Lessons for Wicca 1. Divine We begin the lessons with a little background behind what Wicca is. It is a modern form of what was once called witchcraft. Since the term Witch carries a negative image for many people, it is common that modern witches use the term Wiccan when describing themselves. Wiccans believe that the divine has both a male and a female aspect. These aspects are commonly refered to as the Lord and Lady, or the God and Goddess. The God and Goddess are sometimes given names that come from Roman, Greek, or Celtic dieties. This is done to personalize the image we have of the divine. Notice that there is no evil entity in Wiccan beliefs. The God and Goddess are not beings that are set apart from humans. They are comprised of all matter and energy in the universe. These energies are positive and negative and are used by humans in their everyday lives. Wiccans attemt to direct the positive aspects of these energies into their lives and the lives of those they love. The use of these energies are what we call magick. 2. Tools Sometimes, Wiccans use tools during their rituals and spellcasting. These tools are sacred and should not be touched by another person unless they are practicing magic with the owner of the tools. A Wiccans tools should be kept in a safe place. Some Wiccans only use their tools for magical purposes, while others feel that they should be used in everyday life. Common tools used in Wicca are the athame, chalice, broom, and pentacle among other things. Each Wiccan carefully chooses the tools they use because the tools are as much a part of the person as their fingers and toes are. It is not neccessary to use tools during rituals and spellcasting, but they do help us visualize the way we direct energy. Lesson Two Athame The athame is the ritual dagger. It is never used for cutting. The purpose of the athame is to focus and direct energy during a ritual or casting a spell. Traditionally the handle, or hilt of an athame is black. However, it may be any color that you choose. The athame can be used as a symbol of the God. When dipped in a chalice, it is the symbol of the union of the God and Goddess. Wands are used in much the same way as the athame and since they are not sharp, they are safer for the less coordinated. The staff and sword are similar tools but, being larger, are more difficult to use in confined areas. The athame, wand, staff, and sword are used to direct energy Lesson Two Chalice The chalice is a cup, or goblet that holds liquid during a ritual or casting a spell. There are often two chalices used during a ritual, one to hold water, the other to hold wine. It may be used as a symbol of the Goddess. When an athame or wand is dipped in the chalice, it is the symbol of the union of the God and Goddess. It can be anything from a simple cup to an ornate goblet. Like all tools, it should be held sacred and used only for magickal purposes. The chalice is a symbol of... the goddess with the athame or wand it is a symbol of both Lesson Two Broom The broom, also called besom, is used to sweep away negative energy. It does not have to touch the floor when sweeping because you are not sweeping dirt, but energy. Contrary to popular belief, it is not used for flying. The broom is a symbol of fertility with the broomstick being masculine and the brush being feminine. During a handfasting (wedding) ceremony, it is jumped over with the hope of bringing fertility to the newlywed couple. The broom is used for... sweeping away negative energy Lesson Two Pentacle The pentacle is a five pointed star surrounded by a circle. It holds many meanings and has many uses. Foremost, it is the symbol of protection and many Wiccans wear one as a protective amulet. As a symbol of protection, it is viewed with the top point being the head, the side points being the arms, the lower points being the legs, and the surrounding circle being the God and Goddess. The pentacle is also viewed with the points representing the elements of earth, fire, water, air, and spirit. It is common for a pentacle to be carved on wood or other materials and used during rituals. Items can be placed on a pentacle to consecrate them. The pentacle is a symbol of... protection Lesson Two Bolline The bolline is the Wiccan utility knife. Unlike the athame, the bolline is used for cutting. It is used to harvest and chop herbs, carve wands, and cut ritual cords. The bolline should not be used for any purpose other than that which directly relates to your magickal work. Traditionally, the bolline has a white handle. However, like the athame, it may be any color that you choose. Although it is a utility knife, it should be used with the same respect as any other magickal tool. It is a magickal item and should be treated as such. Since it is used as a cutting tool, it should not be used in place of the athame. The two knives hold entirely different functions and