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Witchcraft Today by Kelly The origins and beliefs of modern Witchcraft are clouded in misunderstandings. To really understand the religion of neo-Pagan Wicca we have to delve deeper than all the Hollywood hoopla. Witches are not satanic and they definitely do not sacrifice anything. These are mere rumors created out of fear. Witches could be anyone from a co-worker to a neighbor. Further explanation is needed to fully understand the belief system of modern day Witchcraft. When some people think of a witch, they first picture an old hag flying on her broomstick late at night. In actuality, a witch is not that at all. The Celtic Connection defines a witch as "a practitioner of folk magick, particularly the kind relating to herbs, stones, colors, wells, and rivers." There is a single power that witches believe in that is the complete aspect of "God." They call it All or Spirit. Spirit is all around us. Wiccans do not believe that God "rules" over everything. God is composed of everything ever created, but because this is very hard for most human minds to comprehend, personification is used ("Witchcraft, Wicca, andPaganism"). Hence God and Goddess and the pantheons. This helps most people when praying and performing rituals so that they feel that they have somethingto talk to, instead of a faceless mass. Witches work with different aspects of this All to help direct energy in a certain way. Therefore, they do not believe in many gods. There is one God and these pantheons are different ways of looking at it, like facets (Ravenwolf). Instead of having something like the TenCommandments, Wiccans believe in the Wiccan Rede which basically says do what you like but harm none. Many people also believe that because it says this, that a person can justify hurting someone. This does not mean someone can justify doing harm to a person in any way ("Witchcraft, Wicca, and Paganism"). Karma is also very important. There is mention of it in the Rede also. Karma is the "Rule of Three." Anything and everything a person does, whether good or bad, comes back to them in some way three fold (Encyclopedia of Witchcraft). "Witchcraft is a spiritual system that fosters to free thought and will of the individual, encourages learning and an understanding of the earth and nature thereby affirming divinity in all living things ("What Is Wicca")." Wicca is a modern Pagan religion with ancient pathologic roots. Magick is used a lot in Wicca, but not all Wiccans practice it. Magick is using tools and prayer to direct energies to produce a certain outcome of effect. Magick is done in a sacred space much like a Christian church (Ravenwolf). It is a consecrated place that is special and unique. The reason magick is spelled the way it is to differentiate it from stage magic. Real Wiccan magick is not hocus-pocus and is not to be toyed with. There are many myths and lies that come along with the religion of Wicca. For instance, witches are not only women. Although they predominate the craft they are not the only sex. Warlocks are not male witches. Everyone who is a witch is called a witch. The word warlock means oath breaker and obviously knowing about the Rede and what it means that would definitely not be the word to describe a true witch. Also, there are myths of Wicca being satanic because many rituals are performed at night. There are many understandable reasons for this. For instance, in the old world the new daybegan at sunset. Everyone spent days tending to crops and fields, and nowadays their jobs ("Witchcraft, Wicca, and Paganism"). There is no animal or human sacrifices in Wiccan rituals. This would be a violation of the basic tenet "harm none" ("What Is Wicca"). Calling oneself a witch does not make someone a witch any more than calling oneself a pig actually makes a person become one. People that believe and or worship the devil are liars and are obviously attention deprived or have been greatly misinformed. Witchcraft is not a cult either. Wiccans do not go around asking for followers, trying to say that they are god. Witches are not anti-Christian either ("Witchcraft, Wicca, and Paganism"). Wiccans are respectful of other religions and are not spiteful. There is also no devil worship. Satan is a Christian creation and belief that is no way connected to Wicca except by rumors and lies (Buckland). Wiccans do not believe in one supreme evil such as Satan (Encyclopedia of Witchcraft). Demons play no role in neo-pagan Witchcraft either. As many people have already noticed there are many similarities and differences between Wicca and Christianity. Some similarities include that in both religions there are many different denominations. In Christianity, there is Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist and many more. With Wicca, it is the same--Gardnerian, Dianic, Celtic, and Seax-Wicca. Many of the holidays are similar. Christmas and Yule for example. Christmas is the birth of Jesus, while Yule is the celebration of the birth of the Sun God. Both of these holidays are around December 25 (Ravenwolf). The trinity of God-Mary-Jesus is also derived from the