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Annie Professor Roth English 201
Shadows “Witch” is a very strong word with many
meanings attached to it. Different people think of different things upon
hearing it. Some might think of pure fantasy, while others think of the
Christian devil and then there are those who think of the Wiccan
religion. Though there are Wiccans who do not like
to be called “witch” because of the negative history, there are quite a few
who accept the word with pride. They accept it in order to try and erase the
bad press associated with witches.
There are so many aspects and layers to Wicca but one only needs to
know a few things to understand that a witch isn’t someone to judge right
away. Wiccans have rules like any other religion,
they worship a Divine Being (often more than one), some of their more
recognisable symbols need to be brought to light, and they have holy days and
rites of passage just like anyone else. First, one must know the rules. The most important rule of Wicca and really
the only one expected to be followed is “Harm None.” It is our Golden Rule;
it basically means the same as “Do unto others”. Most of the Wiccan Rede which can be
compared in some ways to the Ten Commandments is really more like advice or
guidelines if you will. It is not necessary and certainly would be very
difficult to follow it to the letter. However, the last eight words should be
followed if one wants to be a good person. Those words are “An it harm none, do what ye will.” The precise wording
varies but it means the same. As long as it harms no one, yourself included
then you may do as you like. This is not a free for all—far from it. You have
to think about every possible outcome, consequence and repercussion before
you do anything. There is
something else attached to this and that is the Law of Three or the Threefold
Law. This means that whatever you do will come back to you threefold. If you
do something good the reward will be three times greater. If you do something
bad then the punishment will be three times worse. It is that whole karma
thing in action. Of course, sometimes the rewards and punishments will not be
obvious. Patience is an important trait or skill to have in Wicca. If a spell
does not work then you should not be doing it. There is something else that
you should know about Wicca; witches do not proselytise. “Most Wiccans consider it unethical to impose their beliefs on
others, let alone tell them how to worship” as said in Exploring Wicca
(Lady Sabrina 25). This is very true, it is highly unethical to tell someone
how to worship, not to mention highly annoying. A person should be free to
choose his or her own path. It shouldn’t matter what it is as long as the
person is truly happy with their decision and chosen deity, if they in fact
choose one. Wicca is
a nature based religion and therefore sees deity everywhere in the natural
world. However, some put a face or faces on a supreme being or beings. The
main deities of Wiccan Witches are the Mother
Goddess and occasionally the Father God also known as Mother Earth and Father
Sky, Sister Moon and Brother Sun. Scott Cunningham in Wicca: A Guide for
the Solitary Practitioner states that “Every deity that has received
worship on this planet exists with the archetypal God and Goddess” (9). This
of course means that some only believe in the two instead of believing that
all the pantheons are not made up of individuals, that they are aspects
only. Now, some Wiccans
believe the God is the Goddess’s consort only, and others believe they are
equal partners. Goddess religions though have been around a lot longer than
today’s patriarchal ones. This is why Wiccans,
great deals of whom are female and/or feminist prefer the Mother. Actually,
that is not the only reason. A lot of Wiccans are
converts, “born again Wiccan” if you will and they
were disillusioned by the patriarchal religion they were brought up in. There
are of course those who believe that the Divine Being is genderless and
capable of many faces and places. In other words there are monotheistic Wiccans who don’t define themselves as Pagan, though they
are few and far between. According to Margot Alder in Drawing Down the
Moon these people are often scoffed at by the more traditional Wiccans and are told that they should call their religion
something else (125-126). So, we will not focus on those monotheistic people.
Now,
instead we will go over some of the symbols of Wicca that you may or may not
have heard of. These symbols are the pentacle, the wand, the cauldron,
everybody’s favourite, the broom and the Book of Shadows. The pentacle first of all is in no way related
to the Christian devil—not originally anyway; it is only the inverted
pentacle that Satanists use. Wiccans don’t even
believe in a devil. “Their perversion of our sacred symbol doesn’t make our
symbol evil any more than their inversion of the cross makes that Christian
symbol evil” (Holland 37). I just want
to make sure that’s clear before continuing. Now, the proper pentacle stands
pointing to the sky and its five points represent the five elements that
witches like to work with. These elements are spirit, air, water, earth, and
fire. The pentacle can be used for such things as protection, meditation and
other positive things. The wand
is an iconic symbol of magic users but I’m sad to say that unless you’re a
good illusionist wands do not make things appear. Nor can they be used to
blast people with light shows and the like. A wand is just a tool in ritual
kept on one’s altar. It is used for casting circles (drawing a circle in the
air) to keep magic from going haywire and can also be used to channel energy.
If you want a light show, you’re going to have to have a really superb
imagination. Most witches will agree that it is better to make your own wand
rather than buying one already made. If you
know anything about witches then you’ll know that they make potions in
cauldrons. Though cauldrons are often used for making potions no witch in her
or his right mind would use actual newts and frogs and dogs. In fact, ‘Tongue
of Dog’, a phrase I’m sure most people have heard is a folk name for the herb
Houndstongue which is Cynoglossum officinale in science speak. In his Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs Scott
Cunningham says that Houndstongue can be used to
tie dogs’ tongues “If placed in the shoe, this herb will prevent dogs from
barking at you; in effect ‘tying’ their tongues” (128). Cauldrons are meant
to be cast iron and have three legs; however, exceptions can be made as some
witches can’t afford a big ol’ cast iron pot.