should only be used to fulfill their given purpose. The bolline is used... for cutting Lesson Two Censer The censer is simply an incense burner. It is typically a bowl in which a charcoal block is placed and incense is burned upon. However, it may also be a boat shaped incense burner. It is a good idea to make sure that you use something that will not be damaged by intense heat, especially when burning charcoal. The censer is... an incense burner Lesson Two Altar The altar is the surface that we use when working magick. It holds many of the magickal items that we use during a ritual. An altar can be made out of any surface. Some Wiccans use tree stumps, rocks, tables, or specially made altars. Though an altar isnt neccessary for performing magick, if you are working with other tools it is useful to have something to place them on during the ritual. An altar is used for... placing items on during a ritual Lesson Three Lesson Three The Wiccan Rede Bide the Wiccan Laws we must In perfect love and perfect trust. Live and let live, Fairly take and fairly give. Cast the Circle thrice about To keep the evil spirits out. To bind the spell every time, Let the spell be spake in rhyme. Soft of eye and light of touch, Speak little, listen much. Deosil go by the waxing moon, Chanting out the Witches Rune. Widdershins go by the waning moon, Chanting out the baneful rune. When the Ladys moon is new, Kiss the hand to her, times two. When the moon rides at her peak, Then your hearts desire seek. Heed the North winds mighty gale, Lock the door and drop the sail. When the wind comes from the South, Love will kiss thee on the mouth. When the wind blows from the West, Departed souls will have no rest. When the wind blows from the East, Expect the new and set the feast. Nine woods in the cauldron go, Burn them fast and burn them slow. Elder be the Ladys tree, Burn it not or cursed youll be. When the wheel begins to turn, Let the Beltane fires burn. When the wheel has turned to Yule, Light the log and the Horned One rules. Heed ye Flower, Bush and Tree, By the Lady Blessed be. Where the rippling waters go, Cast a stone and truth youll know. When ye have a true need, Hearken not to others greed. With a fool no season spend, Lest ye be counted as his friend. Merry meet and merry part, Bright the cheeks and warm the heart. Mind the Threefold Law you should, Three time bad and three times good. When misfortune is enow, Wear the blue star on thy brow. True in Love ever be, Lest thy lovers false to thee. Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill: An ye harm none, do what ye will This is called... wiccan rede Lesson Three The Wiccan Rede For the next few sections, we will concentrate on a few key lines of the Wiccan Rede. The first line that I would like to draw your attention to is... Bide the Wiccan Laws we must In perfect love and perfect trust. Live and let live, Fairly take and fairly give, This means that we should follow the laws that we set up for ourselves. These laws are needed to govern what we do with the craft that we learn. We must practice magick with the intent to cause good things to happen to ourselves and those we love and we have to trust that we are doing the right thing. We also have to keep an open mind and allow other to believe differently than we do. We accept what others have to offer us and give back what we can. When it comes to other religions, we should... allow others to believe what they wish Lesson Three The Wiccan Rede The majority of the Wiccan Rede is either self-explanatory or metaphoric. However, there are a couple more points Id like to go over. The next two lines that we will focus on are... Deosil go by the waxing moon, and Widdershins go by the waning moon, Here Id like to point out the differences between deosil and widdershins. Deosil means clockwise and widdershins means counter-clockwise. Also, a waxing moon is when it is going from new to full. A waning moon is when it is going from full to new. You may wish to view waxing as growing, and waning as shrinking. When the moon is waxing, we should go... clockwise Lesson Three The Wiccan Rede The final line of the Wiccan Rede, which Id like to pay attention to next, is by far the most important... Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill: An ye harm none, do what ye will This is sometimes quoted as, The Wiccan Rede. Although it is the heart of the Redes meaning, you can see that there is much more to the Rede itself. As for the meaning of this line, it is twofold. The first part, An ye harm none, is fairly obvious. It means that while working magick, harm no one, not even yourself. The second part, do what ye will, is a bit more tricky. It doesnt mean, do whatever you want. It means that we should do what our true will leads us to do. In total, the closing line of the Wiccan Rede says, As long as you harm no one, even yourself, do what your true will leads you to do. An ye harm none, do what ye will means... As long as you harm no one, even yourself, do what your true will leads you to do Lesson Three The Rule of Three The next thing we will discuss is the Rule of Three, which is also called the Threefold Law. This states that whatever you do comes back to you three times. In working magick, we direct energy into what we do. If the energy from our magick causes harm, either through neglect or intent, the energy will deflect back to us three times. Imagine an echo. You send out sound waves and those waves bounce off walls. You hear what you said several times. This is similar to the Rule of Three. If you cause harm, harm comes back to you repeatedly. If you cause good things to happen, good things will be returned as well. However, you should not do good things just to have good things returned to you. This changes your intent from purity to greed. Cause good things to happen because you want them to, not for any benefit you may receive. On a side note, some Wiccans feel that this energy is returned two times, some feel it is five, nine, or ten. But when it comes down to it, the energy comes back to you. Always be careful what you do. It will come back to haunt you or bless you. The Rule of Three resembles... an echo Lesson Four Magick Now it is time to discuss what magick is. Magick, put simply, is cause and effect. We perform a ritual or spell, the cause, and it develops into a change in the world, the effect. First off, lets talk about how magick relates to the divine. The God and Goddess are all matter and energy in the universe. The energy is what we call magick. The God and Goddess are balance in the universe. The energy that comprises them seeks to be in balance. We humans manipulate this energy for our own purposes. Some people pull the energy from the balanced state into the negative side. Others pull the energy from the balanced state into the positive side. All people use magick, even if they dont notice that they do. As Wiccans, we attempt to reset the balance by finding the negative and counteracting it by pulling the energy stream back towards the positive side. You may have heard the phrase, everything in moderation. This means that if you push too far into either the positive or the negative, you disrupt the balance. You may think that all the money in the world would be a good thing. If you have too much of a good thing, it can damage you. It is possible to eat to excess. Food is good, but too much food causes harm. The same is true with magick. Cause good things to happen, but dont get greedy. Magick, put simply, is... cause and effect Lesson Four Circles Wiccans cast circles to contain the energy that they raise during a ritual. This circle can be marked with stones, candles, cord, flowers, or nothing at all. If it is easier for you to visualize the edge of the circle by marking it, by all means do so. If you are able to hold the edge of your circle in your mind, that is fine too. The important thing to realize is that, even though we call it a circle, it is truly a sphere. The circle is the point where the sphere intersects with the ground. However, the energy is contained above, below, and to the sides. There are many ways to cast the circle. I will present a basic circle that you can modify to fit your needs. Imagine the size of your circle in your mind. Beginning in the east, point your hand (or your wand, athame, staff, or sword) at the easternmost point of your circle, visualizing your energy flowing towards the ground to begin marking your circle. Walk deosil (clockwise) around the circle, noting when you pass the southernmost, westernmost, and northernmost points. Continue around until you reach the easternmost point again, all the while visualizing your energy flowing to the edge of the circle. Then point to the east and mark a pentagram in the air, visualizing the pentagram being formed midair with blue flame, protecting your circle. Next, move to the south, west, and north, marking each direction with a pentagram. Finally, walk around to the east, south, west, and north, visualizing the circle being sealed one last time. End your final walk at the east, completing the circle for the third time. Now is the time to perform your ritual. After the ritual is over, you need to open your circle. To do this, you need to walk widdershins (counter-clockwise) around your circle three times, visualizing it being opened again. There are other things that you can incorporate into your circle, but they need to be personalized to suit your needs. One final note, once the circle is cast, never break it by walking through the edge. If you have to leave the circle, cut a doorway with your athame (hand, wand, staff, or sword) and step through. Then reseal it. Do the same to enter the circle again. A circle isnt really a circle. It is... a sphere Lesson Four Rituals Rituals