Lesson One- About the Craft Magick is the art of effecting changes in consciousness at will.

~William Butler Magick is the art and science of causing changes to occur in conformity with Will ~ Alester Crowley *Tip: one of these may be on the test Wicca is a contemporary spiritual religion, based on and reviving the ancient pre-Christian pagan religions of Europe. Wiccans believe in a divine force or power as the source of all. It is both immanent (remaining within) and transcendent while encompassing the whole universe. Therefore the world and all aspects within the world, "nature" and "life itself" in particular, are considered sacred. Wicca is a deep appreciation for nature. It is light, and shadow and all that lies in between. It is being in the presence of Mother Earths nature and being in reverence. When we are in the temple of the Lord and Lady, we are not prone to the arrogance of human technology as they touch our souls. To be a Witch is to be a healer, a teacher, a seeker, a giver, and a protector of all things. If this path is yours, may you walk it with honor, light and integrity. Witchcraft is a spiritual system that fosters the free thought and will of the individual, encourages learning and an understanding of the earth and nature thereby affirming the divinity in all living things. Most importantly however, it teaches responsibility. We accept responsibility for our actions and deeds as clearly a result of the choices we make. We do not blame an exterior entity or being for our shortcomings, weaknesses or mistakes. If we mess up or do something that brings harm to another, we have no one but ourselves to blame and we must face the consequences resulting from those actions. A polytheistic spirituality, Wiccans believe that the spirit of the One, Goddess and God exist in all things. In the trees, rain, flowers, the sea, in each other and all of natures creatures. This means that we must treat "all things" of the Earth as aspects of the divine. We attempt to honor and respect life in all its many manifestations both seen and unseen. This does not mean that we are all vegetarians, simply that we respect that we are eating another creature that once lived and we are greatful for its sacrifice. To communicate with the force, Wiccans believe it to be manifest in the form of a Goddess and God. As they emanate from the same source, both retain equal power, hence equal status. By manifesting the power in two deities (Goddess and God), the natural balance of opposites, cause and effect are retained, e.g. Summer/winter, light/ dark, life and death etc. Each opposite is essential to maintaining the balance and rhythm of life on earth. We learn from and revere the gift of nature from divine creation by celebrating the cycles of the sun, moon and seasons. In the festivals that we call Sabbats we celebrate the solar holidays, in Esbats we revere the lunar forces in all life. We search within ourselves for the cycles that correspond to those of the natural world and try to live in harmony with the movement of this universal energy. Our teachers are the trees, rivers, lakes, meadows, mountains and animals as well as others who have walked this path before us. This belief creates a reverence and respect for the environment, and all life upon the Earth. Wicca has no high authority, no single leader, no prophet and no bible to dictate its laws and beliefs. Every witch is as important as another and all share equal status. Most wiccans are solitary practitioners, but there are also many "Covens". Covens include groups of up to 13 people, which is equal to the 13 phases of the moon during the year. Covens are normally presided over by a Priest or Priestess who has had years of practice in magick and ritual techniques. The Priest or Priestess is respected as an Elder and teacher of the craft. We are not a missionary religion out to convert new members to think the same as we do. We are willing to share our experience and knowledge with those who seek our wisdom and perspective

however. We believe that anyone who is meant for this path will find it through their own search as the Goddess speaks to each of us in her time and way. Wiccan practice tolerance and acceptance toward all other religions as long as those faiths do not persecute others or violate the tenant of: "An ye Harm None, Do as thou wilt." You will see that throughout the lessons and many books that you read on Wicca, we spell magic with a k, for the reason to differenciate between stage magic and the Craft magick that we do. As far back as history and archaeologists allow us to see, the practice of witchcraft has always been there. Some examples would be when the pharaohs blessed their crops as Amon-Ra incarnate, Moses parted the Red Sea in Jehovah's name, and the Delphi Oracles delivered the wisdom of Gaia, then, when the Romans cames, the wisdom of Apollo. Khemi, also known as modern-day Egypt, meaning the Black Land, had thousands of amulets, some of the popular being the udjat (Eye of Horus), the scarab beetle, the djed (Pillar of Osiris), and the ankh. We have also found items relating to their belief of replication and substitution: shabti. Shabti are tiny servitors made of clay who would grow and harvest their crops in the next life and, as commanded, serve the dead. In Old Europe, their magick consisted of working with power totems and using plants for magick and healing. However, their most important form of magick was protective. The Druids believed that each species of tree and plants had its own symbolism and power. Drawing from folklore, some popular talismans and amulets are holey stones, rowan twigs and iron nails. The Greeks rediscovered the wand, practiced necromancy to speak to the dead, and performed Voodoo-like curses. Also in their repertoire was the practice of folk magick. According to Scott Cunningham, folk magick is the practice of projecting personal power, as well as the energies within natural objects such as herbs and crystals, to bring about needed change. (Truth About Witchcraft Today by Scott Cunningham; pg 168). Roman Emperor Constantine, once a practitioner himself, converted to Christianity and declared the practice of magick illegal. As the religion of Christ moved through Europe, overzealous churchman and rulers lashed out against those who went against the Church's authority. Those who were attacked are as follows, but were not limited to Gnostics, Cathors, Pagans, Albigensians, Jews, Waldensens, Muslims, Knights Templar, gays ((we because I'm gay) they were actually used for the firewood), and Witches. In the New World, Native Americans had their form of magick. I call it impersonation, kind of obvious when you see the example: putting on deer horns and hide and act like a deer to catch food. They also had the practice of shamanism. Then others brought the practice of Pennsylvania Dutch with their hex signs for protection and good fortune. Then from the Ozarks and Appalachian Mountains, came Pow Wow. Other types that came to the New World are Candomble, Vodoun, Santeria, and Kabbalah. After the passing of both World Wars, the interest in the occult intensified. A man named Gerald Gardner, a British civil servant, was creating modern-day Wicca. This had quickly spread around the world, including North America. At the same time other groups such as Asatru, Druidism, Goddess Spirituality, appeared.

