What is 'Wicca'?
Wow, this section - originally created in January of 1999 - has been completely
rewritten as of 10/22/01. Why? Because my view has shifted in two
years. That's why. And where the old section wasn't innaccurate
per say, I felt that it's focus needed to be shifted.
First and foremost, one thing has to be understood: These
are generalizations. Since Wicca has no centralized church, views
of Wicca may alter with "Traditions" (i.e. A goofy way to say 'denominations').
In fact, since the influx of Solitary practioners, some traditions may
only have a single member. I also want to make clear that this is
in no way a "history" of Wicca. The history has been often debated,
and since I am currently not a scholar, I am ill equipped to handle any
sort of deep, conclusive discussion. What this is here for is to
attempt to define the basic beliefs of modern day Wicca.
The word Wicca has many claimed roots, but one that is
accepted by some is that it come from the old Saxon word "wicce", which
roughly translates to "wise one". Wicca centers around two deities,
a God and Goddess 1. The Goddess is represented
by the moon, and given the domain of plant life and the Earth. Her elements
are earth and water. The God is represented by the sun, and is given the
domain of animal life and the sky. His elements are fire and air.
I've found that many Wiccans (including myself) don't view the God and
Goddess as literal beings, but faces given to a universal divine being
that we, as humans, are too small to fully comprehend. The
God is honored on Eight Sabbats (more here),
and the Goddess on thirteen Esbats (the 13 full moons of the year)
Unlike Christianity, Judaism, and the Muslim faiths, Wicca has no set
text or bible. What it does have are a few general, accepted rules
that most Wiccans abide by. One is the Wiccan Rede 2.
The rede is commonly expressed as "An it harm none, do as ye will" (Wording
may vary). Now, this is not a call to passiveness, for the Wiccan
themself is a person, and not to be harmed. Both action and inaction
can violate the rede in fact. The other rule is the "Rule of Three",
or "Threefold Rule". The idea of this is that everything you send
out, comes back to you three times. For everything you do with positive
motivation, three times as much positivity will be returned. The
same with negative motivations. Now, this rule does not mean that
every
occurance is mandated by our own actions, but that we influence
the way things will turn out based on our motivations.
1. A few traditions place
the God in an inferior role, or may leave him out all together
2. The Wiccan Rede is in
no way an ancient text, go the the Wiccan
Rede project for more information |
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