Wiccans on Gaia

How do you feel about Wiccans and Witches?

I am a Wiccan/Witch	33.5%	[ 1905 ]
I respect their beliefs	37.9%	[ 2158 ]
I'm not sure about them	5.2%	[ 295 ]
I don't know much about them	14.4%	[ 817 ]
I do not respect their beliefs	3.5%	[ 201 ]
I am strongly against them	5.6%	[ 316 ]
Total Votes:			[ 5692 ]

[Vertigo_Kiwi]

Angelique Sakuja

Vertigo_Kiwi

I'm a Kemetic Pagan, basically I honor the Ancient Egyptian gods. I have to say I'm a little ticked off about those "wiccans" who decide to honor a god without researching them. For instance, Egyptian gods have many purity requirements and foods/items you are NOT supposed to offer them. How many take the time to research that?

I am not alone!

I agree with you.

And People really can't go around saying they are Wiccan, wear a Pentagram and think they are Harry Potter (i love Harry Potter too...but I know what is Magic and what is Magick)

I studied and still am studing sense I was about 10 I think about Wicca. I learn more every day about my gods, Mother Earth, and my self.

Yea, I'm constantly studying and learning things about my path. But I also have tons of things to study, especially since my path is based off Ancient Egyptian beliefs. Sometimes I feel a greater connection to the gods when I am reading about them, or taking notes on whatever book I'm reading.

[ElikAruna]

first of all, hello. just call me Elik. i have been a solitary eclectic witch for...oh, erm, a month >.<' (witch, not wiccan. i believe there's a difference between the two)

i just feel i need to point out for those new to wicca or those just hearing about it, that all answers to questions stated here are mostly opinion. wicca has no set rules as is eclectic at the whole. for example, it is possible for wiccans to be atheists. Z Budapest (i think that's who it was) says in Drawing Down the Moon that the Divine is a metaphor, not a real being. but that's just one version of wicca. so, if you ask an eclectic coven a question, chances are you will get 13 different answers. even within the wiccan world, the terms wicca, witch, and witchcraft have no set definition.

[Felis terrapina]

Vertigo_Kiwi

Angelique Sakuja

Vertigo_Kiwi

I'm a Kemetic Pagan, basically I honor the Ancient Egyptian gods. I have to say I'm a little ticked off about those "wiccans" who decide to honor a god without researching them. For instance, Egyptian gods have many purity requirements and foods/items you are NOT supposed to offer them. How many take the time to research that?

I am not alone!

I agree with you.

And People really can't go around saying they are Wiccan, wear a Pentagram and think they are Harry Potter (i love Harry Potter too...but I know what is Magic and what is Magick)

I studied and still am studing sense I was about 10 I think about Wicca. I learn more every day about my gods, Mother Earth, and my self.

Yea, I'm constantly studying and learning things about my path. But I also have tons of things to study, especially since my path is based off Ancient Egyptian beliefs. Sometimes I feel a greater connection to the gods when I am reading about them, or taking notes on whatever book I'm reading.

I know what you mean. I have a Bast statue that I pray to every morning
In Art History we were covering Egyptian art and the gods. People are so stupid when it comes to gods other
than the "Big G" god. They were saying things like Osirius is Egyptian Satan.


But anywho...If you don't mind me asking, do you feel you have a Mother Earth and a Father Time yet?

Mines Isis and Osirus.

[IgnoreThisPerson]

Proud_Witch

Quote:

If we are divine then why would we be immortal? For all the reasons i listed: we have the power to change anything we touch, we have the capacity of good or evil and conscious decisions as to how we act. with such power like that would you truly want to be immortal? theres already so much wrong in the world it would be chaos. Also, we reproduce, so overpopulation would be another reason as to why maybe

Hmm, that's interesting to think about but going back to the patterns and cycles of nature, if we are Divine then that would set us apart from the natural cycles yet it does not. A woman's menstrual cycle comes and goes every 28 days just as the moon does. Both women and men grow old and die just as everything else in nature: plants, animals and every other living thing. Also, why is it that we are born with a natural need to believe in a Higher Power if we ourselves are the Higher Power?

I dont think its a need its almost like were some-what crazy o.O we seem to be searching for other life, anything maybe we where born crazy, Deity's of Chaos?

[20 Shades of Crazy]

Angelique Sakuja

Proud_Witch

Quote:

Now, Wicca Isn't 60 years old.. It's MUCH much older than that. I first heard that rumor in one of my other threads and made me laugh, it's such a lie! I don't like when people make up a lie about ANY religion...

