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What is Witchcraft? The word witchcraft dates back many hundreds of years and means literally “the craft of the wise.” This is because the Witches of old were the wise ones of their village, knowledgeable in the art of healing, legal matters, and spiritual fulfillment. A Witch had to not only be a religious leader, but also the doctor, lawyer and psychologist of the village. During the period of tribal living, it was the elders of the tribe who were the “wise” if from nothing else than years of experience. Grandmother not only gave birth to most of the tribe but also knew how to cure their illnesses with plants and taught the planting of seeds to grow food for when the hunting was poor. Grandfather was the hunter and protector of the tribe. Both, with others, held all the “secret” knowledge of how to appease the gods and this knowledge was passed on by word of mouth from one generation to another. Today, people have reclaimed this word in their pursuit of Wiccan religion. A Witch is an initiate of Wicca, one who has earned the right to call themselves Priest, or Priestess, through study, self evaluation, and spiritual living. Wicca, itself, is an attempt to re-create European (mostly) Shamanistic Nature Religion, adapting it to fit our modern lives. Witches are worshippers of the Earth and it's many cycles. We believe that deity is found not only outside of our realm, or plane of existence, but that it is found within every living thing and all that supports it. Therefore, we attempt to live in harmony with the Earth, and each of its creatures. Going back to Paleolithic times, this religion began with man's worship of nature, specifically the Sun and the Moon. The Sun was the Great Father bringing warmth and light and when it sank, bringing cold and darkness. The Moon was the Great Mother, waxing and waning every 28 days. And if a tree spirit looks like a tree then the Great Father and Great Mother must look like people . . . and thus the first gods were born. We worship a Horned God and a Mother Goddess. Through the millennia and cultures each has acquired many aspects and just as many names we call them Pan and Diana.

Wiccans observe the holidays of Pagan Europe: Eight festivals spaced evenly about the wheel of the year, at the quarters (equinox's and solstices) and the cross-quarters (midpoints between the equinox's and solstices). Many Wiccans also celebrate the New and Full Moons. The eight sabbats and esbats are called: Yule (or the Winter Solstice): December 21 is the celebration of the rebirth of the Sun. Imbolg (or Candlemas): February 2 is also called the Feast of the Waxing Light - a celebration of the Sun's climb higher in the sky. All candles used for the year are blessed now. Vernal Equinox: March 21 is a celebration of the beginning of Spring. Beltane (Rudemas): May 1 is the old Pagan May Day. Summer Solstice: June 21 is the cebration of the Sun reaching its highest point in the sky. Through sympathetic magick, the Pagans used to try to stop the Sun's decline. Lammas: August 1 is the celebration of the beginning of the harvest season. Autumn Equinox (Michaelmas): September 22 is the end of the harvest or thanksgiving. All Hallows Eve (Samhain): October 31 is the Witches New Year. A time when our beloved ones who are gone from this world return to celebrate with us. All growing ceases. The basis for Wiccan moral conduct is found in the statement; "An Ye Harm None, Do What Thou Wilt." This is a mock archaic phrase, suggesting that any behavior that harms none is morally acceptable. Harm is here defined by anything that takes away, or works against an individual's free will. It is, of course, impossible to exist, or even cease to exist, without causing harm. So Wiccans look to fulfill this as closely as possible. A Wiccan attempts to make choices based on what will cause the least harm, and promote the greatest overall positive effect. There are tenets we follow to try to make life easier. They are as follows: The tenet of the Balanced Life: The aim of Witchcraft, as a religious education, is to help its people find a harmonious existence, knowing themselves and the universe as well as representing the balance between the forces of Nature and Man. The balance conditions allows a man or women to stretch out and view life from all angles without distortion. The tenet of Harmony: This refers back to the statement that while man needs most of Nature if he is to survive, it is somewhat doubtful if Nature needs man. So we must not only live in Harmony with each other but with all of Nature as well. The tenet of Trust: Where there is love there should be trust; if trust is absent then there can never be love that is meaningful. We do not see a paradise on earth, with all men loving each other. We know that a doctrine of spiritual development is necessary; so we have to seek for ways in which we may find trust and it cannot be a blind type