A Brief overview of Wicca:
When witchcraft is practiced as a religion, it is referred to by the Old English term for witch, Wicca. This term is used to counter all the negative stereotypes that society has given witchcraft. Wicca is primarily a religion that worships nature, and sees all creation as sacred. In fact, all Wiccan holy days follow the cycles of nature and the changes in the seasons. Wicca also worships both a male and female deity, a female Goddess and a male God, who had together created the world and everything in it. Witchcraft is neither black nor white. Witchcraft is a religion that respects Mother Nature and She is neither completely positive or completely negative. The same holds true for all witches and all people.
Spells are used by Wiccans, and are a series of rituals and prayers that are conducted to ask for divine help in a certain aspect of life. All spells must adhere to the witchcraft code of conduct, meaning that any spells used to harm another person is forbidden. In witchcraft, spells may also be changed or adapted to suit a Wiccans personality or specific wishes in casting the spell.
What exactly is witchcraft, spells, and magick?
Many years ago, I asked myself those same questions, and I'm still learning the answers. My journey started at 15 years of age, with a very understanding mother and a visit to a New Age Shop. I remember entering the shop with a sense of awe, and instantly being put at ease by a wonderfully sweet aroma that hung over the bookcases. Yet, out of all the potions, oils, and books that filled the place, the one thing that stood out to me the most was the man behind the counter. He looked more like George Clooney than something out of Halloween Fairy Tales, and that was my first lesson. Witches look just like everyone else. Of course, you may run into the occasional witch who looks more fiction than fact, but other than those, most are just your average people. The majority tend to choose to blend in as much as possible. Why? Not everyone is armed with progresive and open ways of thinking, and in some cases, witches are put into the same category as Satanists, heathens, or just bad people.
I eventually took more interest in magick. Witches refer to spells and divine help as magick, not to be confused with magic, which we consider to be what you would see at a show, a magician sawing a woman in half, card tricks, etc. Magick, however, is sacred to all Wiccans.
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