Interested In Wicca?

Wicca can be considered a Shamanic religion. Shamanism is considered the first religion, in existence since the earliest of civilizations. From these primordial beginnings came all magic and religion, including Wicca. Many of the techniques of Wicca are are rooted in Shamanic origin.

All religious structures are erected upon worship of a deity. Wicca recognizes deity as dual. It honors both the Goddess and the God and their links with nature. Wicca does not view deity as distant and separated. Both the Goddess and God are within ourselves and personified in nature. To walk the path of a Wiccan is to align yourself with the ways of nature.

Wicca is a religion that embraces magic. Magic is the practice of moving natural energies to effect needed change - not a means of forcing nature to do your will. The practice of using the forces of nature along with the power of our minds and bodies has always been a part of the human experience. Magic is as natural as the earth, air, fire and water. To live and walk a magical path is to see the world around you in a different light.

Wiccans share a special union with nature and concern and love for our planet play a major role. The Earth is a manifestation divine energy, revealing her secrets to those who listen. Are you listening?

Bide within the Law you must, in perfect Love and perfect Trust.
Live you must and let to live, fairly take and fairly give.

For tread the Circle thrice about to keep unwelcome spirits out.
To bind the spell well every time, let the spell be said in rhyme.

Light of eye and soft of touch, speak you little, listen much.
Honor the Old Ones in deed and name,
let love and light be our guides again.
Deosil go by the waxing moon, chanting out the joyful tune.
Widdershins go when the moon doth wane,
and the werewolf howls by the dread wolfsbane.

When the Lady's moon is new, kiss the hand to Her times two.
When the moon rides at Her peak then your heart's desire seek.

Heed the North winds mighty gale, lock the door and trim the sail.
When the Wind blows from the East, expect the new and set the feast.

When the wind comes from the South, love will kiss you on the mouth.
When the wind whispers from the West, all hearts will find peace and rest.

Nine woods in the Cauldron go, burn them fast and burn them slow.
Birch in the fire goes to represent what the Lady knows.

Oak in the forest towers with might, in the fire it brings the God's
insight. Rowan is a tree of power causing life and magick to flower.

Willows at the waterside stand ready to help us to the Summerland.
Hawthorn is burned to purify and to draw faerie to your eye.

Hazel-the tree of wisdom and learning adds its strength to the bright fire burning.
White are the flowers of Apple tree that brings us fruits of fertility.

Grapes grow upon the vine giving us both joy and wine.
Fir does mark the evergreen to represent immortality seen.

Elder is the Lady's tree burn it not or cursed you'll be.
Four times the Major Sabbats mark in the light and in the dark.

As the old year starts to wane the new begins, it's now Samhain.
When the time for Imbolc shows watch for flowers through the snows.

When the wheel begins to turn soon the Beltane fires will burn.
As the wheel turns to Lamas night power is brought to magick rite.

Four times the Minor Sabbats fall use the Sun to mark them all.
When the wheel has turned to Yule light the log the Horned One rules.

In the spring, when night equals day time for Ostara to come our way.
When the Sun has reached it's height time for Oak and Holly to fight.

Harvesting comes to one and all when the Autumn Equinox does fall.
Heed the flower, bush, and tree by the Lady blessed you'll be.

Where the rippling waters go cast a stone, the truth you'll know.
When you have and hold a need, harken not to others greed.

With a fool no season spend or be counted as his friend.
Merry Meet and Merry Part bright the cheeks and warm the heart.

Mind the Three-fold Laws you should three times bad and three times good.
When misfortune is enow wear the star upon your brow.

Be true in love this you must do unless your love is false to you.

These Eight words the Rede fulfill:

"An Ye Harm None, Do What Ye Will"

The Wheel of the Year

There are eight great holy days (sabbats) of the Wiccan religion. These indicate important points in the changing seasons and represent birth, death and rebirth. They are solar festivals. They are known by more than one name each but I will use the following set of names to refer to them: Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lughnasadh, Mabon and Samhain.

This is just a brief description of the sabbats:

YULE/WINTER SOLSTICE - December 21st

This marks the shortest day and longest night of the year. The Winter Solstice is the first move back toward summer. From this time until Midsummer's Day, every night will be shorter than the last.

IMBOLC/CANDLEMASS - February 1st

The festival of lights. A celebration of the return of warmth and the increasing power of the Sun over the coming months. A celebration of the approaching Spring.

OSTARA/SPRING EQUINOX - March 21st

This is one of the two points in the Wheel of the Year when the day and night are of precisely equal length (the other being the Autumn Equinox). A celebration of spring's return and growth.

BELTANE/MAY DAY - May 1st

Beltane, along with Samhain, is the point at which The Wheel of the Year is divided into its major seasons - winter and summer. It marks the end of winter's "death" and the start of the season of life - summer.The return of fertility is celebrated. The union of the God and Goddess to conceive the sun-child to be takes place on this holiday.

LITHA/SUMMER SOLSTICE - June 21st

Midusmmer's Day is the longest day and the shortest night of the year. At this point in time, the powers of light and life are at their strongest. It also marks the moment at which the balance of power shifts back to the dark; the days will now begin to shorten. A time of great, magical power. During this time of year, our physical energy is at its peak.

LUGHNASADH/HARVEST FESTIVAL - August 1st

Lughnasadh marks the beginning of the harvest and celebrates the booming growth of the crops as they are brought in. It is the first festival that occurs on the downward slope of The Wheel of the Year as we move toward winter. The festival of the first of the harvests and a thanksgiving for the Earth's bounty.