Salem Witch Trials The Old Religion, as it was called when Christianity appeared, co-existed peacefully with the new faith together at first. In fact, early Christianity borrowed a whole lot from the Early Religion, using

native customs, raising churches on Pagan sacred sites, and allowing the country people to continue going to Esbats (lunar festivals) and Sabbats, so long as they continued to go to church on Sundays. By the 7th century, Christianity had become a fanatical religion, and the continued influence of another religion side by side with the Church became a trouble. The Church wasnt satisfied with the figure of a vague Antichrist; he took the shape in the identity of the horned devil, a mixture of the ancient Phonecian deity Beelzebub, the horned god of the hunt, and Pan. Torture physical sufferings and punishment for one's sins were part of the medieval thinking, and so the devil visited all those things upon the poor souls he managed to snatch. The Church forcefully claimed Witches had a compact with the devil and were, therefore, his associates. The Pope, by 1485, had been pursuaded to persecute them actively en masse, and from then on hundeds of thousands of innocent people were killed in some of the most horrible ways (*NOTE: one of my sources tell me that there were actually on 50,000-100,000 victims). The two great waves of witch-hunting, from the 15th to the 17th centuries and in the late 17th century, when the Puritans equaled their Roman Catholic bretheren in ferocity, were a carnival of death, sparing neither high nor low. Accusation of witchcraft was tantamount to conviction, and many people got caught up in the bloodshed simply because a neighbor wanted something bad enough to accuse them before the authorities. The belief in the devil was so universal that anyone who denied such a belief would automatically convict themselves. The accused witches were inevitably forced to confess to the strangest of activities, which, under torture, of course they did. By the dawn of the 19th century, the age of reason had also dawned in respect to witchcraft persecutions and they were finally left alone. But so deeply had the Church and local courts (they were the ones who did the most killing, according to my source) left their mark that freedom from persecution did not automatically encourage their return to the light. It wasnt until 1951, when the ancient Witchcraft Act was finally revoked in Britan, that the Craft established itself once again above ground. Then in came the Father of Wicca, Gerald Gardner.

Wiccan Dos and Don'ts We do NOT worship Satan. This one cannot be repeated enough to the world. Wiccan do NOT NOT NOT worship Satan. We do nothing evil. We do not even believe in such a being. He is a being created by the Christian faith. If we are to be technical, Satan dosn't even exist in Christianity because Satan's name is Lucifer. We do NOT use the term warlock. This term was used during the Burning Times to denote those who casted for evil. Calling a Witch warlock today is actually offensive. We wear every color. A lot of people tend to think that witches own the color black, this, however, is not true. We wear every color. We are not picky (well, most of us) and if we like the look, we wear it. The color black was used a lot in the past because of the fact that we had to hide ourselves. We practice magick. Yes, we practice witchcraft, however, only as long as it harms none! This is one of the most important tenants in Wicca: An ye harm none, do what ye will. We use the term Witch. The term Witch is rich with history and magick. The energies around this term is phenomenal. We do NOT cast to harm others. As you read two bullet points ago, we do not cast to harm others.

We seek to be in harmony not more chaos.

Important Dates: Assignment #1- 10/12/12 #2- 10/31/12 Lesson Outline- 10/25/12 Vocabulary Quiz- 10/30/12 Lesson Test and Research Project- 10/31/12