Perspective: I hope you'll agree when I say that NO ONE is the same. We are all different. "Everyone's experiences, thought patterns and feelings are different. That is what makes us unique. What is right for you may not be proper for someone else.... Therefore, it is not necessary that your "truth" conform to anyone else's. Conversely, you cannot expect the world to conform to you truths, either." (Silver Ravenwolf, To Ride a Silver Broomstick) So, when you ask the questions "What is Wicca?" or "What is Witchcraft?" almost always you will hear the words, "Depends on who you ask."
Principles of Belief (as set down by The Council of American
Witches with my interpretation in brackets.)
The Council of American
Witches finds it necessary to define modern Witchcraft in terms of American
experience and needs. [We're gonna tell you the basics.]
We are bound by traditions from other times and other cultures, and owe no allegiance to any person or power greater than the Divinity manifest through our own being. [We do what we want to do and are true to what is divine in ourselves]
As American Witches, we welcome and respect all life-affirming teachings and traditions, and seek to learn from all and to share our learning within our Council. [As long as you aren't hurting anything and aren't forcing your ideas on others, you're cool. We like to see what other people are doing and maybe learn some good things from them]
It is in this spirit of welcome and cooperation that we adopt these few principles of Wiccan belief. [Please try to be open and to understand while tell you our beliefs] In seeking to be inclusive, we do not wish to open ourselves to the destruction of our group by those on self-serving power trips, or to philosophies and practices contradictory to these principles. [We want anyone interested to check this out but if you are trying to do harm or destroy us, then go away] In seeking to exclude those whose ways are contradictory to ours, we do not want to deny participation with us to any who are sincerely interested in our knowledge and beliefs, regardless of race, color, sex, age, national or cultural origins, or sexual preference. [We are open to anyone, no matter who you are. As long as you aren't trying to hurt, then come on in]
We therefore ask only that those who seek to identify with us accept these few basic principles: [If you want to be with us, these are the things you should think about]
. We do not recognize any authoritarian hierarchy [We don't grovel before a God that directs every aspect of our life], but do honor those who teach [Learning is a big part of our life. Teachers are highly respected.], respect those who share their greater knowledge and wisdom [We respect our elders and anyone else whose life experience has something to teach us], and acknowledge those who have courageously given of themselves in leadership. [Being a leader anywhere, but especially in Witchcraft, isn't an easy job. We give them our respect for trying it.]
. We see religion, magick, and wisdom-in living as being united in the way one views the world and lived within in- a world view and philosophy of life, which we identify as Witchcraft or the Wiccan Way. [Witchcraft or Wicca is the name applied to the way we live]
. Calling oneself "Witch does not make a witch-but neither does heredity itself, or the collecting of titles, degrees, and initiation. A Witch seeks to control the forces within him/herself that make life possible in order to live wisely and well, without harm to others, and in harmony with Nature. [Just because you say you are a Witch, doesn't make you one. Even if you have all kinds of papers that say you are, if you don't truly believe what you are practicing, then you aren't a Witch.]
. We acknowledge that it is the affirmation and fulfillment of life, in a continuation of evolution and development of consciousness, that gives meaning to the Universe we know, and to our personal role within it. [All people are important. Each has its own important role in the universal theatre that can't be done by anyone else]
. Our only animosity toward Christianity, or toward any other religion or philosophy-of-life, is to the extent that its institutions have claimed to be "the one true right and only way" and have sought to deny freedom to others and to suppress other ways of religious practices and belief. [We don't have anything personal against other religions, particularly Christianity, except that they keep trying to make everyone one of them regardless of how a person really feels.]
. As American Witches, we are not threatened by debates on the history of the Craft, the origins of various terms, the legitimacy of various aspect of different traditions. We are concerned with our present, and our future. [Again, doesn't really matter where it came from. If it's good and it works, then why not use it? Our time is better used fighting to keep our freedom from being taken away.]
. We do not accept the concept of "absolute evil," nor do we worship any entity known as "Satan" or "the Devil" as defined by Christian Tradition. [Satan/the Devil is your baby. We don't believe in it. We believe in taking responsibility for what we do.] We do not seek power through the suffering of others, nor do we accept the concept that personal benefits can only be derived by denial to another. [We aren't meanies. We don't believe that you can have good things only if you take them from someone else. We work hard for the good things we do have.]
. We work within Nature for that which in contributory to our health and well-being.
Wicca/Witchcraft doesn't have a holy book (e.g. the Bible) but we do have what I consider to be, the two biggest influences in our lives, The Wiccan Rede and The Three-Fold Law. I've always seen these two things as our equivalent to Ten Commandments.
As taken from the site of the Witches League for Public Awareness