who or what are wiccans?

Question

Can anyone shed any light on this as I am ignorant in this matter. Thanks

Alot of good answers here - cannot pick one as best so will leave it to voting. Thanks for all answers!

Answer 1

It's hard to explain exactly what wiccans believe. Mostly because you could ask the very same questions of 12 different wiccans, (even those in the same coven) and you will get 12 completely different answers.

Mostly it's a fairly new religion based on old pagan traditions ranging from Celtic and Norse to Egyptian and Mesopotamian. They believe in gods other than the christian god, though some believe in him too.

Some are witches some are not. You don't have to be a witch to be wiccan and you don't have to be wiccan to be a witch.

If you really want to know some of the universal basics of wicca, pick up Earth Water Wind and Fire (I think that's the title) By Scott Cunningham. That should help with some of the basics. Pretty much anything by Cunningham should help.


Hasse, no self respecting male witch would EVER label himself a warlock. Not ever. Warlock means traitor, oath breaker, betrayer of his coven and friends. It most certainly does NOT mean male witch.

Answer 2

A New Age religion that has a great love and respect for nature, a god and goddess who are equals and neither good nor evil, and believe in harm none (with exceptions made for defending yourself or loved ones from immediate danger and for food) and whatever you do comes back to you.

Its the new religion for a modern age that brings us back in touch with nature but doesn't require that people cower before the might of gods and acknowledges and promotes questions and education.

Edit: And no wicca is not a word for witch. The people that are claiming so here are idiots. Wicca means "Wise". A witch may or may not be Wiccan and can belong to any religion or none. Wicca is a religion, witchcraft is a practice.

And DO NOT call a male witch a warlock. Warlock is an insult because it means "oathbreaker". Male witches are witches. The word witch is not gender specific.

Wiccans DO NOT worship trees or any other bull that these people come up with.

No, Wiccans are not the healers who existed about the time that witches were being persectued. Wicca is only about 60 years old. Its a new religion, not an old one. The healers of the time were called midwives.

Answer 3

Prariecrow's answer, as always, is excellent.

I must wonder at the alleged religions of those who'd attack Wicca in this forum. What small religions they must have to be afraid of a religion that neither proselytizes nor steals sheep from other's flocks....disgusting people who'd attack such a faith.

That being said.
Wicca is a 20th century non-Abrahamic religion of British origin. It is not New Age in the slightest.

Answer 4

wicca is a modern religion base on the folk practices of ancient britain. it professes belief in deity as male and female and uses magic to effect change. magic is not turning people into frogs, it is using your intent to realize change in your own life. wicca is a highly ceremonial religion, using a consistent ritual format to mark the solar and lunar cycles and to practice magic.

wiccans often refer to themselves as witches, both male and female. 'warlock' means oath breaker and is not an appropriate term for a male witch. not all witches are wiccan. basically, a witch is a person with advanced knowledge in a field related to magic; herbology, astrology, healing, etc.

go to witchvox.com for articles and links.

the christians you responded to your question are basing their answers on prejudice because they know nothing about wicca. wicca is a religion of perfect love and perfect trust. apparently, that threatens fundies.

edit: bibliop...'s link is from a christian source and is biased, despite its effort to seem non-judgmental.

edit again: i'm not wiccan, but i DO worship trees.

Answer 5

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. 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

EDITED TO ADD: In response to some other answers... Wicca is NOT "just another word for witchcraft". Witchcraft is a technique that many Wiccans practice, but it is certainly not the focus of the religion. The focus of Wicca is honoring the Lord and the Lady and attuning oneself to Their energies, not practicing magic.

Answer 6

Best thing to do is check it out , you have a computer, just type in Wiccans and read all about it. They are supposed to be white witches.

Answer 7

Wiccan is a softer gentler word for "WITCH" Everyone of them will give you a different answer as to what they believe in...Regardless of where in the country they are from...

Answer 8

i think you know the answer

Answer 9

What is Wicca?


