What are Wiccans?

Question

Are they witches? Are they the same as the witches and pagans of old times? Do they really have magic or supernatural powers? Can they cast spells? What kind of religious services or clergy do they have? Is it true that they have sex orgies as a way of worshipping their gods?

To peachpie: I'm not trying to sound ignorant or bigoted. I am genuinely curious and I am using Yahoo answers to do my research. I know that they don't worship Satan but I was curious about the other things I asked. I am trying to learn more about religions other than my own so that I can be tolerant. So stop putting words in my mouth or I'll turn you into a toad.
(j/k about the toad thing.)

To apple: I'm not trying to be offensive and I really don't know the answers to the questions I asked. I am openminded and I have no prejudice or hate for other people's religions. Sorry if I offended you or any other Wiccans.

Answer 1

Are they witches? Some Wiccans call themselves witches, however not all witches are Wiccans.

Are they the same as the witches and pagans of old times? Not exactly. Wicca is a reconstruction and modification of beliefs and rituals that is based on older beliefs, but it is not a historical recreation of an older religion. It dates back to the 1940s and 1950s.

Do they really have magic or supernatural powers? Yes, though I don't think "supernatural" is the right term, since we are working with the energies of the universe to help create change, and you can't get much more "natural' than that.

Can they cast spells? Yes. Not all Wiccans do, however. Wicca is about a spiritual connection to the God and Goddess first and foremost. Magic and spellwork are tools used to help strengthen that connection, like Christians use prayers and church services. But the spells are a contribution to the spirituality.

What kind of religious services or clergy do they have? We celebrate eight seasonal holidays on what we call the Wheel of the Year, honoring the God and Goddess at Their different stages throughout the year. Fertility, birth, harvest, thanksgiving, death, and rebirth are the main themes of the holidays.

Is it true that they have sex orgies as a way of worshipping their gods? Some groups may have consentual sex as a celebration of the Great Rite, but it is far from required. Wiccans in general do not have the same sexual taboos that other religions have - sex is a natural part of life, required to keep the Cycle going. Consentual sex that harms none (emotionally or physically) is something to be enjoyed and celebrated.

That being said, most pagans I know are in monogamous relationships (myself included), and the celebration of the Great Rite is symbolic and not literal.

Hope that helps.

Answer 2

Wicca is a modern Pagan religion that draws upon primarily Anglo-Saxon folk beliefs. Gerald Gardner is creditted as the father of Wicca, though there's a hot debate over whether he created it or simply discovered the remnants and revitalized it. To summarize the basic argument, there's little to no solid evidence of there being a direct link to any of the ancient Pagans, and in fact many of the practices seem to be more related to 18th/19th century occultism. That said, many still make an assortment of claims as to Wicca's ancient origins.

Wiccans do practice magic, though most consider it natural, if not well understood - a "subtle science" is one description I've heard. Some folks believe magic does involve things normally considered supernatural, while others consider it more akin to psychology (think self-help/"power of positive thinking" on steroids.)

Technically all Wiccans are their own clergy, though the ones that form groups typically have a high priestess and/or high priest. Services vary in timing and type, though common ones include things like full moons, equinoxes, etc.

Orgies are rare, if they happen at all - I've not heard a reliable report of one. Certain ceremonies do involve heavy sexual imagery, and some groups do involve sexual activity, though normally this is involving mated pairs.

