Wicca

@readerfor1 ^Yelling in capital letters and unneccessary exclamation marks is considered rude.

But aside from that discuss Christianity in the Christian threads this is a thread about Wicca.

I will say though, I am a Christian who does not belive in the Creation account as it is in the Bible. I know that evolution is real on both the micro and macro levels...and yes Humans came about through evolution [even though I do believe God created humans in his image...paradoxical much?]

The Garden of Eden I believe is just synonymous with paradise where we [those who are saved] will end up with God and Jesus after the second coming.

I believe in God, and not just because of the Bible. My proof of his existence is nature, science...things tha have happened in my life.

Also, if you believe in a Goddess...where is your proof that She exists any more than God does or does not?

The thing with your argument about old men saying lets have fun and create God...that could be said of any religion. Even Wicca, if it is indeed a religion.

Wicca is interesting, but could you please explain to me how it is a religion?

And Sing:

Wicca is interesting, but could you please explain to me how it is a religion?

A religion is 'action or conduct indicating belief in, obedience to, and reverence for a god, gods, or similar superhuman power; the performance of religious rites or observances'. Why what category is Wicca not a religion? It has reverence for 'superhuman power' in the same way that Christianity does. It stipulates 'religious rites' as Christianity does. Wicca isn't less legitimate. Or, for me, both are equally illegitimate. Whichever.

^Thanks for clearing the whole Wicca/religion thing, I've just never seen it 'advertised' as a religion before. A set of beliefs and rituals etc, but not a religion. I apologise if anything I said offended either of you. Guess, ignorance is a bit of pain in that way.

@readerfor1, you didn't offend me, I was just pointing out that typing the way can be considered rude. [It could also get you banned from the boards for awhile, apparently]

I understand your Goddess isn't quite at the same level as God, but my argument still stands, you still can't prove Her existence...or the existence of angels. I am in no way saying, I don't believe in the supernatural or angels...I'm on your side there. It just can't be proven through concrete scientific means. Not that I believe we need to prove it in that way. For me...Science IS proof of those things...but heck...atheists don't think that way...

I know very, very little about Wicca and I hope to learn more.

I have no religion, its kinda like i believe in certain things from many different religions. With Wicca I believe in the Triple Goddess and the Horned God. I don't believe in Satan, it's Lucifer, along with Lilith. And yeah.

I'm pagan, and I think it is a beautiful religion. You get to do what you want to. There's no guidelines we have to live by, no bible. A few people in my family don't like me for it, and critize me for it, but I carry on living. Who cares what religion you have when you're a good person anyway?

I have one friend who is wiccan, and hasn't told a soul about (but me), because she nows people are going to give her shit about it.

Venegance:

I'm pagan, and I think it is a beautiful religion. You get to do what you want to. There's no guidelines we have to live by, no bible. A few people in my family don't like me for it, and critize me for it, but I carry on living. Who cares what religion you have when you're a good person anyway?

I wanna know more about the Pagan religion... along with the Wiccan.

Technically (and this is just from what I understand, correct me if I'm wrong), Paganism is not, in itself, a religion, but rather, a set of beliefs, with no specific boundaries.
Wicca, however, is a subset of Paganism, and is considered a religion, along with several denominations, similar to the denominations of Christianity.

I tried Wicca before. My mom went ballistic. I didn't have a problem with it really. But then I realised, it was like a lot of other religions though different.

Now, I'm just agnostic. But nothing weird had ever happened to me though.

I'm Wiccan.
In a strange way, it's in my families blood.

My great great aunt is wiccan, and so are some of my distant cousins.
My mom tried it when she was fourteen but she had a bad experience with it on her first casting circle. She tried keeping the whole Wiccan thing huss-huss. But I found her old book with explained what was going on.

Christianity has never been on a good level with me. Its not the religion, it's the people who go over board with it sometimes.

(If anyone wishes to further question what I've said, please PM me. I'm not sure if I'll find this form thread again....>> )

I'm Wiccan as well.

