Wicca 101

NOTE: I wrote this to explain my religious beliefs as succinctly as possible to my friend Adam. I ran it past the ladies of Luna's Wheel for their thoughts, and they were encouraging. So I'm posting it here, mainly just so I can keep track of it because people often ask me, "What's the deal with Wicca?" Well, here it is! (Thanks to Adam and the witches of Luna's Wheel)


Here's the deal with Wicca, according to me (again, this is just my opinion and should not be taken as concrete fact, ESPECIALLY the bits at the end about my own personal beliefs):

My history: My family is Catholic, though my parents are Unitarian now and my sister is some kind of Christian. Anyway, I grew up feeling mostly Catholic. As a freshman in high school, I met a group of kids claiming to be witches and I was intrigued for all of the normal teen-aged reasons. We focused on magic and spellwork, within a Wiccan framework. In college, I was part of a larger group that explored the more philosophical parts of Wicca, rather than the sensational. And the Circle I'm part of now is very much about experiencing Wicca as a religion, both during holidays and on a daily basis.

Paganism: is a REALLY broad term, usually referring to nature-based, often polytheistic, religions, spiritualities and philosophies. Specifically, Neo-Pagan is a term used to describe a number of religions that have gained popularity over the past forty or so years, many of which have their roots in older religions. For example, much of Wicca (particularly the calendar of holidays) derives from ancient Celtic practices. Other Pagan groups have based their new practices on Druidism, Native American spirituality (Shamanism), and even Norse and Greco-Roman mythology. Many Pagans practice a hodge-podge of a bunch of those older practices. A number of people have used this ancient influence as an argument that Wicca itself is an ancient religion, but I don't believe that. The roots of Wicca as we practice it today began in the early 20th century, our terms and tools notwithstanding.

Wicca: is a kind of Neo-Paganism. Since there is no strict dogma, and no holy Book, practices vary widely, but there are common elements:

The Wiccan Rede: the closest thing we have to dogma is only eight words: "An it harm done, do as ye will." I take this to mean harm no one, including yourself. It's kind of a short-hand for all the Commandments, and the Beatitudes to boot. Wiccans often believe in the Three-Fold Law, too, which states that whatever you send into the world (negative or positive) will come back to you three-fold.

Deity: Most Wiccans believe in the Goddess, who may have many names and forms. Many also believe in a similar God, although there is a form of Wicca called Dianic Wicca that is only for women, and they don't acknowledge the God. The God and Goddess are often called by ancient names (Zeus, Thoth, Odin, etc. or Athena, Inanna, Isis, Freya, etc.), depending on which aspect of the deity you need to work with.

The Elements: Most Wiccans revere and work with the Four Elements: Air, Fire, Water and Earth, and many add a fifth: Spirit, which is a kind of combination of the other four. The Elements are often paired with the Directions (East, South, West and North, respectively, with Spirit at Center), and each element/direction combination has a set of characteristics associated with it. For instance, Fire/South is creative, energetic, sensual, passionate, etc. and is associated with the color red. This focus on the elements is part of why Wicca is considered a Nature religion, and why most Wiccans revere nature.

Tools: typical Wiccan tools include: ritual knive (called an athame), staff and/or wand, cauldron, pentacle, chalice, candles, incense, etc.

Wheel of the Year: the year is typically split into eight cross-quarters according to solar movement, with holidays celebrated at each:

1. Samhain (10/31)
2. Yule/Winter Solstice (12/21-ish)
3. Imbolc (2/1)
4. Ostara/Vernal Equinox (3/21-ish)
5. Beltaine (5/1)
6. Midsummer/Summer Solstice (6/21-ish)
7. Lughnasa (8/1)
8. Mabon/Autumnal Equinox (9/21-ish).
   

We also tend to acknowledge the phases of the moon, celebrating full moons (Esbats) or simply reserving certain types of magic for certain times of the moon cycle.

Magic: lots of Wiccans believe in magic. (Some spell it "Magick" to differentiate it from storybook, fictional magic, but I find that spelling irritating). I don't think there's a good consensus about what the definition of magic is, though. So I'll give you mine: I believe in divine energy, and I believe that magic is the conscious manipulation of that divine energy for a specific purpose. As opposed to prayer (which we also do), which is asking deity to manipulate the divine energy ON YOUR BEHALF. For me, you can do magic without doing a spell. For instance, I believe that my Circle does magic every time we get together and create a sacred space. Spells, on the other hand, are a way to perform a VERY SPECIFIC magical task using props and/or incantations in a ritualized way. (I, myself, don't do a lot of spellwork these days.)

Ritual: there is a basic outline to many Wiccan rituals:

1. grounding and centering (preparing oneself energetically for the ritual)
2. casting a circle by calling in each of the directions and/or the God/dess (this creates a sacred space in which to work)
3. doing whatever work the ritual is meant to accomplish (magic, prayer, worship or some combination)
4. simple feast (kind of like Communion, except we all give each other food and drink), and
5. releasing the circle

I think that about covers the basics.

