What is Wicca ?

Be it ever so humble….there’s no place like a Pagan home!
-Emerys-

These are my personal interpretations based on the Wiccan way of life and by no means applies to everyone. Each individual tailors Wicca to their needs and lifestyle

Wicca, or Witchcraft, is a Pagan, Earth-based religion. The name Wicca, or wicce means “wise”. According to English scholars, the word “witch” comes from “wicca”, an olde English word that was created to mean “witch”.

Wicca is based upon one of the ancient, polytheistic religions pre-dating the Judaic-Christian movement of the early millennia. Wiccans believe in the feminine aspect of deity as well as the masculine, and the divine that exists in all of us, and in which we are a part of the bigger whole. Wiccans follow the seasonal cycles of Mother Earth and worship the Goddess and God in all her/his aspects.

We do not worship Satan, nor do we believe in Satan - a concept brought forth by the Christians as a way of “enticing” non-believers into their way of belief, and a bastardization of other religions including Judaism. Wiccans believe that all are responsible for their own actions. Whatever you do comes back to you threefold, be it good or bad. In this respect there is no such thing as “black” or “white” witches. It is up to the individual how they choose to live their lives, with the threefold-law acting as the outcome of where their lives will eventually go. The three-fold law basically states that any energy sent out will return back to the sender three-fold. In other words if you send out positive energy, you will receive positive energy back three times positive; If you practice negative energy, then negative energy will hit you three times worse! This is a standard of the “golden rule” - “Do unto Others…”, or “What goes around, comes around”.

This touches upon another reason why Wiccans/Pagans do not believe, nor practice any kind of sacrifice. “Harm none”, is the law we follow, which means harm no one, including yourself whether physically, mentally, spiritually or psychicly. Wiccans are respectful of all life, and to harm any living thing is abhorrent. If anyone tells you different, then they are not Wiccan or a Witch!

Although there are some “sacrifices” committed by Wiccans - they sacrifice their time by volunteering at local fund-raisers, donate blood, act as counselors and ministers to those in need and many other types of time given to others in service of the gods and the community.

Yes, witches practice magick and a ritualistic way of worship in order to honor the Goddess/God, but not all Pagans are witches, nor do all practice magick. Magick is simply another form of prayer. As a member of the more mainstream religions pray for guidance, protection, or deliverance, so do Wiccans. The names of the Goddess/God aspect in which we pray to becomes symbolic to the nature of what we are praying for. (i.e. praying to the Goddess Aphrodite brings love into one’s life) We do not practice love spells on others, nor do we hex people. To call oneself a Witch and say you practice these types of spells - they are not Witches. We follow the “Harm none” law. Practicing spells of this type influences the wills of others, therefore harming them.

Some Wiccans are members of covens, or churches. Some choose to practice alone or with their spouses. Each one of these is a valid way to worship the Goddess/God, and does not make any difference to Them how it is done or where. Some choose to practice their rituals in the nude, or “skyclad”, which those that do, feel this is not as inhibiting to raising energy or worshipping as when clothed. Some choose to where a distinctive robe of black, or another color suitable to the individual, or yet, some are very comfortable simply wearing street clothes.

Wiccans do not proselytize. Each religion has their own validity in reaching out to the divine, therefore, we have no need to go out amongst the masses and “convert” people to our way of life. To do so would be a type of religious bigotry and has no place in our lives. Wicca is not for everyone, just as Judaism, Christianity or Buddhism is not for everyone. As each human has an individual personality, so must their choice of religion should be tailored to them.

 

What is ‘Celtic Wicca’?

The reason I call myself a Celtic Wiccan is quite simple - my tenants of beliefs center mainly around the Celtic pantheon, but I also include Wiccan rituals and redes into my ‘religion’

I know there are those that feel you can’t be both….well that just isn’t so! I mean after all, that is one of the basic ideals of the Pagan religions - Your beliefs can be tailor-made to your own individuality - we are after all, individuals. Don’t let others dictate what is the ‘right’ and what is ‘wrong’ way to honor the gods. To me that smacks of fundamentalism - and that is what brought us to our struggles and witch-hunts over the past millenia in the first place!!!

