101 on Wicca

[Sheila Widdershins]

Introduction

As a note, before you read and become totally horrified... XD this was written a long time ago [relatively], and basically in a much earlier stage of rockerness, so some of it is outdated material and viewpoints. It was written for the website Old Kingdom, on the topic of wicca [of course], because a discussion had started up about it. Originally it was broken up into several posts --I hope I don't have to do that again--, and in some places I refer to members where they either asked something, or they commented on something... ye, well, that's about all. And confirmed -- I do have to break it up. -.- Damn. Longwinded is an understatement...

[Sheila Widdershins]

Alright, here it is: the 101 on Wicca that I wrote for those who wish to be enlightened about what this spiritual path is that so far three of us here follow. It might seem long, and I’ll probably have to break it up into a couple of posts (confirmed), but don’t be frightened by its size. If you are really interested to know what it is then read it, I made it as easy to read as I could, and I made a valiant effort to keep it concise and to the point, without loads of details which you don’t really need to know unless you are about to become wiccan yourself. What I address is really the basics that you should know about Wicca; what kind of religion it is, whether we use spells and what that means to us (also a little about love spells, that being a point of debate within wiccan circles), the importance of experience and a possible reason as to why certain things don’t work (replying to Akkarin’s post), what we mean when we say “eclectic wiccan” – what blazing a new path means and what following other paths within wicca mean, where wicca came from (it’s roots), the difference between a real wiccan and someone who just liked the sound of it but cannot be qualified as a witch, along with some key reasons why people get attracted to wicca but never find out what it really is, some reasons as to why we keep to the shadows and are rather secretive about our path, the difference between a Solitary and a coven member, when can you call yourself a witch (again inspired from what Akkarin said) with a little intro on my views about beliefs that had ultimately lead me to the path, the most important paragraph: what does being wiccan mean, a little bit on our festivities (when we do rituals, rites, etc.) – including Sabbots and Esbats, still on the subject of Sabbots and Esbats: why I don’t think that this is a thing that defines what being a witch means (this is mainly, but not exclusively, addressed to wiccans, and/or people who have got their definitions wrong about what being a wiccan means), and lastly about selecting a magical name, which again I put in more for the sake of the wiccans here, sharing my own experience, but again, not excluding anyone else interested in it. Now, you’ll notice that sometimes I capitalize Wicca and sometimes I don’t; this is because unlike some other religions who view this as important, we do not really see it as such to capitalize it, as it is not a name. When we call ourselves Wicca or Wicce (depending on your gender), then we do capitalize it, and sometimes even when speaking of it as the path (that’s why I use it both ways, switching from one to the other).

Well, since the question has arisen (what is wicca), I decided to come out of the closet and answer it finally. It is not something that most wiccans do willingly, talk about the craft, for obvious reasons, namely all the lies and misunderstandings that veil the whole subject, and it is something that we do usually for the sole purpose of enlightening those around us if for they don’t know what it is that we do. We also tend to believe in free will quite strongly, you don’t go about preaching to everyone that Wicca is the only way, and all of you who aren’t wiccan are going to die horribly or anything like that. If you seek knowledge, then we will willingly answer your questions, but we will never try to force you to join it unless you decide to do so yourself. Sure, we point out all the wonderful areas in it, but we don’t say “be wiccan! NOW!”. What I suggest is only dab into it if you’re serious; to the outside observer, not everything is understandable, and it might seem odd (like why is it so important to draw circle, and why 3 times, and why clockwise, instead of something else).
Wicca, as I said before, is a spiritual path, it is a Pagan “religion”, also known as an “Earth religion”, though I don’t like calling it a religion really, for a number of reasons. See, what I think the definition of religion is, is not always in keeping with my practices; being in harmony with the Earth is not really a belief, it’s just something you either do, or don’t do (and even some Christians do this, it isn’t a solely pagan thing to do that). For the sake of simplicity however, I’ll call it that for now. One of the main focuses of Wicca is to bring the male and female energies into harmony, nourishing a balance of it in the universe, hence the reason why we worship a Goddess as well as a God. The Wiccan Rede, probably the most important document ever created on Wicca, holds our values in one sentence: “An’ harm it none, do what thou wilt”. Of course, the rest of it is important as well, but this one thing is something we all live by. We also believe in what is called the Threefold Law, which basically means that whatever you do, it will come back to you, except three times stronger. Wicca can also be called witchcraft, technically it is, though I must impress upon you the grave differences of what we actually do, to the fantasy tales that are created on the subject. No blood, gory scenes, sacrifices, orgies, murder, not even the things you can see in Practical Magic (which as a movie is good, but it doesn’t reflect wicca), etc. You might find some animal sacrifices in voodoo, which technically speaking counts as a Pagan religion, but not in Wicca. The big difference: Wicca is Pagan, but Pagan is not Wicca (I didn’t get that for a while, that’s why I mention it – at first I was surprised at it, but I’m seeing more and more the difference even between Pagan religions). Being an eclectic wiccan, I combine the path with many areas of expertise that my family is really into, for e.g. my father was a jeweler, so he’s an expert on stones, etc. and the likes of that. Also some shamanistic things.

