Discovering the deities of Wicca is a never-ending experience. They constantly reveal themselves. As the shamans say, “Be attentive.” All nature is singing to us of her secrets. The Goddess constantly draws aside her veil; the God lights us up with inspiration and illumination.
We simply don’t notice.
Don’t worry what others might think if they knew you were attuning with a twenty-thousand-year-old Goddess. Their feelings and thoughts concerning your religion are of no consequence. If you feel the need to shelter your experiences from others, do so, not out of fear or embarrassment, but because we’re truly all on separate paths. Everyone isn’t suited to Wicca.
There are some who say that we (and anyone else who won’t follow their rituals or embrace their theology) are worshipping Satan. Not that we know it, of course; Satan is too tricky for that, according to these experts.
Such people can’t believe that any religion but their own can be meaningful, fulfilling, and true to its adherent. So if we worship the God and Goddess, they say, we’re denying all good and are worshipping Satan, the embodiment of all negativity and evil.
Wiccans aren’t so close-minded. Perhaps it’s the greatest of all human vanities to assume that one’s religion is the only way to deity. Such beliefs have caused incalculable bloodshed and the rise of the hideous concept of holy wars.
The basis of this misconception seems to be the concept of a pristine, pure, positive being—God. If this deity is the sum of all good, worshippers believe that there must be an equally negative one as well. Thus, Satan.
The Wicca don’t accept such ideas.
We acknowledge the dark aspects
of the Goddess and the God as well as the bright.
All nature is composed of opposites, and this polarity is also resident within ourselves. The darkest human traits as well as the brightest are locked within our unconsciousness. It is only our ability to rise above destructive urges, to channel such energies into positive thoughts and actions, that separates us from mass-murderers and sociopaths.
Yes, the God and Goddess have dark aspects, but this needn’t scare us off. Look at some of the manifestations of their powers. From a ravaging flood comes rich soil in which new plants thrive. Death brings a deeper appreciation of life to the living and rest for the transcended one. “Good” and “evil” are often identical in nature, depending on one’s viewpoint. Additionally, out of every evil, some good is eventually born.
Any and all religions are real, the genuine article, to their practitioners. There can never be one religion, prophet, or savior that will satisfy all six billion humans. Each of us must find our ideal way to attune with deity. For some, it’s Wicca.
Wiccans emphasize the bright aspects of the deities because this gives us purpose to grow and evolve to the highest realm of existence. When death, destruction, hurt, pain, and anger appear in our lives (as they must), we can turn to the Goddess and God and know that this is a part of them too. We needn’t blame a devil on these natural aspects of life and call upon a pure-white god to fend them off.
In truly understanding the Goddess and God, one comes to understand life, for the two are inextricably entwined. Live your earthly life fully, but try to see the spiritual aspects of your activities as well. Remember—the physical and spiritual are but reflections of each other.
When I give classes, one question seems to come up frequently:
“What is the meaning of life?”
It may be asked with a laugh, but this is the one question that, if answered, satisfies any others we may have. It is the problem every religion and philosophical system has struggled to solve.
Anyone can find the answer through the simple technique of living and observing life. Though two people won’t find the same answers, they can find them together.
The Goddess and God are of nature, both the delightful and the dark. We don’t worship nature as such; some Wiccans probably wouldn’t even say that they worship the Goddess and God. We don’t bow down to the deities; we work with them to create a better world.
This is what makes Wicca a truly participatory religion.
*
See glossary.
IT’S COMMON KNOWLEDGE
even among the masses that Witches practice magic. They may have misguided ideas concerning the type of magic performed, but the Witch is firmly linked in popular thought with the magical arts.
Wicca is, as we have seen, a religion that embraces magic as one of its basic concepts. This isn’t unusual. In fact, it’s often difficult to discern where religion ends and magic begins in any faith.
Still, magic plays a special role in Wicca. It allows us to improve our lives and return energy to our ravaged planet. Wiccans also develop special relationships with the Goddess and God through magic. This doesn’t mean that every spell is a prayer, nor are invocations differently worded spells. Through working with the powers that the God and the Goddess embody,we grow close to them. Calling upon their names and visualizing their presence during spells and rites creates a bond between deity and human. Thus, in Wicca, magic is a religious practice.
I’ve defined magic a number of times in my books. Surprisingly, this is a difficult task.My latest, most refined definition is:
Magic is the projection of natural energies to produce needed effects.
There are three main sources of this energy—personal power, earth power, and divine power.
Personal power
is the life force that sustains our earthly existences. It powers our bodies. We absorb energy from the moon and sun, from water and food. We release it during movement, exercise, sex, and childbirth. Even exhaling releases some power, though we recoup the loss through inhaling.
In magic, personal power is aroused, infused with a specific purpose, released, and directed toward its goal.
Earth power
is that which resides within our planet and in its natural products. Stones, trees, wind, flames, water, crystals, and scents all possess unique, specific powers that can be used during magical ritual.
A Wiccan may dip a quartz crystal in salt water to cleanse it and then press it against an ailing person’s body to send its healing energies within. Or, herbs may be sprinkled around a candle that is burned to produce a specific magical effect. Oils are rubbed onto the body to effect internal changes.
Divine power
is the manifestation of personal power and earth power. This is the energy that exists within the Goddess and God—the life force, the source of universal power that created everything in existence.
Wiccans invoke the Goddess and God to bless their magic with power. During ritual they may direct personal power to the deities, asking that a specific need be met. This is truly religious magic.
And so, magic is a process in which Wiccans work in harmony with the universal power source that we envision as the Goddess and God, as well as with personal and earth energies, to improve our lives and to lend energy to Earth. Magic is a method whereby individuals under none but self-determined predestination take control of their lives.
