The following is an excerpt from "What is Wicca" by Brigit d'Augra. Not all will agree with what is said here. Wicca is very difficult to pin down (different traditions, etc.). I'd like you all to read it and give some thought to what Wicca means to you. If you wish, write something in your notebook or journal about it. We'll discuss it at the next class which will be on Wednesday, July 30, 2pm US eastern time, in #afterfive at irc.another.net.

What is Wicca? Although in many ways, Wicca defies explanation due to the diversity of its practitioners and its depth of meaning, I have attempted to provide a comprehensive description of the religion of Wicca. I have brought together a group of definitions and descriptions of Wicca to this end.

According to Marion Weinstein in her book Positive Magic, Wicca is "an ancient Celtic magic-religion," the "craft of the wise" according to some interpretations of the origin of the word Wicca. Nor is Wicca "exclusively a religion in the modern sense because witchcraft dates from that early time when religion, theater, art, philosophy, science and magic were all part of the same package." The Origins of Wicca, whether or not it is indeed continuous, could be as much as 6,000 years in the past.

The Craft is "montheistic" (still according to Weinstein) because it is based on an underlying belief in "one energy source of the universe." That is, there is a concept of a prime diety, although we polarize that diety into male and female aspects. (Not all Wiccans, I must add, believe in a prime source of all life; in fact some are atheist.) Therefore, it is pagan because of the acknowledgment of two primary aspects of diety: female and male. (Weinstein)

On the other hand Wicca is polytheistic as well "because it affirms that the one Power manifests in every life form....all human, all animal, all spirit life and all forces of nature." (Weinstein) Wiccans call upon many aspects of deity with many forms and names according to the influence needed at that time. We are able to sense the presence of deity all around us in all things. To us, God/dess is an ever-present part of our lives.

Margot Adler interviewed many Witches in Drawing Down the Moon both individually and in groups. In one interview a Witch named Lady Cybele says that Wicca is "a pagan mystery religion with a polarized deity and no personification of evil." The Covenant of The Goddess is an organization of Witches of different traditions who have compiled some definitions or descriptions of Wiccans. Wicca (according to COG) is a religion who practitioners (among other beliefs) 1) Worship the Goddess, and 2) Are bound by craft law - not the same in all traditions.

Although there are indeed many traditions of Wicca, Wiccans have one ethic in common, "An' it harm none, do what thou wilt." Wicca has no concept of sin per se, but it does have a strong system of ethics - the individual laws may vary slightly from tradition to tradition. These ethics are based in a kinship with all things and beings. We believe that we must weigh our actions in relation to the good of all as far as we are able to, not just to others in our group.

Buckland, in his book Complete Book of Witchcraft lists a set of "Principles of Wiccan Beliefs" adopted by the now disbanded Council of American Witches. Some of these principles further describe the religion of Wicca. There are as follows:

1. We practice rites to attune ourselves with the natural rhythms of life forces marked by the phases of the Moon, the seasonal
2. Quarters, and Cross Quarters.
3. We recognize that our intelligence gives a unique responsibility toward our environment.
4. We acknowledge a depth of power far greater that that apparent to the average person. Because it is far greater than ordinary it is sometimes called "supernatural," but we see it as lying within that which is naturally potential to all.
5. We conceive of the Creative Power in the universe as manifesting through polarity - as masculine and feminine - and that this same Creative Power lies in all people, and functions through the interaction of the masculine and feminine.

In The Spiral Dance, Starhawk describes Wicca as "a religion, perhaps the oldest religion extant in the West," and "predates Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism." It is "closer in spirit to Native American Traditions or Arctic shamanism." It has "no dogma or set of beliefs." And she states that Wicca "takes its teachings from nature and reads inspiration in the movements of the sun, moon and stars." Further she states that Wicca is "a religion of poetry not theology. The myths, legends and teachings are metaphors for the absolute reality our limited minds can never completely know."

But because Wicca has no theology or dogma this is not say that it teaches nothing. Again Starhawk has much to say along this vein. She states that Wicca teaches love for life in all its forms and, while the craft recognizes that life feeds on life and that we must kill (plants, food animals) in order to survive, life is never taken needlessly -- never squandered or wasted. We can extrapolate this to mean not only life in general but specifically our own lives as well.

Starhawk also believes, along with many other Wiccans that we are in fact stewards of life on the earth and perhaps beyond. "Serving the life force means working to preserve the diversity of natural life to prevent the poisoning of the environment and the destruction of species."

I have gathered a lot of information here and we still don't have a pinned down definition of what Wicca is. Here I also want to state what Wicca is not. Many people equate Wiccan Witchcraft (and that's the only one I know anything about) with Satanism and further with antisocial practices. Antisocial meaning bringing harm to others. I have heard it described as a cult (even by Gerald Gardner).