Wicca is probably quite a bit older than 50 years, however it really is a religion that has only surfaced within the 20th century. Paganism was the first religion in the world and since Wicca is a new branch of Paganism, many people tend to get confused as to which one is which.

Worship of Animal gods and goddesses and Mother Earth have been around sense the beggining of time. This is proven by artwork from the "Stone Age" (more acrutly known as Paleolithic (old stone))

No, the first peoples to have art were the Cromagnum. The Neanderthal were the first to have religion, and that is proved because of fossilized burials we have.

But, no, their religion may have had a few of the same ideas, but it was not Wicca. Gerald B. Gardner did, and his first book on it was in 1949.

[Vertigo_Kiwi]

Angelique Sakuja

I know what you mean. I have a Bast statue that I pray to every morning
In Art History we were covering Egyptian art and the gods. People are so stupid when it comes to gods other
than the "Big G" god. They were saying things like Osirius is Egyptian Satan.


But anywho...If you don't mind me asking, do you feel you have a Mother Earth and a Father Time yet?

Mines Isis and Osirus.

I don't really have any Wiccan beliefs like that, I'm more of just a pagan. But, I honor the goddess Aset. She's basically Isis, except the Egyptian version. (Isis is more of a Roman version of her).

I also like to use the traditional names of the Egyptian gods. For example, Isis would actually be Aset, and Osirus is actually Wesir. Even Egypt was really called Kemet in those times.

But Aset is a huge force (or energy?) in my life. She urged me to make a little painting of her since I couldn't afford a statue. It's on my shrine, I love it.

[Tevakh]

Hey, I'm an atheist, but I just want to say I really respect the work the Wiccan community has done for those of us who don't belong to one of the 5 major religions. I have more respect for those who practice Wicca than for those who practice Christianity. Live long and prosper in peace.

[Sweetly Adorables]

I've been interested in Wicca and Witchcraft for some time now, I'd really like to get more into it but I just don't know where to find good information. I have the Book of Spells by Nicola de Pulford, but it's mostly just love and life spells, nothing exciting. If anyone could direct me to some books or websites that could lay out the Wicca/Witch lifestyle, I'd be grateul. biggrin

[Briar Rosethorn]

Well, I'm going to go for the night. It's late where I live. Please continue to chat and thank you all so much for all your different insights and opinions. I've really enjoyed talking with all of you and hearing what you have to say.

heart Merry Part and Blessed Be! heart

[ElikAruna]

natura-qedakurat

I've been interested in Wicca and Witchcraft for some time now, I'd really like to get more into it but I just don't know where to find good information. I have the Book of Spells by Nicola de Pulford, but it's mostly just love and life spells, nothing exciting. If anyone could direct me to some books or websites that could lay out the Wicca/Witch lifestyle, I'd be grateul. biggrin

for books, most people recommend Silver Ravenwolf's To Ride A Silver Broomstick and Scott Cunningham's Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner for people just starting. really anything by Scott Cunningham would be good for you. for websites, just google how to become a witch. that's all i did. :/ just keep googling different words and read every book you can get your hands on.

remember that wicca has no set rules or beliefs. what you find on one website will not be the same belief as what you find on another, but both are correct.

[Sweetly Adorables]

ElikAruna

natura-qedakurat

I've been interested in Wicca and Witchcraft for some time now, I'd really like to get more into it but I just don't know where to find good information. I have the Book of Spells by Nicola de Pulford, but it's mostly just love and life spells, nothing exciting. If anyone could direct me to some books or websites that could lay out the Wicca/Witch lifestyle, I'd be grateul. biggrin

for books, most people recommend Silver Ravenwolf's To Ride A Silver Broomstick and Scott Cunningham's Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner for people just starting. for websites, just google how to become a witch. that's all i did. :/ just keep googling different words and read every book you can get your hands on.

remember that wicca has no set rules or beliefs. what you find on one website will not be the same belief as what you find on another, but both are correct.

Oh, thank you so much. ^^ You mean I don't have to worry about whether it's right or not? I may get confused if what I read somewhere conflicts with someting else. neutral

[ElikAruna]

natura-qedakurat

Oh, thank you so much. ^^ You mean I don't have to worry about whether it's right or not? I may get confused if what I read somewhere conflicts with someting else. neutral

well you do kinda. wicca has many different traditions, (garderian, dianic, etc) just like christianity has catholicism, lutheran, protestant, etc. and how muslims have shi'a and sunni. garderians are required to perform their rituals skyclad, but other traditions are not. dianics pretty much worship only the goddess. they are all very different, but still part of the wiccan faith.

but then their's also eclectic wiccans. they pretty much pick and choose from different faiths what makes sense to them and form a faith out of it (that's what i did)

[AsmaClementine]

Vertigo_Kiwi

AsmaClementine

I'm not wiccan, but I am pagan in my spiritual beliefs and have been for the last 7 or 8 years of my life. I mainly study energy and meditation techniques...I also read tarot. I've been looking for people to talk to about this sort of thing that aren't insane and are mature. Perhaps I will on this thread?

