What is a Wicca and the basis of the belief system?

Question

Iv'e always wondered what being Wiccan was

Answer 1

I am Wiccan. This is the 13 Principles of Wiccan belief. I hope I can help you understand them.

1. We practice rites to attune ourselves with the natural rhythm of life forces marked by the phases of the Moon and the seasonal quarters and cross-quarters. (Wiccans believe that the moon is a part of the power of the Goddess. That is relevant by its correlation to a woman's menstrual cycle and the tides. We have 8 Sabbats that make up the Wheel of the Year as well as 13 Esbats-Full Moons.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbaigo8rv...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvtyltahy...

2. We recognize that our intelligence gives us a unique responsibility toward our environment. We seek to live in harmony with nature, in ecological balance offering fulfillment to life and consciousness within an evolutionary concept. We acknowledge a depth of power far greater than is apparent to the average person. Because it is far greater than ordinary, it is sometimes called sometimes called "supernatural," but we see it lying within that which is naturally potential to all.
(Magick comes from an ability to control your environment through attuning with the elements and keys)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2g3j7pteq...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quqrsua7...


3. We acknowledge a depth of power far greater than that apparent to the average person. Because it is far greater than ordinary it is sometimes called "supernatural", but we see it as lying within that which is naturally potential to all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogT7qXpa3rg

4. We conceive of the Creative Power in the Universe as manifesting through polarity--as masculine and feminine--and that this same creative power lives in all people, and functions through the interaction of the masculine and feminine. We value neither above the other, knowing each to be supportive of the other. We value sexuality as pleasure, as the symbol and embodiment of Life, and as one of the sources of energies used in magickal practice and religious worship.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7amcuqnoz...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edltlev1t...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f76p-xcsb...

5. We recognize both outer worlds and inner, or psychological worlds--sometimes known as the Spiritual World, the Collective Unconscious, the Inner Planes, etc.--and we see in the interaction of these two dimensions the basis for paranormal phenomena and magickal exercises. We neglect neither dimension for the other, seeing both as necessary for our fulfillment.
(Our innerverse is ours to control and as part of that, we can contrl the outerverse)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pqrkigrb...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzxdya-qo...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guvf1guac...

6. We do not recognize and authoritarian hierarchy, but do honor those who teach, respect those who share their greater knowledge and wisdom, and acknowledge those who have courageously given of themselves in leadership.
(We have high priests and priestesses, but we don't let them interpret what we believe. We make up our own minds and lead our own rituals.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sln_q73up...

7. We see religion, magick, and wisdom-in-living as being united in the way one views the world and lives within it--a world view and philosophy of life, which we identify as Witchcraft or the Wiccan Way.
(Magick is everywhere and everyone does it. It shapes the way we look at the world.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwossk97y...

8. Calling oneself “Witch” does not make a Witch--but neither does heredity itself, or the collecting of titles, degrees, and initiations. A Witch seeks to control the forces within him/herself that make life possible in order to live wisely and well, without harm to others, and in harmony with Nature.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zgbrutbo...

9. We acknowledge that it in the affirmation and fulfillment of life, in a continuation of evolution and development of consciousness, that gives meaning to the Universe we know, and to our personal role within it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udy5upzmp...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axykowjsk...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8l-hodcsl...

10. Our only animosity toward Christianity, or toward any other religion or philosophy-of-life, is to the extent its institutions have claimed to be “the one true right and only way” and have sought to deny freedom to others and to suppress other ways of religious practices and belief.
(We believe that all people come to their own religious path. To interfere and try to actively convert someone away is a deception of the soul.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qylfbcj3e...

11. As American Witches, we are not threatened by debates on the history of the Craft, the origins of various terms, the legitimacy of various aspects of different traditions. We are concerned with our present, and our future.
(Some people claim that Wicca is a very new religion, others say it is pre-Christian. This does not concern us as we see our beliefs as personal and not political.)

12. We do not accept the concept of “absolute evil,” nor do we worship any entity known as “Satan” or “the Devil” as defined by Christian Tradition. We do not seek power through the suffering of others, nor do we accept the concept that personal benefits can only be derived by denial to another.
(The Devil or Satan is purely a Christian and Muslim concept. Wiccans don't see our Gods as having a Good and Bad persona. They are Nature and nature is both)

13. We work within Nature for that which is contributory to our health and well-being.
(Wiccans have a strong desire to be environmentally conscious)

Answer 2

i imagine the region the following is that *some* Wiccans have claimed the note "pagan" as if it belongs purely to them, and they indiscriminately borrow beliefs and traditions from all distinct pagan religions, including Cherokee. initially, that wasn't what Wicca replaced into, yet that appears what that is growing to be. i don't know adequate about the Cherokee perception gadget to make comparisons, yet I doubt there are a range of similarities to classic Wicca because that is customarily inspired by historic Celtic traditions. Edit: there have been no Wiccans contained in the mid-1600s. Wicca replaced into depending contained in the Nineteen Fifties. once you're contemplating colonial "witches," those were no longer Wiccans.

Answer 3

Wicca is an earth-based (usually) duotheistic or polythiestic religion.

Some of the basic tenets include a respect for all life and a belief that your actions have consequnses

Many Wiccans will also use the term Witch to describe themselves so that has lead to a lot of misconceptions. There are some good resources for understanding Wicca (and the continuing MISUNDERSTANDINGS and --in some cases actual persecution) online. The best known and probably the most extensive is listed below.

Answer 4

Wicca is a neo-pagan religious movement popularized by British civil servant Gerald Gardener after the "Witchcraft Act" was repealed in 1951. He claimed that Wicca was a revival of an old secret witchcraft religion in which a great Horned God, likely to be Bahomet, was revered before being driven underground by the rise of Christianity. Wicca is also closely associated with worship of nature-gods and goddesses, including worship of the Sun and Moon and Mother Earth.