[Sheila Widdershins]

Do we do spells? Aye, so we do, but it is a lot different than what you would see in a movie, or even hear about. The basics do include using the powers of chanting, spell casting via candles and other mediums. Now this is all about energies, and they do have effects; meaning they work. But it is solemnly forbidden to cast a spell that would harm anyone or anything, or force someone to do something against their will, etc. One of the reasons that the subject of love spells is under such a big dispute: does it count as harming someone? Well, it could, that’s why this is just about the most precarious area of the craft. A spell isn’t just a cute little token you give to your sweetheart, it’s dead serious unless you’re careful about it. If you tie yourself to someone through a spell, chanting things like “so and so are from now bound to me”, that 1.violates the rede unless they gave their consent, and you’ve discussed it, and 2. it binds you. Seriously. If a year later you suddenly don’t love each other, then you’ve got a snag there, it will be all the more harder to break away. Now, if you’ve been subject to something like this, awareness always helps, it lessens the effects. I read about one woman for e.g., who met a ‘wiccan’, and fell in love with him. Later on he wrote things to her like “well, we have seen some of your poetry, and we agree that you think that there was something more between us than there really is...”, “...I’m sorry, but I want to just remain friends, I hope we can do that...”, things like that. It turned out that the guy cast a love spell on her without her consent, and through it he hurt her badly, ‘cause after a while he didn’t want her love. She found out, and warned the wiccan community against this guy, saying not to believe a word of what he says. It’s a rather cruel thing, tempting someone in and binding them, then trying to cut the ropes. And it isn’t as simple as “oh, I’ve changed my mind”, and then poof it’s gone. It takes a lot of work to undo a spell, so... well, you don’t really have to know all this unless you’re about to become wiccan, so... me and my talent for explaining runs away with me again, lol.
I see what you mean Akkarin, ‘bout losing faith in things like that after a while, and I think I have an answer as to why as well; there are two sides of wicca: learning and experiencing. You can’t do magick really well unless you know enough, and not because of some code or law, but because of the simple truth that unless you have some experience, it just won’t work in the same manner as you probably would like it to. It has nothing to do with what someone dictates; more experienced wiccans might tell you off for trying to do spells when you’ve only known about it for a few weeks, for e.g., but mainly for the reason that you don’t know how to channel the energies involved. Not to mention that you have to follow the “Know Thyself” theme: if you’re not settled with yourself on the inside, you can’t do proper magick. The energies would be far too dispersed and confused to be able to have a proper, wanted effect on the outside world. I found that out the hard way: I practiced for two years diligently without any real proof that what I had done actually impacted on the universe enough to change something, and then, on the morning of my 15th birthday, at 7 a.m., I became a complete person. In other words, I completed a cycle, and for the first time in my life I was at peace with myself on all levels. That night I did my third initiation, and my jaw dropped open and stayed open for a while, because it “worked”. See, before that, I had a little problem with accepting myself, and I had lots of problems, etc. I didn’t like myself really, I thought that there were some parts of me which were simply wrong. I was depressed for the most part, unhappy as well. Since I suddenly had an inner balance that morning (which I had been working on for at least half a year prior to this), I was able to change something with my energies. I felt something, saw something, changed something. Which doesn’t mean that I’m enlightened all of a sudden, lol, by no means. I go through these cycles, completing them and beginning them, every year. It usually is more in keeping with the lunar cycle, so it slides back a few weeks usually each year. This year, for e.g., I completed a cycle before my birthday, not on my birthday. (It’s kind of fun, to look at it this way, each year for me has a special meaning. I kinda miss 15, actually, that was a year where I collected loads of experience here and there... well, of course, this year has some things I never want to let go of, so I’m not saying I want to backtrack *hint, hint*) But back to wicca.
My personal spiritual path, (blazing a new path, as Scarlet quoted from me) includes Shamanism (which blends with my Hungarian roots), Celtic myths and legends, Wicca of course, things that involve other areas like NLP, Reiki, also Gnosticism, Buddhist influences chiefly from my stepmom, Vedic influences, some other misc. influences from here and there, really dabbing all around; now I really define eclectic: it’s all a big mix, which suits me just fine. It also means that I do not follow one path within wicca that is pre-defined, like say Gardnerian wicca, Anglo-Saxon wicca, etc. If you wanted to, you could say that you want to follow the path of, say, Gardnerian wicca, now what that means is that you follow the codes of that path, you have all the tools that are specified as absolutely necessary, etc. Each path has a “set” of things you need; if memory serves, for e.g. you need a sword in the Anglo-Saxon path. It is not enough to only have an Athame as a replacement (an Athame is essentially a double-edged dagger, normally with a wooden handle). If you like, I can write more upon what paths there are within wicca later on. What I know best (being one myself) is the eclectic path, which basically combines all of the paths, using elements from this one, or having the tools specified by another, so on. Herbs, ribbons, teas, candles, stones, and the moon are among my favorite subjects within the path, and since I am not a member of one specific path with all their rigid codes here, list of things you need there, I use all of them.

