Tag: Judaism

Traditional Wicca

 

Often Traditional Wiccans are asked to describe our religion and beliefs for interested people, who may or may not have confused us with other Pagan religions, with inversions of Christian/Islamic religions like Satanism, or with purely magical traditions with no religious base. There is a lot of flexibility in the ways that we describe ourselves, and one characteristic of Wicca is a large degree of personal liberty to practice as we please. Still, there is an outline that can be described in general terms. Many traditions will depart from one particular or another, but groups departing from all or most of these features are probably non-Wiccan Traditions attempting to stretch or distort the Wiccan name to cover what they want to do.Mysteries and Initiation

Wicca is an Initiatory religion descended from the Ancient Mystery Religions. A mystery religion is not like Catholicism where a Priest is the contact point between the worshiper and the Deity, nor like Protestantism where a sacred Book provides the contact and guidelines for being with the divine. Rather a Mystery Religion is a religion of personal experience and responsibility, in which each worshiper is encouraged, taught and expected to develop an ongoing and positive direct relationship with the Gods. The religion is called a “Mystery” because such experiences are very hard to communicate in words, and are usually distorted in the telling. You have to have been there in person to appreciate what is meant. Near and far-Eastern religions like Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism and Shinto are probably Mystery traditions, but Wicca is very western in cultural flavor and quite different than eastern religions in many ways.

A Blend of Pagan Roots

Most Wiccan Traditions, K.A.M. included, have particular roots in the British Mystery Traditions. This includes traditions of the Picts who lived before the rise of Celtic consciousness, the early Celts, and some selected aspects of Celtic Druidism. American Wicca is directly descended from British Wicca, brought in the late 1950’s by English and American Initiates of Gardnerian, Alexandrian and Celtic Wicca. These traditions are a little like the denominations in Christianity, but hopefully far more harmonious.

While British Traditions are very strong in Wicca, or the Craft as it is sometimes called, other Western Mystery traditions feature prominently, including the ancient Greek Mysteries of Eleusis, Italian Mysteries of Rome, Etruria and the general countryside, Mysteries of Egypt and Persia before Islam, and various Babylonian, Assyrian and other mid-eastern Mysteries that flourished before the political rise of the advocates of “one god”.

What’s In a Name

Wicca, Witchecraft, and “The Craft” are used interchangeably at times by many kinds of people. It is fair to say that all Wiccans are Witches, and many of us believe we are the only people entitled to the name. It is important to know that many people call themselves witches who are not in the least Wiccan, and that Masons also refer to themselves as “Craft”, with good historical precedent. Carefully question people on the particular things they do and believe as part of their religion rather than relying on labels. Any real Wiccan would welcome such honest inquiry.

Traditions and Flavor

There are specific Wiccan beliefs and traditions, including worship of an equal and mated Goddess and God who take many forms and have many Names. Groups who worship only a Goddess or only a God are not traditional Wicca however they may protest, although they may be perfectly good Pagans of another sort. The Wiccan Goddess and God are linked to nature, ordinary love and children – Wicca is very life affirming in flavor.

Because we have and love our own Gods, Wiccans have nothing to do with other people’s deities or devils, like the Christian God or Satan, the Muslim Allah or the Jewish Jehovah (reputedly not his real name). Christians often deny this fact because they think that their particular god is the only God, and everybody else in the whole world must be worshipping their devil. How arrogant. They’re wrong on both counts.

Traditional Wicca is a religion of personal responsibility and growth. Initiates take on a particular obligation to personal development throughout their lives, and work hard to achieve what we call our “True Will”, which is the best possibility that we can conceive for ourselves. Finding your Will isn’t easy, and requires a lot of honesty, courage and hard work. It is also very rewarding.

Wicca is generally a cheerful religion, and has many holidays and festivals. In fact, most of the more pleasant holidays now on our calendar are descended from the roots Wicca draws on, including Christmas, May Day, Easter and Summer Vacation. Wicca is definitely not always serious. Dancing, feasting and general merriment are a central part of the celebrations.

