Overview of the Witchcraft Religion

Let's start with a little history

In the beginning there was "The One". "The One" is the omnipotent force that is the universe. The One then created the Goddess, however the Goddess was 'out of balance' so she created the God. Together they created the world as we know it.

How do we know this?

Well, some of this comes to us from studying the ancient myths (which is how we come upon the One), Other information comes from past artifacts and past/current observation.

Ancient humankind studied the world around them. They made several observations. One of the primary observations was that there was a female and a male of all the creatures on earth (science later proves this with plants). This idea further develops into the concept "As Above, So Below". That means that everything around us has a piece of "divine spark". Therefore, if everything in nature was split into a male or female aspect, the one must have a Male and a female manifestation, The God and the Goddess.

Since females who laid with males became pregnant and gave birth, this showed that both genders are necessary for there to be life, neither is above the other. Also, they observed that when women became pregnant, their bodies swell and then decline after birth. This is how the Goddess became associated with the moon, if you watch the moon during the monthly cycle, you will see that. During the dark moon (new moon) everything is flat then the moon begins to grow, eventually the moon is full and then becomes dark again; hence flat belly, swollen belly and then flat belly. Another association with the moon is a woman's cycle, pre-birth control, most women were on their cycle during the dark moon. Another connection to women and the moon. Men were connected with the sun, and the forest.

Why?

Ancient humankind was dependant on the hunt for survival. Men did the hunting, so he became associated with the forest animals and the sunshine. another example of the God and Goddess working together is planting season, we have all heard the expression Mother earth, well the God plants his seeds in Mother Earth, this then is nurtured and she creates a bountiful harvest, her warm womb and nurturing
water, the God with his seed and sunshine.

Why am I rambling like this?

��� It is important for you to understand why we have a
goddess and god, and why neither is above the other,

why?

that is the foundation of the Witchcraft religion.
Now you understand that Witchcraft is a nature based religion, that has both a Goddess and a God.

Is that it?

That is the basic idea, but now we can move into the heart of the religion.

We have covered who and what witches worship, so let's talk a little bit about witches beliefs.

��� there is nothing in Witchcraft like the "ten commandments"; however Witchcraft's two main 'laws' are Harm None, and Threefold law.

Harm none, includes all living creatures, and ourselves. First, if we don't take care of ourselves, how can we take
care of mother earth and her creatures (children, cats, dogs, flowers, etc)?

Threefold law, is whatever you do comes back to you three times the energy you put out. If you do something good, three times the good fortune will come back to you, something negative, three times the negative energy will come back to you.

That is why a person must truly know the intent of their actions. For every action energy is put forth in the universe, this energy will follow the law of three (threefold law). That is also why a lot of witches really know themselves well, we must be brutally honest with ourselves to really know ourselves.

Only by knowing ourselves, can we know our true intentions behind our free will. Also, we can never do anything to change another person's� will. This is why love spells are frowned upon; trying to make a particular person love you 'may' be against their will; however a prayer to bring love into your life is not affecting a specific persons free will.

Reincarnation

Most witches believe in Reincarnation. Those I know or have known do not believe in the Eastern philosophy,
but believe once a person, cat, fish always a person, cat, or fish. When a person's body dies, their soul goes to a place called the Summerlands (I'm sure there are other names for it, but that is the most common).

Here, the soul stays for a minimum of a year and a day. During this time, the soul absorbs the lessons learned in that life. When this time has passed, and the lessons learned, the soul is then ready for its next incarnation.

How is a person reincarnated?

When two people have sex, their auras combine and they put forth certain energy into the universe. Now depending upon the nature of the union (love, violence, friendship etc) that affects the energy being put forth.

If the energy pattern being put forth matches the energy pattern of a soul awaiting rebirth, we have a match and the female� gets pregnant (of course she must be able to get pregnant and such).

��� After the baby is born, the first week is thought to be very painful for the child. This is when the soul merges completely with the physical form (ever have a newborn cry for no apparent reason, though no gas, no hunger, or dirty diaper?) Some texts hint that the infant may have been secluded with the mother for the first week, and then shown on the 10th day for the Wiccaning.

Let's clear up some misconceptions . . .

A common one is that we worship satan. It is impossible for us to worship Satan.

Why?

Because Satan is a Judeo-Christian concept. Therefore, it is impossible for us to worship something we don't believe in; (just as Christians can't worship the
Goddess, because they don't believe in the concept of a Goddess).

Another misconception . . .

Let's define magick: Magick is the means of manipulating the energy around us for a certain task. The intent behind this
manipulation decides whether this is positive or negative.

Spellwork

Not all witches practice magick. Magick is not a necessary part of our religion. However, if accompanied by
practical measures, spellwork can aide one in achieving their goals. Again, we must abide by a person's free will, harm none,
and the threefold law.

An example of spellwork.

If a person wants to find a job, they can pray and light candles; however if the person does not send out resumes, look in the newspaper/internet, they have the proverbial snowball's chance of finding a
job.

The combination of spellwork and practical measures increases ones chances of finding a suitable position as quickly as possible, because one is using all the forces available to them.

White witch v black witch v warlock . . . In popular media, one often sees these terms.

In popular media, white witch is a good witch (Glenda, from the wizard of Oz or Samantha Stevens); black witch is evil (the witch who had a house land on her in Wizard of Oz, or the one in Hansel and Gretel); Warlock is used to define a male witch.

ALL of these terms are
INCORRECT!

There is no such thing as a white or black witch. Again it is the intent behind the persons actions that make them a good or bad witch. The only color connotation I have ever heard is Green Witch. This is a witch that almost exclusively studies herbs.

A witch is a witch,whether they are male or female .

Warlock is a scottish term meaning oath-breaker, so you can see how it would be an insult to call someone an oath-breaker.

Symbols . . .

Yes, we do have symbols. Two well known, one not so well known.

The first two are the pentegram and the pentacle. A pentegram is a 'star', the one point is at the top reflecting spirituality above all else. A pentacle is a 'star' in a circle,
reflecting the elements entwined with the spirit(also known at the 5th element). The fact that the one point is upright is what makes ours different from the ones Satanists use. The satanists invert the pentacle/gram reflecting the material realm above all else.

The less known symbol is the celtic cross (the cross with the circle). This is a pre-christian symbol reflecting all five
elements. Going clockwise; the top point earth, then air, then fire, then water with the circle going thru all of them. The circle reflecting the spirit. Why is the spirit the 5th element? The spirit is an element because everthing around us has some of the one, or the divine spirit (remember 'as above, so below.')

Do we have a holy book?

Not like the bible or torah. What we do have is a book of shadows. The book of shadows will vary from person to person, or coven to coven. Generally it will have spellwork, meditation, ritual, herb lore, etc.

The reason there is no set format is a little history lesson. For years there was no need for the written word, everything was orally passed on. Then persecution began and pagans went underground. Their religion was done in the 'shadow' of the night. Since public meetings were out, writing was now done, thus the book of shadows.

Sabbats . . .

They are our holidays, we have 8 of them.

10/31 Samhain - ��� Celtic new year; time when the veil between the worlds is the thinnest, those who have departed may choose to come back for a visit ; The ruling time of the Crone aspect of the Goddess; The third harvest

-����� The rebirth of the Sun God; A time of rebirth and the turning of the Earth force tides.