Contrary to popular belief, magic isn’t supernatural. True, it is an occult (hidden) practice steeped in millennia of secrecy, slander, and misinformation, but it is a natural practice utilizing genuine powers that haven’t yet been discovered or labeled by science.
This doesn’t invalidate magic. Even scientists don’t claim to know everything about our universe. If they did, the field of scientific investigation wouldn’t exist. The powers the Wiccans use will eventually be documented and so lose their mystery. Such has already partially occurred with hypnotism and psychology, and may soon happen to extrasensory perception.Magnetism, indeed, was a firmly established aspect of magic until it was “discovered” by science. But even today, magnets are used in spells and charms, and such forces as these call up strange, old feelings.
Play with two magnets. See the invisible forces resisting and attracting in seemingly supernatural ways.
Magic is similar. Though it appears to be completely nonsensical, with no basis in fact, it operates along its own rules and logic. Simply because it isn’t fully understood doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist. Magic is effective in causing manifestations of needed change.
This isn’t self-deception. Correctly performed magic works, and no amount of explaining away alters this fact.
Here’s a description of a typical candle ritual. I’ll use myself as an example. Say I need to pay a hundred-dollar phone bill but don’t have the money.My magical goal: the means to pay the bill.
I decide to use a ritual to help focus my concentration and visualization (See chapter 11, “Exercises and Magical Techniques”). Checking my magical supplies, I discover that I have green candles, patchouli oil, a good selection of money-drawing herbs, parchment paper, and green ink.
At my altar, I light the candles representing the Goddess and the God while silently invoking their presence. Next, I ignite a charcoal block and sprinkle cinnamon and sage onto the block as a magical prosperity incense.
I draw a picture of the phone bill on the paper, clearly marking the amount in numerals. While drawing, I visualize that the paper is no longer just a piece of paper; it is the bill itself.
Then I sketch a square around the bill, symbolizing my control over it, and mark a large “x” through it, effectively canceling out its existence (as will occur when it is paid).
I now start to visualize the bill being paid in full. I might write this over the picture, making it appear to have been stamped with these words. I visualize myself looking in my checkbook, seeing that the balance will cover the check, and then writing the check itself.
Next, I rub a green candle with patchouli oil, from each end to the middle, while saying something like the following:
I call upon the powers of the Mother Goddess and the Father God;
I call upon the forces of the earth, air, fire and water;
I call upon the sun, moon and stars
to bring me the funds to pay this bill.
Still visualizing, I place the candle in the holder directly over the picture of the bill. I sprinkle herbs around the candle’s base, stating (and visualizing) that each is lending its energy toward my goal:
Sage, herb of Jupiter, send your powers to my spell.
Cinnamon, herb of the sun, send your powers to my spell.
Once this is done, still visualizing my bill as paid in full, I light the candle and, as its flame shines, release the energy I’ve built up into the picture.
I let the candle burn for ten, fifteen minutes, or longer, depending on my ability to retain the visualization. I see the candle absorbing the energy I’ve put into the picture. I see the herbs streaming their energies into the candle flame, and the combined energies of the herbs, candle, patchouli oil, and picture—coupled with my personal power—pouring from the flame and out to bring my magical goal toward manifestation.
When I can do no more, I remove the picture, light it in the candle, hold it as it burns for a few seconds, and then throw it into the small cauldron that sits beside my altar.
Finished, I allow the candle to burn itself out, knowing that the ritual will take effect.
Within a day or two, perhaps a week, I’ll either receive unexpected (or delayed) money, or will satisfy other financial obligations in a manner that frees me to pay the bill.
How does it work? From the time I decide to do an act of magic, I’m doing it. Thinking about it sets personal power into motion. Throughout the whole process—gathering supplies, drawing the bill, lighting the candle, visualizing—I’m rousing and infusing personal power with my magical need. During the rite itself, I release this power into the candle. When I finally burn the picture, the last of these energies are released and free, set to work to arrange for me to pay the bill.
I may not be able to tell you exactly
how
magic works, only that it does work. Fortunately, we don’t have to know this; all we must know is how to make it work.
I’m no expert in electricity, but I can plug my toaster into a wall socket and burn my whole wheat bread. Similarly, in magic we “plug into” energies that stretch, crisscross, and zip around and through us.
There are many ways to practice magic. Wiccans generally choose simple, natural forms, though some enjoy heavy ceremony, borrowing from the classical grimoires such as
The Key of Solomon
(see bibliography). Usually, however, practicing magic involves herbs, crystals, and rocks; the use of symbols and color; magical gestures, music, voice, dance, and trance; astral projection, meditation, concentration, and visualization.
There are literally thousands of magical systems, even in Wicca. For instance, numerous magical ways exist to use crystals, or herbs, or symbols, and by combining them more systems are created.
Many, many books have been published outlining magical systems, and some of these are listed in the bibliography. In my books I’ve discussed the powers of the elements, crystals, and herbs. In this work, the subject of rune magic is explored as an example of a self-contained magical system with hints at combining it with others.
Such systems aren’t necessary to the successful practice of magic. Performing magical rituals simply by manipulating tools such as herbs and crystals will be ineffective, for the true power of magic lies within ourselves—the gift of deity.
So no matter the magical system, personal power must be infused with the need and then released. In Wiccan magic, personal power is recognized as our direct link with the Goddess and God. Magic, therefore, is a religious act in which Wiccans unite with their deities to better themselves and their world.
This is important—magic is a positive practice.
Wiccans don’t perform
destructive, manipulative, or exploitive magic.
Because they recognize that the power at work in magic is, ultimately, derived from the Goddess and God, negative workings are absolutely taboo. “Evil” magic is an insult to themselves, to the human race, to Earth, the Goddess and God, and the universe itself. The repercussions can be imagined. The energies of magic are those of life itself.