Answer 3

Tessa, enable me to reply the final query first. Yes, Wicca IS truly. Wicca is a Religion and as such, we provide honor to BOTH a Goddess and a God (even though there are exceptions to that (Dianic Wicca, being one)). We additionally recognize the Divine as being happen within the Natural international round us, which form of offers non-Wiccans the influence that we worship Nature. It isn't Nature that we worship it's the Divine, and nature is simplest the conduit by way of which we achieve this. Wicca don't worship idols, we worship in entrance of statues (once more there are lots of exceptions to this as good (Green Witches come to brain)). Christians don't worship the go, they worship what the go represents, it's accurately that equal precept in Wicca. We behavior our ceremonies in the course of the entire moon (a few additionally the brand new moon), and 8 Sabbats that are unfold out over the yr (What many Wicca name the Wheel of the Year). These celebrations re-reside particular stages within the existence a long time of the Gods and Goddesses and are performed in commemoration of those Divine parties. The Wicca respect the life of well and evil as inherent is ALL matters, the whole thing and all people has the ability for BOTH (Even the Divine). Evil consequently, is an indispensable side of the whole thing and one cannot have one with out the opposite. The key to that is stability, Wicca maintain the idea of stability to be probably the most center ideas of the universe and al which exists. So, to reply your first query, there's NO being that is fully well or fully evil, simplest the cause of the character determines whether or not a factor or an motion is for well or evil. Therefore, as there's NO being assigned the character of whole evil (ie, a satan) it's not possible for us to worship this sort of being. NOw, as many member of Judeo-Christian-Islamic Faiths are so keen on declaring in unequivocal phrases, "if you don't worship the god of sunshine and love, then you're worshiping the satan". They fail to observe that with the intention to worship whatever or any individual, then worship MUST be the cause. There isn't any such factor as unknowingly worshiping any individual. We can NOT worship a idea which does NOT exist to us, consequently we do NOT worship the "Devil", because the "Devil" is NOT probably the most Divine being principles which exists inside the Faith method of Wicca. It is as practical and direct as that. Does this make experience to you? Brightest Blessings, Raji the Green Witch

Answer 4

Wiccans worship gods and goddesses of nature. They do use magic (i.e. spells) as a way of psychologically setting themselves up for a positive outcome. They do have clergy, Priests and Priestesses. They have many different religious services that are not much different than other religions except that they often revere the natural world. And no - it's NOT true that they have orgies as a way of worshipping their gods. That's a myth.

Answer 5

Wiccans are not necessarily witches.
They are not the same as pre-historical pagans.
It depends for powers or spell casting.
Clergy and services depend on the Tradition/Coven.
Sex orgies are not a part of Wicca.

Please go to Wicca for the rest of Us web sit and read it. All of your questions will be answered there.

Answer 6

That's a lot of questions!!!

Wiccans are a revival of old druidic religious practices.

They are similar to the witches of old, yes.

Yes they use magick.

Many of them cast elaborate spells.

They are usually divided into small groups or "covens", each with a high Priest, Priestess, or both. They gather for official religious practice rarely, usually on soltices, equinoxes, etc.

Some Wiccans use sex as a method to build power for rituals, but this is not common and should not color your perception of Wiccans too greatly.

How'd I do? :)

Answer 7

"Wicca is a Neopagan religion and a religious movement found in various countries throughout the world." Yes, essentially they are witches. They worship life.

Answer 8

Well I am one...

I am a "witch". We might go into a coven but not all of us do. We bring back the old in let it blend with the new. Some cast spells, but I find them curopt. We worsip the goddess or the god. witch ever one. I would suggest serching the internet for more info. WE ARE NOT EVIL!

Answer 9

Hello, perhaps a good place to start is 'what aren't wiccans' check out 'your Path Ministries' and there is a sermon called 'Demystifying Paganism'
You could also check out "wiccan Web' you will find alot of usefull info there. There is no pat answer to what are wiccans as you will discover for yourself, good luck on your journey :)
**Also try to keep in mind, stupid ppl are everywhere, be they christian, catholic, buddhistetc. There are also stupid wiccans who give the whole religion a bad name. Don't take any one persons point of veiw as fact, do the research for yourself :)

Answer 10

it's a religion based on nature. they can't cast spells, it's sort of the same thing as christians praying. they hope what they want will happen. thats how it is with wiccans too, except they do it in a different way, with candles and such.

why don't you do some research online before you come off sounding retarded about the whole thing. it's a really beautiful religion, it has nothing to do with evil or satan or orgies at all.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicca
http://paganwiccan.about.com/cs/whatiswicca/a/wiccanwitch.htm?PM=ss11_paganwiccan