Essay on Wicca: A Religion or Just Hocus Pocus?

The following paper will talk about Wicca and Paganism as a religion within the United States. Wicca is a diverse community as a religion, but is not yet considered by any Supreme court case but some aspects such as traditions are recognized by the federal and state courts. This will be further touched upon further later on.

Wicca is actually a modern pagan religion, and is concentrated on a more peaceful, harmonious and balanced way of life. It is actually a belief system that is of pre-Christian that is mostly how our ancestors lived

he darkness of evening slowly blankets the land. The harvest moon, gowned in silver attire floats in a sea of air, peeks from behind a misty veil. Below, a wisp of smoke dances upward toward the heavens. There is a feeling of ancient magic as the circle is cast in the clearing. The lone worshipper walks the circle, methodically lighting the colored candles she has placed in each of the cardinal directions: North is green and represents represents earth, the east candle is yellow and represents air, South is red and represents fire and west is blue and represents water. As each candle is she invokes the spirits of the Watchtowers. The circle is cast to create a hallowed ground, a place that exists and does not exist simultaneously. She

“Feminist Wicca has been constructed in large part to meet the needs of women who have rejected the patriarchy central to most mainstream religious traditions” (Anderson, 301). I think many people would look down upon this because they use the word “feminist”, but a feminist is a person who supports women rights, they are not man haters. Personally I find feminist to view everyone not to be above or below one another, but besides them. A Wicca is allowed to practice rituals on their own. I find this very appealing that even though they are a single spirituality, they are not all inclusive. This means that they are able to practice any other religions, and would not break a religion code of conduct for doing so. I view Wicca’s as for leaders, because in the catholic faith you would be looked down upon for celebrating Hanukkah instead of Christmas. I think this group would appeal to many because they are not gender bias, and people are able to down what they want to do. I also appreciate the Wicca religions because, “Wicca has been self-consciously egalitarian in its leadership patterns” (Anderson, 315). Think everything in this world should be egalitarian, and I hope this trend can continue onward. It was also stated that Wicca’s are able to choose their own paths and are supported in what they do. Again, I believe that this spirituality is appropriate with this society as it expresses

This article is about witchcraft and its different varieties of practices in different cultures. This article explains how witchcraft exists and plays an essential part in structural and functional aspects of a society. It also sheds the light on the journey of witchcraft from being profane and wicked to acceptable part of a culture.

There are many different branches, called "traditions", of The Craft, most of which are based on the religious practices of one or more ancient cultures. There are Celtic Wiccans, Egyptian Wiccans, and Greek Wiccans. One of the newest traditions is a hybrid of Celtic Shamanism and the tribal religions of Ancient America. There is, however, a basic outline for conducting worship services that is followed by all covens and solitaries. A standard Wiccan worship service, or ritual, which takes place on one of the eight yearly sabbats (the solstices, equinoxes, and four Ancient Celtic agricultural festivals) or at an esbat (full moon), consists of the creation of sacred space(called "casting the circle;" this is done through visualization), prayers, and offerings (these are usually material possessions, plants, or handmade items; Wiccans never sacrifice animals or people), and a sharing of a simple meal with fellow witches (if a member of a coven) and the Deities. Worship services have many important purposes, but the main reason Wiccans perform rituals is to gain understanding of the energies of the divine and, ultimately, the energies contained in the witch himself/herself. The harnessing

The Ashanti tribe is located in central Ghana in the rainforest of West Africa. They are the major ethnic group in this roughly 50 years-old young nation. The Ashanti people are known as fierce fighters whether they are women or man. The tribe have a slogan: “If I go forward I die, If I go backward I die, better go forward and die.” (Baden-Powell) When they are faced by a war, you can hear drums from the villages to signal each others. The Ashanti religion combines both spiritual and supernatural powers. They believe that every living thing have souls, including plants and animals. They believe that there are fairies, monsters and witches, and their religious belief surrounds an all-powerful, all-knowing god called “Onyame”. In this research

Introduction: I have chosen two articles first one is Ronald Grimes “Beginning of Ritual studies” (1982 2nd Edition) Ronald L. Grimes wrote several books on ritual, most recently The Craft of Ritual Studies. He is Researcher and Professor. Second article I choose Tanya Luhrmann “Persuasions of Witch’s craft” Tanya Luhrmann is Professor in the Stanford Anthropology Department. Her books include Persuasions of the Witch’s Craft, (Harvard, 1989); The Good Parsi (Harvard 1996); Of Two Minds (Knopf 2000) and When God Talks Back (Knopf 2012). Her work focuses on the way that ideas held in the mind come to seem externally real to people, and the way that ideas about the mind affect mental experience. One of her recent project compares the experience

