Wicca

What is it??A FAR cry from satanism, contrary to what is beleived by some.Wicca is a religion and way of life based on humans being "in sync" with nature. Members are often referred to as Wiccans or Witches. There are many different denominations of Wicca (which itsself is a branch of Paganism), just as there are in Christianity. There is no one religion that is right for everyone. This statement couldn't be supported more by anyone than it is by Wiccans. Wicca is a very loose religion in terms of ritual practices, but it does have certain basic tenents and ritual patterns.

The symbol used in the background of this page is a pentagram. It is commonly thought of as representing satanism. However, this symbol and what it represents had already been in use for 20,000 yeasr before satanism, or satan,was even created. The 5 points on the star represent the 5 things that are used when practicing Wiccan Magick:earth, air, fire, water and spirit. The encircling line represents eternity. To understand why many view the pentagram as a sign of evil, you must know the history of Wicca.

The roots of Wicca can be traced back 25,000 years to the Palaeolithic man and woman. That long ago, successful hunting was the basis on which life was sustained; food, shelter and clothing from the skins and tools from the bones were all provided by the animals killed in the hunt. These ancient ones ascribed a spirit, or God to every act of nature:wind, water, lightning, etc. Since success in the hunt was the most important thing for man's survival, the God of the hunt became the all important Diety. And since most of the animals they hunted had horns, that God of the hunt was pictured as having horns. The horned God, for most, is still the God worshipped by Wiccans today.

The Magik performed by Wiccans can also be traced back to this time. They would make life size clay bison, then attack and "kill" them. This form of religio-Magick was beleived to bring them success in the hunt. They also realized that fertility and copulation were important to not only add more members to their tribes, but also to provide more animals for the hunt. Since women bore children, the Diety of fertility was viewed as a woman. The same kind of magick was used in this aspect, with clay animals figures mating and tribe members copulating.

These beleifs spread across Europe as the people did. As they spread, different peoples in different areas gave the Dieties different names, but the image of the horned God and the Goddess of fertility remained generally similar. Over time, tribes had not only learned to grow food, but also to store it for the winter, so hunting became less important. The horned god came to be looked upon as more of a God of nature in general, and a God of death and what lies after. The Goddess was still of fertility, and also of rebirth, for man had developed a beleif in life after death.

With the development of different rituals, a priesthood was developed:a few tribesmen more able to produce results. In some areas of Europe, these priests and priestesses became known as Wicca-the wise ones. This is the breif history of the development of Wicca, and the root of the name.

When Christianity was developed, there was not the immediate mass-conversion that is often suggested. Christianity was a man-made religion, and did not evolve over the centuries as we have seen that Wicca did. Whole countries were classed as Christian, when actually it was only the rulers who adopted the new religion. For the first thousand years of Christianity's existence, Wicca remained prominent in it's varied forms throughout Europe.

Many attempts were made to force people into becoming Christians, from destroying the Wiccan temples to stories and lies. It has frequently been said that the Gods of an old religion became the devils of a new. The God of Wicca is a horned God. So, apparently, is the Christian's Devil. So in that, the Christians reasoned that all Wiccans were Satanists! This type of reasong is still used today. Missionaries often labelled primitive tribes as satanists simply because they worshipped a god other then the Christian one. It didn't matter if the people were good or happy, they had to be converted!

The labeling of Wiccans as devil-worshippers is absolutely ridiculous. The Devil is purely an Christian invention;there being no mention of him as such prior to the New Testament. The whole concept of the devil being evil sprouted from an error in translation. The Hebrew Ha-satan and the Greek diablos simply mean opponent or adversary. The idea of dividing supreme powers into good and evil is the idea of an advanced society. The Old Gods were very much human, as they had their good side and their bad side. It was the idea of an "all-good" diety which necessitated the antagonist. "You can only have white if there is something black to compare it to." The idea of an all-good God was developed in Persia by Zoroaster in the seventh century BC. The idea spread westward and was later picked up by Christianity.

As Christianity grew, the old religion was pushed into hiding. Pagans were forced to live in outlying districts. This is how that name came about. Pagan is the latin word for "people who live in the country", as is heathen. So you can see that those terms were appropriate at the time for non-christians, but their use as a derrogatory term today is incorrect.

The smear-campaign against non-christians continued on. Christians made claims that Wiccans were working towards the opposite of what the rituals actually promoted. They did a ritual to promote crop growth, and the Christians would say they were trying to destroy the crops!

Christianity's begginings were very harsh. There were even strict rules about when one could have intercourse. After all the rules were down, there was a grand total of 2 months out of the year when Christians could have sexual relations with their spouses, but they were not allowed to derive pleasure from it. This strictness was what brought about Satanism. The unhappy Christians decided that since praying to tha all-loving God did no good, maybe his opposite would. Satanism is actually a parody or a mockery of Christianity. It was a revolt against the harshness of the church. In the eyes of the church, satanism and Wicca were both anti-christian, so they must be one in the same.

In 1736, laws were passed to make it a crime to pretend to have occult powers. This began the "Witch burnings". A rough estimate of the number of people burned, hung or tortured to death on the charge of Witchcraft is nine million. These laws were not completely repealed until 1951. Printing had been developed during these executions, so anything that was ever published on the subject was written from the church's point of view. After 1951 when the last laws against witchcraft were repealed, the Wiccans that had continued to practice in hiding began to surface and from there the Wiccan side of the story also surfaced.

Now you know the history of Wicca, and you know that we are not satanists.

9,000,000...THE BURNINGS...NEVER AGAIN!!!

Earth,air,fire water...the basis of Wiccan Magick....

The waxing and waning moon....that which determines the times of rituals...

The changing seasons...they determine when the God and Godess rise and fall in power...

Wicca has enabled me to look at the world in a different way...

a way that for me is better, more complete and has even helped me to deal with the negativism of others in a more healthful and happy-go-lucky manner.