Is wiccan a religion? Did I spell that right? What are the facts on the Wiccan culture? Can guys practice it?

Question

I am just curious that's all. :-) I've seen a little bit about it and it seems beautiful so I just wanted to learn about it a little bit.

Answer 1

Yes it is a religion. Yes you spelled it right. There's a great deal about wicca that cannot be summed up here especially since there are so many different sects and paths (much like christian denominations). Yes guys can practice it. In fact there are sects that are all male and sects that are all female. The best way to learn about it is to study and research. I would suggest starting with Scott Cunningham and Raymond Buckland and working your way from there.

Answer 2

Wicca isn't any more or less valid than any other religion. In days gone by Christians would have terrorized you and murdered you for this belief. I used to practice it and learned a great deal about the respect of the feminine.

Answer 3

Wicca in it's purest form is a touchy-feely do good nature religion that helps you be "one" with the world. Anyone can be in it. It has a dual deity - a god and a goddess, which fills in the gaps left by christianity. By using natural energies, you are able to get better results than asking an apathetic Xian god for assistance.

Answer 4

try reading scott cuninghams book wicca a guide for the solitary practitioner
it will explain everything you ever wanted to know about wiccan stuff, its all pretty general in teh book,, it explains holidays and practices its a good one to start with, also silver ravenwolf or starhawk are also great authors for pagan type belief systems

Answer 5

Wicca is a religion the fact about it are that everything comes back to you three times fold. we believe in mother nature and the goddesses. We also believe in reincarnation and purgatory. we worship the earth air fire and water. if you have any more questions go to http://www.wicca.com/celtic/wicca/wicca.htm it will tell you all about it

Answer 6

Yes. It's an earth-centirc religion that is vaguely Celtic and pre-Christian recconstructionist. It was started in the 1950s by Gerald Gardner.

http://www.witchvox.com

Answer 7

Wicca is a religion, not a culture. Wiccans can be either male or female. It 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. Its founder was a British civil servant named Gerald Gardner.

http://www.geraldgardner.com/essays.php

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).

Wiccans have celebrations which are timed to both the solar and lunar calendars. The solar festivals -- held at the solstices, the equinoxes, and four points in between them -- are called sabbats.

http://paganwiccan.about.com/library/basics/blsabbats.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheel_of_the_year

The lunar holy days are called esbats, and are held at the full moon each month, and sometimes at the new moon as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esbat

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

An explanation of the religion by a Wiccan:

http://www.uri.org/Wicca_Portrait.html

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 "The 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

Answer 8

Wicca is the religion. It's a nature worshipping religion. Yes guys can practice it, I believe.

Answer 9

Wicca is a religion, not a culture.
It is open to males and females.
It is inaccurate to say we Wiccans worship nature.

Answer 10

Both my brother in law and my male cousin are Wiccan so yes, even guys can be a witch. :-)