Wicca is a religion. It is a participatory functioning art, a social support group, and a way of exploring altered states of consciousness
- As a Religion Wicca is an innovative, sustainable, profound and advisory conscious connection with the Gods and Goddesses
- Wicca helps to transform ones consciousness, and perhaps even the world around us, through the skilled and deliberate implementation of will
Wicca is a spiritual system that fosters the free thought and will of the individual, encourages learning and an understanding of the earth and nature thereby affirming the divinity in all living things. Most importantly however, it teaches responsibility. We accept responsibility for our actions and deeds as clearly a result of the choices we make. We do not blame an exterior entity or being for our shortcomings, weaknesses or mistakes. If we mess up or do something that brings harm to another, we have no one but ourselves to blame and we must face the consequences resulting from those actions. No ifs, and or buts and no whining…
- Wiccan learns from and reveres the gift of nature from divine creation by celebrating the cycles of the sun, moon and seasons.
- Wiccan believe that the spirit of the One, Goddess and God exist in all things.
- We also revere the spirits of the elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water which combine to manifest all creation. From these four elements we obtain insight to the rhythms of nature and understand they are also the rhythms of our own lives.
- We acknowledge the cycles of nature, the lunar phases and the seasons to celebrate our spirituality and to worship the divine. It is a belief system that allows the witch to work with, not in supplication to deities with the intent of living in harmony and achieving balance with all things.
- Most of us continually strive to consider all potential outcomes of our thoughts and actions pausing to seriously consider the consequences before undertaking a ritual, spell or rite that could go astray. It is when we follow the path with the love of the Goddess in our hearts and adhere to the basic tenant of the Reed that our works are beneficial and we achieve harmony and balance with all things.
Theologies and Philosophies of Wicca
Wicca is a religion and a way of life centered on a reverence for the beauty and majesty of nature as embodied by the Goddess and God. Wiccans celebrate the changing of the seasons though eight rituals named Sabbats. During these rituals and throughout the year in Wiccan covens, the God and Goddess are represented by honoring a High Priest and High Priestess who make personal connections with certain deities and pantheons. Wiccans create and manifest their magick through raising of the cone of power. By following a code of conduct, Wiccans are reminded that any magic they perform will come back to them. The Wiccan Rede, “An ye harm none, do what ye will,” is a main teaching tool of conduct, while the Book of the Law is a collection of suggested morals of the Wiccan faith. Wiccans also follow the three fold law and the thirteen virtues. All of these things fit into four distinct categories that I feel give an idea of what Wicca is all about: the God and Goddess deities, the celebration of Sabots and the power of magic, the mind’s operation on both the metaphysical and psychological planes, and the ethical guidelines that effect every Wiccan’s decisions every day.
The Goddess and God philosophy, of Wicca teach that the Divinity is composed of both masculine and feminine principles. This dual principle personifies as a Goddess and a God, each of whom possess within them a polarity of the other. The deities manifest in different forms suitable to any conditions and personal needs. Wicca does not believe in patriarchal monotheism, that there is only one correct version of God and Goddess, and that all others are false. The Gods and Goddesses of Wicca are not jealous and accept many variations of themselves and variations of worship of themselves. Wiccans worship Goddess and God and believe that these two are joined in the one divine essence. According to Gerald Gardner, the Goddess of Wicca is seen as the Great Mother, the Virgin, and the Crone; she gives birth and regeneration to souls of the dead and love to the living. The God is seen as the Horned God of hunting, death and magic who rules over the after-life.
The leaders of a Wiccan group, or coven, are called the High Priestess and the High Priest; their charge is to create their own relationship with the Goddess and God. The Lady and Lord, as the Goddess and God are commonly called, are seen as primal cosmic beings, the source of limitless power, yet they are also familiar figures who comfort and support the other individuals of a Wiccan group. The Lady and Lord are seen as complementary polarities: female and male comprehending all in their union. The interplay between them is the basis of all creation.
The Goddess and God are symbolized by the Moon and the Sun respectively. From the Goddess’s lunar associations, she is respected and worshiped as a Triple Goddess, corresponding to the moon’s waxing, full and waning phases. Since the Goddess is said to conceive and contain all life within her, all life is thought to be divine. The God is celebrated as the Sun and the Horned God, the God of Fertility and the force behind creation. The Sun nurtures and co-creates all life.
A key belief in Wicca is that the Gods and Goddesses are able to manifest in personal form through dreams, physical manifestations, or through bodies of Priestesses and Priests. The latter kind of manifestation is the purpose of the ritual for Drawing Down the Moon, whereby the Goddess is called to descend into the body of the Priestess and the God into the Priest. The leaders of a Wiccan ritual call upon a certain pantheon of God and Goddess, appropriate for the specific ritual, and ask for the aspects of the God and Goddess to fill them with their energy and aspects to aid in the ritual.