I myself used to be Christain when I was young, but as I got older I started asking questions that people at the church didn't like me asking. I found Paganism searching for answers to my questions when I was 12. Even at an early age I knew that this was the path for me. It was how I thought of life. I was always a Natural child. I loved being outside in nature and I always seemed to hear "God" talk to me, but it always sounded like a Woman. So I found Wicca to be the path for me, and I have been a praticing Witch for three years now.

As someone who practiced Wicca for several years (and have been a pagan overall for longer than many of you have been alive ), I want to say a few things.

Paganism, by definition, is technically any religious belief that does not fall under the Book Religions (Judaism, Christiantiy, Islam). Earth-based religions are a subset of that, largely being made of Wicca, Druidism, and Asatru. All three of these are neo-pagan religions; that is, they are fairly new beliefs, despite having an ancestry of much older religions. This is typically hard to believe with druidism and asatru, but given how little we actually know about the original belief structures, our modern adaptations are the closest we can get. A lot of holes had to be filled.

This is my personal little thing to point out: Wicca and Witchcraft do not necessitate one another, and they are not the same thing. Wicca is a religious belief which revolves around two ideas, the Wiccan Rede (which many know for its last two lines, These eight words the Rede fulfill: "An harm ye none, do what ye will.") and the Threefold Law/Law of Return/Law of Three.

Witchcraft is a set of practices revolving around calling on the forces of nature in order to alter reality in some fashion, often referred to as magic. Witchcraft rituals are typically long, with a large amount of preparation and usually involving a ridiculous amount of length.

That is not to say that the two do not carry common practices; indeed, most Wiccans do practice witchcraft. Medititation, astral projection, and even prayer rituals are common to both. They are, however, seperate entities that have been tied together through popular belief.

Yes, Wicca is the Old English word for Witchcraft. That is very accurate. However, saying that Wicca and Witchcraft are the same thing is like saying Christianity and prayer are the same thing. Many people pray that are not Christian, including many pagans. Both are rituals that are associated with a particular religion, although not particular to that religion.

I live by a christian church and i used to go to it but it didn't seem right so, after I found Wicca it seemed to fit. My mom wants me babtised so I'm keeping MY religon a secret. I want to tell her but I'm afraid of what she'll think. See I relize that it is a Earth based religon but she dosen't.

I'm Wiccan, have been for several years, studied a year and a day before and have studied the Occult and Been an Astrologer much longer.

Wicca has Hermetic roots but I am also actively a Hermetist and if you know what that means, kudos to you...

I also incorporate aspects of Buddhism and Taoism, and am looking into my Native American roots as well. Such is a great thing about Wicca, it encourages religious diversity.

This is a great thread, though I haven't read all of it. I'll try to check in every once and awhile.

If you have questions feel free to ask and if I take to long... send me a message.

@Fiend, yes but surely you must know that there is more to Witchcraft than just Magick... to which Wicca is a type of Witchcraft, and has it's roots in older practices thereof as well as Hermetic practices (The Golden Dawn had influence). The saying, "All Wiccans are Witches but not all Witches are Wiccans" sums it up nicely.

And what you said the Rede and Karma being core concepts is not incorrect but they are not the other do.

I am sure you know this and just didn't feel the need to explain but just to avoid confusion.

Aslo, to those in the thread questioning to the role of Magick. Magick is indeed part of Wicca however there is no rule saying you must practice it to be Wiccan. In my oppinion however, I do feel that avoiding it is well, missing out on a great oppurtunity to become closer to the Divine and to any Wiccan I would recommend it.

There are other practices such as Tarot, astrology, numerology and meditation among others that are associated with Witchcraft and Wicca even though these practices are not all required. It's just who we are when it comes down to it, and allot of the thought that went into these practices has the same roots so our understanding of one helps our understanding of the others.

You don't have to love books either but I have never known a Wiccan, or Pagan who doesn't.

I am never had a bad experience other than being overwhelmed at times and that is not exactly bad if you can deal with it. To those who would say they had a bad experience simply from casting The Circle and not much if anything else I'm sorry but I would have to be very skepticle of that. What exactly was it you were trying to do? Did you purify the circle or relax and release any negative emotion or thought before you started?

The Circle helps concentrate the energies, keeping them from dissipating and keeping unwanted influences out. It is a barrier and as such cannot bring ill intent.

