Wicca and Witchcraft For Dummies

Diane Smith

• Publisher: For Dummies
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN: 9780764578342
• eBook ISBN: 9781118070017
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religious Fundamentalism & Cults

Examines Wiccan magic, rituals, traditions, and code of conduct Get the scoop on this ancient spiritual path Wondering what it takes to be a Wiccan? This plain-English guide introduces you to the vibrant world of Wicca and the practices of Witchcraft, describing its ancient origins, dispelling stereotypes, and explaining Wiccan beliefs, ethics, rituals, and holidays. You'll see what it means to live as a contemporary Wiccan -- and how to worship alone or with a group. Discover how to
* Worship alone or join a coven
* Perform charms, blessings, and spells
* Obtain necessary tools and supplies
* Spot spiritual scams and inappropriate behavior
* Explore a spiritual path guided by nature

Part I

Seeing the World through Wiccan Eyes: What Wiccans Believe

In this part . . .

**IN a DROPCAP**

When people are new to Wicca, they often want to jump into the practice of magic. Many are hoping to find a quick-fix cure-all for their lives — a spell to find love or to pay off their credit cards.

Before attempting to practice Wicca or before passing judgment on it, explore and understand the beliefs that underlie Wiccan practice. Wicca is based on personal discovery and direct experience of Deity, as well as reverence for nature and the web of life. This part reveals the foundation of the Wiccan path.

Chapter 1

Believing That Everything’s Connected

In This Chapter

Discovering the key to Wicca

Blending Wicca and science

Finding the Divine: right here, right now

M any people discover Wicca in bits and pieces. Perhaps Wiccan ritual empowers them. Or the Wiccan reverence for the rhythms and cycles of nature satisfies them. Or magic fascinates them. However, in order to fully understand and find meaning in Wicca, a person needs to grasp the big picture: the Wiccan worldview.

A few core ideas underlie all of Wicca, and if you understand these basic concepts about the world and the Divine, then Wiccan beliefs and practices make sense. This chapter provides the background to understand Wicca as a full-fledged spirituality and a specific way of experiencing and interpreting the world.

Swimming in a Divine Sea of Energy

You are about to discover one principle that is the key to much of Wiccan belief. Ready? Here it is: Everything is connected.

Everything that exists is part of an unbroken circle of vibrating energy. You may find it helpful to picture reality as a web of energy (like a spider’s web), or as an energy grid (like an electrical grid). Some people refer to this idea as the web of life or nature’s web.

Wiccans perceive Deity in vastly different ways (see Chapter 2), however, most believe in a Creative Being that is the source or creator of the web of life. Most Wiccans believe that Deity is immanent (is right here, right now, and all-present in the world), and also is manifest in nature (is evident and easily perceived). Most believe that the web of life — everything that exists — flows or unfolds from Deity. The Divine is the source of all life. Some Wiccans even believe that the entire cosmos is the living body of Deity.

The belief in Deity is a matter of faith. No one can prove that the cosmos has a Divine source; however, reality is one big, connected, infinite network — ask any Wiccan or any scientist.

Finding Kinship in the Cosmos

The Wiccan view of an interconnected world isn’t just a mystical, spiritual notion. Modern science, especially cutting-edge ideas in quantum physics, supports the ideas of life’s interconnection and interdependence. The following are some of the leading theories that blend perfectly with Wiccan belief.

Going quantum: Matter versus energy

People see the physical world as a bunch of independent and stable objects, but that’s not exactly the truth. Modern science reveals that matter and energy are not separate.

Energy flows in waves that form patterns. What you see as a separate object (a dog, a bird, or a tree) is really just a pocket of reality where the energy is more dense, according to quantum physics.

Quantum physics

Physical matter is made up of molecules and atoms, which are made up of smaller components, called subatomic particles. In quantum physics, particles of matter and waves of energy are the same thing.

A subatomic particle isn’t a little dot of matter that scientists can hold still and examine; it’s more like a little dancing point of energy. These particles can’t be understood as separate units. Scientists can describe subatomic particles only by talking about how they act with one another. The only way to meaningfully describe these particles is to explain the way that they interconnect.

Wicca meets quantum physics

Quantum physics clearly demonstrates the Wiccan belief that all reality is an integrated web of energy. Even at the subatomic level, life is interconnected.