Wiccan Ethics

Wiccans have ethics which are different in nature than most “one-god” religions, which hand out a list of “do’s and don’ts”. We have a single extremely powerful ethical principal which Initiates are responsible for applying in specific situations according to their best judgment. That principle:

“An (if) it harm none, do as ye Will”

Based on the earlier mention of “True Will”, you will understand that the Rede is far more complex than it sounds, and is quite different than saying “Do whatever you want as long as nobody is hurt”. Finding out your Will is difficult sometimes, and figuring out what is harmful, rather than just painful or unpleasant is not much easier.

One Religion at a Time

People often ask “Can I become a Wiccan and still remain a Christian, Muslim, practicing Jew, etc. The answer is no. The “one god” religions reject other paths besides their own, including each other’s. “One-god” religions also do not exalt the Female as does Wicca, and mixing two such different traditions would water them both down. Besides, you’d have to ask how serious a person who practiced two religions was about either one. Being Jewish is an exception, since it is a race and culture as well as a religion. There are many Wiccan Jews, but they practice Wicca, not Judaism.

Magick and Science

People interested in Wicca are usually curious about the magick that Wiccans can do. While magick (spelled with a “k” to distinguish from stage conjuring) is not a religion in itself, it is related to our religious beliefs. Wiccans believe that people have many more abilities than are generally realized, and that it is a good idea to develop them. Our magick is a way of using natural forces to change consciousness and material conditions as an expression of our “True Wills”. Part of becoming a Wiccan is training in our methods of psychic and magickal development.

Because we believe that everything a person does returns to them magnified, a Wiccan will not work a magick for harm, since they would pay too high a price. But a helpful magick is good for both the giver and receiver! Wicca is entirely compatible with the scientific method, and we believe all the Gods and forces we work with to be quite natural, not supernatural at all. We do not, however, hold with the kind of scientific dogma or pseudoreligion that sees everything as dead matter and neglects its own method trumpeting “facts” without honest examination of evidence

Priestesses at Large?

Long ago the spiritual (and sometimes physical) ancestors of Wiccans were Priestesses and Priests to the Pagan culture as well as devotees of their Mystery. Now that a Pagan culture is rising again, some ask if today’s Wiccans could resume that role. This seems unlikely.

Today’s Pagan culture is very diverse and more interested in exploring and creating new forms than in building on existing traditions. A public role would either dilute our traditions or force them on an unwilling audience. The neo-Pagan community generally prefers “media figures” and rapid membership and growth. This is not compatible with our slow methods of training and Initiation, the insistence that livelihood come from work outside the Craft, or our needs for privacy. Our religion is not accepted in the American workplace or political system, and may never be. The most powerful Priestesses are often unknown to all but their Coveners. While all Wiccans are Pagans, all Pagans are not Wiccan, and it is best that it remain so.

Simple Thoughts on Churches and Personal Spirituality

Simple Thoughts on Churches and Personal Spirituality

Author: Disciple of Oghma

I left the Christian faith this last year. After 25 years, I had became everything one seeks to become in a Christian (I still had my issues, but who doesn’t?). But I met a balanced person who gave a thought provoking life testimony. I nearly flipped when I found out this person was a dark pagan. I started rethinking my whole world.

Now I am on a new personal path with a much greater respect for others.

Once I had left Christianity, I started seeing clearly a lot of the odd misconceptions that it promotes… such as the twisted definition of ‘love’ among other things.

If a Christian’s relationship with his or her God could be put in the context of human marriage terms, then the Christian should get a restraining order on God, change his or her name and leave. A funny thought unless you find truth in it.

Anyway… after a year of thought, I have realigned my perspective of the Path.

When I first left the Christian religion, I realized all the hate and rage and condemnation that I was throwing around in the name of ‘love’. In an attempt to decide if that was ‘just me’ or the teachings of the church, I have studied the faith from a different angle.

At first, I drew the conclusion it was a parasitic organism that has been using its popularity and influence to corrupt the nations.
But an idea struck me and I no longer think Christianity is to blame for the problems with people.

I think the Christian church is a symptom of the underlying weaknesses of people not the illness itself. It’s all about our desire to have a set of black-and-white fatalistic standards to use as a system of measurement to understand our world.

