WICCA

Overview
Pantheon, Gods and Goddesses
Practice
Branches of Wicca
Books of Shadows
Other sites and pages relating to Wicca

Appending A: Common terms and definitions

1. Overview

Wicca (neo-pagan) is a recreation of the ancient religion that dominate the European region, pre-Christian conversion. Wicca, is also known as 'witchcraft' (or The Craft) to modern day witches. Contrary to the 'negative' portrayal by Hollywood and most common myths, these witches are Earth-centered God/Goddess worshipping priests and priestesses.

Wiccan witches are not Satanists, nor do they sacrifice for blood (human or otherwise). Also, it is worth noting that:

"All Wiccans are witches, but not all witches are Wiccan"

2. Pantheons, Gods, Goddesses

Due to the diverse group of people who worship this religion, there are no 'strict' Gods and Goddesses being worshipped. Most Wiccans believe that :

"All Gods are the God, and All Goddesses are the Goddess"

This means that a Wiccan might call upon Aphrodite while another might call upon Venus or Ishtar. Neither is right, nor wrong.

3. Practice

Due to the fact that Wicca is not a religion based upon "the mass" (being any major organizations of large purportions), there are varied methods of practice. Some tend to be more formal than others, depending on tradition and personal preference. There are some common beliefs and celebrations that tie them all together, which include :

Reverence for all life and universe
Including those within objects 'mundanely' known to be inanimate/ non-living.

Reverence for the Earth (and the passing seasons)
This is usually celebrated during the changing of seasons and the mid- seasons. This is known as the "8 Sabbats"

"3 fold law"
I'm sure you've heard that if you tossed a boomerang, it'd come back at you. Same principle as those in many other religions (Christians say 7 fold returns, Buddhists say 1 for 1 return..), what you do to others will come back to you, sometimes in varied and in inopportune circumstances. This is one reason why Wiccans don't use "black magick"/"evil" spells _*1

The Wiccan Rede
This is as close you could get to a 'rule' as you'd get for Wiccans

_{*1 = "black magick"/evil spells is a totally different "can of worms"
that can be made into a long discussion. To put it short: "magick" is neither
good nor evil, black nor white. It's the intent/will of the user/magick-ian/
witch/etc that shapes it. Think electricity: Is it good or evil?}

4. Branches of Wicca

Even amongst the Wiccans, there are many traditions within, ranging from the Gardnerian, to the Discordians.

Gardnerian

5. Book of Shadows

Wiccans/Witches tend to write down their activities in what is called a "Book of Shadows" which acts more like a Journal than an actual "summon book". It contains anything from kitchen recepies to spells. Here are a few entries that I've found on the net:

"The Crying Wolf" Own BoS Entry
a special poem given to me by my "old friend" in spirit
unnamed entry (God) Own BoS Entry
something that I was inspired one morning at 8:45am on a work day.
Jaz's BoS
an online BoS I found from traversing the net
God Chant
Written by "Kestrelyn@US Undernet#wicca"
The Understandings of Fire Own BoS Entry
Inspired by deep thoughts on train.. and my handfasted beside me.. the unwitting inspiration
The Understandings of Air Own BoS Entry
Inspired by deep thoughts on own ever wandering/off the ground thoughts