Wicca
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Wicca is a religion. It is believed to be based upon pre-Christian traditions of much of the UK, but a lot of it was created in the 1940s by a man named Gerald Gardner. The word "wicca" means "magician" in Old English, and comes from another word meaning "smart."
The people who practice this religion are called Wiccans. They believe in a God and a Goddess, and they practice a kind of magic. Wiccans have eight big holidays each year, called sabbats. A group of Wiccans who worship and do magic together is a coven. Wiccans often call themselves witches, but not all witches are Wiccan.
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[change] Beliefs and practices
There are a lot of different kinds of Wiccans. Different kinds of Wiccans do different things, but all of them believe in these rules.
[change] God and Goddess
All Wiccans believe in a God and a Goddess. Some believe that, even though there is only one God and one Goddess, they have many different names. For instance, the three ancient goddesses Athena, Brigid and Isis are only three parts of one big Goddess.
There are a few Wiccans, called Dianics, who believe that there is only a Goddess and not a God.
[change] Magic or magick
Many Wiccans do magic. Some of them call it "magick," because the K at the end helps them tell which magic is real and which is imaginary (like in a story or "magic tricks" done as a funny show). The use of the spelling "magick" came from the author and occultist Aleister Crowley, whose ideas were influential to the formation of Wicca. They ask their God and Goddess to help change their lives, or the lives of other people. Wiccans say prayers and poems out loud to do magic, or they might burn a candle or some incense. This magic is often called witchcraft, but a person can do witchcraft without being Wiccan.
[change] Altars
Most Wiccans have special places in their houses where they go to pray and do magic. These places are called altars, or sometimes shrines. Wiccans put their holy objects on their altars. This is what you might find on an altar:
- The pentagram and pentacle. A pentacle is a flat object with a Wiccan symbol on it. The symbol looks like a star inside a circle. In common usage, the star is by itself is a pentacle; being in a circle makes it a pentagram. However, because of differing meanings of the pentagram in different cultures and religions, many Wiccans refer to the Wiccan symbol as a pentacle to distinguish themselves from these other groups. The pentagram also stands for the element earth.
- An athame. An athame is a magical knife used in ritual. It traditionally has a black handle, but in modern practice this is not always the case. It is never used to physically cut something.
- A wand. A Wiccan wand is usually not like a magic wand in a book. It's made of wood and sometimes stone.
- A chalice. A chalice is a magical cup. (A chalice can also symbolise the power of the sacred feminine.)
Some Wiccans also put other things on their altars. They might put a statue of their favorite God or Goddess, or a bell, or some candles.
[change] Rules
One of the most important Wiccan rules is called the Rede. The Rede is a long poem which gives advice about how to practice the religion. The last line of this poem says: "An harm ye none, do what ye will." This means, "Do what you want to do, but never hurt anyone or anything." There are also two important poems called The Charge of the Goddess and The Charge of the God.
Wiccans believe that if they do bad magic, things will happen to them that are three times as bad. If they do good magic, things will happen to them that are three times as good. This rule is called the Threefold Rule, the Threefold Law, or the Rule of Three.
[change] Holidays
Wiccans have eight big holidays. These are:
- Yule. Yule is on the winter solstice, usually December 21. This day celebrates the end of the dark winter. People burn big logs in their fireplaces, look at the snow, and sometimes give presents to their children.
- Imbolc happens on February 2. It celebrates the beginning of springtime. A lot of Wiccans worship the goddess Brigid on this day.
- Ostara. Ostara is on the spring equinox. It celebrates the middle of the spring. It's a little like the Christian holiday called Easter.
- Beltane is on the first day of May. Sometimes people who aren't Wiccans call it May Day. People dance around the maypole. They celebrate marriage, birth, and romantic love on this day.
- Litha, sometimes called Midsummer, is on the summer solstice. This is June 21 and the longest day of the year. It is when the summer starts turning darker, the days get shorter. Autumn might begin soon after Litha.
- Lammas is after Litha. Sometimes it's called Lughnadsadh ("lue-NAH-suh"), which is named after the Celtic god Lugh (pronounced "lue"). Lammas is celebrated at the time of the harvest -- when corn and wheat are ready to be made into food. It is on August 1.
- Mabon is the second harvest holiday. It's on the autumn equinox, September 21. It's like the American holiday of Thanksgiving, and Wiccans give thanks to their gods on Mabon.
- Samhain is October 31. It is the Wiccan New Year, and some Wiccans believe that they might be able to see ghosts on this day, or do magic that's very strong. It is pronounced SOW-win (IPA:['saw.ɛn]) because it's not an English word.
- Special note: In the Southern Hemisphere, seasons are reversed and so are these celebrations. Beltane is the first of November, Yule is the 21st of June, Litha is 21st of December, and so forth. The holidays are celebrated this way as they are celebrations of the seasonal changes and special days. They are not dependent on the calendar, but on the cycles of nature.