As for me, I basically believe in a Divine energy. I can feel it all around me all the time, if I concentrate. I have witnessed its power. I can't really describe it, although I don't really believe that it is as sentient and meddlesome as some Christians seem to think. I don't think human beings are very good at understanding, describing or interacting with that Divine energy. I think that ALL religion is our pitiful, human attempt to try to wrap our tiny brains around what this energy is, how to get a handle on it and how to incorporate it into our lives. So when Christians talk about God or Muslims talk about Allah, I believe they are talking about and trying to describe the SAME Divinity that I call Kuan Yin, or Green Man, or simply Mother, depending on my mood. When they pray, I think they are tapping into the same energy that I am when I pray or do magic. (This is all just my opinion; there are witches in my Circle who don't believe this.) I believe that any religion is a set of man-made tools to help us get in touch with the Divine. Wicca is the best tool set I have found for me. I understand the Elements, I like the diversity of Deity that I have to choose from, and the Wheel of the Year makes sense to me. Wicca has helped me find my strengths and recognize my weaknesses, and I have found solace, beauty and understanding there. The only other religion I know much about (Christianity) does not work as well for me for many reasons. But I have the utmost respect for those who have found other religions (or even other areas of humanity, like science or academics) to be a better fit for them. At the end of the day, I think whatever works to help you be a better person is the "right" religion.

Apologies to Jesus

Sorry. I realized that that last thought in the last post was kind of snarky. I certainly don't think Jesus IS a dick. I was just surprised in the Book of Matthew about some of the things He says and does. He gets pissed off at a fig tree just because He's hungry and it doesn't have any figs, for goodness' sake! But He has this reputation for being all smiles and sunshine and groups of multi-ethnic children singing Kumbaya. In fact, one of the reasons I'm reading the New Testament is because at St. Mary's the Easter sermon was on how Jesus was all about "hey, all of this Mosaic law is unnecessary because there should be NO BARRIERS between you and God!" That message really resonated because that is exactly what we're trying to do in Luna's Wheel, a point that hit home for me even harder because of recent events in Dani's life.

So I decided to read the New Testament, and specifically the four Gospels, because I wanted to hear exactly what Jesus has to say on this subject. So far, I'm disappointed. He doesn't seem to so much sweep away Mosaic law as extend it. He says, "you all know that adultry is wrong, but I'm telling you that just thinking lustful thoughts about someone is just as bad and you mght as well gouge your eye out!" I'm sorry, Jesus, but that's just not helpful. He also talks about leaving your family and job and friends and trusting in the Lord to provide for you, lilies of the field style. But that seems really irresponsible to me. And He says you should obey the Commandments and honor thy father and mother, but then He denies His own family when they say they need Him, saying that His disciples are His new family. Then there's His total lack of patience with the disciples, who are the most useless bunch of losers, I know, but you'd think He could be a little nicer to them. He is Jesus, after all. Anyway, it's just weird, and muddy and confusing and unhelpful and not at all the Jesus I thought I knew. If any Christians can clarify this for me, that'd be cool. Or maybe we get to see the softer side of Him in other Books, I dunno. Anyway, I'll keep reading in the hopes that I'll get some answers. Also, sorry about what said in the last post, Jesus.

Coming up: some things I DO believe!

First post

So I was thinking tonight about how I often become obsessed with a given topic and then for minutes, or hours or days I have a running monologue in my head about said topic. Basically, my opinions and arguments about said topic. It's often political, and poor Erik often has to hear most of it, usually right before bed when all he wants to do is cuddle a bit and then get some sleep. But then I keep him up until all hours of the night, just spewing out my bottled up diatribe all over the place. But then I thought, "Hey! That's what the internet is for!" So here I am, and hopefully Erik's going to start getting more sleep.

Of course, I come home and start this blog and then I'm confronted with a blank page and I totally freeze. I need to remind myself that NO ONE is going to read this, and that it's just a forum for spilling the crazy. (That phrase was coined by either Drea or Ursula, and I am eternally grateful, and either of them can have it back if they decide they want to start a blog.)

Also, when I thought about starting to do this, I was full of hate and I had a whole spiel ready to go all about Gay marriage, I think. But then I saw a couple of movies and ate some ice cream, so now the crazy has pretty much leaked out. Don't worry, I'm sure y'all will get to hear my Gay marriage speech at some point. For now, movie reviews!

Date Night: I liked it. I'm a pretty big Tiny Fey fan and a Steve Carell fan so that's not entirely unexpected. I was a little worried about whether they would have chemistry or if it would just be this awkward Liz-Lemon-is-married-to-Michael-Scott thing, but they are good together. It did seem kind of like three different movies were stitched together like Frankenstein's monster: a romantic comedy, an action flick (seriously, one of the most interesting car chases I've seen in a while) and a raunchy-Apatow-esque comedy. But they were all three GOOD movies, so I'm ok with that.

How to Train Your Dragon: it was awesome. Go see it, preferably in 3D on a ginormous screen.

OK, that's probably enough crazy-spilling for now. I will leave you with one parting thought: I've been reading the Book of Matthew, and honestly Jesus comes off as kind of a dick. I was a little surprised! I'll have to see what the other Gospels hold...

Night!