The Eclectic Coven of Red Mountain

What is Wicca?

We each answer this fundamental question in unique ways:

 Click here to read coven essays on the meaning of Wicca

Looking for an easy way to explain Wicca to others?

The Some of My Best Friends are Witches booklet is now available online: (pdf) (html)

What is Wicca?

Wicca is both old and young, combining ancient ideas in new patterns.  It exists today in a wide variety of forms, and continues to grow and evolve as a dynamic living tradition.  Constitutionally protected and legally recognized in the United States for more than 25 years, Wicca, also known as Witchcraft or simply The Craft, is currently the fastest growing religion in the United States according to the Institute for the Study of American Religion. 

Wicca is a Pagan tradition.  Like other forms of Paganism, Wicca is characterized by earth-centered /nature-centered spirituality and an ethical system based in personal responsibility.  Specifically, Wicca is a reconstruction of the Nature worship of tribal Western Europe – influenced by the living spiritual traditions of other tribes, combined with traditional ceremonial practices, and informed by the mythologies of our ancestors.  The myths and religious traditions of the world form a shared heritage we study and celebrate.  We believe that humankind is our family and we have much to learn from each other. 

Wiccan ceremonies may include chanting, singing and/or dancing, storytelling, ritual drama, the sharing of food and drink, meditation, and/or works of magic, which we define as the direction of will to accomplish a goal in accordance with the natural order of the Universe.  Wicca is characterized by a blending of religious and magical elements, and our religious rituals utilize the traditional symbols (such as the pentagram) and practices associated with ceremonial magic.  Rituals may be performed by an individual, by a coven or group of covens, or by a larger community of Pagans.  They may be practiced privately or publicly.

Ethics

The Wiccan Rede -- “An ye harm none, do what ye will.” -- forms the basis for our ethical system.  Essentially, we define “wrong” as that which causes harm, and strive to avoid causing harm to others, to ourselves, and to our environment.  We celebrate personal freedom and accept personal responsibility for our actions.  We also respect what is called the “Law of Karmic Return” or the “Rule of Three” which tells us that what we send out comes back to us -- good and bad.  In other words, “what goes around comes around.”

Basic Beliefs

While beliefs vary among individuals and traditions, the following concepts are central to an understanding of Wiccan religion.  (Note also that Wiccans do not share the Christian belief in Satan, or any other personification of evil.)

1.  Imminence

We believe that Deity is imminent in the natural world.  The Universe itself is Sacred, as is the food and water we consume, the air we breathe, the earth under our feet.  We are sacred, our bodies and our spirits.  We view the physical and the spiritual as two sides of the same substance, inseparable and interdependent.

2.  Polarity

We believe that the Divine, the Great All, manifests as both female and male, as Goddess and God.  All that we know scientifically and intuitively about our world tells us that both male and female are necessary to create life, and we believe that creation is an act of love.  Each principle – male and female -- balances, completes and interacts with the other.  Each is necessary and valued.  Each principle contains the other.  We accept and honor both. 

3.  Connectivity

We understand that the universe is interconnected on every level and that we are a part of it.  All things are related.  We cooperate with and participate in the complex system of the Universe, the cosmic web of life.

Written by Lycia for the Eclectic Coven of Red Mountain  ~ All rights reserved.  To request permission to duplicate contact The Eclectic Coven of Red Mountain, P.O. Box 131, Shannon, AL 35142 or eclecticcoven@hotmail.com.

Answering the Question:  Essays on the meaning of Wicca

What is Wicca?
by Gray Bird

The last best hope of the Western world, which took a wrong turn some 1500 years ago, and now finds its religion at odds with its beliefs.  Wicca is on the one hand the West's return to its roots, to the earth-based beliefs of the ancient Western world.  On the other hand, Wicca is a way of faith in the West's future, a way to reconcile our modern scientific understanding of the universe both within and without with those ancient beliefs.  Wicca is above all adaptable to that future, a future that will increasingly require not just tolerance of other's beliefs, not just acceptance of cultural differences, but a syncretic understanding of those beliefs and a willing participation in their celebrations.  Wicca is a party for the world.

What is Wicca?
by Sienna Fionn

Hoping that it won't sound too cliche, Wicca is a way of life. 

When someone asks me what my religion is, I rarely will respond "Wicca," because it doesn't fit my definition of what religion is (a belief system structured toward the service and worship of God -- or worse, the dictionary definition of "scrupulous conformity").  Rather, I view Wicca as my ideal form of spiritual expression as well as a personal thought system on the way I wish to live my day-to-day life.  A belief that Deity incorporates and encompasses all -- masculine, feminine -- and that which is beyond our ability to label.  A belief that we are all a part of one and therefore have a great responsibility for our actions and even our thoughts.  A belief that an individual can manifest change.  A belief that there is an earthly, as well as a cosmic sentience that despite being incomprehensible in the most mundane sense, deserves our respect and our nurturing.  I find I could go on, but I've already over-extended my one-sentence/paragraph allotment.

What is Wicca?
by Pan

Wicca is a recognition of the functionality of the Universe, an ongoing study of the process of Life and a personal commitment to one’s own ‘higher path’. Simply put: there is a proper way to live life within one’s own perception of the way things work. For simplicity’s sake, there exists one rule. This is a fine example of how one should seek to fine tune their own life for evenly flowing personal and situational evolvement. As the Universe is born, grows, dies and is reborn so do its microcosmic organisms within it. If done correctly, the cogs will spin with gears and wheels, enabling a more harmonious existence for All involved.