Egyptian Triad of Osiris-Isis-Horus(Buckland). Another similarity between Christianity and Wicca is that the initiation into the religion is much the same. Christians are baptized and saved among other things. Wiccan babies have something that is much like baptism. Then later if the child or adult still believes that Wicca is their way, they go through a dedication ceremony. There is an initiation ceremony when joining a coven too. Some differences are that Christians have a Bible. In Wicca your Book of Shadows or Grimoire is their "Bible." It is like an individual's workbook, journal or diary. It contains personal spells, rituals, herb lore, poetry and much more ("Witchcraft, Wicca, and Paganism"). Another difference is that Wiccans believe in freedom of religion, unlike Christians who believe that their path is the only way. Wiccans believe in finding your own path and exploring until you feel that you are close with God. Witchcraft is an extremely old religion. It has roots as far back as the times of the cave men. Recently, cave paintings have been discovered depicting Wiccan-like rituals. Carbon dating proves that these paintings are around 30,000 years old ("What is Wicca"). Witches have also been depicted in many old books including the Odyssey. Circe from this book was not described as a diabolical woman, as many might assume. Instead she was described by Homer as a "goddess with lovely hair/radiant/the beautiful goddess singing in a lovely voice/(in) a white shining robe, delicate and lovely, with a fine girdle of gold about her waist." One of the most famously known witches, the Witch of Endor, from the Bible, was not depicted as an ugly crone or hag either (Buckland). Many different components contributed to the death of Wicca. The birth of the new religion of Christianity had the greatest effect. It is often said that the Gods of an old religion become the devils of a new (Buckland). The conversion effort of the Christians was not always as perfectly squeaky clean as some may lead you to believe. It was not a mass conversion, either. It was mostly royalty that began to covert first, then the underclasses. It was slow because many people firmly stuck by their Pagan beliefs. Pagans built many of the temples in existence at the time. There is evidence of incorporation of the old Gods in many of the paintings and sculptures in the old temples. The Sheila-na-gigs, for instance, that still exist over the south door of Whittlesford's Church of St. Mary. She remarkably resembles the fertility goddess (Buckland). Early Christians went to great lengths to ensure the survival of their religion. The article "What is Wicca" from the Celtic Connection states, "By making the witch into a diabolical character and turning the old religious deities into devils and demons, the missionaries were able to attach fear to these beliefs which aided in the conversion process." Also, the Bible was greatly misinterpreted in many ways. For instance, the Witch of Endor was not a witch at all. It was King James’ translators who changed "a woman that hath a familiar spirit" to the word witch on the command of the King (Buckland). The Witch trials also scared many people away from the practice of Witchcraft. Many believed that they would be killed for their beliefs and either gave them up or went into hiding. The Malleus Maleficarum was a book that described the code of procedure for the detection and punishment of witches ("Witchcraft Documents"). Many people were also horrified to learn of the types of torture used to "obtain a confession" such as the rack, food deprivation, and being dragged nude by a rope and being cut in two. These listed are only a few of the terrible tortures carried out during the witch trials (Buckland). Because of the hiding of the witches a great amount of information was lost. Most Wiccans did not believe at the time that writing the information down would be good for fear of misinterpretation. They felt it was best to be able to personally teach someone if they were really interested in the path in an honest way. Many people influenced the rebirth of Wicca. Gerald Gardner had by far the greatest impact. Because the printing press was invented after Christianity came about and Wicca went into hiding, all of the books out at the time about Witchcraft were from a biased point of view. Gardner brought a whole new outlook about Witchcraft to the people. He was known as the Grand Old Man of British Witchcraft. While growing up he lived in many places and studied tribal religions such as Malay, Saki, and Bornean. In 1949, a historical novel was published called "High Magic's Aide" by a man named Scire. After seeing that people had taken interest and someone needed to write about Wicca, Gardner came forth saying that he was Scire. He then wrote nonfiction books about the craft. He helped many Americans answer the question, What is witchcraft, really? Since then, many people have come forward about their religion and thousands of books have been published. Witchcraft is now one of the fastest growing religions in the United States (Buckland).
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