Wiccan Wonders: Into the Forest Once More

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Maybe you found the religion interesting. Maybe your child told you they were Wiccan. Maybe you’re just curious. Whatever the reason you’re here, you’re looking for the answer to the big question: What is Wicca? Most people have no idea what a Wiccan is or what a Wiccan believes, or they may even think Wiccans are cruel and cause pain and suffering. Well, fear not. I’m here to explain basic topics about Wicca as best as I can. Understand, though, that I’m just an Eclectic Wiccan. This means I don’t follow a very specific path but rather keep to Wiccan base beliefs and laws while choosing what to believe as I wish. I also, then, don’t have a specific pantheon. For example, while some people call the Wiccan deities, the God and Goddess, by particular names from Greek pantheons, Egyptian pantheons, Roman pantheons, et cetera, I stick to calling them God and Goddess, Lord and Lady, Great Mother and Great Father, or maybe a special name for different rituals and spells. To me, it doesn’t really matter, but some people feel more connected to certain God and Goddess names. There is nothing wrong or better about either way.

I’ll start with something that will make the rest of this easier: the difference between a witch, a Wiccan, and a Pagan. A gasp escapes your mouth. "Witch?" you think, "Aren’t those horrible ugly old women that do harmful magic on people and send their spirit out on small innocent children? And what’s the difference between a Wiccan and Pagan? I thought they were the same!" For now, just forget about all you’ve heard. First of all, Witches are not evil. I will admit that some may practice harmful magic, but not all. Here’s the rundown, though. A Pagan is, by definition from http://www.dictionary.com, "a person who is not a Christian, Jew, or Muslim." As you see, many world religions fall into the Pagan category. Wicca is one of those. Paganism is often described as an umbrella of religions and Wicca falls beneath it. It’s kind of similar to the difference between a non-denominational Christian and a Catholic. But where does "witch" fit into all of this? As a Wiccan, I can proudly say that I am a witch. A witch, despite what you may have heard, it simply one who practice a form of magick called Witchcraft. Wicca was formed on a foundation of old witchcraft, but with a few rules that’ll I’ll go over later. To put it simply, though, Wiccan rule forbids you to do magick that harms anyone in any way. While you may hear some people out there claiming that Wiccans cannot be witches, I’ll be the first to tell you that that is not up to them. I call myself a witch because most of Wiccan magick practice is witchcraft, plain and simple. So there you have it. The difference (and similarities) between a Wiccan, Witch, and Pagan.

As previously mentioned, some Wiccans choose to take on pantheons for their deities. This usually occurs in different forms of Wicca, such as Alexandrian Wicca, Faerie Wicca, and Gardenarian Wicca, although I can’t tell you much about those paths for I’m not part of them and don’t know a lot about them. Most Wiccans do at least, though, share one common belief: there is a God and a Goddess. The only path I can think of off the top of my head that is different is Dianic Wicca, in which I think there is no God or a less important God. I’m not sure of this, though. Usually, though, there is a Lord and a Lady, both equal, although certain people will connect more with one. If this is the case, it tends to be, but is not always, that females are closer to the Goddess and males, to the God for obvious reasons. On this site, since this site somewhat reflects what I was taught and what I believe, I will focus on the God and Goddess as two separate but equal powers.

One question you may be wondering, though, is what the God and Goddess are. Are they physical beings or just energy? This is where you personally can decide. I look at the God and Goddess as male and female energies that we personify as people to make it easier for us to understand, but in ritual and prayer (yes, some Wiccans do "pray" in a sense) I see them as human-like beings. I think this is just so I have something to picture. This is for you to decide though. If you think they are only energies and not people and want to treat them as such, do so. If you think they are people in the Universe or in another plane of existence, go right ahead. Or maybe you think something different. It’s your choice. Believe what you want to believe!

So, now that I’ve covered what the God and Goddess are, let’s talk about what they are there. Besides being the first energies in the Universe, they are important figures. They control, create, or however you want to say it, all the energies and life, seen and unseen. The air you breathe, the life-force within you, the static you feel when you’re feeling a strong emotion. All of these are energies. There are many, many types of energies, way too many to list by any means, but those are some examples. Here’s how energies are broken down in terms of the Lord and Lady: The Lord represents masculine energies, or male energies. These include things like the sun, heat, males, animals, etc. The Goddess represents feminine energies, or female energies. These are things like the moon, cold, females, the earth itself, etc. The God and Goddess, as you may have guessed, are "married" in a sense. They work these energies together to produce the world we live in as well as thousands of others we don’t even know about.

