Ask A Wiccan

[Jembru]

Re: Ask A Wiccan

I've wanted to ask that question myself Siloh. It's the impression I get too. There seems to be a greater trend towards Nordic/Heathen traditions in the States. My guess is that Americans like to look to their roots for spiritual inspiration, often leading them to heathen paths. The UK on the otherhand, still has existing Gaelic/Celtic communities. Wicca also originated here, so although there are more ecclectic pagans/witches than wiccans these days, the communities are still noticeably influenced by Wicca, keeping witchcraft in general more popular. That's only a guess, I have no idea really, but I have definitely noticed the same pattern you have. There certainly seems to be a different flavour between UK and US witchcraft traditions.

I agree that the OP appears to have vanished, but I think Wicca is such a variable tradition, that it is better to get answers from several practitioners, rather than just one.

[Siloh]

Re: Ask A Wiccan

I am so glad you didn't find that offensive. And glad I'm not the only one with this impression.

Okay, I have a question I don't know where else to put, really. The whole generational witchcraft thing... Bunk or of significance? This is a question I've had for a while, but Jembru mentioned that Celtic tradition was still alive regionally, and my heritage is robustly Celtic, so this is a path I'm interested in exploring.

What say you? Can magic be inherited as well as learned? Not like, oh, I just birthed another sorcerer, but do you think that you can have an inherited talent for magic, the same way one can have an inherited talent for music or math?

[MyPseudonym]

Re: Ask A Wiccan

Jenbru, thanks for your commentary. I agree about not speaking about it to people who are skeptical of what you are doing. But then again, I am skeptical of what I am doing...I'm not really sure if it is magick working or if things are just going how I please at that moment, but it doesn't seem to affect what I am doing...sometimes I call spellcrafting mental masturbation...I'm not sure how much it accomplishes, but it makes me feel good. Mental masturbation or not, the spells I have crafted have coincided with pleasant events. And I don't see anything wrong with sharing with others who might feel good doing it. I think as long as you put your energy into something it can manifest.

That is an interesting question, Siloh! And since it is not actually Wicca-related, I will comment...I have strong Celtic heritage, too, along with German, so I am a Celt-Heathen hybrid, I think. These things just naturally appeal to me aesthetic-wise and I think I have really good luck when I craft spells with Celtic pagan influence. I just wrote a creativity ritual for Brigid and I have been on a poetic whirlwind...

[Jembru]

Re: Ask A Wiccan

Ooh, Brigid has a very special place in my heart, as she is quite likely the Irish version of my Patroness, Brigantia! I'd ask to see the ritual but erm.. I'd hate it to lose power

As for the 'is it magic or not'. I have a similar feeling, but then I remember a conversation from a panel show called QI, in which one of the contestants claimed that starlings swarm to avoid sharks (like fish). They'll never come in contact with a shark of course, but they don't know that it's not because of the swarming behaviour, so as far as they are concerned, swarming = protection from sharks, so they keep doing it. Of course, this was meant as a joke, but there's a point in there somewhere. Cause and effect aren't always easy to prove, or even identify, but hey, spells are fun!

[GaiaDianne]

discouraged by Valerie Voigt (see http://www.spelcastor.org/teacher.htm )

http://www.spelcastor.org/teacher.htm ]

http://www.bluemoonwicca.org/spells.html)

(Rev. 7/20/01) - http://bluemoonwicca.org/class09.html[/QUOTE]

http://bluemoonwicca.org/class09.html

C. Focusing On The Basics:
Spell-casting is an advanced at http://wicca.cnbeyer.com/fluffy.shtml

:

Really though, there is no right or wrong way to practice wicca. ....

GAIADIANNE REPLYING:

I have to agree that creativity and personal development are important, but i must also say that there are reasons why some things have become traditional principles and practices -- Because they work! Why re-invent the wheel when many, many people have already discovered powerful, meaningful ways of using it and have passed down that knowledge and experience?

Also, i think the idea that "there's no right way" can be a troublesome and even dangerous one. Wicca is not "whatever someone wants it to be or whatever they make of it".....It is a particular religion / Path, with particular principles and practices, that have been developed and done certain ways for important reasons. There are many, many other perfectly fine and worthy Paths, and even self-created Paths that a person can create or develop if they wish to "make it up as they go along" -- But if they want to practice Wicca, they need to practice it as it is, not as they make it up.

I hope that's helpful to someone -- Blessed Be ~ GaiaDianne

[Louisvillian]

Re: Ask A Wiccan

Is this a misconception, or does Britian seem to have a stronger relationship with the occult, or maybe just more prominent practicing witches?.

Partly, partly not. The US has a thriving occult, pagan, and neo-witchcraft community...but more of by dint of its large size, large population, and culture of mixing other cultures and ideas.
The UK has a thriving occult and such community because it was a big centre for the intellectual side of the occult revival. It was the birthplace and home of a lot of its leaders, writers, theorists, and practitioners. That, and there's just the historical side of it. The US' pagan roots extend mainly to the 1960's Counterculture, and a little bit to the 1800's Spiritualist movement. Britain's pagan roots extend to antiquity, and traces through a living tradition of Folk Christianity that integrated pagan customs into the Christian religion.

