Wicca beliefs

[SayGee]

Tis finally done!!!!!
actually I got this back on the last day of school...but I'm a procrastinator...and now that the new school year has started, I suppose I should finally stop procrastinating this and just type it up!
by the way, I gots a B on it ^^
or a B+ on it...can't remember too well sweatdrop
you all can still post links and talk here and stuff though, just telling you :3

Imagine you are at a party. You are talking to someone and you two seem to be getting along well. Then they tell you they are a Wiccan. Should you fear (or hate) them simply because they are a Wiccan? Three reasons a Wiccan should not be feared are because their beliefs are peaceful, because they are not the same as Satanists and because their practices are peaceful and contribute positively to our society.

First of all Wiccan beliefs are peaceful. B.A. Robinson, writer of essays in defense of Wicca on ReligiousTolerance.org said in one of her essays, "the religion of Wicca has a Wiccan Rede which states, 'an it harm none, do what thou wilt'" (Ontarion Consultants for Religious Tolerance, 2004). This translates to "If it harm none, do what thou want to". The Wiccan Rede also states, "Bide within the law you must, in perfect love and perfect trust Live you must and let to live, fairly take and fairly give." A few sentances later it says "Let love and light be our guides again," and near the end of the rede it says, "merry meet and merry part bright the cheeks and warm the heart" (The Celtic Connection, 2007). These parts of the Wiccan Rede show Wicca to be a peaceful religion, if anything out to help others and not harm others. The Deities of Wicca are not that harmful either. Wiccan Edain McCoy said this about the deities of Wicca, which was posted on Religioustolerance.org, "We worship a deity that is both male and female, a Mother Goddess and a Father God, who together created all that is, was or will be...." (Ontario Consultants for Religious Tolerance, 2004). This gives the basic idea on the two main deities of the Wiccan religion. According to Scott Cunningham, author of Wicca for the Solitary Practitioner, and true Wiccan, he wrote "The Goddess is nature, all nature..." (Cunningham 11). According to this one of Wicca's most important deities is constantly around them in the form of all nature.

Second of all is that Wiccans are not Satanists in disguise. The first proof of this is the pentagrams of the two religions. The pentagrams are indeed very similar but there is a major differance between the two. B.A. Robinson pointed out that the Wiccan pentagram has one point upwards and two points downwards, otherwise an upright pentagram. While a Satanist pentagram is inverted, two points upwards and one point downwards, and has a goat head drawn into it, this is also known as the Sigl of Baphomet (Ontario Consultants for Religious Tolerance, 2004). Another point is that Wiccans do not even believe in a Satan or Hell. According to B.A. Robinson in a part of one of her essays for religious tolerance, "as viewed by neopagans Wicca does not even recognize Satan or any other all evil supernatural entity" (Ontario Consultants for Religious Tolerance, 2004). She also said, "Their rule of behavior is called the Wiccan Rede: 'An it harm none do what thou wilt' i.e. do whatever you wish as long as it harms no one, including yourself. Unlike Satanists, Wiccans are not allowed to dominate, manipulate, control or harm others" (Ontario Consultants for Religious Tolerance, 2004). It can safely be assumed then that this also shows that Wiccans may not practice any form of magic that would dominate, manipulate, control or harm others while Satanists are allowed to do this knid of magic.

Lastly their practices contribute positively to our society. According to Scott Cunningham in his book Wicca for the Solitary Practitioner, "concern and love for our planet play major roles in Wicca" (Cunningham 5). Also many people know Wicca as a magic using religion, their amgic according to Scott Cunningham is "used as a tool to sanctify ritual areas and to improve ourselves and the world in which we live" (Cunningham 6). This shows that a Wiccan uses their magic to help them and the world, so it can be assumed that Wiccans also get involved in activities that help the Earth, such as recycling, picking up trash, and cleaning water.

My three reasons to why a Wiccan should not be feared are because their beliefs are peaceful, because they are not the same as Satanists, and because their practices contribute positively to our society prove a Wiccan should not be feared. I hope my paper has enlightened your mind as to why a Wiccan should not be feared.


no offense was meant to Satanists when I typed this, or now, I somewhat understand Satanist beliefs as well, it's just that everyone rants their asses off saying Wicca is a branch of Satanism so I had to point out the differeances but then it made it look like people should fear Satanists, which they shouldn't, I'm friends with a used to be Satanist, she is really nice.
I'm just saying Satanists really don't just turn the other cheek all that much....  

[Efstathios]

Somehow, get your hands on a copy of Wicca For The Solitary Practitioner by...Well I think it's by Tom Cowan, but I think my friend Z might still have it. It's an excellent starting point and would be a great resource for that kind of paper.

An excellent and simple resource is Circle Round, Raising Children in Goddess Traditions. Because it's for parents introducing kids to Goddess traditions, it's a good starting point with pretty stories, pictures and songs. It's a good insight into the type of culture Wiccans enjoy with their brothers and sisters* and want their children to grow up in.


*(In the same sense that Christians believe us all to be sons and daughters of God, Wiccans consider us all daughters and sons of Mother Earth)

You can ask me anything, but you'll need citable sources for a research paper.  

[pvt. Idaho]

Efstathios

Somehow, get your hands on a copy of Wicca For The Solitary Practitioner by...Well I think it's by Tom Cowan, but I think my friend Z might still have it. It's an excellent starting point and would be a great resource for that kind of paper.

That's a great book. Also, if you want to know about holidays, equipment, facets of the goddess & god, etc, great[i] Wicca a Year and a Day [i/] by Timothy Roderick is good for those starting out, and for those that want more info

 

[Alcyone]

One I found helpful was "Circle Within: Creating a Wiccan Spiritual Tradition" by Dianne Sylvan. Not much about basic items and no spells but some good meditations in it.  

