THE WICCAN RELIGION
A more encompassing term for witchcraft would be paganism. It has been called
"man's first attempt at technology or his initial effort to gain controlof his
environment. Paganists chose certain people to be in charge of these efforts
who were called shamans or Witch doctors.
Shamans gave human names to natural forces and then would use various means to
attempt to communicate with these environmental units. When the Shaman's
efforts failed, he would inform his followers that the "gods" required or
demanded a sacrifice or gifts. Confusion began during the middle ages when
Paganism and Christianity met head on. There was a blending of beliefs in an
attempt at compromise to keep the peace and encourage social acceptance.
Many of the Pagan traditions in force in America today are easily identified
by religion and philosophy dating back to Greek, Roman and Egyptian worship
and beliefs. There is a difference however in religions which derive some sort
of "divine revelat ion" and natural religions.
Paganism centers around goddess worship or worship of the "earth mother" or
the "huntress." The most common form of goddess worship is wiccan, which is a
masculine noun. The feminine form being wiccee, with the performance of wiccee
beliefs being cal led "wiccee-craft" or witchcraft. There a number of forms of
the Wiccan religion which include Gardnerian magic, Crowlish magic, Druidism
and neodruidism, and Shamanism.
Throughout history, persons practicing the wiccan religions have persecuted,
ostracised, stigmatized and murdered. History shows that thousands of persons
were accused, tortured and convicted on charges of witchcraft even though
involvement was slim to none. Thus in many cases, true witches escaped and
managed to blend into society.
Paganism often involves "circle magic" whose purpose is to summon positive or
negative forces. Many of the Pagan ceremonies resemble those carried out by
Satanists. they include a circle large enough for the entire group of
worshippers for protection
and a consecrated altar in the midst. Attendees may wear a variety of
different colored robes or be "sky clad" (naked). The chalice used in the
ceremony represents the female sexual organ; while the athame - at least 9
inches long (a razor sharp kni fe) - represents the male sexual organ.
Confusion occurs in discussions of the various forms of magic. Pagans make
a distinction between the "negative" and "positive" force. Black magic is used
for purposes while so-called white magic is summoned to perform good. All the
members of the church of Wicca strongly deny any connection with Black magic.
Instead, they claim the title White Witches. Their aims, they assert, are only
good ones.
They dislike the term witches, and prefer to be called Practitioners of Wicca,
The Craft, or The Old Religion. The Wiccan religion is based on the natural
cycles of the earth and all things related celestially. They work with all the
phases of the mo on and with multiple facets of the creating energy, which
they term god and goddess. They claim to worship the creator but that the
creator is both male and female in the same image as man was created. They do
not see god or goddess as being above, i n the heavens, but as being all
around us in the earth.
They own the reason their god has horns is due to the fact that he represents
both man and horned animals. They have many names for their god such as Pan,
Kerminos, Mars, Zeus, Apollo, Thor, Odin. They claim the d not worship many
gods, but rather on e god and one goddess with many names. They point out the
difference between themselves and Satanism as Satanists practicing a form of
anti-Christianity, or the belief in the force of evil.
Wiccans believe that all forces are natural, that are created by the god and
goddess, and are neither good nor evil. "We can work good with them, or we can
work evil with them, but they are just there." They state that they are
pantheistic and believ e that all things of the earth are part of the creator.
They observe both summer and winter solstices, spring and fall equinoxes, and
cross quarters.
A good Pagan will follow the two sets of laws they have. The first is the
Wiccan Read, a set of laws from ancient times. It culminates in the following
words: "Ye harm none, do what ye will" meaning you can do anything you want so
long as it hurts no
other living thing. The second, `The Charge of the Goddess' is allegedly the
word of the goddess, commanding believers to worship the goddess, respect all
life on earth for she put it there, and that believers must gather on the
sabats and the full moons and worship her. It is required that they celebrate
Samhain (October 31), a Celtic holiday honoring the ghosts of warriors who've
died.
It is believed that this is a time when the physical world is closest to the
other world. It is their concept of heaven although they do not believe in
rewards after death. They believe, "when you die, you just go to the other
place." There is strong
belief that whatever the ask when the moon is full will be granted by the
goddess. They also believe in reincarnation.
Another part of the `Charge of The Goddess' says if you want to be truly free,
you shall be naked in all your rites. Despite their claims that nudity has
nothing to do with sex, their literature states elsewhere that magic and
spells are best perform ed immediately after orgasm. Of course they are quick
to point out that this only involves consent with individuals.
Members wear an amulet with a five pointed star, the single point pointing up.
The five points represent earth, air, fire, water and spirit over all. It is
also the symbol of man within the universe. At different levels of competency
within the craft , they are tattooed. This tattoo includes a seven pointed
star which is reported as being "tied in with the seven mystical planets."
There also is a circle "that contains the knowledge" and a crescent moon
denoting one who has attained the third or t eaching degree.
The minimum time for a recruit to become a witch is about one year, as they
must participate in all eight sabats, and all thirteen full moons each year.
Then a student qualifies to ask for initiation to become a witch. Before, they
were a Pagan, but not a witch. One is initiated when they receive the
"power."When one knows how to direct energies into the great energy of the
creation, it is the same as being a priest, clergy or rabbi. After another
year one may qualify for the second degree in wh ere they are taught teaching
technics. The culmination being the third degree, when one is allowed to go
out and teach others how to be witches.
What about their practices of magic? They claim to use magic only for "good"
purposes and never evil. They use a number of objects such as crystals to
channel energies. One of the laws they live by is `The Law of Three' which
basically stated, mens a nything you do returns to you three times. Therefore,
they exclaim why would I want to evil to anyone if it returns unto me three
times? Besides, their first law is "harm no one, do as Ye will." Nevertheless,
if they feel they are being threatened, t hey will use their powers to turn
"your evil (in their eyes) back on you with a very strong `Law of Three'." Of
course this to be construed as your fault and not because of anything they
did.
While professing no belief whatsoever in Satan's existence, they are very
careful in how they conduct their rites, as if the circle drawn using the
`athame' or wands should be broken, they would then be vulnerable to a horde
of evil spirits. They ins ist that hell does not exist. They often take occult
names for themselves as a cover.
Some final beliefs; the belief that `Self' always comes first, and with your
body being a temple, must always be first. The conviction that as witch, one's
spirit and soul will become part of the goddess, part of the natural energy of
creation and wi ll be channeled into whatever is next.
So what is the difference between witchcraft and Satanism? Both are anti-
Christ by definition. The term anti-Christ means not only opposed to, but of a
necessity implies something in place of Jesus Christ. Both are forbidden in
the Holy Scriptures. S atanism openly proclaims their reverse image of
Christianity, while Paganism hides behind semantics by calling their use of
the black arts "only for good." Both are centered around self gratification of
lust.
In conclusion, both are of the occult and should be avoided at all costs by
Christians. We have no reason to fear, for He Who is in us is greater than he
who is in the world (1 John 4:4).
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