Wicca Lesson # 1 **********************************************************

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1 Wicca Lesson # 1 Did you know it is a fact that one in five people in the United States dabble into the world of the unknown? Maybe that is why religion of Wicca is the fastest growing religion in the world today. It s true that in today s give it to me know life style people are getting tired of the pie in the sky dream that is sold to each of us in our religious upbringing. Everyday more and more people are leaving the Church and going back to God. People who practice the religion of Wicca are no different. Don t think that the Wicca of Witches are against God - this is not true. Witches believe that just as there are men and women, their must be a God and a Goddess. All things in balance is the basic theory. It makes a lot of sense because after all, I have never met someone who did not have both a Mother and a Father. Wicca is a quite simple religion. Witches worship nature and the belief structure is quite similar to the beliefs of the early Indians. Witches are misunderstood and the movies and Hollywood and Halloween stereotypes don t make it easy to learn the truth about the religion of Wicca. So, let s answer that age old question - What is Wicca? Wicca is a nature based, life-affirming religion that follows a specific code of ethical and moral beliefs. Wicca also seeks to build harmony and self-empowerment in people from all forms of life. Some people get the art of Magick mixed up with Wicca. The truth is, You can practice Wicca without ever using Magick and visa versa. The truth is most Witches practice Magick. It s kind of like this: Wicca Is the car and Magick is the radio. Magick enhances Wicca. The Magick Cauldron is a Wiccian Owned New Age Store In East Stroudsburg PA. The Magick Cauldron can be found online at:

2 HISTORY Before Christianity and recorded history, people honored the Spirit of all things. The sun, Moon, Earth, stars, everything was important. More than 20,000 years ago during the Paleolithic period, anthropologists found statues and cave paintings that told them about Early religion. The oldest of these is Venus of Willendorf is the oldest and dates back to around 22,000 B.C.E. Early Indians worshiped similar to how we do in Wicca today. The fact is, the Indians were about as close as you got to Wicca. Before the 1960 s the term WICCA did not exist. (More on that later) In 371 the Roman Empire made Christianity the official religion. The Christian soldiers, Which were Roman, often killed the Priests of other religions and thus - everyone became Christian. This new religion was open to interpretation by Roman soldiers, they had the Power of the King and were able to kill you or anyone who was not Christian, this how The religion spread so fast and became what it is today. The theory was simple : the King said Christianity is the official religion so - convert now Or die. So, what did they do? YEP, most said: I am Christian Pope Gregory I is actually responsible for the most conversions. ( ) He had Christian Churches built on Pagan worship sites. He added his own Priests to lead the Masses who gathered there. And thus the early Church got a powerful start. Even more stuff happened through the years but in 1604 King James I created what was Called the Witchcraft Act and it said punishment by hanging. King James was terrified Of Witches. Many years later, King James I said that Witchcraft did not exist. However, That being said, the law was never taken off the books and it was responsible for the English Witch trials of 1612,1616,1633,1645 and It was also used in the Salem Trials of 1692 before they got rid of it around The Magick Cauldron is a Wiccian Owned New Age Store In East Stroudsburg PA. The Magick Cauldron can be found online at:

3 Wicca Lesson # 2 Salem 1692 The year is1692 and the place is Salem Mass. It is here that nineteen men and women, were convicted of witchcraft and carted to Gallows Hill for hanging. A Man named Giles Cory, who was an over eighty year old, Uneducated farmer was pressed to death under heavy stones For the crime of refusing to submit to a trial on the charges of witchcraft. Countless others faced accusations of practicing witchcraft. Some ended up in jail for months without speedy trials. Then, as quickly as the hysteria of 1692 that swept through Puritan Massachusetts started, it ended, just as quickly. Why did this travesty occur? Why in Salem? In 1688, John Putnam, one of the most influential elders of Salem Village, invited Samuel Parris, formerly a successful planter and merchant from Barbados, to preach in the Village church. In1689, after negotiations over salary, inflation adjustments and free firewood, Parris accepted the job as Village minister. He moved to Salem Village with his wife Elizabeth, his six-year-old daughter Betty, niece Abigail Williams, and his Indian slave who s name was Tituba. Tituba was acquired by Rev. Parris in Barbados and he grew a fondness for her and brought her to the new land. The Salem was already in the midst of change two clans of people the Putnams and the Porters had started competing for control of Salem village and the pulpit of the Church, and a debate was raging over how independent Salem Village, tied more to the interior agricultural regions, should be from Salem, a center of sea trade. February of 1692 was a very cold winter. It was here in February when young Betty Parris became ill quite strangely. Betty started flipping out, she dashed about, dove under furniture, contorted in pain, and complained

