|
Comments
Comments are left by visitors to Spooky Files, are not endorsed by Spooky Files, and may or may not be accurate.
|
|
Comment by archive
Rate this Comment
|
Yes, this religion Wicca does get highly misunderstood. Many people are afraid of me just because I am a Wiccan. |
|
Comment by Raven Spirit
Rate this Comment
|
To find the History of Wicca we first need to define what Wicca is.
Wicca is a Goddess and God honoring Earth Based religion. The Wiccans or Witches follow a simple code of ethics called The Threefold Law. This law states quite simply. And Ye harm none do as you will.
Wicca is a very old word meaning wise one. The Wiccans were mainly the old women in the villages of Europe. They were the healers and the midwives of the time.
But over the course of time, Christianity came to Europe and the Kings were converted to this new religion. The peasants or common folks were not as easy to win over. The Pagans (country dwellers) worshipped a God and Goddess, always giving Thanks to the earth. And it just so happened the God had horns. Makes sense as he was the God of the forest, and the fields.
As the God of a new religion became the devil of the old, so the loving God of the pagans became the fallen angel named Satan (Adversary). The Pagan people did not take kindly to this and they kept the old ways and would not bow.
So the Christians built churches on the sacred groves and holy lands of the Pagan people and had the peasants build the churches. So you will notice the Gothic architecture, this was in honor of the old Gods. I mean a gargoyle is not the most Christian icon.
Finally in a last ditch effort to rid the world of Witchcraft and Pagans. The Pope of the time Pope Innocent VIII declared the Inquisition in 1484. In 1486 a book called The Males Maleficarum (The Witches Hammer) became the handbook for hunting and killing witches. There is much discussion on how many people died, I don’t think anyone knows for sure. But they were all terrible deaths. One test was to tie a woman’s hands and feet together and throw her into a lake. If she floated, it was Satan holding her up. If she sank she was not a witch. Either way she died.
And with that witches went into hiding, practicing their religion in the dead of night hidden in the woods. Very little was written down, if a person was caught with a book of spells death was certain. So Witchcraft was an oral tradition for many years. When people started writing down information in a Grimore or Book of Shadows, there was one book per person/coven and it was copied by the owner’s own hand. This way the book could not be traced to anyone else. Coven names were used as not give a person away.
In 1951 the last of the Witchcraft laws were repealed. This paved the way for people like Gerald Gardner to write his book and speak openly about Wicca. His teaching spread like wild fire. He told people the truth about Witchcraft through his books.
High Magick Aid (1949), Witchcraft Today (1959), and The Meaning of Witchcraft (??) are some of Gardners’ teachings. Other teachings can be found in Stewart Farrers’ work, What Witches Do, and Eight Sabbats for Witches.
The first witch in America to claim to be a witch and to bring Wicca to America was Ray Buckland. Ray started a Gardenarian coven here in the United States and inspired people like Scott Cunningham.
From this point, the Craft exploded as people were looking for other ways to find "God"
BASIC TENNENTS OF WITCHCRAFT by Special Guest Contributor Raven
Reincarnation - Belief that you return after death.
Spells - Belief that you can use the energy around you for good or bad for a specific reason. Most witches avoid Black Magic. The most important part of any spell is the intent of the worker.
Three Fold Law - What you send out returns three fold, good or bad.
The God - The male creative force of the Universe. Consort and Son to the Goddess.
The Goddess - Female creative forces of the Universe, Bride and Mother to the God. 3 Aspects are Maid, Mother, and Crone
Karma - The thought of basically...you get what you pay for. Ties in with Three-Fold Law.
Satan - Witches DO NOT believe in Satan. He is a Christian concept and most witches see him as a cop out. It is easier to blame satan then take responsibility for your own actions. The Devil made me do it.... Nope sorry...you did it yourself. Your choice...Free Will
Summerland - This can be called a number of things. But it is the afterlife. A place of rest and learning before you go on to your next life.
The information for this page was taken from
Drawing Down the Moon - Margot Adler
Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft - Ray Buckland
Blessed Be
by Special Guest Contributor Raven Spirit of www.WordFromTheBird.com |
|
Sign In
|
|
to add your own comment |
| |