of trust. Trust can be as great an attainment as love and is actually much more realistic. The tenet of Humility: One of the first things taught in Wicca is to study oneself, to put this before anything else. We do not set ourselves up as judges of everyone around us, especially those who seem to be in the habit of falling into "evil ways." The tenet of Tolerance: We learn to endure with patience people whose opinions are not like ours. Many will speak offensively about us because of their lack of accurate knowledge, but because of our knowledge we can afford to be very tolerant of these people. The tenet of Learning: In every aspect of our learning we become conscious that as we learn, more learning is necessary, but learning is nothing unless it is used in practical everyday life. In all teachings of Witchcraft, there is a necessity to relate learning to whatever sphere of life the student occupies. The tenet of Reincarnation: We understand that the spirit inhabiting every human body will continue to inhabit body after body until it has gained sufficient experience to elevate itself onto the spiral of the Cosmos. It is the acceptance of reincarnation which is the great starting point of Witchcraft. It is the explanation to why men appear not to be "created equal" when it is actually spiritual evolution which makes man appear this way. Continuing with our beliefs, we believe in a Divine Being, but we do not see a god who was like a man and walked on earth. Nor do we see a revenging godlike figure playing a rather nebulous, immature game of choosing who is doing good and who is doing evil. We believe that the Divine Being is concerned with divine affairs and that, by virtue of the tiny spark in us called the “spirit”, we merit attention from this being. It is possible by means of ritual, invocations and incantations to communicate with spirits on lower planes of existence than the Divine Being. These spirits, or gods, exist to help man but are only aids, not substitutes, to our lives.

Wicca teaches self-discipline, personal responsibility, kinship with our planet and its creatures, open-mindedness and the virtues of diversity. Wiccans do not proselytize, as we believe that each must find the path that is right for them, and that all religions are different paths to the same truths. After all, God – The Divine Being – is no religion but all religions are God. We draw our beliefs and practices from our own experiences, and that of others, understanding that age does not make a religion any more valid, nor does political support, numbers of followers, or material holdings of its temple. Religion is a very personal thing, one that can only be validated by the experiences of the individual. Wicca provides a link for those who follow similar paths to share their experiences. Wicca has a marriage ceremony, however, our beliefs do not require it to be a legal marriage and for that reason it is called a handfasting. We believe through one's lifetime it is possible to have more than one soul mate. This, again, has to do with reincarnation and karma. So, when you have fulfilled your karmic debt to this person, you may part with no ill feelings to fulfill the rest of your karma, however necessary. The only difference in our death rite is that we do not believe in all the fancy trappings peddled by funeral parlors, so we believe in cremation. We do not believe in tears of grief but rather gladness at the passage of the spirit to a better existence, knowing he/she will be reborn again. As to the clergy of our religion and our "congregation" we are quite unique. Since we worship a God and a Goddess – each has an earthly representative - the Priest and Priestess. Finally, we live without fear. We fear no god, no person, nor death. Death is a progression up the path to the Divine Being and is quite natural. We know that on the other side we shall meet those who have gone before us and we will return to this plane of existence to meet, and know, and even love them again. Death is merely of the physical and therefore should not be frightening. We fear no god or demon (we do not believe in the Devil) for these are creations of the Divine Being as we are. All energies are neutral, it is man who chooses to use them for good or evil and suffer the consequences. We fear no person for everyone and everything has a purpose whether that purpose is clear to us or not. Fear is a negative emotion and, we Witches, are very positive people so we have no use for fear, hate, or jealousy or any emotion that would deter us from progressing. So, you see, we are quite human. We have human feelings and human problems but, unlike many others, know that the solution to these is within us. The gods may render assistance but the final solution is up to us. We do not render lengthy prayers and wait for an all-powerful God to create a "miracle", but we may use an invocation and tap the Cosmic Force for the energy needed to bring a solution.