4 of fever. The cause of her symptoms may have been stress, asthma, guilt, boredom, child abuse, epilepsy, and delusional psychosis. To this day, no one is really sure. The symptoms also could have been caused by a disease called "convulsive ergotism" brought on by injecting rye-- eaten as a cereal and as a common ingredient of bread-- infected with ergot. Ergot is caused by a fungus which invades developing kernels of rye grain, especially under warm and damp conditions such as existed at the time of the previous rye harvest in Salem. Studies have been done and it has been concluded that convulsive ergotism causes violent fits, a crawling sensation on the skin, vomiting, choking, and hallucinations. The hallucinogenic drug LSD is a derivative of ergot.) Many of the symptoms or convulsive ergotism seem to match those attributed to Betty Parris, but there is no way of knowing with any certainty if she in fact suffered from the disease. This theory would not explain the afflictions suffered by others in Salem later in the year, unless they too had became afflicted with the same. There is yet another theory to explain the girls' symptoms. Cotton Mather had recently published a popular book titled "Memorable Providences,"In this book it described the suspected witchcraft of an Irish washerwoman in Boston. Betty 's behavior in a lot of ways mirrored that of the afflicted person described in this widely read and discussed book. It was easy to believe that in 1692 in the small town of Salem, with an Indian war raging less than seventy miles away that the devil and evil was very close at Salem. Talk of witchcraft increased when other friends and playmates of Betty s (which included Ann Putnam 11 years old, Mercy Lewis, 17 years old and Mary Walcott), began to exhibit similar unusual behavior. They called on Dr. William Griggs, to examine the girls. He could not put his finger on the situation and suggested that the girls' problems might have a supernatural origin. The widespread belief that evil Witches and their devil targeted children and the mixed paranoia of the time made the doctor's diagnosis seem increasing true. Soon Rev. Parris neighbor, Mary Sibley, suggested a form of counter magic. Mary told Tituba to bake a rye cake with the urine of the afflicted victim

5 and feed the cake to the family dog. ( Dogs were believed to be used by witches as agents to carry out their devilish commands.) At this time, the suspicion had already begun to focus on Tituba, she had been known to tell the girls tales of omens, voodoo, and witchcraft from her native land and native folklore. Tituba s participation in the urine cake episode sealed her fate as an accused Witch. As all this was happening, the number of girls afflicted continued to grow. (rising to seven) Now it also included, Ann Putnam, Elizabeth Hubbard, Susannah Sheldon, and Mary Warren. The girls contorted into weird and grotesque poses, fell down into postures as if frozen, and complained of biting and pinching sensations on parts of their bodies. In a place like Salem village, where everyone believed that the devil was real and close at hand, the affliction of the girls became an obsession. Sometime after February 25, Tituba baked the witch cake. On February 29, arrest warrants were issued against Tituba and two other women, Betty Parris and Abigail Williams named their afflicters and the Salem witch-hunt officially began. Needless to say, anyone who was practicing Witchcraft (a nature based religion) (Wicca) stopped on a dime or went into hiding out of fear. Again, those magistrates were sent in for near by Boston, but were under English rule. Wicca Lesson # 3 Wicca was a term that was first coined by Gavin and Yvonne Frost around 1968 For use when they started The Church and School of Wicca. prior to that, almost No one used the word Wicca. Some people say that Gerald B. Gardner brought Witchcraft to The United States from England. This is another mis-conception. Gerald did however, step up and show that the Religion was alive and well here in the United States. What I am getting at here is that there Are many people responsible for the craft getting it s start here in the United States and we Owe them all a truck load of Thanks for defending our religious freedom and allowing us

6 the Right to practice our religion of Wicca. So, what is it that real Witches don t do? Real Witches Don t * Hurt people in any way. Not physically, emotionally, spiritually, magically or mentally or any other way. * Take illegal drugs or do illegal actions. We follow the rules set up by our communities. * Work black magick - Witches believe that Magick is not good or bad - it is a force to be used like electric. Our choices of how we use this force determine if it is good or bad. *Eat babies or pet animals - we love children and our pets - we use food as our source. * Worship Satan - the fact is, Satan was created by the Christians to keep people in line We don t worship him and we don t even believe in him. We are smart enough to do the Research and see that he was created. Okay, what else don t Witches do? Witches don t: *use the term warlock to describe a male Witch. The term Warlock was popular in the Television series Bewitched but the word means traitor *drink or use blood *summon demons * talk about angels or use them *believe in Hell * go to church in the Christian sense of the word. *use Satanic Symbols Nope, Witches don t do these things and as you see, there are good reasons for this. So, what do Witches do? Well it is true that we dance around a fire. It is true That we celebrate life and living in every way we can. We do practice our Craft. We do believe in a Goddess and a God. We do believe that we are creators in our own rite. We don t see God or Goddess (also known as God/dess a term which means both the male and female) as something outside of us. We do believe in God/dess as a Universal form of energy that we can all tap into and use And even must return to. We do believe that we are all created equal and are one in the eyes of God/dess. That does not mean we are judged be a God/dess looking to punish us or correct us based on good or bad. We do honor all positive religious paths and try not to judge others as we don t like to be judged. We do believe in prayer, we just don t feel that it has to include things like: In Jesus