Wiccans live by a code of ethics called the Rede which prohibits the use of sorcery or witchcraft to harm others or otherwise affect them against their will. However, Wicca was heavily influenced by Aleister Crowley who practiced Hermetic Mysticism, which at it's core is a malicious practice that includes worship of Hermes Trismegistus, Isis, Osiris, Horus and Lucifer, the classical pagan gods and goddesses of the ancient mystery religions observed in Egypt, Babylon and Greece. Crowley was also a proponent of the Jewish Holocaust.

Answer 5

Wicca is more about experience than belief.

the basic concepts are free will, but do no harm; what you do comes back upon you three times over; and that sacredness is everywhere, not just in certain places/beings/books/whatever.

Wicca encourages one to develop one's own awareness and perceptions of spirituality. You can have 100 Wiccans and 100 differing perceptions. Many/most generally use nature and/or polytheistic mythos as tools to approach spirituality, but "beliefs" vary as to whether these are literal or metaphoric personifications of divinity.

Answer 6

The Devil, Anything that does not hold the Holy Trinity as God,The Father, Son (Jesus Christ), And Holy Spirit, is not from God.There is only one. I was a wiccan white witch and saw supernatural events unfold in front of my eyes.
And I have to be completely honest, I really got confused as to who actually was in control of the universe. But thank God He woke me up to the facts that God holds all the power. And He gives each of us Power and Authority over all the power the enemy possesses.
And what does scumbag satan do? Exactly what he did to Eve in the garden he tricks us into turning our power over to him and he can only use it to make things happen, he cannot keep it any longer. But he causes things to happen with our power to trick us into thinking that the scumbag has the power when he has none.
Yeah,he is still the same old scumbag he has always been. But he has suckered alot of people that way.Take care and may GOD bless you.

Answer 7

Wicca is a very complex faith which embraces widely varying practices and many different Traditions. The following, however, is what I consider to be "the basics".

Wicca is about 60 years old, with roots in Masonic practices, ceremonial magic, and the Romantic era's ideas of classical religions. It is in many ways a postmodern faith, embracing religious relativism, and one that resonates powerfully for increasing numbers of people.

The central tenet of the Wiccan religion is the Wiccan Rede: "If you harm none, do what you will." This is a deceptively simple "commandment" which can take a lifetime to contemplate and to master. Many Wiccans also believe in the Law of Threefold Return, sometimes called the Rule of Three: “Whatever you do, for good or ill, will come back upon you three times over.”

Wiccans honor Deity as both male and female, God and Goddess -- or at the very least as Goddess. Many Wiccans believe that the universe is the body of God/dess, and therefore that all things contain Divine energy and that the world itself is sacred. Some Wiccans are polytheists (many God/desses); others are duotheists (God and Goddess, of whom all other Gods and Goddesses are simply aspects); others are monotheists (God and Goddess Themselves are simply aspects of an unknowable Source).

Wiccans generally do not believe that God/dess is separate from the world; therefore, we have no concept of salvation, since God/dess is present to all and always. Many Wiccans believe that God/dess is too big to fit inside one religion -- all religions/spiritual paths are ways of reaching the same goal, and atheism and agnosticism are honorable perspectives on the mystery of life.

Each Wiccan operates as their own priest/ess. We do not have a distinction between clergy and laity. Therefore, each Wiccan is responsible for their own personal development and for forging their own relationship with God/dess. Some Wiccans practice in covens, which are generally initiatory and require a long period of study (traditionally a year and a day) before entering. Others practice in loosely affiliated groups of solitaries, which are Wiccans who practice outside of traditional coven structure. Others simply practice alone.

Wiccans do not usually have churches. We create sacred space as and where needed, by casting "circles" of energy which function as temples. When inside those circles, we invite the spirits of the four Platonic elements (air, fire, water, and earth) to join us, as well as the Goddess and the God (or at minimum the Goddess).

Many Wiccans practice witchcraft, which we see as working with the Divine energy that permeates the world to bring about change. In accordance with the Wiccan Rede, the vast majority of Wiccans will not curse or perform magic to bring harm upon anyone else.

A relatively objective (non-Wiccan) set of articles on what Wiccans do and believe:

http://www.religioustolerance.org/witchcra.htm

Another useful article:

http://www.religionfacts.com/neopaganism/paths/wicca.htm

A good site by Wiccans:

http://wicca.timerift.net

And the US Army Chaplains Handbook excerpt on Wicca:

http://www.religioustolerance.org/wic_usbk.htm

If you're looking to do some reading, I'd recommend "Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner" by Scott Cunningham, and "Triumph of the Moon" by Ronald Hutton. I advise you to stay away from anything by Silver Ravenwolf, for reasons outlined in the following essay:

http://wicca.timerift.net/ravenwolf.shtml

If you have any further questions, please feel free to email me.

Answer 8

Wicca is a modern polytheistic religion.

As with Christianity, there are silly Wiccans that don't know what they are talking about, and Wiccans who do know what they are talking about. To judge the faith by either group is unfair (although if you must be unfair, judge it by the ones who know stuff.)

More details:
What is Wicca, Anyways?
http://www.cuew.org/whatiswicca.html

Answer 9

1. A polytheistic Neo-Pagan nature religion inspired by various pre-Christian western European beliefs, whose central deity is a mother goddess and which includes the use of herbal magic and benign witchcraft.
2. A group or community of believers or followers of this religion.

Answer 10

The Wiccans are pretty cool... they'll get you the info....

Answer 11

Wiccan means your mom is a Christian and you want to rebel...