[The Seasick Sailor]

I did a research paper on the exact same thing. Haha, how funny!  

[Calixti]

Wicca is a dithiestic fertility cult created by Gerald Gardner in the fifties with influences from multiple religions. It is an oathbound mystery religion that worships the Lord and Lady of the Isles, and requires initiation for access to the mysteries and the true names of the God and Goddess.

To be a Wiccan, one must find a coven. A true Wiccan coven will be able to trace its lineage back to Gardner unless they were initiated by the Lord and Lady in which case they would be able to verify their initiation with the true names of the Lord and Lady. Covens do not initiate people under eighteen without a parental waiver because one must be of legal age for sexual activity due to the nature of the Great Rite, and of legal age to sign a contract so that a member cannot disclose any oathbound information.

What's more, Wiccans do indeed believe in the Christian Hell. In his 161 Laws of Wicca, Gerald stated that oathbreakers condemn themselves to the Christian Hell.

Go to the M&R FAQ on Wicca for more information: Wiccan FAQ  

[SayGee]

thank you soo much for the book reccomendations, my parents got me the book "Wicca for the Solitary Practitioner" by Scott Cunningham
but i had to promise i wouldn't try anything in the book and that it's strictly for research
but still thank you all, more stuff to add to my paper!!!  

[Efstathios]

The Indubitable Katie-Kat

Wicca is a dithiestic fertility cult created by Gerald Gardner in the fifties with influences from multiple religions. It is an oathbound mystery religion that worships the Lord and Lady of the Isles, and requires initiation for access to the mysteries and the true names of the God and Goddess.

To be a Wiccan, one must find a coven. A true Wiccan coven will be able to trace its lineage back to Gardner unless they were initiated by the Lord and Lady in which case they would be able to verify their initiation with the true names of the Lord and Lady. Covens do not initiate people under eighteen without a parental waiver because one must be of legal age for sexual activity due to the nature of the Great Rite, and of legal age to sign a contract so that a member cannot disclose any oathbound information.

What's more, Wiccans do indeed believe in the Christian Hell. In his 161 Laws of Wicca, Gerald stated that oathbreakers condemn themselves to the Christian Hell.

Go to the M&R FAQ on Wicca for more information: Wiccan FAQ

I'm sorry, but that simply isn't true.

What's more most practitioners no longer practice sky-clad and the Great Rite is usually symbolic rather than literal.

I am a hedgewitch and a shaman by bloodright. Wicca is not a fertility cult and there are no secrets.

The only religion I know of with an age limit is Satanism and that's only in the case of membership to the church of Satan.

If you want to know anything about actual Wicca, I reccomend The fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk.

Or Power Of The Witch by Laurie Cabot.

Starhawk's is a Utopian book, I would love to live in the village in the north in here book, it's too wonderful.
Cabot's work is more matter-of-fact and is more instructional.

Also Wiccans know that the Christian Hell is a mere astral world that some Christians enter directly after death, but most don't stay there.
Perhaps you are confusing Christian hell with an idea more like C.S. Lewis's Grey Town.  

[SayGee]

Efstathios

The Indubitable Katie-Kat

Wicca is a dithiestic fertility cult created by Gerald Gardner in the fifties with influences from multiple religions. It is an oathbound mystery religion that worships the Lord and Lady of the Isles, and requires initiation for access to the mysteries and the true names of the God and Goddess.

To be a Wiccan, one must find a coven. A true Wiccan coven will be able to trace its lineage back to Gardner unless they were initiated by the Lord and Lady in which case they would be able to verify their initiation with the true names of the Lord and Lady. Covens do not initiate people under eighteen without a parental waiver because one must be of legal age for sexual activity due to the nature of the Great Rite, and of legal age to sign a contract so that a member cannot disclose any oathbound information.

What's more, Wiccans do indeed believe in the Christian Hell. In his 161 Laws of Wicca, Gerald stated that oathbreakers condemn themselves to the Christian Hell.

Go to the M&R FAQ on Wicca for more information: Wiccan FAQ

I'm sorry, but that simply isn't true.

What's more most practitioners no longer practice sky-clad and the Great Rite is usually symbolic rather than literal.

I am a hedgewitch and a shaman by bloodright. Wicca is not a fertility cult and there are no secrets.

The only religion I know of with an age limit is Satanism and that's only in the case of membership to the church of Satan.

If you want to know anything about actual Wicca, I reccomend The fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk.

Or Power Of The Witch by Laurie Cabot.

Starhawk's is a Utopian book, I would love to live in the village in the north in here book, it's too wonderful.
Cabot's work is more matter-of-fact and is more instructional.

Also Wiccans know that the Christian Hell is a mere astral world that some Christians enter directly after death, but most don't stay there.
Perhaps you are confusing Christian hell with an idea more like C.S. Lewis's Grey Town.

i have to agree.
i've been to religioustolerance.org plenty of times for my research.
as far as i've read Wiccans acknowledge no all-evil supernatural deities or a Hell. .....that was word for word....creepy....i memorzied my research paper....  

[Daemonfuchs]

you can contact our small order at TWHarah@aol.com (we use therifos' email) and ask as many questions as you want, we will answer as many as we can...  

[SayGee]

and now, thanks to book recommendations that made one of my entire paragraphs, i'm done with the research paper
hurray!!!!!!!!!!!
thank you all for your help (be it used or not)
the moment i get back my paper and it's graded i will try to type it once more and post it here to see what you all think of it, if you all even wanna read it  

[Efstathios]

Please do share.

I'd love to see what you wrote/learned.  

[SayGee]

hurray a person wants to read it!
i will the moment i get the research paper back.....my L.A teacher takes too long to grade things..........