So we create a system of “Absolute Truths”.

Then we create a control-based system to ‘run it’ so that we can take advantage of our own desire not to take responsibility for ourselves and to enrich ourselves at the cost of others all… the while feeling pride at our ‘humble spirituality’.

So then what do we do?

We build a large comfortable plush little shrine to an image of human perfection and greatness. The average church, not including all the zoning permits, costs an average of $3-$5 million to build. (I Googled the “cost of church building” and plucked a few sums. It isn’t an absolute number but it gives a good idea to the cost.)

Then we throw our individual responsibilities at it, pray, and ask it to do everything for us. Our only real ‘job’, it would seem, is to use it as an excuse to hate, kill, steal, and harm any whom disagree with us and our god.

Jehovah is the icon of what the average selfish lazy person would be if he or she was a god:

“Let there be “less of you more of me in your life.”

“Give me the upper 10% of your prosperity.”

“I love you if you sing my praises and enslave yourself to me.”

“I’ll help if it suits me and if I don’t, it will work to your benefit”.

(These are beliefs that were generally promoted to me in my churches. I have been through four branches of Protestantism and studied several of the “spinoff faiths of Judaism.” So if you find this inaccurate, I only mean to explain the background from which I draw my current musings).

It is possible for any faith to become in every way as ‘dark’ as we have often accused the Judeo-Christian belief and all its related spin-offs (Mormon, Judaism, Catholic, Jehovah witness, Satanism, protestant, Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Pentecostal, etc.) as being.

It seems the only way to avoid this path is to cut the problem off at the roots.

Personal Growth and Responsibility

It seems when we face ourselves, we very often discover that all the roots of our problems stem from either bad reactions to outside stimuli or a passive/active bad decision on our part.

This includes a new growing trend I am seeing in “disorganized religion” as well: The pop up Wicca/Pagan Sunday schools and the adoption of opposing religious practices like Wiccan “CHRISTenings”.

There is a great freedom in disorganized paths but people who seeks any sort of power should exercise a measure of discretion and be assured that they are grounded. Power without responsibility is dangerous, no matter what badge one wears.

Also we must accept ourselves entirely. We must accept all of our darkness as well as all of our light. To do otherwise is to dwarf one’s growth as well as grant power to the darkness, thus leaving it unchecked.

All of the dark aspects of ourselves, in proper controlled amounts, are actually healthy things. Greed, sloth, envy, pride, etc. Without any of these things, we would never strive, never seek to achieve or grow. They are integral parts of ourselves.

It is as unbalanced to applaud tendencies of light while divorcing ones of darkness just as it is to believe only in a female or only in a male creator.

We don’t have to be destructive either. To find balance and growth, one should simply accept both the inner darkness and inner light to be whole. If you are not whole, how can you grow and stand?

When we recognize our weakness, we master it and find balance. Otherwise it doesn’t matter what the name of your faith is or what you call yourself. You will simply continue to commit acts of cruelty, ignorance, sloth, malice, strife, theft, condemnation, and pride.

If we all would seize the opportunity to take responsibility, accept ourselves, correct our own errors, love and respect everyone – including respecting their rights to their own paths and their own views — and stop trying to make a black-and-white standard in this colorful world, perhaps we can be a better people and encourage growth in a better world.

Disciple_of_oghma

Hello, I’m A Witch!

Hello, I’m A Witch!

Author: Greengate

I’m sure you all recognize this: you enter a crowded room, a party is going on and people are busy talking to each other over a glass of something, exchanging pleasantries they don’t really mean. They all wear the uniform: the expensive cocktail dress for the ladies, the suit that tries hard to look expensive, for the men. Everyone but one lady conforms to the norm. Black long hair flowing freely over her shoulders, long skirt, heavy ethnic jeweler, a large purple shawl hugging her shoulders, a faint Patchouli aroma in her vicinity. When you see her, you can immediately tell something about her, even if you didn’t exchange one word with her before. She can only be one of two things: an eccentric artist or a Neo-Pagan.

