DragonFey's Den: Wicca

WITCHCRAFT AND WICCA

Quotations:

"We are not evil. We don't harm or seduce people. We are not dangerous. We are ordinary people like you. We have families, jobs, hopes, and dreams. We are not a cult. This religion is not a joke. We are not what you think we are from looking at T.V. We are real. We laugh, we cry. We are serious. We have a sense of humor. You don't have to be afraid of us. We don't want to convert you. And please don't try to convert us. Just give us the same right we give you--to live in peace. We are much more similar to you than you think." Margot Adler

"I don't think witchcraft is a religion. I would hope the military officials would take a second look at the decision they made." G.W. Bush (R), Governor of Texas. Interviewed on ABC's Good Morning America, 1999-JUN-24 by Peggy Wehmeyer. Comment relates to the rights of Wiccan soldiers to have the same religious rights as others in the military.

Overview:

Wicca is a recently created Neopagan religion. It is based largely on religious elements from ancient Celtic society, supplemented with Masonic and ceremonial magickal components. A Wiccan is a follower of Wicca.

Although Wiccans generally consider themselves to be Witches, not all Witches are Wiccans. The terms "Witch" and "Witchcraft" can also refer to followers of non-Celtic Neopagan traditions.

Wicca and other Neopagan religions are currently experiencing a rapid growth in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Many North Americans of European decent, who are keen to discover their ancestral heritage, are attracted to Wicca.

Terminology:

"Witch" and "witchcraft:" The terms "witch" and "witchcraft" are sometimes used by the media and public to refer to Wicca. We recommend against their usage. These words cause a great deal of confusion:

· They are often used to refer to various other religions, including Asatru, Druidism, Santeria, Satanism, Vodun (Voodoo).

· Conservative Christians occasionally refer to major world religions, such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, as Satanism and/or witchcraft. The terms have also been used as general-purpose "snarl" words to express hatred against spiritual minorities.

"Witch" and "witchcraft" have so many negative meanings that we recommend that they be used only if they are carefully predefined. We recommend that the actual name of the religious tradition be used (e.g. Druidism/Druid, Satanism/Satanist, Wicca/Wiccan) These terms are much less ambiguous.

"Pagan:" This is another word with multiple meanings:

· It is often used to refer to about half of humanity -- those individuals who are not Jewish, Christian or Muslim.

· It can refer to persons of no religion.

· It is frequently used to refer to a follower of a Neopagan religion.

We recommend that the term "Neopagan" be used in place of "Pagan" when referring to that group of religions that includes Asatru, Druidism, Wicca, etc.

Books on Wicca:

The following books are popular introductions to Wicca for either solitary practitioners, or new coven members. (A coven is a group of Wiccans). There is no "best" introductory book to Wicca. Religion in general, and Wicca in particular, involves intensely personal experiences. Some traditions and books will appeal to you; others will not.

· Margot Adler, "Drawing down the moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess worshipers and other Pagans in America today," Penguin USA, (1997) Rated by Amazon.com in the top 3,500 of all books sold.

· Raymond Buckland, "Buckland's complete book of Witchcraft," Llewellyn Publ, (1986).This is an excellent introductory book on Wicca.

· Scott Cunningham:

o "Wicca: A guide for the solitary practitioner," Llewellyn Publ., (1990). This book is very highly rated by reviewers. It is Amazon.com's #300th most popular books! That may not sound very impressive. However, Amazon sells millions of titles. This is the most popular book purchased on Wicca.

o "Living Wicca, A further guide for the solitary practitioner," Llewellyn Publ., (1993) This is a sequel to the previous book. Cunningham shows methods of integrating Wicca into your everyday life. Rated by Amazon as the 1,723rd most popular book.

· Richard Grimassi: "The Wiccan mysteries: Ancient origins and teachings," Llewellyn Publ., (1997). According to Amazon.com: "Raven Grimassi traces the origins of rites and practices peculiar to the craft and uncovers their inner meanings."