Which isn't to say that American pagans or witches are any less so than British ones. Just that Britain has historical precedents and a historical situation that led to it having a stronger occult subculture in the past.

snip re: Wicca

I absolutely agree. Even though I am solitary practitioner mainly and started out as such, I recognise that Wicca has a certain set way that it ought to be practised and it has a certain degree of traditional structure and ritual that ought to be observed. It lacks clearly defined beliefs, but that's because it is built around clearly defined practices.

I'm not going to say that it's something that requires initiation and lineage. In part because of my own identification as a solitary practitioner, and desire to remain Wiccan. But in part because I can recognise that Wicca has changed over time and that initiation isn't strictly necessary to be Wiccan in general.

[JackofPens]

Re: Ask A Wiccan

What is the best way, (in your opinion) to invoke the elements in a ritual?

[nbdy]

Re: Ask A Wiccan

I am semi-famous for mispronouncing words. I think it is because I am far more likely to have read them than hear them said; however, I have said the word "Wiccan" many times and never been corrected. I have heard the word said many times and it has been the same pronunciation. Last Saturday when I said the word "Wiccan" a woman who is at or near age 90 corrected my pronunciation. For the record, she is not a Wiccan, inclining more toward Native American traditions. Anyway, I pronounced it much the same way as the word "chicken." She quickly told me that it is pronounced we-KAWN, where the 'e' is short as in the word "ten." So is this the original and correct pronunciation? I have never heard it before, but perhaps I, all those around me, have mispronounced the word Wiccan for nearly 20 years.

[Ophidia]

Re: Ask A Wiccan

I am semi-famous for mispronouncing words. I think it is because I am far more likely to have read them than hear them said; however, I have said the word "Wiccan" many times and never been corrected. I have heard the word said many times and it has been the same pronunciation. Last Saturday when I said the word "Wiccan" a woman who is at or near age 90 corrected my pronunciation. For the record, she is not a Wiccan, inclining more toward Native American traditions. Anyway, I pronounced it much the same way as the word "chicken." She quickly told me that it is pronounced we-KAWN, where the 'e' is short as in the word "ten." So is this the original and correct pronunciation? I have never heard it before, but perhaps I, all those around me, have mispronounced the word Wiccan for nearly 20 years.

It's probably a tomayto/tomahto kind of thing. I've heard it pronounced 'witchen' before, but never where it rhymes with 'lawn'.

[nbdy]

Re: Ask A Wiccan

Well, she was quite old, and condescendingly certain. I was somewhat taken aback to be honest since people usually correct a mispronunciation with a little grace and humor. Maybe pronunciation was an issue decades ago that has since been left to do what it will. *shrug*

[paneides]

Re: Ask A Wiccan

Oh this thread is pure gold. As someone looking into Wicca there are so many great questions here I am sure to find some help here. Thank you for starting this thread (and thanks to those who has asked the questions and contributed so far). I have bookmarked this thread to keep coming back to. :O)

[MaskedOne]

Re: Ask A Wiccan

I've removed a post as grossly off-topic. There is leeway for thread drift but try to stay somewhere within a hundred miles of the topic especially in q&a threads.

[IsisSekhemetRa]

Re: Ask A Wiccan

Is the worship of gods/godesses necessary in Wicca, or is one able to practice without such beliefs?

You ask a good question. In the kind of Wicca that focuses on just the goddess then, no, you don't have to believe in the god. I know there's Atheist Wiccans, though I don't know how that's possible. But, no, I don't think that you need to believe in a god and goddess to be Wiccan.

[thalassa]

Re: Ask A Wiccan

You ask a good question. In the kind of Wicca that focuses on just the goddess then, no, you don't have to believe in the god.

Usually this is called Dianic Wicca...I only say "usually" because there are always exceptions

I know there's Atheist Wiccans, though I don't know how that's possible. But, no, I don't think that you need to believe in a god and goddess to be Wiccan.

I know of some Wiccans that don't believe in gods as literal beings with independent agency, but worship as if they do (with that in mind, I also know a number of different types of Pagans that take this, or similar, approaches).



Personally, I think what makes one a Pagan of any tradition (including Wiccan) is praxis, rather than doxa. Worship the Lord and Lady, follow the 8 Sabbat Wheel of the Year, incorporate the Rede and the Threefold Law into your personal ethics (regardless of how literally you take it), and follow a basic Gardnerian/Alexandrian ritual framework for most ritual, and I'm prepared to acknowledge your claim to be Wiccan (British Traditional Witchcraft, though, is a whole 'nother can of worms)... But I also think that, having mostly come from Christian traditions (and often strict ones), many people forget that (or never learn there is a difference between the two).

[Autumn_Phoenix]

Re: Ask A Wiccan

I've been reading Scott Cunningham's "Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner". I *think* I understand that one can be Wiccan and not practice what witchcraft, in much the same way that not all who practice witchcraft are Wiccan. Are the rites and rituals observed during Esbats and Sabbats considered witchcraft?