7 Name Or Amen which means all MEN and leaves out the Women of the world/ So, think about these things and you will see that our views have similar and non similar beliefs. That is Wicca is like other religions of the world and each religion is different at the same time. We believe in the concept of a Mother and Father God. Well, better yet, a Mother Goddess and a Father God. Witches separate the God figure into male and female. Each of these Gods and Goddess have many names, For example: some Goddess names are Isis, Diana, Kali and some God names are Ra, Pan and many others. In Wicca, all things in balance. Male and Female, God and Goddess, Positive and Negative. Now this is where it might get a little weird for some people and they mis-judge us on this belief. Like the God s of old - way back before Christ walked this earth. The Goddess could be Mother and Lover to a God OR the God could be Father and Lover. This has it s basis in part due to the lack of written materials that were passed down during What is known as the burning times. We are a religion, like all other religions that is, we created our own creation myths. The Goddess and God are sometimes referred to as the Lord and Lady. Also the people Who run a group circle, known as The High Priest and High Priestess are also called Lord and Lady in the circle. A Few Types of Witches Let s talk about different types of Witches. There are so many different paths of Witchcraft and with these comes rules set up by each order. Gardnerian- this was started in the late 1950 s by Gerald Gardner. Dr. Gardner went public about practicing Witchcraft after England repealed The Witchcraft laws. Gardnerians have a degree system that they use. Alexandrians - in the 1960 s this was founded by Alex Sanders this is also Similar to Gardnerian but the place more emphasis on ceremonial magic. Seax- Wica - in 1972 Dr. Raymond Buckland, an English man and student of Dr. Gardner s formed this branch of Witchcraft. This system

8 Is based on Saxon traditions. Dianic - the focus here is on the Goddess and specifically DIANA. Most of These are women only groups. Celtic - this system looks to ancient Celtic traditions and God/dess forms. Solitaire - this means one working alone and can follow their own blend of whatever The Eclectic Witch - pulls form many different traditions. Hereditary Witch - I don t believe in this one - Someone is not a Witch because Their Grand Mother was or Their Mom or Dad. If there is anyone who claims To be this type of Witch I usually issue a challenge that so far, in my 40 years Of practicing Witchcraft has never been met. So now you know some of the types of Witches. The question for most is will I work solitaire or with a coven Which means - alone or with a group of Witches. BONUS GIFT: FREE SPELLS AND SUCH STEP ONE Take A Ritual bath The first step should be to take a ritual bath. To do this you should get some essential oil that is to your liking. You can also select herbs based on your wants, needs and desires as you learn more about them. Draw a nice warm bath and drop in some oil and herbs. Only use a few drops of the oil, you just want to get the essence. Next, if you have sea salt, which you will next time if not right now, drop in a pinch. Get yourself some candles and some good quality incense, make this bath a magical experience for you. While you are in the bath, I want you to meditate if you know how, or just think about, whatever it is that you want to create in your life at this time. This ritual bath makes your body clean physically and gets rid of the cares of the day. Just allow the water to sooth you and make you feel energized once again. As you are ready to drain the bath, sit in the water and imagine in your mind s eye. The Magick Cauldron is a Wiccian Owned New Age Store In East Stroudsburg PA. The Magick Cauldron can be found online at: **********************************************

9 BONUS GIFTS SPELLS: The spell is at the heart, folk magic. Spells are simply, a ritual in which tools are used for a reason. IE: to create luck, find love, make more money. To use spells three things should be met: #1 Need - you should need it #2 Emotion - you should be able to feel it #3 knowledge - that is, knowing how to do the spell and what you want from it. You can use a rhyme or the power of words or chant: Like: *Money, Money Come To Me, As I Will So Mote It Be * I have a need that must be met, please help me to make $800 for my rent * I ask the Universe to provide me the perfect lover BONUS GIFT A SPELL FOR MONEY Buy a green candle and carve a dollar sign into the side of it. ($) Please it in the center of where ever you want to work and start to chant: Oh Creature of wax and wick bring me money and brink it quick - (say this nine times while holding your hands over the candle.) Now light the candle and allow it to burn. As you light it or shortly after say this: When this candle burns to it s socket, it adds money to my pocket. Enjoy! The Magick Cauldron is a Wiccian Owned New Age Store In East Stroudsburg PA. The Magick Cauldron can be found online at: