Wiccan Religion Essay

Paganism an Introduction to Earth-Centered Religions by Joyce & River Higginbotham “Magick is the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will” - Aleister Crowley When I was young, I always knew magick exists in our world. I dabble with a spell that will help me stop bleeding, which comes in handy when hiding a scar from my parents or prevent blood loss. However, as I got older weird things would happen. Such as, seeing things before it happens, being able to drain someone

folklores, esoteric thought, feminism, Western occult beliefs, and rejection of traditional monotheistic religions in Great Britain during the 1950s (Jorgensen, D. L., & Russell, S. E., 1999; Moe, J. L., Cates, K., & Sepulveda, V., 2013). Since spreading to the US in the 1960s paganism has continued its development as a distinct religious philosophy and has become one of the fastest growing religions in North America (Jorgensen, D. L., & Russell, S. E., 1999; Lewis, J. R., & Tollefsen, I. B., 2013; Reid

anthropology and folklore are important aspects to the religious movement. She explores the different practices and beliefs of modern Pagans, as well as witches. There were three major themes that stood out to me the most. These themes were the nature of religion, the nature of the religious world, and the types of authority in the book. The nature of

having a silver dollar coin in my possession. Although, some religious people may argue that Pagans are devil worshipers in considering what they believed they are provoking evil demons. Which in, Paganism is in fact an Earth-Centered religion that believes in all religion, and magick. According to River Higginbotham, “Paganism, also called neo-Paganism

A Magical object or a talisman is a disk shaped, inscribed with a pentagram used by the element of earth. The symbol of witchcraft, an ancient concept found in philosophiy for over 8,000 years. In 1590 the word pentacle came from a Latin word meaning pentagram, in Greek it came from the word pente meaning coin (five ) + Latin word Culum (or instrumental) suffix. Italian pentacle is anything with five points. The french in the 16c. Was perhaps a five branched candlestick. Representing aspects

Bless is the root of the verb blessed and it originated from the Old English word bletsian or bledsian meaning “to consecrate, make holy, give thanks.” In Old English Bibles it was used as a translation of the Latin benedicere and Greek evlogein. Meaning “to speak (well of, to praise.” Both verbs were used to translate brk, the Hebrew word that means to bend (the knee), worship, invoke blessings, praise. However, a false etymology was brought about when bless was related to bliss and took on the

term having a similar meaning to “Amen”, it feels more grounded to me. Like saying it sends it out to the four corners of the universe, and from there the universe can take what I have asked and use it as it so pleases. In today’s modern Pagan and Wiccan society, the term is used abundantly. As I was researching this term, I was shocked to find out that the Freemasons use “So Mote it Be” in their own rituals, and the society of Freemasons, are a Christian group, but using a Pagan term. Or a term more

of the ancient polytheistic religions of Europe and the Middle East.(Neo-Paganism) These forms of “nature-oriented spirituality” are typically pre-Christian and primarily originate in Europe. (Fisher 478) ReligiousTollerance.org sheds some light on how people formed these Neo-Pagan religions: “Druidic religion is based on the faith and practices of the ancient Celtic professional class; followers of Asatru adhere to the ancient, pre-Christian Norse religion; Wiccans also trace their roots back to

Starhawk. They both believed in “reclaiming” the word witch because words have power. The Reclaiming Tradition mission statement is this: “Reclaiming is a community of people working to unify spirit and politics. Our vision is rooted in the religion and magic of the Goddess, the Immanent Life Force. We see our work as teaching and making magic: the art of empowering ourselves and each other. In our classes, workshops, and public rituals, we train our voices, bodies, energy, intuition, and

Within traditional societies there are certain concepts that we deem as inappropriate or negative. These things we negatively sanction and the level of sanction is dependent upon the different level of violation. These guiding rules are called folkways, mores, taboo, and sometimes laws. These serve as guiding paths for which people attempt to follow. Each of these are sanctioned in different ways and are commonly expected to be followed. One important thing to remember is that many things are found