Tuning up the strings and dancing with the universe

The preceding section describes subatomic particles as dancing points of energy. String theory suggests that they may not even be points, but strings.

String theory is bold and beautiful, but complicated. Read on to find out more, but if you start to feel a migraine coming on, take a break and watch a Gilligan’s Island re-run. It’s always satisfying to watch the Professor build complicated stuff out of coconuts.

String theory

A subatomic particle is not pointlike but is made of a tiny loop. Like a super-thin rubber band, each particle contains a vibrating, dancing string. Like a guitar string, each tiny string can vibrate. Every string is identical; the only difference is the way that it vibrates. Each string has a different vibration, like each guitar string creates a different musical note. The movements of the string — the “note” it creates — determine the kind of particle it will be. These itty-bitty vibrating strings make up everything in the universe — all physical matter and all forces (such as gravity). These strings vibrate throughout space-time.

We live in space-time. Space-time consists of three dimensions of space (length, width, and depth) and the dimension of time. All objects and all events exist in these four dimensions. Well, that’s what scientists used to think. According to string theory, space-time can have up to nine dimensions of space, plus the dimension of time.

Wicca meets string theory

String theory unites matter and energy, and confirms the Wiccan view that the cosmos — from the smallest particles to the largest solar systems — operates by the same principles and is made from the same stuff. At all levels, life is interconnected.

Spreading chaos

String theory shows the interconnectedness of life at all levels, big and small. Chaos theory deals only with the big — and super-complicated.

Chaos theory

Chaos theory suggests that the weather and other huge, complex systems in nature have an underlying order, but they are chaotic and virtually unpredictable. The problem with predicting the weather and the behavior of other big systems is that nature is extremely sensitive to changing conditions. Very tiny changes can have major effects. Nature on a large scale can drive a scientist nuts!

Any small inaccuracy in evaluating the initial conditions leads to growing errors in the calculations. For example, the flapping of a butterfly’s wings in one location may affect the weather on the other side of the Earth.

Wicca meets Chaos Theory

The important lesson here is that any action, no matter how small or insignificant, can affect everything else. Earth’s ecology is a network of relationships. All the members of Earth’s environment are interdependent. The success of the whole community depends on each living thing, and the success ...

Table of contents

• Title
• Contents
• Introduction
• Part I : Seeing the World through Wiccan Eyes: What Wiccans Believe
• Chapter 1: Believing That Everything’s Connected
• Chapter 2: Believing in Deity
• Chapter 3: Believing in Magic: Where Science Meets the Craft
• Chapter 4: Believing in Ethics, Responsibility, and Personal Relationship with Deity
• Part II : Looking at the Past, Present, and Future: How Wiccans Live
• Chapter 5: Digging into the Past
• Chapter 6: Living Wiccan Today
• Chapter 7: Looking Back to the Future: The Rebirth of the Goddess
• Part III : Coming Home: How Wiccans Become Wiccans
• Chapter 8: Considering the Wiccan Path
• Chapter 9: Going Solo or Joining a Coven: Wiccan Options
• Chapter 10: Making Room for Everyone: Craft Traditions
• Part IV : Following the Sun and the Moon: How Wiccans Worship
• Chapter 11: Setting Up an Altar and Choosing Tools
• Chapter 12: Designing and Performing Rituals: The Heart of Wicca
• Chapter 13: Waxing and Waning with the Moon: The Esbats
• Chapter 14: Turning the Wheel of the Year: The Sabbats
• Part V : Practicing the Craft: What Wiccans Do
• Chapter 15: Making Magic Happen
• Chapter 16: Spellcasting: The Poetry of Wicca
• Chapter 17: Boosting Magic with Fire, Stones, and Herbs
• Chapter 18: Working with Trance and Dreams
• Chapter 19: Daring to Divine
• Chapter 20: Keeping a Book of Shadows, a Sacred Record
• : The Part of Tens
• Chapter 21: Ten Habits of Effective Wiccans
• Chapter 22: Ten Wiccan Principles of Behavior
• Chapter 23: Ten Warning Signs of a Scam or Inappropriate Behavior
• Appendix A: Wicca FAQ
• Appendix B: Magical Properties of Colors, Herbs, and Stones