They’re not just used for potions by the way, you can actually cook food in
them; they’re great multi-taskers. A witch
flying on a magical broom before a full moon is probably one of the most
recognisable images there are, especially during the Halloween season.
However this is impossible in real life. Brooms or besoms as witches call
them are typically used for ritual cleansing of workplaces and the like. They
are also used in some fertility rites. In the Encyclopaedia of Witches and
Witchcraft it says “…the association between witches and brooms relates
to pagan fertility rites to induce crops to grow high” (Guiley
33). Rosemary Ellen Guiley also states that people
would mount the brooms rather like hobby horses and danced in the fields
leaping into the air (33). It is easy to believe that if viewed from a
distance this could have been mistaken for flying. Spells
are indeed kept in a witch’s Book of Shadows but it is so much more than a
spell book. Some witches though prefer to call their Book of Shadows a Grimoire. “I prefer to call them grimoires,
because they are in fact, Books of Illumination” ( Like anyone else witches have holy
days. There are eight of them and they are called Sabbats
or Cross-Quarter and Quarter Festivals; four major (Cross-quarter) and four
minor (quarter). These are days of celebration, harvest and looking at life
and the world anew. Imbolc on February second is
the first of the major Sabbats. This day celebrates
the nearing of spring when trees begin to bud and grass begins to push
through the snow. There is a line in the Rede that
says “When the time for Imbolc shows watch for
flowers through the snows.” Imbolc is sacred to the
Celtic goddess Brighid and is a fire festival. It
is also when Witches start spring cleaning. Beltane is the second of the
major Sabbats, usually falling on the first of May.
In the Celtic calendar this marks the beginning of summer, the days are
longer and everything is full bloom (unless you’ve had a long winter). It is
a festival of fire and fertility, the perfect time for fertility rites. In
the old days men and women would dance and feast around a bonfire and couples
would be formed. The third major Sabbat is Lughnasadh on August first when the Harvest begins. It
signifies the coming of autumn and Witches mourn the death of the sun but
give thanks for what they have. The last major Sabbat
is Samhain also known as Halloween the end of
harvest season. This is the Witches New Year and the beginning of winter and
when the veil between this world and the next is at its thinnest. The
minor Sabbats fall in between the major ones, why
we call them major and minor I honestly have no idea. The first Quarter
festival is Ostara which falls on March
twenty-first, the spring equinox. The days and nights are the same length and
Witches rejoice in the freshness of spring. This day can be called the
Witches’ Easter because we have many of the same traditions such as dying
eggs and had them first by the way. But I do not want to get into religious
politics. Litha or the summer solstice is the next
minor Sabbat and marks the middle of summer. Why
else would it be called Midsummer? Everything is in bloom and Witches
celebrate the beauty of nature. According to In a
Witch’s life there are certain important events that are called rites and are
marked with rituals. However, according to Wiccan Rites are essentially rites of passage and are
scattered throughout the person’s life. If born into Wicca then the first
rite would be a Wiccaning, which is rather like a
Baptism. This would be a ritual to place the baby under the protection of the
Goddess. Usually, as the child grew he or she would be allowed to choose
their own path. The next rite would be Initiation which simply marks a new
Witch’s dedication to the Goddess and the Craft ( The Great Rite is also something that a Witch
might choose not do to. It represents the sacredness of sexuality, where the
Goddess and God are evoked into the performing couple. No worries, the act is
only symbolic (i.e. with clothes) when in front of a group but in private the
couple may do as they wish. The Great Rite might be done at Handfastings. A Croning
ceremony is for female witches only and it marks her transition into the last
stage of her life. This typically takes place after or during menopause.
Finally, there are the Funeral rites which should be fairly self explanatory.
As Wiccans believe in reincarnation they see death
as part of a cycle and the chance to continue on to the next life. So, this
can be either sullen or a grand affair. There is so much left unsaid on witches in
this paper but hopefully what was said is enough to help understand them just
a little better. “Witch” is still a strong word and will likely remain so for
some time to come. However, as more and more witches no longer fear to come
out of the “broom closet” so to speak, others are beginning to see that they
or perhaps I should say we are not
to be feared. It will be a slow process as most still don’t recognise Wicca
as an actual religion and the more stubborn of Christians will simply refuse
to see that true witches are not evil. With any luck though as witches keep
putting the word out, telling anyone who will listen about our beliefs and
rules, then maybe one day we will be accepted (or at least left alone) by
others. Wiccan witches are good decent people who
deserve the respect that everyone else gets. Works Cited Adler, Margot. Drawing
Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess Worshippers, and Other Pagans in Cunningham,
Scott. Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical
Herbs. 27th. Llewellyn Publications, 1997. Cunningham,
Scott. Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner. 29th. Llewellyn Publications, 2001. Guiley, Rosemary Ellen. The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft. 2nd.
Checkmark Books, 1999. Holland, Eileen. The Wicca Handbook. York Beach, ME: Samuel Weiser, Inc., 2000 Sabrina, Lady. Exploring Wicca: The Beliefs, Rites, and Rituals of the Wiccan Religion. |
