Wicca: The Old Religion

The answer is a most resounding certainly not! Satanism as a worship form is meant to be a heresy of Christian beliefs. Since Wicca, and the religions that it sprang from, pre-date Europe's introduction to Christianity, there is nothing about it resembling Christianity and, therefore, Wicca is not Satanistic in any way, shape or form.

So how did the rumor get started that Witches worship Satan?

Its simple. Bad PR. Over 600 years of it. Witches -- and women in general -- were made war upon by Popes and Cardinals in much the same manner Hitler went after Jews and McCarthy went after communists. When a group of people is driven underground or censured publicly, they eventually become misunderstood. I'm sure not every German in the 1930s hated Jews, but not helping them, or turning them in was what you did at the time due to the political climate. We all know it doesn't make it right, but to deny it happened like that is to bury your head in the sand. Same thing with Witchcraft. **smile** Why do you think we called the McCarthy hearings a "witch-hunt" for communists?

"So," I hear you saying,"if you don't worship Satan, what do you worship?"

**smile** Never thought you'd ask! We worship the Feminine Divine, or Goddess, as well as a Masculine Divine, or God. This is more, however, than just simply putting a female name in the mix. A friend of mine puts it this way -- we really worship one Being who encompasses everything. But we are limited in our understanding of so vast a Being, so we break the Divine into pieces we can understand. The first break we make is into what we see throughout most of our experience -- Male and Female. (For further explanation of the other ways we understand the Lady and Lord go here.)

There are similarities in the Wiccan concept of the Divine and the Judeo/Christian/Islamic concept -- both consider the Divine to be all-seeing and all-knowing, all emcompassing, providing for our needs, listening and granting our petitions, and both see the Divine as a Person to be respected and loved.

But the concept of the Divine as a Personage who watches us all as He looks down on our earth from somewhere else is foreign to Wicca. The Divine -- the Goddess and God, or the Lady and the Lord as we call Them -- are the Earth, and all that grows on it and in it, including us. They are the Sun, the Moon and the Stars, suffusing all of life, all of existence with Themselves. Because of this, Wicca has no perception of anything being separate from anything else. Think of a spiderweb and how it is built. If one of the strands is taken away, it won't seem to affect the web. If more than one is taken away, the ability of the remaining pieces to support the other strands is weakened. The more strands that are missing, the weaker the Web. The Web loses its shape and becomes unsound, unable to support itself, let alone anything else. This is how Wicca views all of life. Interconnected. A part of a greater Whole. With the deterioration in the ozone layer and the woodlands having been laid waste up to 95% in the U.S. alone, with the disappearing cicadas and whales, we can see how damage to a single "strand" can cause chain reactions that snowball out of control until we threaten our own existence in the web. The balance is fragile and easily tipped.

Precisely because of this fragile balance, Wiccans feel that caring for the Earth is our job, our calling. The Earth does not belong to Mankind, but Mankind to the Earth. Is it any wonder that Wiccans worship the Earth and call Her Goddess and God as more ancient peoples did?

Living in harmony with the Lady and the Lord and Their cycles is very important to Wiccans. It is the basis for the eight major Sabbats(holidays)we celebrate. The point of each seasonal ceremony is to bring us in tune with the current season on Earth. The eight Sabbats are called the Wheel of the Year. Encompassing a self-perpetuating cycle, they contain not only mystery, but a way of looking at how to deal with our own lives and the joys and sorrows that arise. It is a hopeful thing, because we see the "death" of all Life every year, but know that it will be "reborn" again at another season, that what is will become something else, as nothing is permanent. Yet, the mystery is, all this becoming means that things also do not change. **smiles** Opposites are just that way.

So do you ...like ... cast spells (put a hex or curse) on people?

**chuckles** Lets start with curses and Wiccan ethics. I am not going to lie to you. Curses do exist. Could I put one on someone? Most certainly. Has it crossed my mind? Probably when I was very enraged at someone over something. (It takes a lot to get me really enraged, by the way.) WOULD I? **shakes head** Negative. Because that's just what they are and just what I'd get back.

There is an effect in the Universe, much like an echo. When we do something, anything, we are sending energy out. The Universe sends it back to us, not just once, but three times. Wiccans call it the "Law of Threefold Return". Kinda puts a damper on doing something nasty to someone else when you know it will come back to you worse. **grins** That would not be worth it, would it?

Mostly I cast spells for myself, although if someone wants help, I do help them.

So, do Witches have a bible or holy book? What kind of guidelines do you follow that help you arrive at what is eithical and what isn't?

No books, but a phrase. It is called the Wiccan Rede.

Let me take "do as you will" first. The word "Will" is not considered in a bad light. Without Will a Witch cannot give the proper "oomph" to make her spells work right. We consider four parts to the preparation and carrying out of spellwork. These are to Know, to Will, to Dare and to Keep Silent. Let's go to the recipe analogy, since it is so useful. You can know the recipe, you can dare to put all the ingredients together and put them in the pot. Heck, you can dare to put it all on the stove top. But Will is the fire you light under the pot, and without it you won't cook anything. Willing something is extremely important to all endeavors.

"Do" is a simple word, but coupled with "as you will" it is telling each Wiccan to take action toward what they want, not just relying on magic, but making the desired outcome a goal and working toward it in all ways they possibly can.

"And harm you none". In my first year of training, I was asked to define the word "harm". I came to the conclusion that hurt and harm had different connotations. Hurt was not something we could avoid -- like breaking up with someone would hurt them, but if it wasn't working out, it would be more harmful to lie and stay together. Harm, to me, meant intentionally hurting.

"And harm you none" means you have to examine the ramifications of anything you do. And given the Wiccan worldview, there are lots of factors to take into account. For a Wiccan considers "people" not just humans, but all animals, all plants, even the Earth beneath her feet.

So "And harm you none, do as you will" means to know what you want, work for it, but make sure you are not so selfish as to be harming someone else.