Wicca? And other Pagan beliefs?

[Crowe 0]

Well, I was wondering what everyone's takes on Wicca were. How do you view it and if you are a practitioner of the religion, what are your takes on The Divine? Do you worship one deity, or many? I have found out that it is something that you must dedicate yourself to, due to the Rede, and it is not at all easy to let old habits die hard.This topic was never meant to bash anyone else's religion or their belief system, but more so to share your thoughts on the subject. I will not call myself a Wiccan or Pagan at the moment, but I do share a belief in many gods and goddesses. I suppose that this sort of thing really interests me, and religion in general is something that I like to learn about--it doesn't matter if Christian, Wiccan, or something along those lines.So, what are your takes on it? As stated above, I meant no harm with this topic, as I just wanted to learn what everyone else's beliefs were on the subject, and to help me with my learning of different worldly religions out there. I personally would like to study more into this subject, and since spirituallity is something very important--I want to know all that I can.Any religion is fine in my book, and my choice was to accept everyone's beliefs in my process of learning.What are your views?

[shadowx 0]

Firstly, welcome to Xisto! I wouldnt worry about offending anyone, you didnt write anything offensive at all!I myself used to be very interested in Wicca and paganism and witchcraft. I read a few books, joined an online community and chatted over IM to people with similar ideas. I delved into meditation, simple "prayers" (i use the word prayers for lack of a better term, but you get the idea) and looking into simple magick (not a typo, the "K" differentiates the practice from stage magic) and the various attributes of different objects. I found it to be a very enjoyable time in my life and the beliefs gave me an awareness of the world around me, particularly the natural world and the changes that occur constantly. Unfortunately this coincided with several things that changed my view on the world and made the Rede extremely difficult to follow. Since then i havent seen fit to re-ignite my interests as i feel i could not be the calm, relaxed and balanced person i feel i should be to consider myself part of the wiccan community, that being said i do have a great interest in the outdoors, perhaps due to my love of fishing, and i do consider myself to have potential when it comes to the Craft. Im also a beleiver in many supernatural things such as spirits, witchcraft, energies etc... So its not all bad.People have a dim view of Wicca and paganism and in particular witchcraft. Given the stereotyping from the media, and other religious and non-religious groups witches, the craft, pagans and wiccans are all sometimes seen as evil, worshipping the devil etc... when in fact they couldnt be further from the truth, many people dont understand the basic rule of Wicca and Wiccan witchcraft, that of the threefold law (i think its threefold....its been a while) basically very similar to the system of Karma in many other religions. So if i were to conduct some sort of healing (or in a true example i helped free a cygnet, AKA a baby swan, from fishing line) i would receive three times the healing (or other good effects) back. So in my example of freeing the swan i was given a free days fishing at the lake for me and my grandad which would have cost ?14 or about $30. Now you may say that has nothing to do with magick, and you'd be right, but it shows the principal. Equally and conversely, if i were to curse or otherwise cause harm to someone i would receive 3 times the harm back according to the law of threefold. So you can see that the mere act of being a Wiccan would make me want to be very nice to everyone and everything! Even the act of cutting a branch from a tree requires a dedicated Wiccan to ask permission from the tree (sounds silly, but it isnt about the words, it is about the act. The tree cannot understand words, but if you believe in energies we do not yet understand you could assume that the mere act of asking permission changes the energy around the person, and hence affects the field of energy around the tree, so it doesnt sound so silly!) and in addition to asking permission you would be expected to leave an offering to the tree or nature, perhaps a cake, or some bread/seeds for the birds that live in/around the tree, or some water if in a dry place etc.... so that you effectively replace what you have taken. Now if any of that sounds evil i would absolutely accept that Wicca and Wiccan witchcraft is evil. However i expect that no-one in a sane and free mind could believe any of that is harmful or evil!And with reference to to the generally accepted symbol of Wicca and the Craft, the pentacle (sometimes the pentagram, but generally the pentacle) it does not represent evil, or the devil etc... It represents the complete opposite. Many religions accept that the devil would place physical above the spiritual, so as an extreme example, having sex with a prostitute is more rewarding than being in love with a true individual and devoting your life. So the physical is above the spiritual. Wicca is about the complete opposite! The pentacle represents the 5 elements of life, fire, water, earth and air and of course, spirit (or the soul) In the pentacle the top point represents the spiritual, showing that spiritual gratification is much more important than anything physical. Hence the complete opposite of many "evil" ideas. There is also the link between the pentacle and inverted pentacle. The inverted pentacle is the symbol for a religion known as "satanism" now this isnt as evil as it sounds (nor is it really that "good") They do not worship the devil, instead they believe in general that physical things come above spiritual things. So their generally accepted symbol is the inverted pentacle, showing spiritual things at the bottom, below physical things. So in my extreme example a satanist could reasonably be expected to prefer a one night stand over a long relationship and would think nothing of cheating on their partners, perhaps stealing, greed etc.... Its interesting to note that the name "satanism" was chosen by the founder to create an uproar in the media, as he loved the attention it brought. There is however NO link between satanism and Wicca, as is suggested by the inverted pentacle Vs the ordinary pentacle Satanism is the complete opposite of wicca.