Let’s focus a little more on the God at first. He’s known as a hunter, although he is also the Lord of the Animals. He doesn’t literally go out hunting, but he represents the life of animals, or at least that’s what I think of. He gives life to animals or all kinds then also gave them the power to die and be reborn. He is also the Sun, Father of the Day and Heat. All workings dealing with the Sun are in His name, as are workings with, in general, animals. His "life stages" are Lad, Hunter, and Sage. There isn’t as much about these stages as there are for the Goddess ones, but I still find them important. They are the stages of life for all males and represent changes. It’s kind of like going from child to teenager to adult male to elderly, but in three stages. From what I’ve heard, Lad is childhood and "teen-hood", Hunter is adulthood or the time in life a boy "becomes a man," and Sage is when he grows old and starts reaching the final phase of this life.

The Goddess is similar to the God in the fact that She is his counterpart – his opposite. She is known as the Mother, the creator of all. Although the God helped and still helps her to create things, like a Mother she "births" all things. Note that this is metaphorical, that it represents the energies I mentioned becoming things. To make a life, energy must be put together, or at least that’s how I view it, and this can become a human soul, for example. The Goddess is the one who puts the first "breathe" into these, I guess is a good way to look at it. She is also ruler of the Moon, Mother of the Night and Darkness. She is represented by the Moon in the sky and also the tides that she "plays with." All workings dealing with the Moon are in her name. Her "life stages" are Maiden, Mother, and Crone. They are more "practiced" than the male stages, probably because although the God is very, very important, the woman’s cycle has to do with menstruation, and therefore, life. Maiden is when a girl is young and lasts until either she gets her first period or even until she has a child. Next comes Mother. Now, a woman doesn’t need to be a literal Mother in this stage. I personally have no desire for children in my life in the future but that doesn’t mean I’ll skip this stage. This is the stage much like the Hunter, where a woman works and does what she wants to do in her life. Then, after menopause or around when that would happen, a woman becomes a Crone. The Crone is said to be very wise and is looked up to. She is powerful even in her aging life and is very knowledgeable. During this time and when a male becomes a Sage, it is wise to contemplate the end of life. Death is something that scares many people for good reasons, but it’s not all bad. Though one will leave this life, they will go to a new one. The next section I’ll get into after this one is the Afterlife and what Wiccans believe happens.

As you can see, the God and Goddess are very important. Don’t forget to occasionally if not regularly thank them for all they do. Also, don’t be afraid to talk to them. They’re always there, watching and creating, waiting for you to talk to them. If you have a problem, talk to them about it. You may find an answer in unexpected places.

Also, please remember that some people are called to certain "types" of gods and goddesses, like Egyptian ones, Roman ones, etc. Don’t be afraid to research them online, at your library or school, etc. Even reading myths and legends can help you get a feel for what certain ones are all about.

The Afterlife is a much debated topics. Not only is it debated between other religions, but even Wiccans can’t always agree. I’ll talk about two of the things I hear most, though, of what Wiccans believe, then share what I think. Remember, as a student (because that’s what you are at this point), you should never take everything you see in a place as the "only way." Process everything you hear and ask, "Do I believe this? Or do I think something else?" Maybe you’re a different type of Wiccan, or maybe you’re beliefs aren’t Wiccan at all. That’s fine. It’s your choice to be what you want.

The first story I hear is of reincarnation. Most of you probably know what this is, but if you don’t, here’s basically what it means: reincarnation is when, after one dies, the soul leaves the body and is put into another body to start a new life. Before this happens, the soul usually forgets most of the past life and other past lives, but may remember a little of it throughout the new life. This just keeps happening again and again. The point, some would say, is for the soul to learn and learn some more. Something within this belief that is debated, though, is what a soul can come back as. Does a human soul go to only humans? Or can it become an animal, too? Or maybe a tree? Can it become one cell? There is, like I said, much debate on this. For every dozen Wiccans, you may get 8 different answers or more. I’ll talk about what I think is true later, but for now, just think about it. What do you believe is true?