With a glass of wine in your hand, you work your way towards her, hoping to engage her in conversation. The sneaky thought of verifying your suppositions about her drives you. You exchange meaningless cliché’s and you seize the opportunity to ask:

“You have a wonderful sense of style. Are you an artist? I’m sure you paint.”

“No. I’m a Witch.”

She will probably tell you this with a firm voice and look directly at you, waiting for a reaction. But what should your reaction be? What did this lady actually tell you? I know what I believe a Witch to be, but let’s first consult one of the most used online resources for English words: the Merriam-Webster Online Thesaurus. According to it, a Witch is:

1. a woman believed to have often harmful supernatural powers (in the old days women were sometimes accused of being Witches and using evil magic to make the crops fail or an animal die suddenly). Synonyms: enchantress, hag, hex, sorceress. Related Words: charmer, conjuror (or conjurer), enchanter, necromancer, voodoo; magician, sorcerer, warlock, wizard.
2. a mean or ugly old woman (heaven help you if your ball lands on that Witch’s lawn) — see CRONE.
3. a person skilled in using supernatural forces (freakish storms that were once thought to be the work of Witches) — see MAGICIAN.

I can’t even begin to count on how many levels the good folk from Merriam-Webster are wrong. And not only are they wrong, but the definitions they give are insulting and rooted in hateful prejudice. But because I’m a Pagan who just had a good cup of coffee and a piece of Belgian chocolate, I’m going to be generous and give them the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps they aren’t deliberately ignorant, just misinformed. And, boy are they wrong! Every word and every implication of their explanations misses the point and is just about as accurate as a drunk who tries to put the key in the keyhole. I wonder if someone actually took the trouble to talk with people about this subject or, judging by the 15th century explanations, they had a séance and summoned none other than Tomás de Torquemada, the first grand Inquisitor, and asked him for his definition of this term.

I could go on for a long time fuming and stewing in my own juices, but there is no point in doing that. Instead, for the benefit of Merriam-Webster’s editor, and for those who don’t know what Witchcraft means, I’m going to describe it’s meaning, as this Pagan understands it. A Witch is a practitioner of the magickal arts. Nothing more, nothing less… I know this is a short definition, but it tells you all you need to know. If the editor of Merriam-Webster wants a more detailed definition, he would have to pay me in order to get it.

Now, let’s return for a moment to that exotic lady who introduced herself to you as a Witch. Why would anybody tell you that? Witchcraft is not something that defines a person, it is something a person knows and practices. Witchcraft is a tool that can be employed by someone to better his life. It does not tell you anything about the religious convictions that person holds, nothing about the morals or ethics that person may adhere to, nothing about the character that person has. So, I ask again: why would anybody introduce themselves with such a statement? It is like saying “Hello, my name is (fill in name here) and I know how to ride a bike.” It is as ridiculous as that.

Some of my fellow Pagans wear this word as a badge of honour. I completely understand the sentiment behind it, and I believe it is completely wrong. It is about time we put aside our differences; it is about time Pagans find common ground and define this word that defines us. In order to do this, I’m going to share some of my thoughts with you.

Witchcraft is a tool.

Witchcraft is nothing more than a tool, always at the disposal of those who have the knowledge to use it. This knowledge can be acquired from different sources. A spell cast in the proper way and with conviction will work every time. It doesn’t matter what your moral or ethical convictions are, it doesn’t matter what you want to achieve. If you are able to raise enough energy and successfully apply your will to it, the spell will be effective. Of course, everything we put out there will find its way back to the point of origin, amplified or not. There is no free lunch. One way or another, a bill will always be presented to you.

Witchcraft is not a religion.

In the minds of many people Witchcraft is synonymous with religion. This confusion between the two must be clarified. Witchcraft exists independent of ANY religion. You can do magick and belong to Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc. You can even be Agnostic or Atheist and practice the craft. So when you say, “I’m a Witch,” you are not telling me anything about your beliefs. The only thing you are telling me is that you know how to manipulate energy towards achieving a specific goal. You know how to do stuff.