are the ceremonies that are performed inside your circle. It is common to invite the God and Goddess into the circle before you perform you ritual, but only after the circle has been sealed. Usually, the God is invited first as the protector of the Goddess. Then the Goddess is invited in. Next come the spell or spells that you plan to cast. When this is finished, thank the God and Goddess for joining you in your rite. Now you can open your circle. Through research and a bit of innovation, you can add more to the ceremony if you like. A ritual is... the ceremony performed inside a circle Lesson Four Spells Wiccans use spells to form energy into affecting change. Some Wiccans burn candles, some use herbs, some tie knots in cords, some do all of these things, some do none. There are as many forms of spellcasting as there are Wiccans. The power in any spell is the intent behind it. You must attune the intent of your spell with your true will. This will is the voice inside you. It is the knot in your stomach when you are in the wrong, and the joy in your heart when you are in the right. This is where you find your intent. A spell can be elaborate, including circle casting and ritual, or it can simply be the act of burning a candle with the intent of affecting change. Remember, never cause harm to another person or yourself, either through intent or neglect. For example, if you are casting a spell to bring you love, cast it with the intent of bringing the right person, not a specific person. If you cast it to bring a specific person, you are attempting to override their will and are causing harm to them. Besides, you want a person who loves you, not your magick. Also, with something like a money spell, it is fine to ask for financial security, but make sure you dont forget to have the intent of harming none. You wouldnt want to acquire your wealth through a death in the family. Here is a sample of a simple spell... Item: One green candle. Spell: Light the candle, visualizing the light from the flame sending energy out into the world. This energy causes ripples throughout the world, nudging little factors into bringing money to you. All the while, keep in mind that you dont want your spell to cause harm. In this case, we use a green candle. One of the attributes of the color green is money. Keep in mind that the tools we use are just that, tools. The only power they have is the power we give them. When you visualize the energy shifting, it is neither the candle nor the flame that is shaping it, your will is. However, the tools do help us visualize what we are wanting the energy to do. When we hold an athame and point it at an object, we can visualize sending energy down our arm, through our hand, into the athame, and out towards the object. Over time, we can quickly and easily recognize the athame as a tool that focuses our energy. You may have noticed that we didnt use words in our candle spell. It was intended to show the simplicity of what a spell can be. However, words can be a powerful tool. Throughout your studies, you will come across spells that others have written that include words. It is a good idea to look at the spell and try to understand why each word was chosen. In doing so, you will come to realize how to write your own spells. It is not neccessarily worng to use another persons spell, but the spell itself will not be as strong for you unless you have written it. Imagine this. You need to drive a nail into a wall. In the past, you saw someone use a screwdriver to put a screw into a wall. You decide to use a screwdriver to put your nail into the wall. Now, if you pound the nail just right with the screwdriver, you might just get the nail into the wall. However, had you forged your own path and choosen a hammer to drive the nail, things would have worked so much better. The same goes with spells. Another persons spell may have been intended for a different purpose and definately with different circumstances. It is always better to write your own spells. When casting a spell, it is better to... use your own spell or one you personalize Lesson Four Book of Shadows As you continue to study Wicca, it is a good idea to keep a journal of your progress. Most Wiccans call this personal journal their Book of Shadows. In it, you can keep track of your spiritual growth and ideas, as well as spells and rituals that you develop along the way. Like a diary, most Wiccans keep the contents of their Book of Shadows to themselves. The books are highly personal and really are not meant for the eyes of those who are not involved in Wicca. In many cases, the content of the books would be meaningless to someone outside the Wiccan path. However, it is still a good idea to keep your Book of Shadows private. The Book of Shadows is... a wiccans personal journal
Posted on: Wed, 05 Nov 2014 22:47:37 +0000
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