The second is more common, in general, to Wiccans. Most Wiccans believe in a place called the Summerlands. This is a "perfect place" where souls reside after life. No one knows what it looks like, but all they know is that it’s nice; it’s utter utopia! There isn’t much about this place anywhere, but know that it is both like and very different from the Christian Heaven. Heaven, a Christian would say, is where God lives, a perfect place. Sound familiar? One difference I can point out here, though, is that in the Bible, it says that Heaven is a city of gold and jewels and light where everyone praises the Christian God. To a Christian, this is the perfect place. But to a Wiccan? Not so much. The Summerlands is generally thought of as less of a fancy gold and gems place and more of like an "untouched world." Picture the Earth without any harm from humans, where animals and plants live as they naturally do. This is possibly what the Summerlands look like. Note, though, that the beings there are probably not physical but spirits. How could we be confined to being a human or a cat or any one thing?

Now, to what I personally believe. My beliefs are a combination of this two I just talked about. I think that, after death, a person’s energy, or "spirit," are sent to the Summerlands to rest. There, a soul can look back on all the past lives and all that it has learned. After a long, long, long time of rest, the soul is sent back into a body. I think that a soul can be put into anything with a brain (humans, animals, etc.) or any plant. I don’t, however, think you can become a part of something like that. For example, I think that no one’s soul was ever a pancreas or just one leaf on a tree. There’s more to this, though. I also think that if a soul ever learns every lesson learnable by being in every possible situation (being every race, all genders, all sexual orientations, etc.), which would obviously take a VERY long time, and then the soul is allowed to stay in the Summerlands for good. If it wants to, it can do so, but if it wants to experience a certain lifestyle or lifestyles again, then it can choose to do so.

Now’s where you should take a minute to think. What do you believe happens when we die? If you’re Wiccan or have Wiccan ideas, you’ll probably have a belief that involves the soul doing something, but you may have an idea totally different from any I have mentioned and that’s fine. Great, even. It’s better for you to explore what you already believe than to force yourself to believe something new. If you are confident that what you think is what you truly believe, believe it. If not, think long and hard, look for answers in books and in nature, until you find what you’re looking for.

Note: After writing this article, a thought occurred to me: since I believe in reincarnation, how can I believe that we can contact spirits of people we knew that died? I mean, if they are a new spirit, they’re in a body and probably don’t remember their past life. Like all other things, you should think about this and answer it for yourself. Personally, I think they "ghosts" we contact are, indeed, spirits, but the part of the spirit that remembers all of its past lives.

Although Wicca is not a dogmatic religion, there are a few simply ethical rules. The two ways they tend to be summed up are in two things: the Wiccan Rede and the Law of Three, or the Threefold Law. I’ll start first with the Wiccan Rede. The Wiccan Rede is a long text written a while back (Note that the exact date isn’t known and many think Gardener made this up. Don’t go around believing ancient Wiccans made it up because Wicca is a relatively new religion from the 1950s. It may follow old beliefs and practices, but Wicca is a renewal of witchcraft that keeps witches from doing harm) that can be found in the Places to Find More page, as well as many other important and interesting Wiccan texts. It contains a lot of things, but the most important part that people are usually referring to when they say the Wiccan Rede is the last two lines: An’ it harm none, do what ye will. There are some variations of these lines, like "And harm it none, do what you will," etc., but they all mean the same thing. And what is it that it means? In short, it says that you can do whatever you want as long as it’s not hurting anything or anyone. This is open to interpretation, however, which is why many people think it may not be effective. I think it is, though. I mean, harm includes anything bad, whether it’s trying to hurt someone with a spell, taking free will away (which is why spells to make someone like you are a big no-no), or doing mundane things to hurt yourself, like cutting, doing drugs, getting drunk underage, etc. If it hurts you or is against the law for good reasons, you shouldn’t do it. Note, too, that Wiccans have to follow this law. People don’t realize that you’re not really Wiccan if you do bad things on purpose. Now, there are some cases that you can’t help but have something bad happen. If you step on a bug by accident and it dies, you probably won’t get bitten by karma.