Would you mind me asking what kind of pagan you are? Do you follow any tradition or specific gods? (I'm a Kemetic Pagan, in case anyone forgot that)

I always feel like the oddball pagan though. I don't practice any of that new age stuff, no magic or anything. Just simple prayers and giving offerings of incense to my gods.

I'm very eclectic...I have a hard time nailing myself down to a specific sort of paganism. I'm more Shamanic than anything else I guess...but I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm a shamanic pagan.

[in the flicker.]

ElikAruna

first of all, hello. just call me Elik. i have been a solitary eclectic witch for...oh, erm, a month >.<' (witch, not wiccan. i believe there's a difference between the two)

i just feel i need to point out for those new to wicca or those just hearing about it, that all answers to questions stated here are mostly opinion. wicca has no set rules as is eclectic at the whole. for example, it is possible for wiccans to be atheists. Z Budapest (i think that's who it was) says in Drawing Down the Moon that the Divine is a metaphor, not a real being. but that's just one version of wicca. so, if you ask an eclectic coven a question, chances are you will get 13 different answers. even within the wiccan world, the terms wicca, witch, and witchcraft have no set definition.

Unfortunately, this answer is only valid if you disregard Gerald Gardner entirely. He is considered the creator of Wicca, and he wrote the rules (yes, RULES).

Eclectic Wicca, as far as I know, has no ties to Gardner, and the really traditional types i've spoken to about Eclecticism tell me they don't consider it valid at all.

What I am seeing currently (and I am by no means an expert, but I only talk about things I actually know something about) is a trend that phases out Gardner's writings and puts Wicca more into Eclecticism; however, that was not how it was intended.

I have no problem with Eclecticism, but to say that Wicca itself has no rules is false. The main reason I'm not Wiccan is because of all the rules (there are a lot of them). I feel like if i'm going to be a part of something, i'm going to do it by the book, but that's me.

[ElikAruna]

in the flicker.

ElikAruna

first of all, hello. just call me Elik. i have been a solitary eclectic witch for...oh, erm, a month >.<' (witch, not wiccan. i believe there's a difference between the two)

i just feel i need to point out for those new to wicca or those just hearing about it, that all answers to questions stated here are mostly opinion. wicca has no set rules as is eclectic at the whole. for example, it is possible for wiccans to be atheists. Z Budapest (i think that's who it was) says in Drawing Down the Moon that the Divine is a metaphor, not a real being. but that's just one version of wicca. so, if you ask an eclectic coven a question, chances are you will get 13 different answers. even within the wiccan world, the terms wicca, witch, and witchcraft have no set definition.

Unfortunately, this answer is only valid if you disregard Gerald Gardner entirely. He is considered the creator of Wicca, and he wrote the rules (yes, RULES).

Eclectic Wicca, as far as I know, has no ties to Gardner, and the really traditional types i've spoken to about Eclecticism tell me they don't consider it valid at all.

What I am seeing currently (and I am by no means an expert, but I only talk about things I actually know something about) is a trend that phases out Gardner's writings and puts Wicca more into Eclecticism; however, that was not how it was intended.

I have no problem with Eclecticism, but to say that Wicca itself has no rules is false. The main reason I'm not Wiccan is because of all the rules (there are a lot of them). I feel like if i'm going to be a part of something, i'm going to do it by the book, but that's me.

the wicca created by Gerald Garder is just garderian wicca. i agree with you that many different traditions of wicca have been created through branching off of garderian wicca. i would also agree that eclecticism would hardly be called wicca when compared to the formal, traditional branches because these branches think wicca needs to be formal. however, eclecticism believes wicca should be fluid. in an abstract way, i believe both are right, as long as it is right for the ones practicing it.

as for wicca having no rules at all, different traditions have their own rules and very few rules overlap. uh....running outa ideas, 'm not good at debating. for more on the idea of wicca having no rules, read Drawing Down the Moon by Margot Adler. thats where i first saw this idea. i need to go read that again :/