There is a pretty good (though kinda hippie-ish) book that I read for my modern american religions class. Earthly Bodies, Magical Selves by Sarah Pike.
It deals more with the sociological aspect of the Wiccan followers, but you can get an idea of the belief system from the interwebz pretty easy. Stay away from the Christian "research" sites though.
There is a pretty good (though kinda hippie-ish) book that I read for my modern american religions class. Earthly Bodies, Magical Selves by Sarah Pike.
It deals more with the sociological aspect of the Wiccan followers, but you can get an idea of the belief system from the interwebz pretty easy. Stay away from the Christian "research" sites though.
Another good author about Wicca was Scott Cunningham.
Wicca (pronounced /ˈwɪkə/) is a Neopagan religion and a form of modern witchcraft. Often referred to as Witchcraft or the Craft,[1] its adherents are commonly referred to as Wiccans, or as Witches or Crafters. Developing in England in the first half of the twentieth century,[2] Wicca was popularised in the 1950s and early 1960s by a Wiccan High Priest named Gerald Gardner, who at the time called it the "witch cult" and "witchcraft", and its adherents "the Wica".[3] From the 1960s onward the name of the religion was normalised to "Wicca".[4]
Wicca is typically a duotheistic religion, worshipping a Goddess and a God, who are traditionally viewed as the Triple Goddess and Horned God. These two deities are often viewed as being facets of a greater pantheistic Godhead, and as manifesting themselves as various polytheistic deities. Nonetheless, there are also other theological positions within the Craft, ranging from monotheism to atheism. Wicca also involves the ritual practice of magic, largely influenced by the ceremonial magic of previous centuries, often in conjunction with a liberal code of morality known as the Wiccan Rede, although this is not adhered to by all Witches. Another characteristic of the Craft is the celebration of seasonally based festivals known as Sabbats, of which there are usually eight in number annually.
There are various different denominations within Witchcraft, which are referred to as traditions. Some, such as Gardnerian and Alexandrian Wicca, follow in the initiatory lineage of Gardner; these are often collectively termed British Traditional Wicca, and many of their practitioners consider the term "Wicca" to apply only to these lineaged traditions. Others, such as Cochrane's Craft, Feri and the Dianic tradition, take primary influence from other figures and may not insist on any initiatory lineage. Some of these do not use the term "Wicca" at all, instead preferring to be referred to only as "Witchcraft", while others believe that all traditions can be considered "Wiccan".[5][6]
And the Theology...
Quote:
Although Wiccan views on theology are numerous and varied, the vast majority of Wiccans venerate both a God and a Goddess. These two deities are variously understood through the frameworks of pantheism (as being dual aspects of a single godhead), duotheism (as being two polar opposites) or polytheism (being composed of many lesser deities). In some pantheistic and duotheistic conceptions, deities from diverse cultures may be seen as aspects of the Goddess or God.[6] However, there are also other theological viewpoints to be found within the Craft, including monotheism, the concept that there is just one deity, which is seen by some, such as Dianic Wiccans, as being the Goddess, whilst by others, like the Church and School of Wicca, as instead being genderless. There are other Wiccans who are atheists or agnostics, not believing in any actual deity, but instead viewing the gods as psychological archtypes of the human mind which can be evoked and interacted with.[citation needed]
According to the Witches Janet and Stewart Farrar, who held a pantheistic, duotheistic and animistic view of theology, Wiccans "regard the whole cosmos as alive, both as a whole and in all of its parts", but that "such an organic view of the cosmos cannot be fully expressed, and lived, without the concept of the God and Goddess. There is no manifestation without polarization; so at the highest creative level, that of Divinity, the polarization must be the clearest and most powerful of all, reflecting and spreading itself through all the microcosmic levels as well".[7]
So what does it mean to be a wiccan?
When I hear the term I think of witches and spells, but I also think of nature and pagan practices.
Somebody please fill me in.
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"The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason."
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