Wicca and Pagan

Information

          Everyone seems to have some idea about what the terms "Wicca", "Pagan", "Neopagan", "Witch", "Witchcraft", etc. mean.  The trouble is, most of those ideas are based upon something they heard, or something they saw on television or the movies.  Those of us who practice Wicca and other Neopagan belief systems are constantly dealing with these stereotypes which, though not all negative, tend to make it difficult for people to get a clear picture of what it all means.  Though some Pagans enjoy the mystery behind their beliefs, we at Goldentree Wands feel that freely sharing information and educating the public is the best way to spread understanding and acceptance of our beliefs, so that one day maybe we can all stand on equal footing in this world.

          Below you will find information we have written about Wicca, Paganism, Witchcraft and a variety of other subjects.  We hope you find this article informative and useful.  Please feel free to repost this information.

Introduction

          Before I get started, I would first like to address some of the commonly held stereotypes and beliefs about Wicca, Witchcraft, and Paganism that always come up when discussing such matters.  Firstly, do Wiccans and Pagans worship Satan?  No, they do not.  In fact they do not so much as believe that Satan exists.  Satan is a Christian concept, and as such anyone who worships Satan must first believe in the Christian religion.  Moreover, there are no Satan-like beings within Wicca or most other Pagan religions.  Evil is seen to be a creation of humans, not the gods, and people who do evil things are looked down upon in Wicca and Paganism to just as great a degree as they are in most major religions.

          Secondly, do Wiccans and Pagans fly around on broom sticks, shoot lightning from their fingers, combat demons, or sacrifice animals and/or babies?  Again, no.  Many of these beliefs stem from old superstitions, reinforced by Hollywood.  Others confuse Wicca and Paganism with Satanism, vampirism, and other occult belief systems that are totally unrelated.  These are all things that Wiccans and Pagans are not.  If you would like to know what they are, please read on.

"What is Wicca?"

          Wicca is defined as a polytheistic nature-based religion incorporating beliefs from European pre-Christian religions as well as an eclectic variety of other beliefs systems, including ancient Egyptian religions, Tantra, and Yoga.  These beliefs usually involve at least one Goddess and God, and occasionally more than one of each.  This is a slight variation on the typical definition of Wicca that can be found in most dictionaries.  That is because Wicca is an ever-evolving faith, and most of those definitions are based upon the original concept of Wicca developed by Gerald Gardner.  A great deal has changed since that time, but perhaps it would be best to begin with a brief history of the religion.

          The first emergence of Wicca was in the early 1950s, when the last British laws against witchcraft were finally repealed.  The man who is most often credited as the originator of this religion was named Gerald Gardner.  Gardner founded the first modern-day Wiccan covens and, together with his high priestess Doreen Valiente, published quite a few books about Wicca.  At this time, Wicca was essentially based solely upon pre-Christian European beliefs, with a small smattering of ceremonial magic and freemason practices.  To be part of a Gardnerian Wiccan coven, one had to take certain vows of secrecy and follow a very regimented coven structure.

          Let us pause a moment to address a common question about Wicca.  "But I thought Wicca was a continuation of an ancient belief system from pre-Christian Europe, seamlessly handed down from generation to generation to this very day?"  I'm afraid not.  Though some Wiccans do claim this (even Gardner himself occasionally), presumably to bolster the legitimacy of their beliefs, it just isn't the truth.  Many of the concepts and beliefs do appear to be handed down in some form of direct lineage from pre-Christian beliefs, but to say that there was ever a single ancient culture practicing something similar to what we call Wicca would be completely false.  Wicca, even in the form introduced to the world by Gerald Gardner in the 1950s was already an eclectic conglomeration of faiths, beliefs, and practices, some of which were the invention of Gardner himself.  Does this debunk the religion?  Those of us who practice it do not think so.  The very changing, open-minded, and evolving nature of the religion is one of its greatest strengths, we would say.

