Megan Hance
Mr. Monroe
HIST 286-001
19 February 2018
Wiccan Religion
A religion is a set of beliefs that an individual’s cultural environment has set forth, which causes there to be multiple religions due to people believing in different things. Religion exists all over the world and is carried out in different ways. While some may contain some of the same aspects, there are religions that don’t share any characteristics. The Wicca were called Witches at one point but changed their name to escape the myth of being evil. Many Wicca people were prosecuted for being suspected of being a witch during the early years of their religion. They are now known to be peaceful, harmonious, and one with the earth but unfortunately, much of the world view them as unhuman and uncappable of love. They have many beliefs including animal guides, magic, divination, gods and goddesses, they follow Pagan Holidays, and partake in meditation.
Most people who are apart of Wicca believe in animal guides, also known as totems. According to the Wiccan Community, not all individuals feel the need to use guides to be successful in their worship. They also said that, “Power animals can guide and protect you in the spirit world and in your dreams”. This must mean they believe humans can encounter evil spirits through the use of their worship practices and they feel the need to have protection. The Wicca put faith into spirit animals like many other religions put their faith into angels. They have similar characteristics such as protection, healing, and inspiring those who worship. The Psychic Library has distinguished four different types of animal guides such as the messenger, journey, life, and shadow animal guides that individuals encounter. Messenger guides are meant to give warnings and messages, and a journey guide helps with important decisions. The life guide is used to show support and to remind the individual of their strength. Shadow guides are used to cause a positive change to take place. The Wicca Community explain that there are many animal guides including ones that roam the land, ones that live in the water, some that are considered air animals, and also mythological creatures. The land animals include ants, bats, bears, bobcats, cats, coyotes, deer, dogs, foxes, frogs, horses, leopards, lions, lynxes, mice, panthers, praying mantises, rabbits, racoons, rats, scorpions, snakes, spiders, squirrels, tigers, and wolves. The water animals are dolphins, fish, frogs, otters, seals, and whales. The air animals are bees, butterflies, crows, dragonfly, eagle, falcon, hawk, hummingbird, owl, raven, and swan. Lastly, the mythological creates include dragons, griffons, a pegasus, phoenixes, and unicorns (Zoe).
The Wicca perform witchcraft, which includes magic and rituals, to persuade certain events to take place. Claire Lampen from the Daily Dot says that, “Witchcraft is a physical series of actions and ceremonies conducted to achieve specific ends”. Some of the goals they could be trying to achieve include healing someone, cause a pregnancy, or trying to see into the future. According to the writers of the Wicca Community, there are many forms of magic that the Wicca use. They use candle magic, crystal magic, and earth magic. Candle magic is a form of sympathetic magic, which means that, “A person can be effected magically by actions performed towards something that represents them” (Wigington). Crystal magic is used for rituals of “spiritual, magical, and healing properties” (Zoe). Earth magic uses elements to perform different kinds of rituals. These elements include earth, water, fire, and air. The Wicca also believe in Yin Yang which originates from China. The belief is that there cannot be yin without yang and there can’t be yang without yin. “These forces are opposite and yet complementary, and share an interdependent relationship” (Yin and Yang Theory). Although this isn’t completely related to magic, the Wicca use a lot of essential oils to bring forth some of the same endings as their magic does. They like to use the scents to remember a memory or heal the mind. According to Silverhands from the Wicca Community, aromatherapy is,” A method by which the use of certain essential oils are either combined or used alone to promote healing & well being by applying the oils directly to our body or by inhalation”. There are many different essential oils, but they only use the kind that come from plants and are considered pure.
As previously started before, the Wicca believe in the ability to see into the future. This is done through a process called divination. James Orr from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia states that divination is,” Communication with a deity for the purpose of determining the deity's knowledge, resulting in clarification of a decision or discernment of the future”. Although the list of ways to see into the future is very long, some popular ways include reading tarot cards, pendulums, runes, crystals, spirit boards, tea leaves, gazing into water, and candle gazing. According to Brooke Windsor of Mystic Files, tarot cards are the most well-known but can be difficult to use if it is the individuals first time. Her writing also gives the assumption that using a pendulum maybe one of the easiest and safest ways to tell into the future. Divination has existed for a long time through other religions and then the Wicca adopted it into theirs. The Egyptians, Druids, Hebrews, Romans, and Greeks all used their own techniques to see into the future but all of them were considered the use of divination (The History of Divination).