Witchcraft
Witchcraft is a craft, a skill that involves making things. A witch is someone who practices witchcraft by means of chants, incantations, spells, potions, herbalism, aromatherapy, stones, crystals and natural healing. Some witches use divination to see into the future, either through being psychic themselves or by using tools such as Tarot Cards, Rune Stones, Crystal Balls and Palmistry. A witch can follow many paths. They may not be religious at all and may not believe in any Gods. They may be Christian, in that they practice witchcraft but follow the Christian religion. Alternatively, they may practice or follow Black Magic or Voodoo. A witch can be many different things and sometimes they are simply just a witch.
Wicca
A Wiccan is someone who is pagan and also a witch that practices witchcraft as part of their religion. Wiccans follow the moon phases, performing different rituals and magic on certain times of the moon phases. In Wicca the moon is the Goddess and the sun is the God. In some branches of Wicca, such as Gardnerian, there is only one God and one Goddess (the moon and the sun) but many Wiccans, calling themselves Eclectic Wicca, believe in multiple Gods and Goddesses.
Wiccans use nature as part of their magical rituals and workings. For example, when the moon is waxing (coming into being full) a Wiccan will do spell work that brings things to them and will ask for positives to be brought into their lives. When the moon is waning (going away after a full moon) they will ask bad things to leave their lives and work to expel negativity. Full moons are called Esbats and much ritual and magical work is done on these nights. To a Wiccan a spell, chant or meditation is like a prayer. The sun, our God who seeds and fertilizes the earth, is celebrated on eight holidays we call Sabbats which fall throughout the year on seasonal changes to the earth. Wicca takes from many ancient pagan civilizations and cultures including Native Americans, ancient Rome, ancient Greece, ancient Egypt, Norse Vikings, Aztecs, Incas, Celts, Druids and Anglo-Saxons. It is said that not all Witches are Wiccan but all Wiccan are Witches.
Wicca is a non-restrictive religion that leaves you to choose your own path, and there are many different paths of Wicca so you must choose the one that feels right for you. We all have the same fundamental belief, but we choose to practice in different ways, similar to many faiths, including Christianity, with its Catholic, Presbyterian, Protestant, Amish and other branches.
Wicca encourages you to empower yourself, to stay positive and keep negativity at bay. We embrace our dark side as well as our light and seek to balance the two. Our actions are our own and are not blamed on an outside force such as evil, demons or the devil.
Wicca, unlike many new age religions such as Christianity, Islam and Judaism, does not follow the word of man or a monotheistic God; instead Wicca follows the divine and awesome power of nature; the stars, the sun and moon, the universe. Wicca follows stories of ancient Gods passed down from ancestors from the beginning of time.
In Wicca we do not have churches or buildings to pray in. We use nature as our church and our place to worship. Wicca does not ask for money to keep the religion alive, while the leaders get rich and live in palaces and castles and the worshippers live in poverty. Wicca does not ask anything from you. It does not ask us to ostracise or hate certain people, because of where they were born or because of their sexuality. Instead Wicca encourages people’s individuality and asks that they find their own spiritual path. It goes against everything Wiccans stand for to judge others; we are all emotional and perceptive beings and should be allowed to be ourselves and live our lives free from pain or harassment.
Balance is essential within Wicca. Balance means to be free of drama and neurotic behaviour, to not allow your past or guilt take over your life, but also to not let the future and what is still to come take over your life either. Live in the present and take each thing as it comes. We learn from our past and move on, we prepare in the here and now to create our own future. We accept our light and our dark, our feminine and our masculine as one cannot be without the other.
“I have been told by witches in England: ‘Write and tell people we are not perverts. We are decent people, we only want to be left alone, but there are certain secrets that you mustn’t give away.’ So after some arguments as to exactly what I must not reveal, I am permitted to tell much that has never before been made public concerning their beliefs, their rituals and their reasons for what they do; also to emphasize that neither their present beliefs, rituals nor practices are harmful.”
Gerald Gardner
Wicca Paths and Traditions
There are, admittedly, purists within Wicca who insist certain things must be done in the traditional way; otherwise it must be wrong. Sadly all religions have purists who insist theirs is the right way and anywhere or anything else is heading down the wrong path. But Wicca has many different paths and traditions and there is no right or wrong way to be Wiccan. Wicca is a living religion that is ever growing and evolving, although it must be noted that all paths do follow the eight Sabbats and twelve Esbats. Apart from that you are free to choose and so, to help you, here’s a brief description of different Wiccan Paths you may want to consider following.
Old Wicca
Wicca is an old English (Anglo Saxon) word meaning witch. If you were a witch in England and most of Europe you would have been called a Wicca (male) or Wicce (female). The word also means ‘Wise’ or ‘Wise One’, which is appropriate given Wicca were the village healers, sages and wise people, called upon for many things including midwifery, fortune telling and convening with the Gods. In nearly all ancient cultures and civilizations there were wise people who would treat the sick, foretell future events, bless births and marriages. People who follow the old path are Eclectic Wicca and incorporate many Gods and Goddesses into the religion. They are mostly solitary witches who do not belong to a group or coven and learn through reading old accounts and books of the wise women, men and sages from ancient scriptures and records.
Gardnerian Wicca
Gardnerian Wicca was derived from a man named Gerald Gardner who used the old English name for Witch (Wicca) and turned it into a coven based religion. Gardner was taught about magic and witchcraft in 1938 when he joined a group called The Rosicrucian Order based on Freemasonry. The people in this coven called themselves Wica (with one ‘c’). Gardner disagreed with many of the groups beliefs though and left disenchanted. In 1939 he was initiated into a Coven called New Forest in England, which was said to be a very old world coven with traditions passed down from many generations of Witches.
Around 1946 Gardner left the New Forest Coven and created The Bricklewood Coven. He taught people in his own unique way, taking on board steps and insights he’d learned from other groups. The Wicca he taught at Bricklewood went up in degrees, much like Freemasonry which Gardner was very interested in. Many of his witches reached the highest degree and became High Priestesses and Priests and went out and created their own Covens under Gardner’s teachings, henceforth becoming known as Gardnerian Wiccans. Gardner was highly influenced by Alistair Crowley, a famous witch and social critic, and he also worked very closely with a woman called Margaret Murray to write ‘Witchcraft Today,’ published in 1954. Gardner felt Wicca was fragmented and wanted to draw all his experience and knowledge together to create a universal coven known today as Gardnerian Wicca. You must be initiated into a Gardnerian coven by the High Priest or Priestess and you must sign an oath to keep the coven’s secrets when joining.
Alexandrian Wicca
Alexandrian Wicca, introduced by Alexander Sanders in the 1960s, is based heavily on the teachings of Gardnerian Wicca which Alexander Sanders (known as the Witch King in his circles) mentions in many of his books. Alexandrian Wicca is based on Gender polarity and all rituals are carried out with a High Priest and Priestess. While Gardnerian is strictly ritualistic and only believes in one God and one Goddess, with a High Priestess leading all rituals, Alexandrian Wicca lets you believe in whichever