Witchcraft is a religion. It is far older than Christianity. There are many practitioners of the Craft today, as followers of our religion often refer to themselves. The one thing I want to get straight with everyone up front, is that we are not devil worshipers, nor are we Satanists. These people do exist, and some even refer to themselves as witches. These people however, despite calling themselves such are not followers of Wicca. Wicca is the religion of witchcraft and the two are often used synonymously. In fact, most witches don't even believe in Satan or the Devil. We find these people as disturbing as most non-witches do.
Many people out there claim to be witches. You should be careful of this. When I talk about witches in these pages, I mean a follower of the Wiccan religion. Many people who have seen a movie or two, set themselves up as witches. Some have read a book by a charlatan and may even believe that what they are doing is correct. Many out there are just looking for attention and feel they can get a shock reaction out of people by claiming to be a witch. Some are on a power trip and want people to follow them. These people may call themselves witches, but we don't. This is part of the reason we set up these pages. Witchcraft in its true form will never ask you to worship any evil entity; desecrate any religious objects or symbols of other religions; break your ties with your family and friends for any reason; harm any person or animal; require you do anything sexual with anyone; ask you to donate large amounts of money; or do anything that you feel uncomfortable doing. If anyone ever asks you to do any of the above, don't do it, and e-mail us here for advice if you like.
Witches generally worship a God and Goddess. They are different aspects of the same deity. This deity is the ultimate, omnipotent God force in the universe. This is the same God that most people worship. We relate better to both a mother and a father figure. Like true children, we often have a somewhat better affinity with our mother. This is why you often see the Goddess with more emphasis within the Craft.
We worship in small groups called covens, or individually. We celebrate eight holidays during the year. These are the solstices, the equinoxes, and four more days spaced approximately equally between these days. These are as follows:
Please see our section on Sabbats for a more detailed description.
These are the names we use. Different traditions may use different names and possibly different dates. This is one of the wonderful things about Witchcraft. There is no dogma that everyone must believe and follow. Everyone worships in the manner they want and believes what they want.
Besides the eight solar festivals listed above, almost all witches hold ceremonies at the Full Moon. The solar festivals are know as sabbats and the lunar ones are called esbats. With the 8 solar festivals and 13 Full Moons, this makes 21 celebrations, or Circles as they are often called, per year. On top of this, many witches also observe the New Moon. Often a Circle will also be held for some special purpose.
Each of the Solar celebrations listed above is very different from the others. As the year progresses through the seasons, there is a very definite flowing and changing of energies. Witches try to be in tune with these ebbs and flows. They live their lives in such a way as to harmonize with the Earth. Although these things affect most people in the form of the winter doldrums or spring fever, witches learn how to use these flows to their best advantage.
One thing that most people associate witches with are spells. Spells take a bit of explaining. A typical spell may consist of casting a circle, burning some incense, lighting a special candle and followed by rhythmic chanting. This spell may be for the witch herself to grant her courage during a trying time ahead. To put this in a light that most people can understand, let's use an analogy that I hope won't offend anyone. If the same trying time was ahead for a catholic, you might find them in a church. They might light a candle at the foot of a statue, kneel and begin to recite the rosary. I find very little difference in the two scenarios. Both have a sacred space, which for the witch was her circle and the catholic, her church. Both had a candle and rhythmic chanting/prayer. Anyone who has heard the rosary recited out loud can't deny that it is rhythmic. In that church I bet that the priests often use incense during special mass celebrations. I believe that both people are doing the same thing. They are invoking the divine power to help them with a problem.
If this is the case, why do people accept the Catholic's form of prayer as sane and normal, but snicker at the mere suggestion of a witch's spell? Every Western religion has one form of magick or another contained within it. In witchcraft we just give this power to all practitioners, and not just keep it reserved for a special priestly class. Spells within Witchcraft can take many different forms. I used the above example just to prove a point.
I think a word about White, Black and Gray Witchcraft is in order. You often hear these terms thrown around. Most witches I know despise these terms as I do. To me there is no such thing as black and white magick. Magick is very much like a gun. In the hands of a police officer protecting the public, the gun is good or white. In the hands of a hood holding up a convenience store, it is evil or black. Magick is the same way. It is the manner in which the operator uses it which is good or bad. Most witches only do things that can be considered good. There is a rule we all follow called the Wiccan Rede. It basically states that you can do whatever you want, as long as you harm no one. This includes yourself. Also by harming someone, we include trying to inflict our will upon them without their consent. By these standards, a love spell is considered harmful, since it tries to inflict the operator's will upon someone else. On the other hand, a spell to find a boyfriend, as long as it doesn't specify anyone in particular, is all right.
Witches tend to obey the Wiccan Rede very strictly. This is because we believe that anything we do, comes back to us three fold. If we do harm, we get three times as much back. If you do good and show love, this we also reap three time over. There is no incentive to curse anyone under this system. One will only hurt them self three times as bad. While I acknowledge that there are people out there claiming to be witches, that do harm and curses, I again refer to what I said above. Many people make claims not knowing any better. Be Careful!
This is just a quick overview of some of what witchcraft is about. Please see Principles of Belief - The Council of American Witches, 1974 for a general listing of belifs that apply to most witches, including us. Many people have done web pages, and written books, that go into Witchcraft in much more detail. I recommend The Truth About Witchcraft Today by Scott Cunningham. See the Suggested Reading List for more details. Also see the Suggested Links page for more internet resources.