[Sheila Widdershins]

Oh, and I also wanted to touch upon wicca’s roots: it is based on the earliest known “religions” of mankind, namely the two things that were worshipped way back when, the hunt (to survive) and fertility (again, to survive, duh). They worshipped the Horned God (Greenman, the Lord, the God, whatever you want to call him; Mars even, Cerunnos, blah, blah, blah, many names), who represented the God of hunting, and the Goddess of Fertility (the Lady, Aradia, Diana, Venus, Mary, Aphrodite, Moon Goddess, Tripple Goddess, etc.). Each was prayed to accordingly, and since these were the two topics that humans were most worried about (no tv dinners, lol), this was the tradition that stayed alive within them for quite a while. Of course, then the shamans did their thing, the medicine man, but now wicca has become somewhat revolutionized. It’s come back (from the burning times; which incidentally came about because two German gentlemen started saying just all of a sudden that witchcraft was evil. People didn’t even listen to them for a while, but then they sort of hit the panic button, and lo! Every old woman suddenly became a pagan crone with purposes that promoted the devil, etc. Which it doesn’t do in no way, no shape, no form – partly for the fact that we don’t believe in Satan, so...), so it’s come back as a sort of New Age religion, and there are a lot of wiccans out there who don’t have a clue as to what they are doing.
Unfortunately, there have become two kinds of wicca: the fluffy bunny, media circus, popular hobby wicca, and the serious, traditional, Earth-loving, peaceful, and rather secretive wicca. Of course, ideally the latter is what you aim for generally speaking, which means that you don’t believe what the media jabbers about it (lol, some of it is quite amusing, actually – others quite disturbing, and yet others which are frustrating and angering), and you don’t get into it the backwards way: through a religion that promotes how ‘sinful’ it is, ‘cause you can bet that you won’t get it right through listening about it from people who haven’t got a clue as to what it really is. You don’t read a lot of popular fluffy bunny stuff, like “spells for your locker” or something similar to that. *hits head* the idea! A spell for your locker... whatever...
There are layers, you see: a true witch is a warrior in some manners of speaking, something similar to Carlos Castaneda’s Warrior’s Path. A true witch you could see hugging a tree, for example, and just admiring nature’s beauty (rather humanist viewpoint, really, kind of echoes the mindset of the Renaissance, but still even more differently, since though the Renaissance was very different from the Middle Ages, in that they believed that they were on Earth to enjoy life before they passed away, that didn’t mean that they became unfaithful to Christianity. Since in the Middle Ages life looked like this: “suffer through life while you’re here, and you’ll have your reward in the afterlife”, it could easily confuse someone that the Renaissance was about the opposite: “enjoy life while you can” point of view, and yet that didn’t mean that they abandoned their religion, by no means. In fact, they were rather interested in knowing all about the past of their religion, stemming back into Judaism, so on, so on. Just a different phase – eh, I explain a lot. The point: even though Wicca is similar to the Renaissance state of mind, it is not the same).
