Persecution

They have a deep reverence for all life, so they certainly do not participate in animal sacrifice! Starhawk, author of numerous books, states: �Love for life in all its forms is the basic ethic of Witchcraft. Witches are bound to honor and respect all living things, and to serve the life force.� I personally know over thirty Wiccans, all who belong to organizations promoting human rights, animal rights and ecological preservation.

Now, what you've all been wondering about....Spell casting�yes, Wiccans do cast spells. BUT so have each of you in this room at one point or another. Have you ever said, �Rain, rain go away, come again another day�? That is one of the oldest recorded spells, but children all over the world say this rhyme. A spell is a wish, that�s it. Wiccans sometimes perform rituals while �wishing� to help focus their intent. The most common ritual is making a wish over a lit candle and allowing it to burn completely or blowing it out. Anyone in here who has ever made a wish over their birthday cake and blown out the candles has cast a spell! As for "evil spells", well, I'm not going to say they don't exist, but anyone who tries to hurt another person is not Wiccan because that goes against their beliefs. If it harm none, do what thou will....

As I mentioned earlier, Wiccans worship two deities, a God and a Goddess. They pick and choose anyone they like; it is a very versatile and individualized religion. Some choose from the old pagan gods, others just call them the �Lord and Lady� or the "God and Goddess". Deities are chosen depending on several factors: culture, heritage and personal preference.

They also have their own calendar and holidays. The calendar is lunar based and commonly referred to as the Wheel of the Year. This wheel represents the cycle of life, death and rebirth, which is reflected in the cycle of the seasons. As the Wheel turns, the seasons change. Holidays, called sabbats, are celebrated eight times a year. The year starts with Samhain (the Wiccan New Year) on Oct. 31st, followed by Yule (the winter equinox) on Dec. 21st, next is Imbolc on Feb. 1st, Ostara (the Spring Equinox) which usually falls around March 20th, Beltane on April 30th through May 1st (usually only celebrated on May 1st & referred to as "May Day"), Litha (the summer equinox) on June 21st, Lammas on August 1st and finally Mabon which occurs on the full moon closest to the autumn equinox, usually around September 21st. Of these holidays, Samhain is the most commonly known. You know it as Halloween, or for those of you who are Catholic : All Saint�s Day. It's a day to honor the dead and is celebrated by having a midnight feast.

Now that you have a little more background I will tell you about the different traditions of Wicca. Just as the Christian Church has different denominations, so does Wicca. They are all a little different, but essentially the same. The four main traditions are: Gardnerian, Alexandrian, Dianic, and Eclectic. There are MANY many more traditions....