          As Wicca spread throughout England and eventually to the rest of Europe and the United States, followers of the faith began incorporating more and more beliefs into the loose structure of Wiccan practices.  Anything earth-centered or nature based became subject for study by Wiccans, resulting in something very different from what Gardner began.  Probably the largest change from the original concept of Wicca is the requirement of a coven.  Gardnerian Wicca did not (or does not, as there are still Gardnerians out there) exist outside of a coven.  Today, the majority of Wiccans are what we call "solo practitioners," or individuals who worship outside of a coven.

Wiccan Beliefs

          Though the diversity of the religion makes it difficult to generalize (there is a great deal of variation in the belief systems within the Wiccan community), most practitioners of Wicca do hold a few common beliefs.

"An Harm None, Do What Thou Will"

          This is called the "Wiccan Rede" and is one of the only real laws within Wicca.  To word it another way, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone, you are free to do whatever you like.  Some people believe that this law only applies to use of magic (which I will address in a moment), but this is not the case.  The Wiccan Rede is a law of life in general.  You are free to do whatever you like in life, but not at the expense of other people.

The Threefold Law

          Another thing most Wiccans have in common is their belief in the Threefold Law.  This law works somewhat like a law of physics, but without the physics.  It states that whatever we do in life will come back to us threefold, or three times the intensity of whatever it is we did.  This is basically a moral law.  Do something good (beneficial to others), and eventually this will come back to you threefold.  Do something bad (harmful to others) and eventually three times as much harm will come back to you.  Because of the similarity between this idea to Hindu and Buddhist beliefs, most Wiccans refer to this as Karma.

Magic

          Probably the most misunderstood aspect of Wicca is Magic (or "magick").  In the movies and on television, magic is a powerful supernatural force able to accomplish just about anything.  It is depicted as rays of light or fire shooting forth from the hands of magicians, or "magic words" that can unlock ancient spirits or powers.  That is not what Wiccans mean by magic.

          Magic, to Wiccans, is basically the same as prayer to Christians.  It is not viewed as a "supernatural" force, but rather quite the opposite.  It is the force and power of nature itself.  But to fully understand how magic works, one must first understand how most Wiccans believe the God and Goddess (or multiple gods and goddesses) influence the world.  We believe that the gods (and I use that term to refer to deities of either gender) affect the world through their followers, and usually not based upon their own whims.  They have placed their power everywhere, in the form of nature.  The rocks, the trees, the wind, the ocean, all of these things contain energy and power.  This is magic.  When one "uses magic," all they are essentially doing is drawing in this energy from the world around them, and putting it to some other purpose.

          Magic can be used for nearly any purpose.  For this reason, many like to envision that there are three types of magic, white magic, black magic, and gray magic.  White magic is magic that will bring benefit to another person, such as healing.  Black magic is magic that harms another person.  This includes magic that bends the will of others, such as love spells focused at specific people.  Gray magic is magic that neither harms nor hurts others, and usually only affects the practitioner themselves.  The Threefold Law and the Wiccan Rede should dictate how a Wiccan uses magic, and as such they can expect quite a lot of negativity in their lives if they use black magic.

Reincarnation

          Wiccans view the world as a cycle.  The moon waxes to fullness, wanes to nothingness, and repeats infinitely.  The seasons come and go in endless succession.  So too does human life progress in a cyclical fashion.  Most Wiccans believe that there is no afterlife, except for life itself.  We are in the afterlife already, so to speak.  When we die, we are reborn.  This is one of the many reasons that Wiccans are so focused upon protecting and preserving the word around them.  To deprive future generations of something is to deprive themselves of something.  Though beliefs differ as to how this rebirth takes place, how long it takes to occur, and whether or not animals are part of this cycle, nearly all Wiccans believe in some form of reincarnation.