Who doesn’t know much about the path might be attracted to it for the sole reason that witchcraft is supposedly a sin in Christian standards, (just as so many other things are that people engage in), but those types of people usually bury themselves in rather Satanic practices without really having a clue as to the difference; as one witch put it, “a twisted Christian rebel”, or something like that. A lot of wiccans, for e.g., can become completely outraged when they see a Satanist wearing the Pentagram, which is a very commonly used (the most commonly, actually) archetype in the path – its use in both religions is something that makes wiccans edgy, since our beliefs are as different as black is from white. It is a symbol that many Pagans use, so it is kind of odd for us to see that well, here’s this other religion which stands for the exact opposite things as we do, and yet they use the Pentagram as well. Now the difference, however, is that a Satanist wears the Pentagram upside down, and a Wiccan doesn’t. Where Satanism believes in promoting the ego, Wicca does the exact opposite. I like to take up Castaneda’s viewpoint on this subject matter: the Warrior’s Way, which works to basically demolish the ego. That’s a different subject, though, I could go on and on about Castaneda, but now we’re on the topic of wicca. So as I said before: you can’t become wiccan by hearing about it from Christians, that’s for sure. It’s like asking a 3 year old why the motor of a car only turns on if you put the key in the ignition. You, being the older person, should be the one to answer that to the 3 year old, not vice versa, or if you don’t know, ask someone who knows how to drive (or at least fix a car), not someone who doesn’t. Simple logic, as Spock would put it.
Another question that you might be asking: why so secretive, if there’s nothing really wrong with what you’re doing? Well, here’s the point where you should step into Christian shoes if you’re not Christian already: in Christianity, it is a sin to worship any other deity other than the one God himself. Otherwise there would be no problem, see. It’s a big misunderstanding that people think witchcraft is so evil because it actually would be involved in doing evil things, it’s not about that at all, what it is about is that we worship the Lady and Lord, and not God. We worship a God, but not the Christian one. Another reason why we are so secretive about it (and this is another point under dispute in the Wiccan community – whether to “come out of the closet” as we dubbed it or not), is that witches around the world are somewhat traumatized from what the world did to them, under the burning times. (Another interesting note: most people who were accused of witchcraft weren’t actually burned, a lot of them were hanged, but as burning at the stake was the most vivid of the separate forms of execution, it was what really stood out and screamed at the history books, so to speak, so it is hence called “the burning times”.) Some wiccans are positively convinced (and sadly not without grounds) that if they told everyone their religion, then they would be suffer from it. Like I, for e.g., would never be caught dead discussing wicca with someone from my town; they are the most closed up, conservative, born again Christian, stuck in their past people you can come up with. Not to mention that they are depressed and depressing, narrow-minded, constantly drunk, abusive... need I list on? One of the reasons I call them from the Middle Ages, with good reason. Their habits are to wallow in their past and be stubbornly unpleasant. Sure, there are exceptions, like everywhere, but for the most part, I can’t stand the people here. My town is beautiful, especially at night, downright magical at times (heh, well, I can make it so if I want to), but I like to avoid most of the people. They’ve all got problems, to put it simply.