There is a notable exception that must be mentioned. If in your magickal work you draw upon the divine energies, Witchcraft and religion come close together. But in spite of that they never mix. They stay separate. Religion has to do with your beliefs, Witchcraft with a certain way you achieve a goal. That means that if your spell involves the invoking of a deity, you do your spell in their presence and perhaps you are helped by their energies. That is not a religious act. That is an act of magick assisted by the divine. By far the most magickal work performed inside and outside the circle doesn’t involve the divine. Most of the stuff a Witch does, falls under the category of natural magick. It involves plant, animal and mineral material, oils, candles and a strong will. Nothing else.

The confusion between Witchcraft and religion may arise from the fact that we often choose to do magickal work inside a circle. Most Pagans, when they cast their circle choose to invoke the Goddess and the God, thus the magickal work is done in their presence. But, despite what some may say, their presence is not a sine-qua-non. A perfectly good circle can be cast without invoking any divinity. The casting of a circle is an act of magick and not a religious act.

Witchcraft is not exclusively hereditary.

Some of my fellow Pagans hold the view that Witchcraft is hereditary. They believe this excludes newcomers to the ancient art, because they had the misfortune to be born in a family that has no known magickal tradition. I respectfully disagree with this view. It is certainly true that some families pass on through the generations a certain sensibility towards magick. They may even pass on hidden knowledge. But all this does not exclude others, unrelated to them, from acquiring the knowledge. Witchcraft is an art, and as in every art certain families produce artists in every generation. That doesn’t mean that the son of a lawyer can’t learn how to paint, and do it brilliantly!

Witchcraft is neutral.

Magick can’t be good or bad, nor can it be white of black. The energy we use in it is always neutral. We colour it by applying our intent to it, but that does not change its neutral character. In order to categorize magick as good or bad, we must apply a moral judgement to it, and no matter how you look at it, that process is always a subjective one. Different people apply different values to their actions. What you may consider a good thing may be the worst outcome for me.

One may be tempted to explain the “good and bad” aspects of magick by associating it with constructive and destructive outcomes of the magickal work. If you care to analyse this view deeper than the surface, you will immediately notice that it is false. A destructive spell can sometimes be a good thing. You may want to break down blockages, remove obstacles or alter an unhealthy situation. In this case you must use the energy to destroy the old situation, in order to allow something new to develop. So, when someone tells you that they are a good Witch, regard them with suspicion. The neutral nature of magick is one of the first things one must understand in order to understand the ancient art. If this is not clear to the person you speak to, there is a deficiency present in their training.

Let’s once again return to that colourful lady. She told us she is a Witch. Why? Is this the most important thing about her? Or perhaps she feels the need to advertise something that sets her apart from the masses… Of course one can wear his convictions with pride, but why advertise them? I put it to you that the most successful practitioners of the ancient art are those that we don’t know anything about. We can only see that they are well adjusted, successful and happy. If a person feels the need to say “I’m a Witch” to a complete stranger, it may be a sign of an uncertainty they have. If you want to reaffirm this fact to you, do it in private. If you are not convinced your magick works, go back to it and study it.

I could understand if such a person would tell me immediately after we met that they are Pagan. I also wear this badge with pride. This statement tells us that one follows Pagan principles, lives a life that is in harmony with Mother Nature and that they feel at home within the Pagan framework, regardless of their religious convictions. If you belong to the Pagan nation, be proud of it, but don’t advertise what you can do by saying you are a Witch. That suggests that you came to Paganism only to learn the craft and take advantage of the possibilities it offers. Paganism is more than just the practice of the craft. So, what would you do after she told you “I’m a Witch”? I know what I would do: change the subject.

Simple Thoughts on Churches and Personal Spirituality

Simple Thoughts on Churches and Personal Spirituality

Author: Disciple of Oghma

I left the Christian faith this last year. After 25 years, I had became everything one seeks to become in a Christian (I still had my issues, but who doesn’t?). But I met a balanced person who gave a thought provoking life testimony. I nearly flipped when I found out this person was a dark pagan. I started rethinking my whole world.

Now I am on a new personal path with a much greater respect for others.

Once I had left Christianity, I started seeing clearly a lot of the odd misconceptions that it promotes… such as the twisted definition of ‘love’ among other things.