[Crowe 0]

Thanks for responding to the topic! Right now I have a lot of good knowledge about Wicca, but I am not sure which path that I want to go down for it. I was thinking of actually contacting a Coven, but I am not sure that I would be ready for something such as that yet.

 

Magick was always fascinating to me (usually when I spell it like that, people think that it is not a correct spelling of the word), and I think that I could become quite dedicated to it. I am currently only 18 years old right now, but I guess that would meet the requirement for an age range in joining a Coven--I just don't know if I would be ready to actually speak to a group such as that yet. I want to wait until I have more knowledge before I do something such as that.

 

Divination was also something that interested me, and I know that most if not some who practice Wicca still use this form. I guess I was always the "shy" type around others, but I would really like to learn anything that I can about Wicca, so I might as well see what someone in a Coven would have to say about learning.

 

Mind the Threefold Law you should, Three times bad and three times good.

 

I think that's how it went--about the Threefold Law/Law of Return.

 

But anyways, thanks again for posting in this topic! It is nice to be able to talk to someone about this.

[shadowx 0]

I have PM'd you a link to the site i am a member of, im not active anymore but my username resides there still i think. I havent included it here as the stereotyping of the religion can lead to some abuse, even though its nothing major i still feel better about PMing the link. If the public demand is such then i will post it on the forums too.I found the online world less intimidating, like you i was fairly young when i first discovered wicca, perhaps 16/17, maybe only 15 (im only 19 now!) i was interested in joining a coven but i was a fairly shy individual and preferred the mask of the internet and the site i PMed you helped me understand a lot and meet new people and open my mind more. At 18 most covens would probably consider you, however i expect many covens would expect at least a few years of studying the religion etc... before considering you. also you need to consider that some covens are slightly "different"... some will conduct all their rituals in the nude etc... not out of sexual perversion but because they consider it more natural, which is true in a way! but it might not be what you are after!My advice is to go to a few wiccan or magick shops and events, get a good insight into the community and build up a network of sites and resources and improve your knowledge and then if you still want to join a coven you shouldnt have any problems. With regards to magick dedication is the key for sure. No-one can wake up one morning and say "ya know what, i fancy a bit of remote viewing" and go look inside area 51 (much to the US governments glee as they were experimenting with remote viewing and psychic security during the cold war or earlier) but with dedication, particularly towards meditation as it is the starting point of almost all magick you can easily get there. I myself was born into a fairly mundane family (mundane being the usual word to describe non-wiccan/non-witchy people) my mum however was fairly sensitive to spirits and such and used to sit on a circle, at one point they had an occurrence where they all had their hands on a table and it was going all around the room apparently, and even my dad saw shadows in the house and he didnt even believe in spirits etc..! But i wasnt really exposed to magick etc... until i discovered it myself. there were conversations of spirits and spiritualism, tarot cards etc... and my mum still likes to have her cards read and that probably lead me onto the wiccan path. I started with some meditation which i found extremely relaxing at a time when i was quite depressed, it really helped. From there i lead myself into remote viewing and trying with some psychic-ness (for lack of a better term!) the remote viewing seemed to work to some extent. I was able to tell the colour of my friends bedroom and kitchen curtains and bedroom curtains even though i dont think id seen her house (either way i hadnt been inside her house) and this was while i was in gran canaria and i live in the UK! I also "saw" the pattern on her curtains, i saw it as round flowers but for fear of being wrong and everyone thinking i was mad i said it had a circular pattern, but it turned out they were the flowers like i originally felt! I also started watching most haunted which was quite interesting! It seems some sensitivity or ability is in the family as my mum is fairly sensitive to spirits and i would go so far as to say that if there was someone in the room and she was adequately relaxed she could sense them, perhaps not in detail but sense a presence. From there i went into tarot cards and bought originally a starter "teen" set, which used images that were easier to decipher, depicting younger characters obviously designed to give interest and understanding to the teenager. I then bought a standard...Ryder Thwaite (i think) set which is the standard set. i did have some success with those and i did feel a slight connection with them and sometimes they were fairly accurate, sometimes they werent so accurate. I dont attribute that to the cards but to my understanding of the cards as they are very difficult to read correctly and i relied on the booklet which isnt the best way to do things! I also started getting a feel for nature and the solstice, equinox etc... rather than the standard, christmas, easter etc... Anyway im rambling! The moral of the story is that anyone can develop their abilities, as children i believe we all have the ability to sense spirits etc.... but we are constantly told "your invisible friend doesnt exist" "ghosts arent real" etc... and so we block it, as an adult you can unblock it through meditation etc... and listening to whats around you more. so theres nothing stopping you going into divination with tarot cards, tea leaves or other methods