Remember the Law of Attraction though, and that when in The Circle you magnify your mental the power of your intentions, feelings and actions so if you go in with a bad mood, emotionally unbalanced... or evoke/invoke forces that you aren't ready for or are of darker aspects of life which aren't evil but dark and hard to deal with.. it can be overwhelming, and yes it can be hard to deal with and even scary.

It takes allot of responibility and discipline to work with these forces and the the very lack of any rules ecept the Rede (Rede means advice and that's what it is but might as well be a rule, listen to it) and Karma (which in itself isn't a rule but a Law that should be kept in mind).

The Rede is actually a parodox, that forces us to think about our actions and there possible conscequences. All religions have this Golden Rule but in wicca it is not simply a statement, it is a question.... "An It Harm None" well what if you hae two choice and they both harm and doing nothing is not the solution. This ability to be conscientious and be capable of making your own decisions is crucial.

Unless however, you are trying to invoke/evoke a negative thought contruct (Demon) or attempting when harm someone you should be fine. The only other thing you should be worried about is being overwhelmed, which isn't good if your not ready, you loose focus, you try to make sense with what you felt,saw etc and aren't able to make heads or tales of it and it can scare you. It's unkown, different, powerful... you get lost, you have to know your limitations.. take it slowley. These forces are very real and to work with them requires work.

Also, Ive noticed people calling Paganism a religion when technically it is not and is a an umbrella term, encomposing many paths, religious or simply siritual.

Paganism has gone through many definitions and was originally an insult meaning "country dweller", "uncivilized", ect.

There are two widely used definitions though,

a) That which is not Abrahamic, as one poster said "not of the book", the Abrahamic paths being Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

b) Another which is often used by the Pagan community is used to designate the earth-based religions (which were often Polytheistic, Wicca is soft Polytheism btw) of Europe who became unified under the very term used to insult them (which I think is poetic in so many ways).... Even though by this definition a path would have to be European in nature, times change, it was never meant to be discriminatory and that part of the definition is just a regional thing.. Many Pagans, as do I consider Native Americans and others as Pagan, they would find they are completely welcome and often admired.

That's why when talking about Paganism it's a good idea to have a frame of reference.

Also, if you practices the customs of one or more Pagan paths but no not consider yourself of that path, you can call your path, your religion, Paganism, and allot of people either do that or call themselfs Eclectic... There is nothing wrong with this but to save yourself from having to explain later on, you may want to explain this to those who whouldn't pick up on it.

Also, Wicca is a religion, Witchcraft technically isn't by itself but very easily can be and is to many. Witchcraft is very varied and may or may not even include deity other than arguabably in an indirect since. Either way it should be respected, just as any other spiritual path religious or not.

@Chariettera, does Baptism mean have any power over you if you do not give it any? Is it the physical action that counts or the symbolic connection of those actions, what about intent. It also wont prevent you from practicing another path. If you don't feel comfortable however, then don't do it. Some choices you and only you can make and none can force you to make them. No other human being can impact your spirituality unless you let them, and no ceremony can convert you if it is meaningless to you.

Someone could force you under but it wont change who you are.

That said I wish you luck.

readerfor1

To answer your first question about explaining how I believe in god with out using the bible, would be that there is one ultimate force that controls all the universe(s) and is the source of all life. You see this as the goddess but it doesn't really matter because all gods are one all life is one just spread out in to many forms.

And what your asking of others is to prove THEIR god exists over YOUR goddess and that’s not fair because your specifying that they are different beings when they are not. all religion of any kind is just a way humans try to comprehend a higher power that we feel exists within and outsides ourselves. We are all trying to comprehend the same thing and follow a path we believe is the right way, but all the different paths are different ways that lead to a single force. So it is not accurate to assume -your goddess our god their god- are different just because we can not accurately portray in complete confidence what they are.

As for the bible we who follow it take it seriously but yet somehow also with a grain of salt. Personally I believe a lot of the stories in the bible aren’t meant to be assumed like THATS TOTALLY THE TRUTH AND THERE IS NO WAY AROUND IT, I feel more like some of the things are just used as metaphors for those who abide by it to understand more clearly the message it portrays.