There are some basic Celtic beliefs in what Gerald Gardner incorporated into the neo-Wiccan tradition that he and others created back in 1954. However, that doesn’t necessarily in of itself make Wicca a Celtic tradition. There are many facets mixed together to make the Gardnerian tradition what it is. Western mysticism (the Golden Dawn), Carl Jung’s Karmic teachings, Egyptian, the Kabbala and of course…Witchcraft.

In my tradition, Celtic Wicca, I hold certain Celtic pantheons as my own:

The Number Three

Three, and multiples of three (three, six and nine) were held as very potent figures. The triskele for instance; three curving lines ending in a counter-clockwise spiral representative of the three worlds

The Three Worlds

- Sky:   The equivalent of heaven, or the Upperworld (Summerland) the world of the Gods
            and higher spirits (ancestors)
- Land: The Earth, or this world (Annwn) Where the physical world is manifest
- Sea:   The Underworld (Abred) where life ends and is reborn

I have incorporated many Celtic worlds into my beliefs, Irish, Welsh, Breton and Scottish. For instance, in the Mabinogian there are many stories of Pwyll and his adventures with the Celtic Gods and Goddesses. The understanding of how the world came to be, and how one attains spirituality from this life into the next, and the ‘Circle of Being’:

In this system, two primary existences are contemplated. God, or the Great Sprit, and Cythrawl. God representing the principle of energy and life, Cythrawl representing the principle of destruction and nothingness. Cythrawl, is also better known as Annwn; Chaos. God, as the Great Spirit - Order.

In the beginning there was nothing but God and Annwn. God spoke Its name out loud which created the ’spark’ of life, or the Manred - the primal substance of the universe. All was conceived as the microcosm, or the atoms from which all matter is and that God is a part of - the All. The totality of being is now what this is represent, by three (there’s that three again!) concentric circles. The innermost circle is where life itself sprang forth from Annwn, known as Abred. This is the stage of struggle and evolution - the life experience itself. The next outer circle is called Gwynfyd - Purity. This part of life is pure, rejoicing and all knowledgeable, having attained a spirituality over ‘evil’ - in other words the spiritual plane. The final, outermost circle is called Ceugant, or Infinity, or the All. This area, although a part of all the worlds and the other circles is inhabited by God, or the All, alone. Since the All is part of everything that is, we are all a part of ‘God’, but do not attain the same level as ‘God’ since the energy manifest in All is to great to be comprehended all at once on any plane.

This brings me to the God and Goddess aspects. They are a manifestation of the All, so that we may work with and communicate with the All as one would use the telephone system to reach greater distances. I also honor my ancestors as in the Celtic tradition, which includes my family and ancient ancestral roots.

Confused yet? Well. I am still putting this all together myself, and bringing myself closer to an understanding of the ‘ways of the universe’. But for me, this fits right into what I have thought about ‘God’ for over tewenty years, now. It wasn’t until eleven years ago that my indoctrination into the Craft finally tied it all together for me!

Abred - This world (Land, Earth) - where all life is manifest, the struggles and the experiences of the physical lane

Gwynfyd - The Summerland where all that has been learned, and the purity of the spirit attains its position with the Gods

Ceugant - The All - The totality of everything in the Universe as a whole

Summary

I believe that all paths that bring the divine are valid. Most religions that practice a loving, caring way of life are on the positive paths to deity, IMHO, and the good in all of us. I do not hold to the belief that my way or any other way is the only true path to follow. No proper spiritual being should. We all find our ways to the Goddess/God that best fits us. They know our hearts, our minds, our souls….and our intent. That is the key word…intent!

Blessed be !