Wicca is an eclectic religious belief system centering around gods, goddesses, and nature worship. Gary Cantrell, a well known Wiccan author says Wicca is based on "harmony with nature and all aspects of the god and goddess divinity."1 Wiccan practice involves the manipulation of nature through various rituals in attempts to gain power, prestige, love, or whatever else a Wiccan wants. It uses symbols in its ceremonies and follows the calendar in reference to Wiccan festivals. Its roots are in ancient agrarian Celtic Society. It is considered Neo Pagan (based on old European and pre-Christian belief systems). Wicca does not have a structure of clergy and/or congregations. But it does have priests and priestesses which are in leadership positions within covens that have witches. The varying traditions of Wicca have different requirements for attaining the level of priest and priestess. Some of the more common varieties of Wicca are 1734, Alexandrian, Celtic, Dianic, Dicordian, Eclectic, Gardnerian, and Georgian. Wicca is even recognized as a religion in the military.
One of the most common aspects of working theology is the teaching of reincarnation and karma. The purpose of reincarnation is to learn lessons through the various lives. “This process of reincarnation is repeated for numerous lifetimes until a development of the Spirit is reached where the spirit can truly merge with the male and female balanced creator/creatrix entity. We returned to the God and to the Goddess.”2 Karma is the law of cause and effect that "does not punish nor reward. It is simply a universal law that reacts to causation until disharmony is illuminated."3
Wicca does not claim to be the only way but says that all spiritual traditions and paths are valid to those who practice them.4 It accepts "the fact that all life is sacred, including plant, animal, and human."5
Generally, Wiccans do not believe in the existence of a devil (they are not Satan worshippers). They have no orgies or public displays of sexuality in their rituals (though some Wiccan traditions practice nudity and sexuality not open to the public), no bestiality, and no blood sacrifices. They do not practice spells with the intention to harm people. They deny that there are moral absolutes, believe that nature is divine, and seek to be in harmony with the earth/nature.
Is it recognized as a religion by the government? Absolutely.

"Wicca is a bona fide religion, Mr. Barr. It has been recognized by the courts, and legal Wiccan clergy can be found in every state in the United States. We have chaplains in many American and Canadian prisons. Our guiding principle, the Wiccan Rede, admonishes us to harm none."6

The Wiccan Rede and the Threefold Law

There are two basic codes that the Wiccans live by. First is the Wiccan Rede which states, "An Ye Harm None, Do What Ye Will". This means that a Wiccan is free to use his or her magic as long as it doesn't harm anyone. The second is the Threefold Law which says that all the good you do will return to threefold in this life. Likewise, all the harm you do will return to threefold as well.

The God and Goddess

There is an ultimate life force called "The One," or "The All" from which the male and female aspects of life emerged, i.e., the god and goddess. The Divine, god or goddess, depending on who you are talking to, can have different names. There can even be references to different gods from other theological systems: Hinduism, Egyptian, Buddhism, ancient Greece, Sumerian, Christian, etc. In Wicca it doesn’t really matter what name is given to a person’s concept of God as long as you have one, or two, or more.
One Wiccan might consider God to be self-aware, another may not. It all depends on the angle that an individual Wiccan takes in his or her theological construction of what best works. It is a religion of self design. In Wiccan theology, because god can show different characteristics in different ways to different people, Wiccans can have different and even contradictory conceptions of God. This is not a problem to them because they maintain that it is only the limited aspects of individual perceptions of god that appear contradictory.

“as Wiccans, we acknowledge and worshiped the old gods and goddesses in the form both pleasing to Them and meaningful to us…”7

Why is Wicca attractive?

Wicca is attractive for many people who do not desire or appreciate absolute truths. In Wicca, a person is free to discover his or her own "path." In other words, he or she is free to invent a religious system that suits his or her desires.

“If you are just beginning a study of paganism, you may need to evaluate many different traditions or paths before finding the one for which you are looking. Your chosen path in the old religion must be one that is uniquely suited to you as an individual and one that lets you speak to the Lord and Lady in your own fashion.”8

It should be obvious that Wicca is a religion of personal preference. In other words, you are free to invent, devise, and develop a religion that suits your personal wants and interests. Furthermore, in Wicca you may attempt to manipulate your surroundings and other individuals through spells and incantations. This combination of developing a religion that suits your personal preferences and trying to influence others is very appealing to a lot of people.

_____________
1. Cantrell, Gary., Wiccan Beliefs and Practices. St. Paul, Minn: Llewellyn Publications,
2004. p. 20.
2. ibid. p. 27.
3. Grimassi, Raven., Encyclopedia of Wiccan Witchcraft., St. Paul, Minn: Llewellyn Publications,
2003, 240.
4. Cantrell, Gary., Wiccan Beliefs and Practices. p. 9.
5. Drew, A. J., A Wiccan Bible: Exploring the mysteries of the craft from birth to summerland.,
Franklin Lakes, NJ; New Page Books, 2003, p. 32.
6. An illogical leap, Washington Times, The (DC), 07328494, May 19, 2004, Letters., pg A16.
7. Cantrell, Gary., Wiccan Beliefs and Practices. p. 18.
8. ibid., p. 13.

Answer 10

wiccans were the healers who existed about the time everybody was persecuting witches and they were thought to be witches but they used plants and herbs as their medicine