[Sheila Widdershins]

Now, in wicca, you are either of the following: a Solitary, or a member of a coven. What the difference is: a Solitary initiates him or herself into the craft usually, and they practice alone. A member of a coven is initiated by the coven in question by the High Priestess and High Priest, and they practice within the coven’s circle. Some (like I) do both. I lead a Solitary life in the path, and also I’m a member of my own coven. If you don’t know anything about wicca, then I suggest either getting a mentor (someone practiced in the craft who can at the very least point you to some references and give you the basics), or join a coven, which would give you the basics automatically, since you are traditionally to be taught up to a certain level before gaining acceptance into the circle. Some covens have what’s called an open circle as well, which means that anyone who’s interested can watch wiccans at practice, but they don’t have to part take in it if they don’t want to. Or they are actively within the circle, maybe doing something, but not claimed wiccan yourself.
Now when can you call yourself a witch: from the moment you are initiated. Again, this is something that many wiccans sadly don’t know, but if you are initiated, you are a witch. It’s another matter whether you can practice properly or not. Personally, I believe that you are a wiccan from the moment you have a book in your hands or someone teaching you about it, and you feel yourself in harmony with it, like “this is me” or “this is for me”. I kind of had a coming home feeling, for example, like I felt like I was a wiccan all my life, I only recently found a name for it, and something to hold onto that was solid enough for me (of course, there are those who are born with it, and those who learn it because they want to). When I was younger, it didn’t really satisfy me, the thought that there was one God, and that was that. I was confused about it, and I didn’t really believe, so when people asked me what my religion was, I told them that I didn’t have one. Like I was in serious turmoil about how one God could create the universe (don’t mistake me, I can see why people believe in it, it’s not about that), when I know as a fact that this and that atom do this, and the universe expands, blah, blah, all that scientific gobble. Belief, for me as a definition, was something that you have no proof of, and I was doubting this belief since there was proof of how certain “miraculous” things happen (chemical reactions, the transformation of a star into something as beautiful and hectic as a nebula, things like how dark matter exists but doesn’t exist, what gravity is and where it’s from, to name a few). If the world were based on a flimsy substance as belief, the world would flow apart in chaos, because not everyone believes, and those that do, believe so many different things, and in so many different variations. I remember one girl who asked me this in 6th grade, and when I told her that I didn’t have a religion (she was very religious), she just gaped at me and told me to my face that this was impossible, that I have to believe in something, that I have to have a religion. I just shrugged at her and said, “but I don’t have one”. Now, since I have a side of me which is pretty skeptical and scientific (it’s no wonder that I wanted to become an Astronomer for years and years), I like believing in something that I actually believe in, and not only on the spare few occasions that I have a religious event. What I like about wicca is that it doesn’t go against any of my theories on how the universe works. (Hey – anyone interested in dark matter here? I’d just love to debate about that...*grin*) Another thing I love about it is that if I even do a short prayer to the moon for e.g., I feel a whole lot better, and things go as I asked for. Of course, messing with fate is something I don’t do, however. If it was part of a larger pattern that something happen, I’ll accept it as such.
So... being wiccan... what does that mean? It means that you believe in a Lady and Lord, in whichever form you choose to worship them in (it can vary, depending which aspect of the Goddess and God you are in need of when praying to them), that you respect nature (this includes some practices regarding nature that might seem strange to someone who doesn’t know much about wicca – like, as I mentioned before, hugging a tree), you avoid harming others (there are other ways to defend yourself than lashing out at people, for e.g., which are equally effective, such as doing what we call the mirror spell – this makes use of the Threefold Law, basically what we do is send back their own words and actions, letting the Threefold Law do its thing – besides, a lot more effective, actually), you celebrate the 8 Sabbots and the 13 Esbats (more on those later), you use magickal means to reach