Wicca is a positive religion that is in tune with nature and its cycles. Wiccans celebrate the eight seasonal Sabbats, marked by the solstice and equinox as well as the midpoints of the calendar between each period. Rituals are also held during the time of the full moon and the time of the new moon. The worshiping of the various deities along with the conduction of various rites are dependent on the foundations of each tradition.
The celebrations of the Sabots are rituals where the participants honor their Gods, ask for what they need, and give thanks for what they receive. Wiccans also contact the Divine through ritual in the enactment of ancient myths which express eternal truths about humans and the universe we inhabit. The ritual may vary in complexity and some are very simple, while still others incorporate great ceremony. It makes no difference to the complexity of ceremony, for the outcome truly is determined from the input of intent and the output of emotion.
One of Wicca’s basic beliefs is the reality and possibility of magick. Working with magick itself is neither black nor white, bad nor good. It is how it is used and the intent or the knowledge behind it that matters. 
Magick involves harnessing the power which surrounds us in the world and is a part of each of us by focusing it to do our will for the highest good of all. Magick is only used for positive goals, never to harm or to control anyone. Wicca requires that magickal activities be limited to good purposes only or for people who have given express permission for magickal assistance.
The cone of power, or the Witches Pyramid, in ritual involves the four elements: Air-imagination, Water-faith, Fire-will, Earth-secrecy and a fifth element, Spirit. The Witch’s emotions drive the magick and feed it energy. During a ritual, the participating members chant, sing, and dance to feed and send forth the magick being performed.
We believe that our consciousness is not dependent on the body, but can extend beyond the limits of the sensory world. Thus, Wicca operates in two realms: 
the metaphysical and psychological. The work in the astral plane is on both. The astral plane is part of the divine-physical world, composed of finer essences of energy at a higher rate of vibration than that of the physical world. The astral planes are still as much a part of the physical world as anything you can touch, but they are most often unseen. Doreen Valiente, a practicing witch and accomplished writer since 1953, (states, “The Universe is a great body of vibrations, of which our physical plane is only one; the one to which our physical senses respond.” The astral plane is responsive to thoughts, emotions, and the astral body or astral vibration. It is with these forms one conducts business on the astral plane and astral work is processed through ritual.
Although Wicca has a strong ethical base, it has little dogma. It is a living religion which belongs to the here and now. Wicca has a code of ethics and morality thus named the Book of the Law and The Wiccan Rede, respectively, as well as a belief in the Threefold Law and the Thirteen Virtues. These laws and virtues place the responsibility onto a practicing individual rather than an omnipotent being of which one must answer to for ones actions. Since life decisions are not black and white, the decision is on Wiccans to make decisions between the shades of gray. This moral sense is developed by seeking to adhere to certain basic ideals. The Book of the Law is a set of ideals set down and revised through the years to cultivate productive results in Wiccan practitioners. The laws are in fact written, and they stand as omnipotent guidelines for people to follow when dealing with certain situations.
The Wiccan Rede, “An ye harm none, do what ye will” (‘an’ being an archaic word meaning ‘if’), is a difficult morality that makes a Wiccan examine the motives for what they do. In the rede ‘harm none’ is a theoretical statement which taken literally cannot be practiced; it must be broken just to survive. 
The primary imperative is not to hurt others, yet still have a free will. If you were to view this part of the Rede as concepts of personal honor, responsibility and fulfillment of duty, it is easy to follow, unlike the literal counterpart — which is not possible. The “do what thou will” places responsibility and judgment from within. Wicca does not foster guilt, self-hatred, admonishment, or any thing that closes ones self off from one’s “self”. Instead, it demands responsibility for one’s actions. Honor is a self guiding principle in the craft, an inner sense of pride and self-respect. This Rede does not infer that Wiccans are pacifists; to say we allow wrong to go unchecked is just not the case. On the contrary, it is harming everyone.
The Thirteen Virtues of Wicca is a list of moral codes for a Wiccan. These codes are guidelines for our deeds and are of complimentary opposites, reflecting a dualism. All thirteen of the virtues may be classified as feminine or masculine. The feminine virtues are a form or state of being. The masculine 
virtues are a force or energy, and a combination of both masculine and feminine virtues are a mode of activity. Some examples of these virtues are tolerance, humility, forbearance, discrimination and wisdom. Wiccans are expected not only to know and study all thirteen, but to practice them in daily application.
The Three Fold Law states, that whatever we do on a physical, mental, or spiritual level will sooner or later affect us, in either a positive or a negative way on all three levels of being. The three levels of being are the mental, physical and the emotional this is commonly a judge of its own and is the most feared virtue of Wicca.
Wicca is a positive religion based on the cycles of nature. Wiccans bring forth positive results through magical workings and rituals, celebrating the changing of the seasons with eight yearly Sabbats. The worship of Gods and Goddesses help Wiccans understand the trials and tribulations of life, and greater understandings of who and what we are as a connected energy and our place in nature. However, it is really the ethical guidelines which put the responsibility on the Wiccan and form the foundation of what makes Wiccan rituals and Wicca itself so powerful.
