom3.html

here's another one!

[blknight]

I am a wiccan/pagan I have been one for about 18yrs.  I am a man also.  I find that unfortunately on an average most wiccan groups are more goddess oriented(sp) this I think is partly due to the fact that most wiccans are women, and relate more with the goddess than the god.  I myself relate better with the god, but find that it is good to commune with my feminine(sp) side through the goddess.  This is my first post @ astralpulse.  I am part of the founding group of a wiccan "church" in Oregon.  If anyone want the male perspective I can help.  I don't know how often I will be checking in here though.

[thechunk05]

This may seem like a strange question, but is there any form of wicca that is "accepted" by christianity? Or one that dosen't concern many gods or godesses, but only one god? I would consider myself a strong christian, but nothing more. I used to be catholic, but I got feed up with the feeling of being looked down on in church and the whole "if you don't confess your sins to a priest your going to hell" attitude. Anyway, I have always had an interest in things like wicca and never seen any harm in it. Any help would be great! []

[Aristoles]

I dont know why,but i always had a hard time believing in goddesses.
But since whatever it is,its a deity it shouldnt have anything to do with sexes.
A deity is both god and goddess.
Doesnt matter if men are the source of life

[Tisha]

thechunk05, there are a few covens that don't dwell on the polytheistic nature of Wicca, choosing instead to focus on the One, the All, which holds all of our ideas about God and Goddess.

Also, within the Unitarian sect there are wiccan groups that are very much accepted.

[jimbola]

This really is too much, stars becoming silent? I wish I could have heard that.
Earth calling...

[thechunk05]

Thanks Tisha! Is there anywhere I can find information on that type of Wicca? I've been browsing through the AOL search categories and have come up empty.

[Tisha]

http://www.cuups.org/content/intro.html

[Silversunset]

and then there are the solitary pagan/wiccans.....
mostly i follow and eclectic path, and don't REALLY term myself a wiccan, but very nearly.

but anyways, i did have a point...
what are people's thoughts on the 'three-fold law'...
i've met some that follow it almost to the death, and some who dont pay any attention to it whatsoever. just curious, that's all...

[MoonGirl]

Hello

I'm responding to this thread even though I don't really call myself Wiccan anymore.  I usually either call myself simply pagan or witch.  

I definately identify with this:
http://www.whywiccanssuck.com/

And before you flame me to hell and back read the site first.    I don't have a problem with Wicca -- just some of its followers.  The whitelightfluffybunnies that ignore real history and make crazy claims to make themselves look more important than they really are.

ANYWAY!  Looking forward to posting around here more.

[James S]

I can see the point your getting at.
Wicca is really just a new name for a very old celtic way of life - which can more or less be described as celtic paganism, or just plain old witchcraft.

In recent years thanks to TV shows like Sabrina and Charmed, it has become a popular fad. Unfortunately what a lot of people caught up in this fad don't realise, is it is not a hobby or practice, it is an entire way of life, a spiritual path.

If I had to label myself, something I really hate doing, I would likely be a celtic wicca, but as my beliefs are also along the lines of druidism, to save confusion, my spiritual path is simply pagan. []

What I did find about the website though was the author is definitely against wiccans, no matter how they tried to cover that up. It is definitely tainted with christian bias.

Regards,
James.

[MoonGirl]

Hi James  

I hope I didn't scare anyone with that link.  I have a good many Wiccan friends and until very recently belonged to a coven that considered themselves Wiccan.  Wonderful group of people.  **WONDERFUL**

I guess I get impatient with those that do consider it a fad.  I used to get impatient that if I told someone online that I was Wiccan they would automatically assume I was an angsty teenager trying to be cool or scare my parents.  I've been a practicing witch for 15 years for heaven's sake!  []

And although I do think that some of the roots of Wicca are based in older religions and beliefs I get frustrated that a lot of the 'fad Wiccans' believe every Wiccan book they read word for word and don't take the time to do some independant research on their own.  I mean, Gardener got most of his ritual structure from Crowley and the Golden Dawn (if I'm not mistaken) and it's unknown exactly what came from Gardner's Old Dorothy or even if she really existed.  I think it's important for people to keep questioning and think about these things.

Maybe I'm a little jaded with people claiming they got their rituals from an old family book of shadows hundreds of years old because chances of that are nearly nill.  

I wonder where that shows up in my astrological chart :p  

I'm probably too hard on people.  I'm sure when I was younger I went through that stage, too... I guess I want people to progress faster than I did.  Not sure .

[WalkerInTheWoods]

That is true of any religion or group. You will always have the fanatics that only seek group acceptance and see only the words and not the meaning behind the words, those that do not seek the spiritual through their religion.

[Gandalf]

It is now firmly established that 'Wicca' is a NEW religion, and doesnt date back further than the 1950's, apart from the Italian 'Gospel of the Witches' which dates from the 1890s and is mostly a product of 19th century romanticism, just like druidry which likewise comes from this period.

Until recently some of the things pagans used to come out with concerning their history was ridiculous 'the old religion etc'

Thankfully, in the last 10 years or so we have begun to see paganism being analysed propery as there are now pagan academics coming through the system and have leant their weight to properly documenting Wicca's history.

In reality, Wicca is NOT the 'old celtic religion'; rather it is an entirly NEW religion with SOME old pagan themes. this gives it some basic structure and 'theme' but in no way can modern paganism be seen to be 'the old religion', they are very different and have different concerns.
Just one example, in all ancient pagan religions, animal sacrifice was a common feature, but you'd be hard pressed to find any among today's enviro/veggie pagans'.
Also, no original pagan religion conceived of all deities as aspects of two (or one) god/or goddess, and there was certainly no concept of a universal earth mother who was worshipped everywhere before the nasty male-orientated matcho religions came along, this is a fantasy.

The reality was that yes, mother goddesses/earth goddesses along with other female deities WERE popular but they were popular along with a whole variety of other gods and goddesses who were worshipped collectivly, allthough each deity presided over a specific function.
This is true of celtic religion as well as Nordic or Greek/Roman paganism.

also the whole 'burning times' scenario postulated by Wiccans in the past is now known to be untrue and there is no evidence that the 'witches' burned at stakes in Scotland and Salem etc in any way constituted some kind of underground 'old religion', rather they may have been village healers, but they had no conception that they followed 'another religion', they just had a skill, thats all. In any case, many women were killed as an excuse and it had nothing to do with 'witchcraft'. In Scotland for example, where the witch hunts were inititated the the Scottish king James vi (later to be James 1st of England as well), he did it more for political/sectarian reasons, as a means of removing enemies particularly amongst both catholics and protestants.
(He later famously translated the bible into english (King James bible) where I am sure there is a inserted comment about witches!


Gardner's 'Wicca' was inspired from a whole range of eclectic sources, including freemasonry and Crowley's work, along with SOME pagan ideas and Native American material.

btw, before anyone slates me, I am not rubbishing Wicca, Wicca is a religion, which means that its historical origins are not important, what is important is that it is now a living breathing way of life.
However, in order to defend it against critics it is important for neo-pagans to recognise the historical foundations of their religion so as to answer any questions for outsiders and also not appear like gullable t***s.
I think this is important for all religions, esp. Christianity for example, who's believers have massive problems accepting historical realities over their bible texts.
most pagans/wiccans I know are fully aware that Wicca is the 'NEW religion', in the *style* of an old religion, but it involves a wholly modern environmental sensibility and modern ethics, while looking back and respecting those who have come before us.
It is a truly great religion and I am sure it will continue to grow!

Regards,
Douglas