As for Jesus and walking on water I have a few points to make about that. Like ONE you shouldn't have really brought that up because that can have to do with many different things as we all know the human mind is a powerful thing for all we know Jesus could have been telekinetic or something so just you know don't even go there what’s said and done is said and done so don't pick and scratch at something old. And the second thing with that is how can you say that you would not believe in powers such as those but still say your self to believe in the powers of the elements and nature, what if it all was just the power of elements and nature that the bible is talking about?

As for Satanism that’s kind of a weird religion because it like follows all the same beliefs of Christianity except people choose to see it the opposite way around so it's weird because they don't really follow a god per say they follow a fallen angel who is at war with god.

Well I have been interested in this thread and haven’t read every post BUT

Here’s my two cents =]

I'm not a Wiccan I consider my self to be more of a freelance pagan... A Neo-Pagan to be a little more specific (I've done my research jus so you know lol). But I still consider myself catholic a little weird I suppose but it's true, I was baptized catholic and before anyone jumps on me about that I'd just like to say it's because I feel strongly towards my catholic beliefs but with out incorporating paganism in to my spiritual path I feel like it was lacking something or not grasping everything.

For me and the way I believe none of the beliefs from either really conflict, even the whole goddess/god polytheistic thing because I believe all gods are one that when we get specific as to give them names and different abilities we are just honoring the many different faces of that one god.

My views on Wicca are that it is a branch of paganism BUT some Wiccans and Pagans see it as it's own individual different thing it really depends on who your talking to. And I believe it was started long before Gardner published anything mixed in with pre Christian pagan beliefs before sort of coming in to it's own.

I don't particularly follow the Wiccan path because it is more precise and some what dangerous seeming lol. And btw I do NOT believe that magic is neutral and it just depends on the person using it, I DO believe that there are good and bad forces (people also being one of them) that they balance each other out just like with everything else in the world.

And idk who exactly said it but someone mentioned about how Wiccans manifest things or something and they don't believe in that, and it's hard to explain exactly my views on that but it's more liek a science theory to me... to manifest something is more like drawing upon energy for an intent and the law of science says energy can not be created or destroyed so its more like drawing energy to you to use it, not creating something.

charlettera:

I live by a christian church and i used to go to it but it didn't seem right so, after I found Wicca it seemed to fit. My mom wants me babtised so I'm keeping MY religon a secret. I want to tell her but I'm afraid of what she'll think. See I relize that it is a Earth based religon but she dosen't.

I have always just been told that being baptized relieves you of all your impurities and bad things you have ever done in life. And sort of guarantees you a spot in heaven when you die because it sort of puts like a protection on you.

I would suggest not to be cautious of it or fearful that it conflicts just see it more as a cleansing ritual that will relieve you of negative energies.

I've been trying to be Wiccan, because I love the idea of it, but haven't found enough significant information on the internet as to what exactly I am supposed to do. Also, my family is avidly Christian so I do not even get enough time alone to attempt practicing. Frankly, I believe that I've met so many crazy Christians that I can't deal with the concept anymore, but I'm open to other peoples' beliefs and I like that most of the Christian commenters on this link haven't been rude to any religions, but I didn't have time to read 12 pages of this stuff, so I don't know :)

I think that I might be more Pagan than Wicca, but that when I have the chance to be myself I will try to be a Wicca... Thoughts?

I have been considering Celtic Druidism because I find it interesting, if anyone has any links on any of these religions, practices, or cultures that could be of any use to me, could you please PM me?
I'll try and keep an eye on this conversation, but I might not get back to it... PM would make more sense if you would like to speak with me or divulge any helpful information on my current confliction...
Thanks all :D

WTFMusicPerson:

I have always just been told that being baptized relieves you of all your impurities and bad things you have ever done in life. And sort of guarantees you a spot in heaven when you die because it sort of puts like a protection on you.

I would suggest not to be cautious of it or fearful that it conflicts just see it more as a cleansing ritual that will relieve you of negative energies.

It's a Christian ritual though. There are plenty of Wiccan things she could do to cleanse herself.