[History of Witches IMAGE]

© 1995,1996 Untangle Incorporated

Last Updated:Tuesday, February 20th, 1996

History of Witchcraft

Wiccan Beliefs

Since the religion of Wicca (or Witchcraft) is so diverse in it's beliefs, I have included several documents here that encompass the majority of the traditions involved. Again, this is simply a basis...NOT the be all and end all.

Wiccan Rede Bide ye wiccan laws you must,
in perfect love and perfect trust
Live ye must and let to live,
fairly take and fairly give
For the circle thrice about
to keep unwelcome spirits out
To bind ye spell wll every time,
let the spell be spake in rhyme
Soft of eye and light of touch,
speak ye little, listen much
Deosil go by the waxing moon,
chanting out ye baleful tune
When ye Lady's moon is new,
kiss ye hand to her times two
When ye moon rides at her peak,
then ye heart's desire seek
Heed the north winds mighty gale,
lock the door and trim the sail
When the wind comes from the south,
love will kiss thee on the mouth
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 ye Lady's tree,
burn it not or cursed ye'll be
WHen the wheel begins to turn,
soon ye Beltane fires will burn
When the wheel hath turned a Yule
light the log the Horned One rules
Heed ye flower, bush and tree,
by the Lady blessed be
Where the rippling waters go,
cast a stone, the truth ye'll know
When ye have and hold a need,
harken not to others greed
With a fool no season spend,
or be counted as his friend
Merry meet and merry part,
bright the cheeks and warm the heart.
Mind ye threefold law ye should
three times bad and three times good
When misfortune is enow,
wear the star upon thy brow
True in love my ye ever be,
lest thy love be false to thee
These eight words the wiccan rede fulfill;
An harm ye none, do what ye will.

One of the Pagan Oaths recognised nationally here in the U.S.

A Pledge to Pagan Spirituality

I am a Pagan and I dedicate Myself to channeling the Spiritual Energy of my Inner Self to help and to heal myself and others.
* I know that I am a part of the Whole of Nature. May I grow in understanding of the Unity of all Nature. May I always walk in Balance.
* May I always be mindful of the diversity of Nature as well as its Unity and may I always be tolerant of those whose race, appearance, sex, sexual preference, culture, and other ways differ from my own.
* May I use the Force (psychic power) wisely and never use it for aggression nor for malevolent purposes. May I never direct it to curtail the free will of another.
* May I always be mindful that I create my own reality and that I have the power within me to create positivity in my life.
* May I always act in honorable ways: being honest with myself and others, keeping my word whenever I have given it, fulfilling all responsibilities and commitments I have taken on to the best of my ability.
* May I always remember that whatever is sent out always returns magnified to the sender. May the Forces of Karma move swiftly to remind me of these spiritual commitments when I have begin to falter from them, and may I use this Karmic feedback to help myself grow and be more attuned to my Inner Pagan Spirit.
* May I always remain strong and committed to my Spiritual ideals in the face of adversity and negativity. May the Force of my Inner Spirit ground out all malevolence directed my way and transform it into positivity. May my Inner Light shine so strongly that malevolent forces can not even approach my sphere of existence.
* May I always grow in Inner Wisdom & Understanding. May I see every problem that I face as an opportunity to develop myself spiritually in solving it.
* May I always act out of Love to all other beings on this Planet -- to other humans, to plants, to animals, to minerals, to elementals, to spirits, and to other entities.
* May I always be mindful that the Goddess and God in all their forms dwell within me and that this divinity is reflected through my own Inner Self, my Pagan Spirit.
* May I always channel Love and Light from my being. May my Inner Spirit, rather than my ego self, guide all my thoughts, feelings, and actions.
SO MOTE IT BE

In the Wiccan Rede above, and scattered in the oath, we find words such as Perfect Love and Perfect Trust. What are these strange words and what do they mean?

Before one can analyse the meaning behind the phrase "Perfect Love and Perfect Trust", one must first define the words. For this purpose, I will use the Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language 1982 edition.

Perfect: adj. [L. per-, through + facere, do]

1. complete in all respects; flawless
2. excellent, as in skill or quality
3. completely accurate
4. sheer; utter [a perfect fool]
5. Gram. expressing a state or action completed at the time of speaking - vt.
1. to complete
2. to make perfect or nearly perfect - n.
1. the perfect tense
2. a verb form in this tense - perfectly adv - perfectness n.
Love: n. [
1. strong affection or liking of someone or something.
2. a passionate affection for one of the opposite sex.
3. The object of such affection, sweetheart.
Trust: n.[ON, traust]

1.
a) firm belief in the honesty, reliability, etc. of another; faith b) the one trusted
2. confident expectation, hope, etc.
3. responsibility resulting from confidence placed in one.
4. Care, custody
5. something entrusted to one....
Using these definitions, we come up with "Flawless strong affection and flawless faith.

Is this possible? Those that follow the religion of Wicca often give excuses for this just being words. When this is the case, they are not obeying their faith....thus..they are not following perfect love and perfect trust. But to the rest...the answer is a resounding YES. This does not ask that you "like" a person.

It asks that you see the divine light and love within individual whether you like them or not. Can this be done...YES. As to the perfect trust...we can always trust a fox to be a fox right. Therefore, when we are entering circle, we can honestly answer perfect trust even if it is on shaky ground. We may have faith that this person will act like any other human.

It with these beliefs and doctrines that I state that not only was the doctrine, or teaching almost identical, but the vocabulary was extensively the same.


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