Wicca is a religion based on knowledge and appreciation for the divine powers in everyone and everything. It involves magick that helps us along our path. As you may have noticed I have been spelling magick with a "k". This is not a typo, I do know how to spell (for the most part, lol). This is to make clear that the magick I am talking about is the real kind that real people can do and not the Hollywood magic that you see on TV. With real magick things do not pop out of mid-air or fly through the air just for laughs. Magick is a form of elaborate prayer that helps you concentrate your own personal powers towards your goal. Magick is not to be abused or used to harm anyone, and should be taken very seriously. Everyone has the ability to do magick, although many people don't use those powers in our present day American society which is dominated by monotheistic beliefs that we as humans are weak and powerless. We are far from it. The only person who is weak and powerless is the person who believes he/she is weak and powerless. The power of the mind is a powerful thing, and is not to be taken lightly. Magick is mostly using the power of the mind along with other materials to add to that power. It is the belief that what you desire can be accomplished. Magick has been used for thousands of years, and it requires no religious beliefs to do. However, many Wiccans have integrated it into our religious beliefs. While it is an important part of the relious beliefs of those who chose to work with magick, it is not nearly THE most important thing in our religion. The search for knowledge and a personal relationship with the God and Goddess and all that is around us is. It is important to note, however, that many Wiccans chose not to use magick due to their own personal convictions. Wicca does NOT require you to use magick.

Wicca is a polytheistic religion, which woships both a God and a Goddess. While Wicca teaches they are both equal, many Traditions and Solitary Wiccans emphasize the role of the Goddess in our lives over the role of the God. This is most likely because they either are disillusioned by Christianity's depiction of the God as jealous and vengeful, or they protest the patriarchal society in which we live. There are also people who practice Goddess Spirituality, such as Starhawk, who completely ignore the existance of a God. But they are not, nor claim to be, Wiccan.

The Goddess is depicted to have three aspects, Maiden, Mother, and Crone. Maiden goddesses are goddesses such as Artemis (although she does have a dark aspect, it's just not as well known as her lighter one) and Brighid who are depicted as being young. They are Goddesses of youth, beauty, independence, virginity, and beginnings. Mother goddesses are goddesses such as Ceres and Freya. They are goddesses of fertility, motherhood, sexuality, growth, and often of the Earth. Crone goddesses are goddesses such as Cerridwen and Kali. They are goddesses of war, destruction, chaos, wisdom, transformation, death, and rebirth. The God is sometimes divided into two aspects as well, Light and Dark. Light gods, such as Cernunnos and Apollo (although they both do have Dark aspects to them as well), are Gods of fertility, animals, poetry, creativity, music, etc. Dark gods, such as Osiris and Hades, are gods of death and wisdom.

Wiccans as a whole do not feel that these goddesses and gods are seperate entities in themselves, just different ASPECTS of the same god and goddess. Although I am sure there are Wiccans who believe that all the gods and goddesses are seperate entities, Wicca teaches that the God and Goddess are like crystals. When you shine light onto them (human perseption and understanding) you can see many different shades of light (goddesses and gods). Wicca teaches, however, that each of these aspects of the God and Goddess are to be approached in different ways. For example, you wouldn't approach Kali, one of the most destructive and dark goddesses ther is, all "yippy-skippy" in a room filled with happy pictures and light colored candles. Also, the religious rites of the culture from which these dieties are worshipped are to be respected, such as the offering of tobacco to the goddesses and gods that is part of many Native American cultures. This doesn't mean that if you are worshipping and working with a Native American diety you have to turn your circle into a shamanic rite. It only means that you should be respectful of certain, but not all traditions.

Many Wiccans (aka "fluffy-bunnies") try to portray Wicca as being a "happy-go-lucky" religion where no one does anything wrong and life is perfect. Even I was guilty of doing this as well. However, Wicca does have a darker side. Our theory is, if a goddess/god were all good, then there wouldn't be any destruction in the world, such as disease, famine, or natural disasters. We believe that in order for there to be life, there has to be death. In other words, in the duality of nature. Nature is neither black, nor white, but both. If this is true, then why should we think that the God and Goddess are all light and perfect? Many "fluffies" have been believing differently, due to the influence of writers like Silver Ravenwolf (sometimes abbreviated as ), and the New Age movement. Hopefully, the "bunnies" will either change their ways (as I did), or move on to another religion.

The Principles of Wiccan Belief

Back in 1974 the Council of American Witches was formed and later disbanded in that same year. The creation of the Council was not a total loss, since they managed to come up with the 13 Principles of Wiccan Belief that basically outline our religion. I have provided it for you here so that you may get a better understanding of my religion than I could possibly give you.

1. We practice rites to attune ourselves with the natural rhythm of life forces marked by the phases of the Moon and the seasonal quarters and cross-quarters.

2. We recognize that our intelligence gives us a unique responsibility toward our environment. We seek to live in harmony with nature, in ecological balance offering fulfillment to life and consciousness within an evolutionary concept.

