Wicca, as it is known today, is a ditheistic Earth religion, a Neo-pagan denomination. Wiccans believe in the sanctity of all within nature, and that the Spirit, known as the God and Goddess are present within everything and ourselves. In the trees, rain, flowers, the sea, in each other and all of natures creatures. This means that they must treat all things of the Earth as aspects of the Divine. They attempt to honour and respect life in all its many manifestations both seen and unseen.
Wiccans learn from and revere the gift of nature from Divine creation by celebrating the cycles of the sun, moon and seasons. They search within themselves for the cycles that correspond to those of the natural world and try to live in harmony with the movement of this universal energy. They also revere the spirits of the elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water which combine to manifest all creation. From these four elements they obtain insight to the rhythms of nature and understand they are also the rhythms of their own lives.
Wicca is known as a ditheistic religion as opposed to a polytheistic religion because it believes in the existance of two main entities: the God and Goddess, and both of these can be divided into different aspects of themselves, which are known by different names. For example, the Goddess may be known as Diana, Hecate, Isis, etc. all different Goddesses with different personas, but all ultimately a part of the same Divine Being. It is the same for the God also. This is what makes Wicca ditheistic. If it was polytheistic, each of the Gods and Goddesses would be seperate entities in their own right, instead of merely aspects of the same being.
Wiccans have one major rule in their belief system which is part of the Wiccan Rede:
"An it harm none, do what ye will." Despite popular belief, this does not mean "as long as you don't hurt anyone, do what you like". In actual fact, if you look at Crowley's meaning of "do what ye will", it means to act upon your true Will's desire (what is needed spiritually, not what is wanted on a materialistic level), and in the Wiccan Rede this means that so long as no-one is harmed (including yourself) by your actions, one can achieve what you truely need.
Another belief that goes hand in hand with this rule is that whatever we do, whether it be magickal or mundane, will come back to them three times over. Therefore, if they do a good deed, they shall be rewarded justly. However, if they commit a harmful action then they believe that they shall also be harmed in some way as a result.
An important aspect of Wicca is it's open-mindedness and tolerance of others. For example, Wicca has no rules saying you can't be homosexual. You can be or believe whatever you wish without prejudice, it is your way of life and they believe they have no right to dictate it, so they also believe in inclusivism. This means that they believe all religions and spiritual paths are valid paths. Wiccans do not think theirs is the only way, so they let people decide what is right for them instead of trying to "recruit" followers.
Many would argue that to be an official Wiccan, you must be formally initiated by an existing coven in keeping with Gardner's original system. Any other practices by "Solitary Wiccans" are therefore considered as pagan Witchcraft, and not Wicca. The good, credible books published today only contain "outer court" information on Wicca (as is that which is written above). To learn the "inner court" secrets of Wicca, one much be initiated into a Wiccan coven. As I have not been formally initiated as a Wiccan, I would not be able to tell you any of those secrets, and even if I had been, I would be sworn to secrecy. After all, Wicca is called a mystery religion for a reason.
View User's Journal
RinoaRose's Journal
a place were old and new friends can come to talk
RinoaRose
Community Member |
The wedding count down is on.
User Comments: [4] [add]
|
RinoaRose Community Member |
RinoaRose
Community Member |
|
|
RinoaRose Community Member |
User Comments: [4] [add]
Community Member