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There
was a time, not too long ago, when most people imagined
a witch as some kind of a monster. Now most Americans
know that a Witch is just a member of another religion
called Wicca.
Just
what is a witch?
Q:
Do
they wear black, hooded robes?
A:
Some
do, but only during rituals, while others dress the same
as anyone else.
Q:
Do
they brew magick spells in a cauldron?
A:
Some
do, but others buy them pre-packaged in stores.
Wicca
is becoming quite modernized. It has changed quite a bit
since it was first formed in 1938.
In
the beginning they performed all their group rituals
‘skyclad’ (i.e. naked). Today, that is seldom done.
In
the beginning they were formed in covens each of which
had no more than 13 members. Today any particular coven
may have 50 members or more.
In
the beginning each Witch kept a Book of Shadows,
an origin journal in which the rituals of the faith and
particular spells and other bits of information were
written down by hand. Today few Witches keep a Book of
Shadows. Most buy them readymade in a store.
In other
words, Wicca is growing and changing to meet the desires
of today’s witches.
But
Wicca and Witchcraft are not necessarily the same thing.
Wicca
began with the writings and teachings of Gerald Gardner
in the 1930s. Gardner claimed to have been initiated
into Wicca in England by Dorothy Clutterbuck. Whether or
not this is true, it is clear that the system he taught
was derived from the Qabala, Masonic ritual, Celtic
mythology, eastern philosophies, Egyptian ideologies,
and even fictional ideas from mystical. The elements
(earth, air, fire, water) which form an important part
of Wiccan ideology are from classical Greece.
Gardner's
students had an important role to play in the evolution
and spread of Wicca. Doreen Valiente added the poetic
quality to many of the rituals that have been passed
down. Others whom Gardner initiated took the new
practices to distant lands, while still others branched
off forming their own traditions such as the Alexandrian
tradition begun by Alex Sanders. In the U.S., many new
traditions appeared, among them Dianic witchcraft and
the faerie traditions, both of which are further from
Gardnerianism than the direct descendents, but still
clearly influenced by Gardnerian Wicca.
The
Witchcraft that existed before Wicca, often called
Traditional Witchcraft, has a much less well-defined
history. It is most likely a product of European
Shamanism.
In
the fourth century all the Pagan religions of Europe and
the Mediterranean were united in one. Over a period of
hundreds of years, many rituals and beliefs were dropped
and replaced with others. Yule became Christmas and
Oester became Easter, and all became a part of Christian
tradition. However, not all beliefs were abandoned when
they were not accepted by the state church. Many of the
practices simply went underground and were passed from
generation to generation in families. Since the majority
could neither read nor write, these oral traditions were
the only means of keeping the knowledge alive.
After
Wicca was created by Gardener, many re-examined their
“family traditions” and realized that they contained
elements of an ancient faith. From these roots grew
Traditional Witchcraft. Wicca and Witchcraft have so
intertwined, it is difficult to distinguish one from
another.
Much
of Traditional Witchcraft comes to us from the Black
culture and the Hispanic. These particular branches are
less than 400 years old, while the European branches may
be thousands of years old.
Be
a little skeptical of those who profess to practice the
Old Ways, unless they recognize that they are
re-inventing those ways rather than reviving them.
There
are some fundamental differences in the beliefs of
traditional witches and Wiccans.
And
then there is the solitary or eclectic witch. Often
newcomers to the Craft grab onto that label because it
seems to mean they can believe and do whatever they want
without having to adhere to any particular belief or
ritual system. Most Traditional Witches and Wiccans want
you to know that is simply not the case.
Clearly
if a Witch is going to claim to be an adherent to some
particular branch of Witchcraft, they cannot make up
their own way of doing everything, their own way of
thinking, and still call it the Craft. They cannot
incorporate every New Age idea, regardless of how
appealing it may be, and then claim that what they are
practicing is a particular branche of the Craft.
One
may be an eclectic Witch, but one may not then claim to
be Gardnerian or Faerie or a disciple of some other
branch of Witchcraft. You must be honest and say, “I
made it up myself.”
Generally
speaking, one cannot be simultaneously Christian and a
Witch without sacrificing important components of one or
the other. There are too many other conflicting
elements. On the other hand, all branches of Traditional
Witchcraft have been warped by exposure to Christianity
to some degree, some more than others.
Let
us note again that neither Wicca nor Traditional
Witchcraft is traditional in the sense of strictly
representing the beliefs and practices of our ancestors.
Like it or not, they are both neo-pagan. Most likely the
religion of the original European pagans was quite
different from what is practiced today, in both form and
principle. But what we have today is the best
representation of these traditions. It is likely as
close to the "old ways," as we are likely to
get.
It
is claimed that the most important difference between
Wicca and Traditional Witchcraft is the nature of Deity
or deities. Wiccans worship a Goddess or a God, or
sometimes both in one, regarding them as supreme beings.
Traditional Witches prefer not to deal with any supreme
entity, though they speak of various gods or other
entities. They believe in the equality of all beings in
the Universe, seeing them as different, separate, but
never superior or inferior.
A
traditional witch may speak of the god and the goddess,
usually referring to the female and male aspects of
Nature, and while they revere and respect Nature, they
do not worship it or its representatives.