· Silver Ravenwolf:

o "To ride a silver broomstick: New generation Witchcraft," Llewellyn Publ., (1993) Review/order this book This is an excellent workbook for the beginning solitary practitioner or member of a coven. Rated among the top 5,000 books sold by Amazon.com

o "To stir a magick cauldron: A witch's guide to casting and conjuring," Llewellyn Publ., (1996). This book concentrates on intermediate-level magical practices.

o "To light a sacred flame: Practical witchcraft for the Millennium," Llewellyn Publ., (1999)

o "Teen Witch: Wicca for a new generation," Llewellyn, (1999). Some might not be impressed by the cover of this book. However, the contents give an excellent introduction to Wicca for youths.

· Starhawk, "Spiral dance: A rebirth of the ancient religion of the Great Goddess," Harper, San Francisco, (1989) This is a revised version, published on the occasion of the original edition's 10th anniversary. It "leans heavily toward the feminist aspects of Wicca..."

· Evelyn Heinemann, "Witches: A psychoanalytic exploration of the killing of women," Free Association Books, (1999). This is a book on the burning times. The author argues that Freud and others were seriously mistaken in their understanding of killing of women in the 16th and 17th century. She "asserts that the witch phenomenon is an example of the potential for destructiveness by the human imagination and shows the necessity of understanding unconscious processes in social phenomena today."

Other Wiccan Resources:

Law enforcement guide:

· Y Tylwyth Teg - Welsh Tradition in America has prepared an impressive "Law enforcement guide: Witchcraft, Wicca and other Earth Religions" at: http://www.tylwythteg.com/lawguide1.html

Additional essay on Wicca:

· The US Army has a book to help military chaplains when they deal with soldiers of non-traditional faiths. It was written by Dr. J. Gordon Melton in 1989-90 and contains an excellent description of Wicca. Dr. Melton is the editor of the excellent three volume set The Encyclopedia of American Religions Triumph Books, New York NY (1991)

General information about Wicca:

· The Witches' Voice web site contains an enormous amount of information: links to Neopagan websites, lists of pagans and covens by location; teen pagans, etc. http://www.witchvox.com

· Circle Sanctuary provides networking for Wiccans and other Pagans of many paths and traditions worldwide. Their site includes the Pledge to Pagan Spirituality; it reflects spiritual values and ethics which are typical of Wicca and contemporary Paganism. It can be read at: http://www.circlesanctuary.org/contact/PSApledge.html

· The Witch's Web is another large Wiccan site. See: http://www.witchesweb.com/indexa.html

· Witch's Brew is "one of the oldest and largest Pagan sites on the Web." See: http://www.witchs-brew.com/index.html

· Goddess Moon Circles has information on handfasting/marriage requirements in various states, and MUCH more. See: http://www.goddessmoon.org/

· Ashlynn's Grove has a review of selected Pagan & Occult films at: http://paganism.com/ag/articles/films2.html

· Toby's Wiccan Refuge is a fascinating site which describes the basics of Wiccan beliefs and practices. It contains a list of suggested books. See: http://www.wiccan-refuge.com/main.html

· Mary Amanda lists the texts of three Wiccan rituals: handfasting (a marriage); rite of passage (a requiem after the death of a beloved friend), and a ritual of release (an ending and rebirth ritual to handle issues related to sexual abuse). These rituals may help you gain an appreciation of the spiritual aspects of Wicca. See: http://www.avana.net/~reannon/index.html#rituals

· "Mjolnir's Pagan and Wicca Page" is at http://members.aol.com/mjolnir13/index.html

· Pandora's PaganWeb is a charming WWW site which describes Wicca and other Neopagan religions. See: http://www.geocities.com/athens/3038/

· An essay containing facts about Wicca is at: http://www.blast.net/norm3vog/fact.html

· Norm Vogel has a FAQ on Wicca at: http://www.blast.net/norm3vog/faq.html

· Norm also has a series of audio recordings about Wicca at: http://www.blast.net/norm3vog/audio1.html

These recordings require a RealAudio plug-in which can be downloaded from his site.