The holiday rite is started by opening the circle with cleansing and energy building. Then the members of the coven begin the magickal workings or praying. Which for Ostara entails thanking the Maiden Goddess for the fertility and life of the previous year and asking for another fertile year to come. After this is done the high priestess turns to the person on her left,

The question of whether or not Christianity has a connection to the pagan world is deeply controversial and is thought to be a conspiracy theory by conservative Christians. So what does the world’s largest religion have in common with Paganism? Through research and art examples, parallels will emerge showing that Christian religion is in fact pagan at its roots.

But first, in order to address this spiritual correlation, it must be addressed what exactly Wicca is, and where it came from. Wicca is the “largest denomination” of Paganism , which in short is one who does not believe in a monotheistic faith, like Christianity , and could be traced back to a man named Gerald Gardner, the so called founder of Wicca. His discontent with Christianity that fueled his ‘creation’ of Wicca . The religion took off from there, branching out and picking up momentum in the United Kingdom, and then was later introduced into the United States by

When most western people think about Native American or African religions there is a certain stigma that comes with the topic. This is in part because there is a lot of misinformation in the world about Native American and African religions. When most westerners think of African religions they think of voodoo and black magic. Likewise, the view of Native American religions is still looked at through the lens of the pilgrims who wrote about Native Americans as being savages and less than human. These stereotypes were all formed from a lack of accurate information. African and Native American religions are very similar. It is difficult to find a lot of accurate information on African and Native American indigenous religions because of the lack of written history but there is a lot of oral history that has been passed down from generation to generation. From this information, it is clear that Native American and African religions have many more similarities than they do differences. Three of these similarities will be discussed in this paper. The first topic of discussion is the similarity between African and Native American people when it comes to their perception of the spirit world. Following this topic are the similarities between Native American and African views on the afterlife and finally, the diversity of beliefs within African and Native American religions.

The mystical experience parallels a romantic experience, but rather than a partnership between two lovers, one’s soul develops a partnership with God. Evelyn Underhill, a nineteenth century mystic and author of The Mystics of the Church, defines the mystical experience as having a direct interaction with God and producing a consequential pursuit for a union with Him. To achieve this “spiritual marriage” #, Underhill identifies five stages: awakening, purgation, illumination, the dark night of the soul, and union. It begins with a consciousness of a divine reality. Following that is the purgation, which intends to purify or change oneself to align with the transcendental order. Consequently, developing attachments to others from purgation causes an illumination within the individual, centering cognitive procedures and worldly understanding around the partner, or God. Next, the idea of the dark night of the soul

Throughout the world today, Mysticism plays a vital role in any and all religions as it yields a connection to a higher power through the use of prayer and/or meditation. Though the exact definition of Mysticism is unclear and no amount of words could sufficiently describe all experiences one has made through this act, it can only be fully described as mystical. Throughout the teachings held within this course, the conclusion has been made that Mysticism is essentially the core of all religious practices. Amidst the use of personal experience, religious traditions, and settings – the occurrence of a mystical event is present in all religious activities and is the heart of all things holy.

I went to investigate what these loud cries of ecstasy was the result of. As I ventured further into the dense forest to find out the meaning of these cries. One second I was walking in the forest, the other I was walking through a realm that transcended both space and time, I saw visions of destruction, death and a floating conglomeration of glowing spheres. After flashes of my life passing through me I found myself lying on the ground in an uncomfortable way. I had fallen down a small hill. As I ventured further through the dense forest I heard a cry of pure euphoria. I rushed to that direction to find these savages and their rituals. “N’Gath Wol T’na Yog-Sothoth” I rushed towards one of them and acted as they would, howling as the day passes to night and again passes to-day. I found clarity along this, I understood what this vision that I had meant. Soon the savages went to leave and I ran into one before it left, it was a large Negro fellow with an overhanging jaw and a large left leg, the signs of someone formed from incest. I asked him with queries about the sky opening up and the visions I had. All that he said was Yog-Sothoth is returning back to claim this