[Crowe 0]

Thanks. I will check the link out as soon as possible. From what I've heard, I think the traditional time for studying Wicca is a year and a day. I'm not too sure on that, but I have also heard that with Wicca you are always learning, and that you never really stop picking up on new things.

 

But anyways, I have a question for you about something. I was wondering if a Book of Shadows would be appropriate at this moment in time? Or should I wait until I can find someone to teach me, before I start one? And if I did manage to start one of my own, are there certain guidelines that I should follow before I write something in it?

 

I really don't want to mess up on anything, and being the type of person that I am, I seem to worry a lot about stuff that I view as being important. What do you think I should do?

Edited November 17, 2008 by Crowe (see edit history)

[shadowx 0]

I really don't want to mess up on anything, and being the type of person that I am, I seem to worry a lot about stuff that I view as being important. What do you think I should do?

First off let me tell you something that helped me through some dark times. All of nature is beautiful, and you are part of nature. It sounds like some sort of hippy saying but think about it... its true, would you look at a bird dropping a twig while making a nest as a failure? Or an idiot? Of course not! you might laugh and make a little joke about him having to find a stick! But he will, and he will build his nest and live in it.

you dont need to worry about getting something wrong! Its probably not wrong, just different! A lot of stuff in Wicca and the craft comes down to personal preference and feelings, some people might have a book of shadows that is white, while most have a black cover, but that doesnt make the white cover wrong, just different

I think you're right about the year and a day thing, i cant remember the reason why but i think there is one. And also you're completely right about always learning, its the same as life though really, you never stop learning.

As for the book of shadows (BOS from now on, because im lazy) i started one fairly early on, just to write down things like the traditional attributes of certain fruits, vegetables, trees, crystals etc... You'd be surprised at some of the attributes given to such simple things. for example an onion is generally accepted in Wicca to be a purifying vegetable, and having my own BOS gave me somewhere to write these things down. I just chose an ordinary note pad from the supermarket with a hard black cardboard cover, and with a silver pen i drew a pentacle on the front and a simple protective poem/prayer/spell (whatever you want to call it) on the inside cover, the basic jist of which is that the content inside can only be used for good, and the book should be protected from all "evil" influences etc... more for my own benefit of thinking "i wrote that!" than any practical purposes. And then i just noted things i learned about different crystals etc...

you can fairly easily find lots of information on the internet about starting a BOS etc... and as yule (or the winter solstice) is coming up you can learn more about what it means and even have a small ritual yourself to welcome the longer days. I simply found a log, took some candles and sat under a tree and thought about the ways in which the year was going to change now the days were getting longer etc...