· Beaufort House is a "collection of resources for the working Coven Leader" in English traditional Witchcraft at: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/5756/

· Hemispheres is "a place to explore the road less traveled. Diverse paths have led to this co-operative effort in learning how to live magic(k)ally, spiritually, and in tune with Nature." See: http://www.databar.com/hemispheres

Lists of links to Wiccan sites:

· Ravenwood's Pagan Forest has a "Yahoo-like" search engine at: http://search.paganforest.com/

· Wiccanet: Gateway to another world is a multi-function site featuring news, resources and information. Included are hundreds of links to Wiccan web sites, suppliers, webrings See: http://www.wiccanet.com

· Omphalos, "The Center of the Pagan Web..." emulates "the big-name Search Engine portals such as Yahoo, Webcrawler, etc." They list Wiccan and other Neopagan sites under a variety of topics, from Arts & Graphics, to Health & Healing, to New Age, Regional and Wicca. See: http://www.omphalos.net/ (The Omphalos was a stone at the Oracle of Delphi. The ancients believed that the world revolved around the stone.)

· An impressive list of Pagan (including Wiccan) Internet resources can be seen at: http://www.netspace.org/~athomps/pagan/paganres.html

· A new site, Coven of the Celtic Circle provides links to other Pagan sites. See: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/2885/links.htm

Services and supplies:

· "Complete sun and moon data for one day," at: http://riemann.usno.navy.mil/AA/data/docs/RS_OneDay.html

· The World Pagan Network is a group "for all Pagans." They help "Pagans find the contacts, rituals, meetings or even the best part of town for a Pagan to live." See:

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/8773/index.html

· "Branwen's Cauldron of Light" sells supplies for Wiccans and other Neopagans; it is also an information source. See: http://www.branwenscauldron.com/

· The Pagan Home Educators Alliance is an association for Pagan home-schooling families and for businesses who provide goods and services to the Pagan community. Their services include: a member's networking directory, a directory of businesses, a quarterly newsletter, an on-line E-mail newsletter, a catalog directory of publications for Pagan families, etc. Write: PHEA PO Box 95, Wauconda, WA 98859. E-mail: SonoraSky@aol.com and PgnHmEdAll@aol.com

· Onyx Dimensions has several hundred pages of material on "such topics as traditional witchcraft, Paganism, Celts, Vikings, herbology and folklore. See: http://fly.to/shadowdrake

· The Blue Moon Gallery has an essay on Goddess worship, and some incredible items for sale, including three truly beautiful, inexpensive Goddess statues. See: http://www.oscoda.net/bluemoon/page1.html

· Equinox Books and Occult Supplies has an extensive list of Pagan links and a searchable data base of occult supplies at http://www.monmouth.com/~equinoxbook/links.html

· Pandora's Books Magickal Mail Order Gifts and Supplies is a Canadian outlet, at: www.pandorasbooks.com

Magazines:

· Circle Magazine, PO Box 219, Mt. Horeb, WI 53572 USA; (608) 924-2216 is a quarterly magazine published by Circle Sanctuary - one of America's oldest Neopagan resource centers. Their Web page is at: http://www.circlesanctuary.org. Email is : circle@mhtc.net

· The Green Egg POB 1542, Ukiah CA 95482 is a high quality US Neopagan quarterly magazine published by the Church of All Worlds. It contains considerable Wiccan information. See: http://www.greenegg.org/

· Hecate's Loom Box 5206, Station B, Victoria BC, V8R 6N4, Canada billed itself as Canada's International Pagan Magazine. It was also a quarterly with a great deal of Wiccan content. It appears that the magazine is no longer being publish. Their URL has been taken over by a software company.

Mailing List:

· The "Wicca/Pagan Reader" mailing list is a moderated discussion of Wicca, Neopaganism and other related topics. Anyone can join by sending an E-mail to LISTS@FN.ORG, placing SUBSCRIBE WICCA or SUBSCRIBE WICCA-DIGEST in the body of the message.

Information about the Burning Times:

· The Witching Hours is a "starting point for historical research into the great witch craze of 1100-1700 AD." See: http://www.goth.net/~shanmonster/witch/

Wiccan and other Neopagan Events:

· Major Neopagan festivals and gatherings are listed by the Witches Voice at: http://www.witchvox.com/network/events/festivals.html

Last updated 2000-JUN-7

Author: Bruce A Robinson