In my mind, this law isn’t totally strict, though some people believe it is. Again, this is something to decide for yourself. Personally, I think it’s there to guide so you don’t intentionally hurt people. But then there is another question. What’s there to stop Wiccans from doing these things? Are there consequences if the Rede isn’t followed? Yes, actually, there are. Now we’ll look at the Law of Three (also called the Threefold Law). The Threefold Law states that whatever you do, good or bad, will come back to you "times three." It’s kind of like karma, I guess. This Law is also open to interpretation, though. Some people think Karma affects you in this life while others think it will affect your next life. I, personally, don’t think it travels with your soul to another life but rather only affects you in this life. Why? Because I don’t think that something you do now and won’t even remember will hurt you after you don’t remember it and have a different life. Again, decide for yourself, though. It’s up to you and only you what you believe. A question some of you may be wondering is what does "times three" even mean? Simply put, it means if I do something good, like help a small child that’s fallen on the street, for example, the good energy I’m sending out will amplify times three and return to me in some way I may or may not notice. Perhaps after doing this, I’ll get a job I was looking for. Realize, though, that doing a ton of good won’t change your destiny for sure. You won’t automatically get that job you applied for just because you’ve been extra nice. It’s good to know, though, that it can help you out sometimes when you don’t expect it.

And that’s it for talking about those rules specifically. Some "rules" I think Wiccans should follow because of these Laws, though, I will quickly mention. I think to follow not harming people we should also do the opposite of harm – help. I think kindness and respect and love for everyone is important and not something you should ignore. Everyone deserves at least respect, even if you don’t particularly like them or maybe don’t know them. Just act kindly to everyone, every living (and non-living!) thing, and spread the joy instead of ignoring people and being rude or mean to them. Do this, and I’m sure at least one of those people will show the same kindness and respect and love back, making your life and this world a better place to be.

When you think of the word "magick," what do you think of? Do you think of sparkling faeries, an enchanted tower, or maybe a bubbling cauldron with a slimy green liquid inside? Maybe you just thought about what the ‘k’ was there for. Either way, this article will hopefully clear things up for you. First of all, I’ll explain the 'K'’s presence. Some time ago, a person whose name I don’t know decided to add the ‘k’ to magick for a simple reason – to distinguish magic-show, pull-a-rabbit-from-my-hat-type "magic" from Witchcraft magick. This is just to make things easier to understand.

But now is where explanations get a little harder. See, describing what magick is is tough. It’s not something you can easily see and many people think it’s not real, so how could it be easy to talk about? How about this: remember when I mentioned all that stuff about energy and how it makes up everything? Well, magick is the practice of temporarily "controlling" and directing energy to do things and bring about change. Confused? Don’t worry; I’ll try to explain it more. See, magick is practiced in tons of ways. You can do spells and rituals if you’re Wiccan, you can use candles, scents, etc. to do specific things… Okay, so it’s still not easy to explain. But all I can really say is that by doing magick, you’re "programming", in a sense, some neutral energy to do something. For example, suppose someone I know is sick with a cold and medicine isn’t helping all that much. After getting their consent (Note: this is a place where the Wiccan Rede applies that you may not have realized. If you don’t ask someone if you can do magick, even if it’s to help them, you’re taking away their free will! If they say no, don’t do it!), you may do a simple spell where you use a blue candle, let’s say, to represent healing and will the blue candle to, as it burns, move the healing energy you put into the candle (maybe you meditate and visualized Earth energy seeping out of the ground and into the candle and becoming a healing energy) into the person. This energy will not heal the person, but it will will the body to heal itself. Magick is what a lot of Witchcraft practitioners practice, but as you can see, Wiccans only use magick to bring about positive change.

Hopefully you understand a little more about what magick is. Magick is something you won’t really understand well until you experience it by doing a ritual, a spell, or even just doing simple visualizations of moving energy around after pulling it from the Earth into yourself. Practice makes perfect, so go out there and practice! Remember, though, before ever doing a spell or ritual that could affect someone or something, read up more on ethics of magick and how to construct a simple spell. Hopefully I’ll be able to find some good links to places with this and will put them in the Places to Find More section.

Most religions have special holidays. Wicca is no different. Wiccans usually celebrate on 8 days of the year, not including special Full Moon celebrations, usually called Esbats. These 8 holidays are known as Sabbats. Below is a pictorial representation of what is known as The Wheel of the Year, or the "calendar" of the Sabbats. For a better (and larger) view of this image, visit the "The Wheel of the Year" page.

Picture: Created by MystiqueDragon.

As you can see, they are, in order of date, Samhain, Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltaine, Midsummer, Lughnasadh, Mabon, and then back to Samhain. I won’t get into the details of these here, though. To find out about the eight Sabbats, please direct yourself to the "The Wheel of the Year" page. There you can find out things like how to pronounce them, who created them, what they are for, etc. I’ll also include a story to explain them all as a cycle.

