Beginner Basics

Ready for your first dip into the Wiccan and Witchcraft worlds? I'm going to share with you some tips and facts about Wicca, just to get you started. Come all my little Witchlings, its time to begin with a little Beginner Basics.

Merry meet little Witchlings!

The first and foremost thing to keep in mind as a beginner is that you’ll never know everything, I know that sounds discouraging but that’s actually an encouragement. Witches that have practiced 50+ years still don’t know

everything. Wicca and Witchcraft are lifelong journeys and they never end! So take your time, pace yourself and don’t get overwhelmed. I know how hard it is starting out. You’re getting so much information, some of it contradictory; you don’t know what to do or who to believe. It’s a confusing time. So my first piece of advice is to slow down and take a deep breath, you have a lifetime to learn these things.

Wicca: What is Wicca?

The first thing I want to clear up is that Wicca is not evil, this is a terrible stereotype. Wicca is a peaceful, nature orientated religion that is commonly misunderstood. We don’t sacrifice children, we don’t fly on brooms and we don’t worship the devil. Wicca is a form of modern Paganism which was founded by Gerald Gardner in England during the mid 20th century. There are various forms of it; Dianic, Gardner, Alexandrian and more, which we will cover at a different time. Wicca uses the practice of rituals and spell work derived from pre-Christian religious beliefs, which typically incorporates modern witchcraft of a benevolent kind.

Paganism: What is Paganism?

Paganism is an umbrella term for all non-main world religions (i.e Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, etc). Paganism is often a term for a follower of a polytheistic or pantheistic religion. Because Paganism is a pre-Christian religion, you will find traces and variations of its beliefs in all religions you've come to know today. Paganism is a kind of soul-searching religion, finding things that suit you and your beliefs on a path to self-discovery. Kind of like Build-a-Bear, only for religions.

Witchcraft: What is Witchcraft?

Many people mix Wicca and Witchcraft together when in fact they are two separate things. Wicca is generally a duotheistic religion that follows guidelines; such as the Wiccan Rede and the threefold law, whereas Witchcraft is much freer. Witches are practitioners of Witchcraft, which utilizes the power of rituals, spell work and spiritual healing without the belief in deities. Of course, Witches can believe in deities and use them in their practice but it is not necessary like it is in traditional Wicca. In a nutshell, Witchcraft is a practice and Wicca is a religion. That's the biggest difference.

The Wiccan Rede

I mentioned this previously, but here is a little more about it. The Wiccan Rede is as close to a bible as you get in Wicca. The Rede is; An ye’ harm none, do as ye’ will. Obviously, this doesn’t mean you cannot harm anything, for that, is impossible. To live you must harm, that is the sad truth of life. So what this line means to me - each person takes it their own way - is that you can do whatever you want as long as your not going out of your way to harm another life of any kind, including yourself.

'An ye’ harm none, do as ye’ will' is the traditional Rede, but there is also another version of the Rede which is very, very long. This lengthy version of the Rede was created by Lady Gwen Thompson and published in the Green Egg magazine titled; Rede Of The Wiccae. Gwen's version is now most commonly known as; the long Rede.

It’s rhythmic, entailed and up to interpretation. As with many things involving Wicca, it is taken differently for each individual and followed accordingly to their philosophy of it.

The Three-Fold Law

This is another Wiccan belief that I mentioned previously. Traditionally the three-fold law was whatever you did to other witches would come back to you three times the strength; however, over the years it has evolved and developed into something more general. 'Whatever ye’ send out come back to thee, so ever mind the law of three. Obey the three-fold law ye’ should, three times as bad, three times as good' is a common quote you’ll find referring to this traditional Wiccan belief.

The moral of that story is to beware the seeds you plant. You can just as easily grow weeds where you meant to grow daisies! Personally, I don’t believe in the three-fold law, I see a lot of bad going to good people and a lot of good going to the bad. However, that doesn’t change the fact that the three-fold law is a key part of Wicca.The Three-Fold Law, in a word, is treating others how you want to be treated. If you’re nice, charitable, kind and giving then, in turn, the universe will be as well and vice versa for being mean, negative and rude.

Deities/Theism

In some modern forms such as Dianic, the goddess is given primacy or even exclusivity. However, focusing on the traditional Wicca, there is a belief in a god and goddess of roughly equal power, therefore, classifying it as a generally duotheistic religion. Wicca is about balance and equality, just like mother nature it strives to keep things in check and evenhanded. So, of course, there has to be both a feminine and masculine deity.

Wicca uses these deities in an nontraditional way, instead of bowing and worshiping them; they embrace and work alongside their deities throughout their journey and life. They call upon their aid in spell work, they give offerings on holidays (The Wheel Of The Year is something we will discuss shortly), and celebrate them and all they do for the land. I use deities as a focal point in my spell work. As an example, say I'm going to perform a love spell (I don't do these, but theoretically speaking) I may call upon the Roman goddess of love and femininity, Venus. However, because I do not believe in Venus as a conscious being, rather like an energy, I would be using her as a focal point. Venus would represent the energies I want to call forth, similar to Santa Clause being the face of Christmas.

The Wheel of the Year

The Wheel of the Year is a Wiccan's calendar, that represents eight Sabbats. These Sabbats include; Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Lithia, Lammas, Mabon, and Samhain. You can find more on the Sabbats in my blog post; The Wheel of the Year.

I think that we have covered quite a bit of the Beginner Basics. Before I call it a day, I would like to mention that I have the book, YouTube and website recommendations, on the FAQ page. R&R is a must for beginners... not rest and relaxation, silly, research and reading! Brings a new meaning to the acronyms, eh?

Also, joining different Facebook groups is a good way to learn, even more, it continues to help me along my journey, as well as many others. That's all for now, if you have any suggestions or requests for my next blog feel free to contact me.

Until next time, merry meet, merry part, and merry meet again.