what you desire (making absolutely certain that it has nothing to do with anyone else, or that person knows about it and approves it), you follow the Wiccan Rede “An’ harm it none, do what thou wilt”, if you specialize in healing then you do your healing practices, you honor the old ways (which can be anything from using runes, to visiting ancient sites that have spiritual significance), you are initiated (once again I impress upon you that being initiated doesn’t have to be a very complicated thing – it basically means that you dedicate yourself to the Lady and Lord, that’s what constitutes a first degree initiation in my book), speaking of books: you have what we call a Book of Shadows (named thus in the burning times, since we kept our tradition alive by keeping it secret) in which you write your practices (forbidden to be shown to anyone unless you’re standing right there beside them, even more forbidden to lend it to anyone – never ever lend, not just a regular book), you live in a wiccan way (being wiccan doesn’t mean that you are religious as soon as you’ve erected your temple; if you are wiccan, then you are wiccan 24/7, there aren’t exceptions to this) which includes keeping in mind all of the above and acting in your day-to-day life accordingly, keeping in touch with the moon (what phase it is in, etc. like if you’re doing a spell, make sure you do it in the right phase, like if you want to do a spell which involves being successful at something, don’t do it at waning moon), and so on. There are more intricate details as to exactly how we honor each of these things, and a lot of it includes also paying attention to energies (I could elaborate more on that, too, but I don’t want to confuse anyone... for a change *grin*), like what effect this action has, what energies change in a positive manner if you do this or that, etc. Also keeping in mind what spirits there are and respecting their space, if you have a Shamanistic influence like I do a good example would be your power animal, so on.
Now about Sabbots and Esbats. Of the Sabbots – also spelled Sabbats – there are 4 greater ones and 4 lesser ones; there is a lot of confusion as to what they are exactly, especially in the media – ergh, don’t even go there, the topic is just too depressing, but before I go in medias res on yalls (‘in the middle of events’, for those of you who don’t speak Latin... lol...), you have to know the following about Wicca: as I said before, it is based on the Old Ways, which means the earliest known form of conscious “religion”, and because of this ancient origin, and the fact that it is a so-called ‘nature religion’, we take into account the changes of the seasons. Not very surprisingly. Each change had a signifier, a main point which induced the people to mark it as a place where time changed from this to that. You all know for e.g. that after the winter equinox the days grow shorter, around September the 21st. Our ancestors noticed as well. So that became a lesser Sabbot, the winter equinox, elstwise known as Mabon, (some call it the fall equinox) was celebrated. The greater Sabbots had a little more direct significance, like Lammas or Lughnassadh as it is also called (which is the next Sabbot coming up, incidentally) signified the first fruits of the harvest, the time of the Sun God. It is also the time to teach what you have learned, etc. The next greatest Sabbot after Lammas is Samhain, the 30th or 31st of October (the exact date varies year to year according to some, to other’s it is always the 31st).
The dates might seem familiar; a lot of dates were taken over into Christian holidays, see, it was something they did because they sought to win the allegiance of the populace by placing their own holidays near, or on days when a pagan holiday would be observed. So thus became Halowe’en as well (Halloween, Hallow’s Eve, whichever way you prefer to call it), which falls on Samhain. Samhain is the greatest of all the Sabbots, because it is what we call the Witches’ New Year, so technically speaking, what someone else might feel as the “new year spirit”, if you have such a thing (or you make a wish the first day of the year, or speculate on what the new year will bring, etc.), for a witch, that would happen on the last day of October, not on December 30th nor January 1st. Of course, this does not neccessarily mean that we do not observe the Christian holidays, but that to us is a holiday, and here’s where the difference comes in: what is a sacred day, and what is a holiday. Right, so those are the Sabbots, now an Esbat; all that means is full moon. Since the moon (Moon Goddess to some – like me) signifies the Goddess, we pay her our respects when she is new and when she is full, celebrating this as a rather special time. On an Esbat you can simply do a circle for the moon, or you can time a spell you wanted to do then, etc.