[anwiii 17]

wicca to me is pretty new age. after studying it, i wouldn't even consider it a religion as some do but a pretty strong belief. wicca and the groups or circles that are created vary and so do the beliefs that are taught within the circles. now although i believe wicca has gotten a bad wrap, wicca has gotten a bad wrap rightfully so because in general, wicca is a pretty good religion but a lot of people take the wrong path within this religion and still call themselves wiccans.i'm not really too religious or believe in any one religion myself. i take in all because i believe all have something to offer but what i do is seperate and disgard what i consider b.s. in any one religion. the only reason why i've studdied wicca was because it fascinated me and the fact that someone very very close to me hold a similar belief to that religionwhat i've also noticed about this religion is that in some circles, the beliefs can be somewhat cult like. this is why i consider it still new age and shouldn't be considered an organized religion yet. some people turn to wiccan like some people turn to the military or how some people turn to gangs. these people are missing something in their life and want to attatch themselves to a group who can be loyal to eachother.everything i have read about this belief is basically positive. the problem occurs is when people try to start their own circles, encorporating what they've read and studied and realease themselves of the responsibiity of joining a circles of the older generations who can guide and teach the right way. so in my opinion, there is a lot of irresposibility within this belief(or religion to the ignorant).witchcraft now is old school. it has been around for centuries. i believe in it myself. spells and magik in my eyes is just a substitution of what christians call prayer and the power of thought and the strength of your faith and belief.anyone reading this and insterested in wicca, i say BEWARE! the groups you can join vary greatly. the circles that you have a chance to be a part of vary greatly as well. do your homework and be responsible!i also say beware because i also believe some people have natural abilities and some circles love to recruit these people in to their circles to make the circle stronger and take what they don't have. this can be dangerous to some people with those natural abilities. also....circles.....even the strongest ones can turn bad quick. this i believe because witchcraft is tricky and there aren't any set rules to it even when there are rules to abide by with wiccans. so again, i say BEWARE, do your research and due diligance if anyone cointinues on their path to study this belief(religion?)

[shadowx 0]

Some good points Anwii, wicca as a religion is fairly old i think, it goes back to the druids and celts and their nature based religions and probably derives directly from those, but as you said, today it is grouped as "new age" and has probably differed greatly from its beginnings. the reason i think Wicca has been around for so long are mainly the beliefs that are held, nature based religions tend to be the oldest kind and the fact we have monuments in stonehenge and other stone circles which strongly suggest a nature based religion similar to wicca was taking place at the time (given the location of apparent altars and their alignment with the solstice which is a rather important day to wiccans and many pagan religions) I think the problem with calling wicca a religion today is that there are, like you said, so many variations which is really what wicca is all about, but it does "dilute" it somewhat with the various sects, some of which you quite rightly said are cult-like and dont really follow the wiccan beliefs too closely. So protection in that sense is important. Some groups can be very sexual in what they do, some people, like i said before, just like being "natural" others... well they have other motivesAlso protection in a more magickal way, i would strongly advise against using anything like a ouija board (SP?). As fun as they see imagine going out into the street, blindfolding yourself and shouting out your address and walking home. Its really not a smart idea without adequate preparation! but thats another discussion! As long as you use common sense you should be fine, just treat meeting a coven like meeting any other group of people, arrange it, if possible, in a busy, public place (a lot of covens like old country pubs etc... and most are quite intelligent and will happily go to events like poetry/book events etc... And just because they say they are a coven doesnt mean they are, it could be just be a deranged individual looking for a victim. So be sensible and you cant go far wrong!

[Crowe 0]

Thanks for the information. I think I am learning a lot from this topic!I actually have a book on Wicca that I am reading right now, called, "Progressive Witchcraft." The authors of the book are Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone--they bring up a lot of interesting information in the book, and I am trying to learn what I can from reading through it.For a BOS, I think I am just going to start with something small--like a notebook, and then once I have a good knowledge and understanding about what I have written, I will probably get a real one or something rather. I have been checking out the various online sites about Wicca, and I think that I would like to learn more about Tarot Cards (or some other divination form). There is a Tarot Card reader's shop on my way to school, but I am not sure if I want to check it out or not (I am not sure about doing that at all). Should I wait until I can find a reliable source, rather than just visit a shop like this? What would be the best idea?Someone I know had said that she was going to be initiated into a family coven, and I have tried to learn a few things from her--she is just learning as well, but still knows somethings about the subject. I wanted to find out more information about local Covens in the Ohio area, but so far I don't know what I should do. Maybe I am just worried or something? I don't know.