Okay, so now you understand some of the basics. Maybe you have even learned more than just what I’ve presented. A question you may be dying to ask at this point, then, is "How do I become a Wiccan?" I’ve seen this question asked so many times and I’m surprised at what some people think. Apparently the bad reputation Wicca had gotten has contorted peoples’ ideas of how you "become" a Wiccan, too. I’ve heard that you have to be initiated by a coven; you have to be initiated by a "blood witch," etc. I’ve even heard some people say that you need to take part in some kind of sacrifice! But in truth, this is all wrong when it comes to Wicca. Well, most of it. You don’t’ have to "sacrifice" anything unless you want to sacrifice non-physical things. By this I’m referring to something I know some Wiccans may do. When entering the Wiccan lifestyle, you may want to "sacrifice" bad habits, old feelings and thoughts, etc., to make it easier. For example, maybe, when you can get yourself to finally admit it, you realize you’re very selfish. When you become Wiccan, maybe you’ll make it a goal to not be selfish any more and be more generous for the sake of being a kind Wiccan. You should never be convinced to give physical sacrifices, though. If anyone tells you that you have to draw blood from yourself or others, even animals, to be "initiated," you may want to think twice about if this person is good. No Wiccan will ever force you do anything, especially hurt someone or yourself.

Now onto the myth that a coven or "blood witch," a witch or Wiccan that was born Wiccan and can "trace their roots back to ancient witches," as many will claim, must initiate you. This is a touchy issue amongst Wiccans. While you don’t have to be initiated by a coven, you may find be in a coven that’s training you and they may want you to be initiated by them. This generally happens in covens that follow specific Wiccan paths and may have "degree systems," or "levels" you can achieve from practicing for a certain amount of time, learning certain things, etc. This is just fine, especially if that’s what you’re interested in, but remember that id the coven tries to force you to do anything you don’t feel comfortable with, don’t do it. If you feel the coven may not be safe, please go to the Places to Find More page and look for the link about this topic. Don’t be afraid to leave the coven if it doesn’t feel right. Now onto "blood witches." Personally, I don’t think "blood witches" are real. They may exist, but it’d be incredibly hard, even impossible, to trace your roots back so far that you could see if you were directly related to a real witch from long ago. Not only that, but Wicca is so new, any "old witches" may have been not actually witches or just not Wiccan. You don’t need someone special to initiate you, okay? That’s the bottom line here. It’s not bad to have someone else initiate you, just not necessary to be Wiccan.

So, what does one need to do to be a Wiccan? Well, it’s quite simple, really. All you really need to do is study Wicca and follow the rules. Yep. It’s as easy as that. All you have to do is be willing and whole-heartedly ready for the new path and you can take it. If you’re not sure yet, though, don’t worry. Here’s what you can do if you’re just starting out: Dedicate. A dedication is a ritual done either alone or with a group in which you pretty much say, "Okay, I’m interested in Wicca, but want to learn more first. I’ll practice it, learn more, research, etc. for a year and a day (the typical time) and at the end of this time, I’ll decide if Wicca is right for me." You can find dedication rituals online, or you can make one yourself. Remember it can be as fancy or simple as you want it to be. As long as you know what you’re "getting yourself into" here, go ahead! It can’t hurt to just learn more. If at the end of the year and a day you aren’t interested anymore, and then move on. No harm done.

But, what if you are still interested, maybe even more so? Here comes Initiation. Again, this can be done alone or with a group, your choice. Initiation is where you basically tell the God and Goddess that you are going to become Wiccan and stay on the path (unless things change and you become disinterested) and they "accept" you. No, it doesn’t mean a great light will wash over you or maybe not accept you; it’s more of a "you just know" kind of thing. Since I personally didn’t do this, you’ll have to look elsewhere for more information about how to be initiated.

Now, please understand, you don’t have to dedicate and initiate to be Wiccan. I did neither and I’m still Wiccan. At the very core of it, you just have to truly believe in the God and Goddess and follow the Laws, and you’re "in." ;) I know that some people out there may tell you that you have to do both, but you really don’t have to. I mean, I didn’t have the means to do either or the space and time, so how could I have? I also had already been practicing before I’d heard of Dedication. It’s all up to you on what you want to and can do. Good Luck!