A
Wiccan may speak in similar terms but Wiccan rituals
make it clear that the Goddess/God are seen as superior
beings to be worshipped. This forms the basic foundation
of Wiccan theology, the necessary feminine and masculine
components of creative energy. Traditional Witchcraft,
however, is polytheistic and animistic, incorporating a
number of spirits/deities into a whole.
Any
discussion of the gods inevitably leads to consideration
of the rituals performed in connection with them. In
Wicca, one must celebrate the Wheel of the Year with its
eight holy days that represent parts of the mythic
cycle. Traditional Witches often observe the same days
as they correspond to solstices and equinoxes, but do
not relate them to a specific mythology. In Traditional
Witchcraft it is the seasonal changes themselves that
are honored, not the lives of gods and goddesses
associated with them. Both Wiccans and Traditional
Witches observe Moon phases and other natural phenomena.
The
sacred circle is central to Wiccan practice. Wiccans
generally create sacred space for their rituals by
casting a circle, using techniques of visualization and
raising energy. Placing more significance on ritual and
ceremony, Wiccans create and perform beautiful rituals,
filled with symbolism, to mark the seasons of the Earth
and the seasons of life.
In
Traditional Witchcraft, all space is sacred and all life
is ceremony. When ritual or magick is performed, the
Traditional Witch is likely to go to a place that has
special qualities such as a stream or mountain, but
practitioners also recognize that the local park or
someone's backyard is equally sacred.
No
discussion of witchcraft would be complete without some
discussion of magick. Magick is central to both
Traditional Witchcraft and Wicca. However, in a sense,
all religions use magick, as it may be defined as any
attempt to effect the outcome of a given situation by
supernatural means (though in Traditional Witchcraft
these means are seen as natural). Prayer, for example,
is a form of magick.
When
practiced, the magick of Wicca tends to be more
ceremonial, whereas in Traditional Witchcraft it is more
practical. Herbal healing, for example, is a traditional
practice which may or may not be part of a Wiccan's
custom. Also, the magick of Traditional Witchcraft may
include hexes and curses without a specific rule to
prevent such acts
Traditional
Witchcraft regard spirits as a natural part of the
witch's environment and as equal beings in the Universe.
Wiccans, on the other hand, perform magick in which a
goddess or god is appealed to for aid.
Wiccan
ethics are based primarily on one rule, the Wiccan Rede
(advice or creed), "an it harm none, do as ye
will." A true follower of the Wiccan path will know
that this does not translate into "do anything you
want as long as it doesn't hurt anyone." A person's
"will" is the path chosen after careful
reflection, not just the whim of the day.
The
second most important feature of Wiccan ethics is the
Threefold Law, that what you do will come back to you
threefold (with three times the energy). This is a
karmic principle that has it's origin in eastern
religions and replaces the concept of sin and
retribution found in Christianity.
Traditional
Witchcraft has neither the Wiccan Rede nor the Threefold
Law. There is no morality test, only personal
responsibility and honor. Also, there is no good or
evil, only intent.
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Magick, in the broadest sense, is
any act designed to cause intentional change. To change
nothing into something and something into something
else.
The spelling with the terminal "k" was
re-popularized in the first half of the 20th century by Aleister
Crowley when he introduced it as a core component of
Thelema.
-
"The Anglo-Saxon k in
Magick, like most of Crowley's conceits, is a means
of indicating the kind of magic which he performed.
K is the eleventh letter of several alphabets, and
eleven is the principal number of magick, because it
is the number attributed to the Qliphoth - the
underworld of demonic and chaotic forces that have
to be conquered before magick can be performed. K
has other magical implications: it corresponds to
the power or shakti aspect of creative
energy, for k is the ancient Egyptian khu, the
magical power. Specifically, it stands for kteis
(vagina), the complement to the wand (or phallus)
which is used by the Magician in certain aspects of
the Great Work."
For Crowley, the alternate spelling was
used to differentiate it from other practices, such as
stage magic. Magick is not capable of producing
"miracles" or violating the physical laws of
the universe (e.g., it cannot cause a solar eclipse),
although "it is theoretically possible to cause in
any object any change of which that object is capable by
nature".
Crowley preferred the spelling magick,
defining it as "the science and art of causing
change to occur in conformity with the will." By
this, he included "mundane" acts of will as
well as ritual magic. In Magick in Theory and
Practice, Chapter XIV, Crowley says:
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What is a Magical Operation? It may
be defined as any event in nature which is brought
to pass by Will. We must not exclude potato-growing
or banking from our definition. Let us take a very
simple example of a Magical Act: that of a man
blowing his nose.
Crowley saw magick as the essential
method for a person to reach true understanding of the
self and to act according to one's True Will, which he saw as the reconciliation
"between freewill and destiny."
Crowley describes this process:
-
One must find out for oneself, and
make sure beyond doubt, who one is, what
one is, why one is...Being thus conscious of
the proper course to pursue, the next thing is to
understand the conditions necessary to following it
out. After that, one must eliminate from oneself
every element alien or hostile to success, and
develop those parts of oneself which are specially
needed to control the aforesaid conditions.
Since the time of Crowley's writing
about magick, many different spiritual and occult
traditions have adopted the spelling with the terminal
-k, but have redefined what it means to some degree. For
many modern occultists, it refers strictly to
paranormal magic, which involves influencing events and
physical phenomena by supernatural, mystical, or
paranormal means.
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