Wicca Conclusion

          The information given above was brief and general, and certainly not all-encompassing.  There is so much information about Wicca that it could fill many books.  Speaking of which, if you would like to learn more about Wicca, here are a few books that we recommend.  "Witchcraft Today" by Gerald Gardner would be an excellent book for those who wish to see where modern Wicca began.  "Witchcraft for Tomorrow" by Doreen Valiente is a nice follow-up book written after Gardner's death, and touches a bit on the evolution of the religion up to the mid-1960s, and also contains some very detailed explanations of Wiccan ritual and beliefs.  For a very academic look at Wicca, "Drawing Down the Moon" by Margot Adler is a must-read, though for the average person much of the information is largely extraneous.  For a more current look at Wicca, try Silver Ravenwolf's "Solitary Witch."

"What is Paganism and Neopaganism?"

          The word "Pagan" is from Latin "paganus," meaning simply a country dweller.  The significance of this word in modern day English is that the country dwelling people of Europe were the last people to be converted over to Christianity.  As such, the term "Pagan" came to mean more than simply a country dweller, it came to mean a non-Christian who lived outside of society (the country).  Together with the term "heathen" (meaning simply someone who does not believe in your god/goddess), this word took on a very derogatory connotation.  Today, "Pagan" still holds a negative connotation to some, but to many the term has taken on a new meaning altogether.  Pagan now refers to pre-Christian, earth-centric faiths.

          Neopagans are the modern-day Pagans (the word meaning simply "New Pagans").  These are people who have gone back to believing in pre-Christian, earth-centric faiths.  Some of these faiths try to stay as true as possible to their ancient counterparts, and some expand upon these ancient belief systems rather dramatically.  Still others, like Wicca for instance, compile several ancient Pagan belief systems into one.  Neopagans very rarely refer to themselves as such, preferring to simply use the term "Pagan."  Therefore, what most people refer to as Paganism is actually Neopaganism.

          There is no one faith, religion, or belief system called "Paganism" or "Neopaganism."  These are both general terms, encompassing any number of religions.  Wicca, discussed in detail above, is one of these.  Others, such as Druidism (also called Druidry), Shamanism, Celtic Reconstructionism, and Golden Dawn are all diverse belief systems  in their own rite (or multiple belief systems, as there are many types of Druidry and Shamanism), and will not be expanded upon in this article.

"What is Witchcraft?"

          Use of the term "witchcraft" is quite varied.  In general, it refers to the practice of magic (not necessarily the type discussed in the Wicca section above) or sorcery.  A witch is a person who practices witchcraft.  The trouble begins simply because the word is defined so broadly.  For instance, a witch could be someone who believes they receive their powers from Satan.  A witch could also be a person who practices Wicca.  Both people may very well believe in magic, and utilize magic in their everyday lives, thus defining them as a "witch."   However, they are operating on opposite sets of beliefs, and in fact even opposite definitions of the word "magic."

          So how do we clear it up?  There has been a concerted effort on the part of Wiccans and some other Pagans to reclaim the term "witch" and "witchcraft" and to strip it of its negative connotations.  Remember, there were no Satanists before there were Christians (Satan being a Christian concept) but there were certainly witches, practitioners of ancient religions and belief structures utilizing magic.  Clearly, this is an ongoing effort and up uphill struggle.  The average Christian knows the term "witch" to mean "Satanist."  It will take a great many more years of education and free exchange of information (like this article) to change that.

          In the meantime, many people have taken to being quite specific when dealing with these terms.  One may refer to themselves as a "Wicca Witch" or a "Pagan Witch" rather than just a "Witch" in order to differentiate themselves from commonly held stereotypes about the word.

Summary and Conclusion

          Wicca and other types of Paganism are nature-based religions stemming from pre-Christian earth-centric belief systems.  Those who practice Wicca and Paganism, though often termed Witches, are not evil people or supernatural beings.  They are simply people, practicing a religion that they feel is right.  These are people who you might pass on the street and never know they were witches.  And why would you?  We are just people, just like you.