Wicca Research Paper

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.

Almost all structured religions have such an ethic, this is a strong belief in the Wicca religion for, nature, and the entire human race. As a Wicca they have a set of moral and spiritual values that precisely fits the purpose. They live by the values and beliefs that direct their lives as witches, from both inside and outside of the Coven setting. The ethics are incorporated into the Wicca law, also known as, The Ethics of Wicca.

Introduction The terms Witchcraft, Wicca, and Paganism are often used interchangeably. However, the terms have very different meanings and each term has a complex history. First, I will discuss each terms brief history and then their definitions. Finally, at the end, I will sum up my conclusions concerning the terms similarities and differences.

Hundred of years before the Wiccan traditions appeared the term Blessed Be had been used in Ceremonial Magic and also Thelema and Hermeticism; both religions of spiritual philosophy. Aleister Crowley, author, magician and member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was instrumental in developing Thelema philosophy into what it is today. He wrote the “Book Of Law” in which it is stated; "The word of the law is Thelema": Thelema comes from the Greek word meaning “will” or “intention”. It further states "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law" which is very similar to the Wiccan Rede.

One can be very confused with the modern ideas present today. In fact, a lot of individuals are so involved in their own lives that they do not even bother to think where these modern popular beliefs came from. Modern constructs, such as religion, politics, warfare and even the internet all originated somewhere, and it is important that people know at least a little about the history of something before completely use it as a part of their everyday life. Take the case of Witchcraft and Wicca: while most people would probably combine these two in the same area of interest such as witchcraft and spells with the occasional magical tool such as the voodoo doll, one might be surprised that Wicca is actually a religion and witchcraft actually originated from the Wiccan movement.

There are countless different assumptions about witches. The majority of individuals in the sixteenth and seventeenth century presumed that God and Satan were real (Lambert 1). They also assumed that “witches” were in allegiance with Satan and made a vow to bow down and serve him (Lambert 1). Furthermore, another common belief was

Witch comes from ‘wic’ which means to bend of shape consciousness/events of life through meditations & chants.

The word "rede" is an archaic term derived from the Old English word "raed". This is in turn related to the German element "rat" and the Dutch "raad". As a verb, rede means to advise. As a noun, rede is counsel or advice given to someone. A rede is not absolute rule, but rather a guideline for behaviour.

Also known as, the Four Powers of the Witches’ Temple, the Witch’s Pyramid, is the basis for all magickal work, symbolizes the belief that is required to create magick and the traits to be accepted by all witches. It is the learning tool for pupils of the Craft. There are four declarations that epitomize The Witch’s Pyramid: To Know, To Will, To Dare, and To Keep Silent. Each one of the influences is linked with a direction as well as an element. each of these powers can be applied as a way of seeing a method to study. In order for a Witch to have a perfect understanding of anything, all these powers should be present.

The meaning of Rede is to advice or counsel. It is also related to the Dutch word Rede and the German word Ratlraten. Followers of Wiccan and Asatru and other nature based religions use the word as part of their foundations. Some famous Redes are The Wiccan Rede and The Norse Rede of Honour. In the Wiccan Rede, a line reads “An it harm none, do what ye will”. For a non-religious use of this word, it would best explain as a sort of code of ethics, to give advise to others in away that is helpful. What it means to me is that if what I do harms no one, I'm free to do as i wish. But it's not always that simple because even if it seems like no one will get hurt it is still needs to be thought out and researched into in great dept. As an example,

It is important to note that Wiccans are not the type of witches that are often portrayed in Hollywood films nor do they necessarily look as you have been taught to expect. Many turn to Wiccan or Paganism because they find their selves to be lost within their culture and society. Reasonings as to why the Wiccan lifestyle as a religion is charming to people is because they tend to be open to most with an open mind. Free thinking is encouraged and meditation is a regular thing to gain positive energy.

I don’t know about you, but for me so far, all of our author’s attempts to get an explanation about what witchcraft is has failed. We know that witchcraft is the cause of misfortunes and personal injury sustained by the Azande people through what they believe to be no fault of their own, but I think we have yet to have any understanding of what causes witchcraft itself. Where does it come from, who causes it, and is it in any way like a sort of karma believed to be punishment for bad deeds like in eastern philosophies? I think we need to take a deeper look into witchcraft and what the Azande people are actually talking about, because from what I’ve gathered so far, the Azande believe that witchcraft is an unexplained phenomena of independent events that in no way should have had any reason to take place simultaneously

The development of Wicca in the modern times is associated with a gentleman named Gerald Gardner (1884-1964). He was a British civil servant and amateur archaeologist, who spent most of his working years in Southern Asia. Upon his return to England, he authored the book Witchcraft Today, which outlined many of the rituals and doctrines of the religion that is now called Wicca. Although Gardner claimed his book was inspired from Celtic traditions, it is actually a combination of Western faith, Asian magic, god and goddess worship, and Masonic rituals (Melton). The religion Gardner outlined in his book is a nature-oriented faith where a low emphasis on magic predominates. While there is a tendency to see Wicca and Witchcraft as one and the same and some Wiccans may identify themselves as witches, it is a personal choice and many modern Wiccans do not see themselves as witches. Witchcraft describes a magically-oriented practice but lacks the spiritual foundation that Wicca as a religion embodies. Today=s modern Wiccan religion is not the religion that Christians tried to

“Anthropologists have long been aware that the social production and meaning of witchcraft is an evasive issue that defies easy analysis” (Teppo, 2006). Many anthropologists such as Wilson, Gluckman, and Douglas are a few of the most known theories and they all have come to a similar conclusion and explained witchcraft as a “downside of social relations, or a product of social tension, which is constantly able to renew itself within global modernity” (Ashforth, 2000). Ashforth believes this theory as well and continues to base his research on the social aspects of witchcraft and how it affects the people of the community.

Religious tolerance can be very difficult when it comes the religions that practice magic or use the Satanic Bible. If the world were to be properly educated on these so called “scary” religions like Paganism, Wicca, Satanism, and Voodoo maybe they would be less judgmental. Not all religion is perfect and sometimes they can be scary but it is better to know about the religion then to dismiss them. People may still