what are the basic tenets of the religion Wicca?

Question

just now i have come across the word wicca. some body answered that he/she embraced this religion. please furnish the details of this religion.

Answer 1

Here is some great overall concepts of what Wicca is all about from http://www.religioustolerance.org/wic_beli.htm. If you ever want to learn more about it I would be happy to help. Feel free to message me if you are interested!

Blessings and Light!

~RW


Most Wiccans believe that a creative force exists in the universe, which is sometimes called "The One" or " The All". Little can be known of this force.

Most regard the Goddess and the God as representing the female and male aspects of the All. These deities are not "out there somewhere;" they are immanent in the world.

Many regard various pagan Gods and Goddesses (Pan, Athena, Diana, Brigit, Zeus, Odin, etc.) as representing various aspects of the God and Goddess. The term "Wicca" normally implies that the person's religion is based upon Celtic spiritual concepts, deities, and seasonal days of celebration. Some Wiccans include beliefs, practices and symbols from ancient Pagan religions (e.g. Egyptian, Greek, various mystery religions, Roman, Sumerian) or upon Aboriginal religions (Native American Spirituality, Shamanism).

Some Wiccans are actually agnostics, who take no position on the existence of a supreme being or beings. They look upon the Goddess and the God as archetypes, based on myth.

It cannot be stressed enough that Wiccans have no supernatural being in their pantheon of deities who resembles the Christian-Muslim Satan.

Wicca is a natural religion, grounded in the earth. All living things (including stars, planets, humans, animals, plants, rocks) are regarded as having a spirit. Many Wiccan rituals deal with bringing harmony and healing to nature. Wiccans tend to share a great concern for the environment.

Wiccans celebrate the sexual polarity of nature. For example, the fertilizing rain is one manifestation of the male principle; the nurturing earth symbolizes the female. Females are respected as equal (and sometimes at a slightly higher rank) to males. A priestess is often the most senior person among coven -- a local group of Wiccans. They aim for a female-male balance in most of their covens (local groups), although men are typically in the minority.

Sexuality is valued, and regarded as a gift of the Goddess and God, to be engaged in with joy and responsibility, and without manipulation. Wiccans generally accept the findings of human sexuality researchers that there are three normal, natural, and unchosen sexual orientations: heterosexuality, homosexuality and bisexuality. Some Wiccans celebrate "the Great Rite" which involves ritual sexual intercourse. However, it is consensually performed by a committed couple in private.

Regarding the afterlife, Wiccans have a wide range of beliefs.
Some believe in ancient legends of a Summerland where souls go after death. Here, they meet with others who have gone before, review and integrate their previous lives on earth, and are eventually reincarnated into the body of a new born. Some believe that after many such cycles -- perhaps some as female and others as male; some lives with a high standard of living and others in poverty; some in positions of power and others suffering oppression -- that the individual accumulates sufficient experience to go on to another level of existence about which we know nothing.

Some see an individual's personality, memory, abilities, talents, etc. as functions of the human brain, which degrades and disintegrates at death. They no not anticipate any form of continuity after death.

Other Wiccans anticipate continuity after death in some very narrow senses:

That the molecules that go to make up our bodies may in turn be incorporated in other living entities;

That our influences on children, friends, and society in general will continue to have influences on the next generations.

Three-fold Law (a.k.a. the Law of Return) The law states that:

"All good that a person does to another returns three fold in this life; harm is also returned three fold."

This belief strongly motivates each Wiccan to avoid attempting to dominate, manipulate, control, or harm another person.

Answer 2

It is an nature-based religion, which recognizes the Divine in the masculine and feminine energies that are generally addressed as "God" and "Goddess". Wiccans do NOT "worship the earth" - rather the earth is honored as an expression of the Divine.

Basic tenet - An it harm none, do as ye will. (A trickier proposition than might appear on the surface, as it addresses not only harming OTHERS, but also harming YOURSELF. It also makes you think about the repercussions of your actions, not just in your immediate environs, but the wider results of your actions.)

Most Wiccans will also believe in some form of Return - what you send out, for good or for ill, comes back to you. Some believe it comes back multiplied (three or nine times are the most common). This can be considered analogous to "You reap what you sow".

Some Wiccans do perform spellwork, which is basically ritualized prayer or a focus of Will with the intent of creating a Change. Tied in with Harm None and the idea of Return, it should be reasonably obvious that negative spells that manipulate others (hexes, curses, love spells, etc.) are NOT the sorts of things that Wiccans do. Mucking with someone else's free will (i.e. a "Love Spell") violates "Harm None". Those who cast a Hex or a Curse should be prepared for the Return of that energy at some point.

http://www.religioustolerance.org has a great section on Wicca - I highly recommend checking it out.