First, to address the label of "cult." According to sociological definition a cult is a religion based on the teachings of a charismatic leader. By this definition Christianity is more of a cult than Wicca. Many Wiccans work in groups and some of these might be cults. However, the majority of Wiccans are so highly invidiualistic that they can hardly agree on the time of day (in a friendly way of course) much less become programmed to one narrow point of view, i.e. a set of teachings put forth by one person. (Just who does he/she think he/she is anyway?)

Now to address the issue of Satanism; I suppose that any non-Christian religion is, according to some practitioners of that faith, necessarily Satanist. If one takes a broader point of view Satanism is the worship of Satan, the Judeo-Christian God's archenemy. Wiccans and Pagans do not believe in Satan or any personification of evil. We believe that nothing in nature is, of itself, evil. Many Wiccans believe that what evil there is caused by human's actions, when these actions harm others. This is caused because the person does not take into account the needs of other fellow beings. All of us are responsible for our own actions and what we do returns to us via karma threefold. If we sow good - good returns; if we sow evil - evil is our due. We are not tempted by an outside force to do evil, the potential for evil is within us and it is only when we try to separate that potential from ourselves that it can gain control. If we accept that some times we are selfish and that is a part of us then we can be unselfish. So Wicca is not Satanism nor is it evil. We cannot worship what we do not believe in and we do not choose to give power to an external personification of evil.

In summation, Wicca is a nature religion the adherents of which worship a deity who is divided into male and female aspects. The adherents of Wicca attempt to attune themselves with nature and to see themselves and all life as part of nature. The religion does not have as a component a personification of evil, such as a devil, but believe in personal responsibility for one's acts.

In my general description of Wicca I have touched upon some Wiccan beliefs. Earlier I quoted Starhawk as saying that Wicca has no dogma nor set of beliefs. This means Wicca has no strict set of beliefs that everyone agrees upon. There are beliefs held by enough practitioners of Wicca to warrant further mention and explanation. Specific beliefs vary from tradition to tradition and person to person.

I have emphasized the belief in a polarized (divided into male/female) deity in the religion of Wicca. Most Wiccans do believe in a divinity although there are some that are actually atheist. The God is the "Lord of animals, lord of Death and beyond." (Gardner) He is the "initiating life force, the essential phallic creative energy in all men and women." (Weinstein) The God is visualized as a horned man, as the sun. He is the energy and wildness of the universe.

The Goddess is the personification of nature: the Moon, the Earth, or both. She is conceived of as the triple Goddess in her aspects of Maiden, Mother, and Crone and we look for her attributes around us and within us. According to Starhawk, "The Goddess does not rule the world; She is the world." She is "the primary symbol for that which cannot be told."

Whether or not the God and Goddess are viewed as real, "the concept of the God or Goddess, that is personification of the gods, is the means to make contact with divine reality." (Weinstein) And it is noteworthy that deity, as nature, is in all life, all of the world seen and unseen, including manifest within each person. So to contact the deity, He/She must be awakened within oneself. This means that God/dess is always with and all around each being. Our Gods are very much a part of our everyday lives.

I have also discussed the concept of karma and so skimmed the surface of Wiccan beliefs of the afterlife. Again I must say most Wiccans believe in reincarnation and the birth-death-rebirth cycle. I think Starhawk best sums up this concept in The Spiral Dance. "Existence is sustained by the on-off pulse, the alternating current of the two forces in perfect balance. Unchecked, the life force is cancer, unbridled, the death force is war and genocide. Together, they hold each other in the harmony that sustains life, in the perfect orbit that can be seen in the changing cycle of the seasons, in the ecological balance of the natural world, and in the progression of human life from birth through fulfillment to decline and death - and then to rebirth."

Death is not an end; it is a stage in the cycle that leads on to rebirth. After death, the human soul is said to rest in "Summerland," the Land of Eternal Youth, where it is refreshed, grows young, and is made ready to be born again. Rebirth is not considered to be condemnation to an endless, dreary round of suffering, as in Eastern religions. Instead, it is seen as the great Gift of the Goddess, who is manifest in the physical world. Life and the world are not separate from Godhead;

The following exercise is from the book The Spiral Dance by StarHawk.

Close your eyes. Listen to the sounds around you, forgetting what they represent. Be conscious only of the vast rhythm they create. Even in the city, forget that the whooshes, thumps, clacks, chirrupings, rumbles, and bangs are passing cars, workmen's hammers, footsteps, sparrows, trucks, and slamming doors - hear only the intricate, organic pattern in which each is a separate beat.

If you would prefer something more visual:

Take a blank sheet of paper and a soft pencil or stick of charcoal. Sit down and observe a scene that interests you. Forgetting about objects, names, and things, observe only the play of light and shadow over various forms. Block in the shadows, not with lines but with patches of broad strokes. Do not be distracted by local color; do not worry about reproducing "things." Let the patches of shade create forms. Spend at least ten minutes on this exercise. Remember, the point is not to create a "good" drawing or to prove your artistic talent (or lack of it); the point is to experience another way of seeing, in which separate objects disappear and only patterns remain.

Continue to practice Exercise #1.