[Sheila Widdershins]

Chiefly addressing the Wiccan company here, on the subject of Sabbots and Esbats (but not exclusively): unlike certain branches of wicca, I don’t believe that to be a wiccan you absolutely have to honor each and every Sabbot and Esbat during the year otherwise you can’t call yourself a decent wiccan – I, of all people, know that sometimes life doesn’t allow for us to pay attention to each one for whatever reasons come up. If you’re sick for e.g., it’s not a good idea to do a rite, period, and if you have a schedule (and owlish tendancy) as I, sometimes your day-to-day duties require you to put aside things that would interfere with it, like for me I have school, and I can’t afford to listen to my owlish-wiccan side who says stay up till 1 a.m. doing a wiccan festivity when I have a bus to catch next morning or there’ll be hell to pay. It is something of a wide-spread belief that if you don’t follow the “regular” wiccan festivals, then you’re not wiccan. I don’t believe in this, I believe that you should follow it if you can, but don’t warp your life because of it. (Not to mention that if you live in a town or city that has a mindset like mine, then it would be a little more than suspicious that you go missing at least once a month from work or school, and if you are in a situation where you don’t want to call attention to your practice – and it is acceptable in Wicca to hide your true nature if you are in need of defending yourself – then it’s not a good idea to always go out of your way to follow these dates.) It is perfectly fine if you just take a moment to look at the moon, or take a nice walk, make a small offering of food or wine to the Lady and Lord if that is all you can do. It has happened many times to me that this was about all I could do for whatever reason.
Names. In wicca, at least in the neo-pagan sense, you need to craft yourself a new name. In the Old Ways I’m sure that this was practiced there as well, though I’m not entirely certain as to exactly how similar it is to what we do today; I think that before the burning times you chose a new name as well, but it’s an interesting thought to speculate on, as to whether this came about because of the burning times. At any rate, it was heightened if anything else during that time. Ideally you choose yourself a name that you like, and it would match your numerological number. Me, for e.g., I’m a 9, so my ideal wiccan name would have to match to a 9. (Though I confess I sometimes lapse into a 1; this changes from person to person.) Now it is not vital that this be so, but it puts you and your name in more harmony. This works like this: each letter is assigned to one of the 9 numbers, I believe there are 3 for each number, and what you do is add up the numbers until you come up with a one digit number. Like say you chose the name Rhianna; the numbers are the following: 9 8 9 1 5 5 1. It comes out to 38; now you add 3 to 8, which is 11, and 1+1 (no duh...) is 2. So this name matches a 2. Now say that you are not a 2, but a 3; what can you do? Perhaps you might consider spelling your name Rianna, without an h. Add it up again without the 8, and you’ll get 30, drop the zero and there you go: problem solved.
Being on a site where we do role playing, I’m sure that the concept of crafting new names or using other names than your given name is no real trouble to grasp (as I’ve met some people who didn’t really understand why you would even want another name, lol). Why you would choose a new name in wicca is again a signifier that on the eve of your initiation, you become reborn, you are a new person within the craft, you are no longer the same person as you were before. Now you are both ... in the world, and ... in the craft. Some people choose to keep their given names, this does not mean that they are not initiated properly, by no means. If you choose not to have a separate, magical name, or you choose that your magical name be identical to your given name, then that’s perfectly fine, either way, if you’ve been initiated, you are wiccan.

And with that note, I’ve finished my explaining. If you’ve managed to read all of this all the way, then I take my hat of to you, I’ll admit, it isn’t an easy feat to read 8 pages when you expect a short introduction into something. (Yay, be proud of yourself: you’ve read 8 pages of Widdershins’ narrations, lol j/k...) I think however, that this essay (yes, that is what it is... or at least, what it came out to be) has covered all the important parts of Wicca that you should know if you’re interested to know what it is. Having practiced wicca for about 6 years now (consciously), and being someone who likes having a comfortable sphere of knowledge to freely move about in, these are the basic elements that I’ve gathered together which define wicca from an outsider’s point of view. If you still aren’t sure about one area, or if you would like to know more in-depth about something, go ahead and ask about it. No, I won’t write an 8 page essay for each question; it came out this long because I covered a lot of areas that I found important to include in a portrait of wicca. Nya, it has its uses that I wrote all this: now if anyone asks me what wicca is, I’ll just print this out and hand it over, lol... of course, that can only apply to the English speaking inquirers... *grumbles*

I have added together how many words there are and broke it up accordingly, in keeping with the paragraphs. Eh... I hope that it was worthwhile to read and that you gained something from taking the time to read it. Thanks for your patience (and diligence if you got this far *sunny smile*)