3. We acknowledge a depth of power far greater than is apparent to the average person. Because it is far greater than ordinary, it is sometimes called "supernatural", but we see it as lying within that which is naturally potential to all.

4. We conceive of the Creative Power in the Universe as manifesting through polarity -- as masculine and feminine -- and that this same creative Power lives in all people, and functions through the interaction of the masculine and feminine. We value neither above the other, knowing each to be supportive of the other. We value sexuality as pleasure, as the symbol and embodiment of Life, and as one of the sources of energies used in magickal practice and religious worship.

5. We recognize both outer worlds and inner, or psychological worlds -- sometimes known as the Spiritual World, the Collective Unconscious, the Inner Planes, etc. -- and we see in the interaction of these two dimensions the basis for paranormal phenomena and magickal exercises. We neglect neither dimension for the other, seeing both as necessary for our fulfillment.

6. We do not recognize any authoritarian hierarchy, but do honor those who teach, respect those who share their greater knowledge and wisdom, and acknowledge those who have courageously given of themselves in leadership.

7. We see religion, magick, and wisdom-in-living as being united in the way one views the world and lives within it -- a world view and philosophy of life, which we identify as Witchcraft or the Wiccan Way.

8. Calling oneself "Witch" does not make a Witch -- but neither does heredity itself, or the collecting of titles, degrees, and initiations. A Witch seeks to control the forces within him/herself that make life possible in order to live wisely and well, without harm to others, and in harmony with nature.

9. We acknowledge that it is the affirmation and fulfillment of life, in a continuation of evolution and development of consciousness, that gives meaning to the Universe we know, and to our personal role within it.

10. Our only animosity toward Christianity, or toward any other religion or philosophy-of-life, is to the extent that its institutions have claimed to be "the one true right and only way" and have sought to deny freedom to others and to suppress other ways of religious practices and belief.

11. As American Witches, we are not threatened by debates on the history of the Craft, the origins of various terms, the legitimacy of various aspects of different traditions. We are concerned with our present, and our future.

12. We do not accept the concept of "absolute evil," nor do we worship any entity known as "Satan" or "the Devil" as defined by Christian Tradition. We do not seek power through the suffering of others, nor do we accept the concept that personal benefits can only be derived by denial to another.

13. We work within nature for that which is contributory to our health and well-being.


We are not bound by traditions from other times and other cultures, and owe no allegiance to any person or power greater than the Divinity manifest through our own being. As American Witches, we welcome and respect all life-affirming teachings and traditions, and seek to learn from all and to share our learning. We do not wish to open ourselves to the destruction of Wicca by those on self-serving power trips, or to philosophies and practices contradictory to these principles. In seeking to exclude those whose ways are contradictory to ours, we do not want to deny participation with us to any who are sincerely interested in our knowledge and beliefs, regardless of race, color, sex, age, national or cultural origins, or sexual preference.

The Wiccan Rede
Below I have given you a copy of the Wiccan Rede, which serves as sort of a Wiccan Bible. It gives us some morale standards to follow and some advice of spellwork. It is a very important document in the Wiccan religion.

The Wiccan Rede

Bide the Wiccan Laws we must
In Perfect Love and Perfect Trust.
Live and let live,
Fairly take and fairly give.
Cast the Circle thrice about
To keep the evil spirits out.
To bind the spell every time
Let the spell be spake in rhyme.
Soft of eye and light of touch,
Speak little, listen much.
Deosil go by the waxing moon,
Chanting out the Witches' Rune.
Widdershins go by the waning moon,
Chanting out the baneful rune.
When the Lady's moon is new,
Kiss the hand to her, times two.
When the moon rides at her peak,
Then your heart's desire seek.
Heed the North wind's mighty gale,
Lock the door and drop the sail.
When the wind comes from the South,
Love will kiss thee on the mouth.
When the wind blows from the West,
Departed souls will have no rest.
When the wind blows from the East,
Expect the new and set the feast.
Nine woods in the cauldron go,
Burn them fast and burn them slow.
Elder be the Lady's tree,
Burn it not or cursed you'll be.
When the Wheel begins to turn,
Let the Beltane fires burn.
When the Wheel has turned to Yule,
Light the log and the Horned One rules.
Heed ye Flower, Bush and Tree,
By the Lady, blessed be.
Where the rippling waters go,
Cast a stone and truth you'll know.
When ye have a true need,
Hearken not to others' greed.
With a fool no season spend,
Lest ye be counted as his friend.
Merry meet and merry part,
Bright the cheeks and warm the heart.
Mind the Threefold Law you should,
Three times bad and three times good.
When misfortune is enow,
Wear the blue star on thy brow.
True in Love ever be,
Lest thy lover's false to thee.
Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill:
An ye harm none, do what ye will.

Want to Learn More? Visit

Wicca For the Rest of Us

and also visit

Spirit Online