Answer 3

wicca is a religion as accepted by the terms of religious freedom in America. And we all know if America accepts it then the majority of the rest of the world does too, since America is a bit behind the times societally speaking.

Wicca is a sect of paganism. Paganism is a form of nontraditional religion and philosophy that is outside of the mainstream of the trio of singularity. By that I mean, paganism might share common denominators with Christianity, Judaism and Islamic tenants....but in no ways are they simular. I think you might all ready realize this unless you have lived on a remote island somewhere in the pacifica all your life...and if so then, you would all ready understand other things I won't get into :P

Throughout history, magic has been a form of practice coming down to the 20th century when a man named Gerald Gardner decided to make a completely seperate coven and way of practice, based loosely on his beliefs and mixed with a lot of the same practices of his old coven. I can only imagine there was either a political shift that he was displeased with, or....he had a desire to change a few things and make his practice better. Perhaps it was his time to begin his own coven.

Wicca, or the Society of Wicca, is a fairly new religion. Please do not fall under sway that Wicca has been around since the turn of the written history of man. It was officially chartered with the US in 1954? or so? It might combine several aspects of old world thought, but the term wicca and wiccan are 20th century creations for the terms we use them for currently.

Wicca is perhaps the first sanctioned and organized pagan religion in our countries history that has operated in the open. It's basis is simple, there is a god AND a goddess and the reveal themselves to the normal wiccan in ways such as spells, ritual and belief. Mostly, wicca is a nature based religion that presents the goddess as nature and the god as her consort, each carrying the same if not equal workload of the world's workings.

Wiccans practice magic (magicK is a word you will see used often to describe the religious overtones of the magic) They are often refered to as witches, or even refer to each other as witches and basically work under the conditios that as long as they obey by the rules of the society they practice in (ie no murder or other heinous acts one would derive negitive attention for) they would take advantage of the allowable freedom of religion and practice however they see fit as long as it harms no one in the process. Wicca is about self improvement for the betterment of the earth.

However, many wiccans are looked down upon for reasons only known to their objectors. For which I am one of :P They are often viewed as illinformed and instituting a dumbing down of the practices of old. And as such are crucibled to defend themselves often and achieve most of their defense through legally sanctioned protections and lawyers all ready practicing a defense against the growing concerns of ignorance.

Personally, I have no issues with the wiccan religion, merely the sheeplike mentality of the followers it attracts, no offense.

Please do learn everything you can. And do not think of Wicca as the modern version of magical hippees out to convert the world with red and blue crystals. Be informed and tolerant of everyone around you, which should be a motto of everyone in the world to begin with.

I hope I didn't offend you too much, but it is important to know the critisicm that will come about whether you begin your learning in that direction or another.

Oh and please, for the sake of sanity, please don't choose a magical name that is fictional in nature. How many times I have met the real incarnation of Merlin that introduce themselves as Merlin and Merlynne. Or even some freak named Shadow Dragon, that screams DND geek and only embarresses the rest of the community.

Answer 4

Once again: Wicca do not worship the earth, trees, rocks, etc. The worship of the Wicca is centered on two tribal deities. I would recommend you check out these sites if you want to know what it is and get the basics of our beliefs.

http://www.newwiccanchurch.net/
http://www.wargoddess.net/essay/btw.php
http://www.tradwicca.org
http://bruncreate.www8.50megs.com/wicca/wiwicca.html

Answer 5

Wicca started as a cult by masochist and Crowley disciple Gerald Gardner circa 1950 so that he could be beaten by strong willed women. Followers are self deluded into believing they have magical powers.

Answer 6

...and ye harm none, do what thou willst...
It's a pagan spirituality, not religion. There's no church to answer to, just yourself. It's a nature based "religion" that celebrates the turning of seasons. Intrestingly enough, if you research the pagan holidays, they happen to coincide with "christian" holidays.
Early christian church leaders were trying to convert european pagans who didn't want to give up their celebrations....so they landed christmas around yule. Yule is a celebration of the birth of the sUn...christmas is for the birth of the sOn. Also Oester is in spring, a time of rebirth and ressurection....funny that easter ends up there too....
There are some great resources out there...try witchvox.com!

Answer 7

wicca is a part of the earth based pagan religions try google if you want to klearn

Answer 8

GO here, I asked about Wicca like 2 days ago and got many answers!:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AsjI5dIj0XZ2U.cwHfOkDlLsy6IX?qid=20060830221817AAw7KFJ

And if you don't trust the link, just go into my Q&A and you'll find the question there.

Answer 9

This link will give you a basic overview of various traditions and paths. http://www.witchvox.com/_x.html?c=trads

It will also give some books and websites for further study.

Answer 10

All religions that worship the natural world and things in the natural world like earth or sky are bogus. Same thing as atheism and naturalism. Life comes from what is dead instead of belief in God where life comes from what is life itself.