MABON/AUTUMN EQUINOX - September 21st

Six months after the Spring Equinox, The Wheel of the Year arrives at the midpoint between winter and summer, and the day and night are again of equal length. The changing balance marks the waning of nature and the coming of winter. A celebration of the second harvest, the balance of light and dark, and of male and female.

SAMHAIN- October 31st

The first day of winter in the ancient Celtic calendar. It is the "New Year's Day" of several nature magic traditions, denoting the end of one agricultural year and the beginning of the next. A celebration honoring the dead and a time when the veil is thinnest between the worlds.

Esbats

The Wiccan calendar contains thirteen full moon celebrations known as esbats. Esbats are rites held for the purpose of communing with the Moon's energies and are regarded as a time for magical workings. They are held in honor of the Goddess.

Wolf Moon - January
Storm Moon - February
Chaste Moon - March
Seed Moon - April
Hare Moon - May
Mead Moon - June
Hay Moon - July
Corn Moon - August
Harvest Moon - September
Blood Moon - October
Snow Moon - November
Oak Moon - December
Blue Moon - This is the second Full Moon to occur in a single calendar month. This happens once a year, and always at a different time.

The Goddess

The Goddess embodies the very heart of Wicca. She is the Great Mother, whose boundless fertility brings forth all life. She is the Moon, the source of magical power.

She is generally of three aspects: the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone, otherwise referred to as the Triple Goddess. She is symbolized in the waxing, full and waning moon.

The Maiden represents youth and unlimited potential. She is the Virgin.

The Mother represents nurturing and fertility.

The Crone represents age-old wisdom, great dignity and power.

The God

The Horned God, as he is often known, is the male principle of the deity. He is the consort of the Goddess. he is the Sun to the Goddess' Moon.

Without the sun, we could not exist, therefore it is the source of all life.

The horns of the Horned God are associated with his rule over the woodlands, the animals and the hunt.

Wiccans worship an assortment of Gods and Goddesses, but are aware that there is only one Source. All Gods and Goddesses symbolize many faces of the Source.

Goddesses

Aer:Wales - Goddess of war and revenge. Goddess of the River Dee.

Aine: Ireland - Moon Goddess and patroness of crops and cattle. Associated with the Summer Solstice.

Andraste: Britain - A war and nature Goddess.

Anu/ Dana/Dana-Ana: Ireland - Mother Goddess. Aspect of the triple Goddess, formed with Goddesses Macha and Badbh.

Aphrodite: Greek - Goddess of passionate, sexual love.

Aradia: Italian - Queen of the Witches, daughter of Diana. A protector of Witches.

Arianrhod: Welsh - Goddess of the stars and reincarnation.

Artemis: Greek - Goddess of the Moon.

Astarte: Greek - Fertility Goddess.

Athena: Greek - Warrior Goddess and Protectress.

Badbh: Ireland, Gaul - In Gaul known as Cauth Bodva. War Goddess. Part of the triple Goddess aspect with Anu and Macha.

Bast: Egyptian - Goddess of Protection and Cats.

Brigid: Celtic - Warrior Goddess, Protector and Preserver. Also a Triple Goddess.

Caillech Beine Bric/ Scota: Scotland - Destroyer Goddess of the Underworld.

Ceres: Roman - Goddess of the Harvest.

Cerridwen: Welsh - Moon and Harvest Goddess and Goddess of nature.

Demeter: Greek - Earth Mother archetype.

Diana: Roman - Moon Goddess and Goddess of the Hunt.

Fortuna: Roman - Goddess of Fate.

Freys: Scandinavian - Moon Goddess and wife/lover of Odin.

Hecate: Egyptian - Moon Goddess as in Crone or Dark Mother.

Inanna: Sumerian - Goddess representation of the Mother.

Isis: Egyptian - Represents the Complete Goddess or the Triple Goddess.

Macha: Ireland - Mother of life and death. War Goddess.

Maat: Egyptian - Goddess of Justice and Divine Order.

Morgan: Ireland, Wales, Britain - Crone aspect of the triple Goddess.

Nuit: Egyptian - Sky Mother.

Rhiannon: Wales - Goddess of birds and horses. Goddess of the Underworld.

Venus:Roman - Goddess of Love and Romance.

Gods

Adonis: Greek; consort of Aphrodite.

Amaethon: Wales. God of agriculture.

Anubis: Egyptian; guardian of Isis. Jackal-Headed God of Protection.

Apollo: Greek and Roman; twin brother of Artemis. God of the Sun, Light and the Arts.

Apsu: Babylonian; his mate is Tiamat.

Bran: Wales. The giant. God of prophecy, the arts, leaders, war, music and writing.

Camulos: Britain, Gaul. War God

Cernunnos: Celtic; Horned God and consort of the Lady. God of Nature.

Eros: Greek; God of Romance and Passionate Love.

Green Man: God of nature: The male spirit of nature, life and growth.

Horus: Egyptian; Head of a Falcon and body of a man. God of the all-seeing eye and healing.

Hymen: Greek; God of Marriage and Commitment. His counterpart is Dionysus.

Kai: Wales. A fire and smithing God.

Lugh: Ireland,Wales. Sun and War God.

Mithra: Persian; Sun God and bringer of Light. A soldier's God.

Odin: Scandinavian; counterpart of Freya.

Osiris: Egyptian; counterpart of Isis.

Pan: Greek; God of Nature and the Woods, Laughter and Passion.

Poseidon: Greek; God of the Sea.

Sucellus: Britain. Father God , a sky God.

Thor: Scandinavian; God of the Sky and Thunder.