If a Christian’s relationship with his or her God could be put in the context of human marriage terms, then the Christian should get a restraining order on God, change his or her name and leave. A funny thought unless you find truth in it.

Anyway… after a year of thought, I have realigned my perspective of the Path.

When I first left the Christian religion, I realized all the hate and rage and condemnation that I was throwing around in the name of ‘love’. In an attempt to decide if that was ‘just me’ or the teachings of the church, I have studied the faith from a different angle.

At first, I drew the conclusion it was a parasitic organism that has been using its popularity and influence to corrupt the nations.
But an idea struck me and I no longer think Christianity is to blame for the problems with people.

I think the Christian church is a symptom of the underlying weaknesses of people not the illness itself. It’s all about our desire to have a set of black-and-white fatalistic standards to use as a system of measurement to understand our world.

So we create a system of “Absolute Truths”.

Then we create a control-based system to ‘run it’ so that we can take advantage of our own desire not to take responsibility for ourselves and to enrich ourselves at the cost of others all… the while feeling pride at our ‘humble spirituality’.

So then what do we do?

We build a large comfortable plush little shrine to an image of human perfection and greatness. The average church, not including all the zoning permits, costs an average of $3-$5 million to build. (I Googled the “cost of church building” and plucked a few sums. It isn’t an absolute number but it gives a good idea to the cost.)

Then we throw our individual responsibilities at it, pray, and ask it to do everything for us. Our only real ‘job’, it would seem, is to use it as an excuse to hate, kill, steal, and harm any whom disagree with us and our god.

Jehovah is the icon of what the average selfish lazy person would be if he or she was a god:

“Let there be “less of you more of me in your life.”

“Give me the upper 10% of your prosperity.”

“I love you if you sing my praises and enslave yourself to me.”

“I’ll help if it suits me and if I don’t, it will work to your benefit”.

(These are beliefs that were generally promoted to me in my churches. I have been through four branches of Protestantism and studied several of the “spinoff faiths of Judaism.” So if you find this inaccurate, I only mean to explain the background from which I draw my current musings).

It is possible for any faith to become in every way as ‘dark’ as we have often accused the Judeo-Christian belief and all its related spin-offs (Mormon, Judaism, Catholic, Jehovah witness, Satanism, protestant, Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Pentecostal, etc.) as being.

It seems the only way to avoid this path is to cut the problem off at the roots.

Personal Growth and Responsibility

It seems when we face ourselves, we very often discover that all the roots of our problems stem from either bad reactions to outside stimuli or a passive/active bad decision on our part.

This includes a new growing trend I am seeing in “disorganized religion” as well: The pop up Wicca/Pagan Sunday schools and the adoption of opposing religious practices like Wiccan “CHRISTenings”.

There is a great freedom in disorganized paths but people who seeks any sort of power should exercise a measure of discretion and be assured that they are grounded. Power without responsibility is dangerous, no matter what badge one wears.

Also we must accept ourselves entirely. We must accept all of our darkness as well as all of our light. To do otherwise is to dwarf one’s growth as well as grant power to the darkness, thus leaving it unchecked.

All of the dark aspects of ourselves, in proper controlled amounts, are actually healthy things. Greed, sloth, envy, pride, etc. Without any of these things, we would never strive, never seek to achieve or grow. They are integral parts of ourselves.

It is as unbalanced to applaud tendencies of light while divorcing ones of darkness just as it is to believe only in a female or only in a male creator.

We don’t have to be destructive either. To find balance and growth, one should simply accept both the inner darkness and inner light to be whole. If you are not whole, how can you grow and stand?

When we recognize our weakness, we master it and find balance. Otherwise it doesn’t matter what the name of your faith is or what you call yourself. You will simply continue to commit acts of cruelty, ignorance, sloth, malice, strife, theft, condemnation, and pride.

If we all would seize the opportunity to take responsibility, accept ourselves, correct our own errors, love and respect everyone – including respecting their rights to their own paths and their own views — and stop trying to make a black-and-white standard in this colorful world, perhaps we can be a better people and encourage growth in a better world.

Disciple_of_oghma