It is only ONE possible rendition; opinions
are GUARANTEED to vary.
About three years ago, I did this little PR
flyer to hand out when Wiccans were doing public
events (for instance, Beltane Maypole dancing in the local park) and curious
passersby would ask just what the heck was going on. If you like the idea, use it -- and feel free to adapt it as needed, for
your own group.
Written 1991 by Raven.
NO COPYRIGHT. This is put into public domain.
Q. Do you worship the Devil (Satan)?
A. No, for three reasons.
First, we don't venerate evil in any form:
our chosen religion is a celebration and affirmation of life and living things,
as opposed to their destruction or harm. As we believe that good or evil done
will return upon the doer, this does not encourage doing evil.
Second, Satan is a figure in Judeo-Christian
beliefs -- originally not even an opponent of Yahweh, but more like his
prosecuting attorney (as in the Book of Job). Those who do worship Satan
actually accept the later Christian theology, with Satan as Yahweh's opponent,
but choose to support Satan's side of the battle. We are not Christians or
Satanists, and do not accept their theology or worldview, so we would no more
worship Satan than, for instance, Christians would worship the Aztec God
Quetzalcoatl; he simply has no place in our beliefs. (We prefer the figure of
Pan, who does have horns but is a much nicer fellow.)
Third, we think history shows that, if you
invest belief and emotion in any idea or thought-form, you give it strength and
power in your own life -- it becomes more real TO YOU. We have no wish to
invite hostile entities into our lives and give them such power over us, which
is why we don't venerate any form we consider evil. That's also why we're
shocked to see how much energy some Christians invest in Satan.
Q. Then why do I hear those things about you?
A. "Devil-worship", baby-killing,
cannibalism and all that? These are typical accusations made by one religion
against another. The Syrians accused the Jews of ritual murders long before
Christ; then the Romans accused the Christians (who at least claimed to be
eating someone's body and blood every week); then the Christians accused the
Jews and Muslims and every other religion; today different Christian
denominations even accuse each other. Making wild accusations not only sells
newspapers, and books, and movies; it helps drum up support for the Religion Of Your Choice. This is a cynical use of hate, fear, and
ignorance, but as long as it works, it will be used. (And there will always be
psychotics willing to live up to the image -- then claim "the Devil made
me do it.")
Q. If not Christian theology, what do you believe
in?
A. Life. We see the entire Universe, all
matter and energy, as bursting with life, loving its own living parts --
including us -- and gathered in one eternal dance. We try to catch the tune and
dance to the beat.
Sometimes we call the leading dancers Light
and Dark, or Sun and Moon, or the Lord and the Lady, Cernunnos
and Ceridwen, Pan and Diana, or by other names. These
represent the duality in all things -- male and female, yang and yin -- neither
side of which can be denied or ignored, even within ourselves.
(We hope this helps us avoid the error that
some worshippers of a single deity have made, such as thinking that "since
God is all good and God is male, therefore anything female or feminine is
evil.")
Our feeling about the Gods is that they are
teachers, family members, and fellow dancers: not some untouchable abstraction
infinitely distant, but an intimate part of our own lives. Our feeling about
other religions is that they, too, are part of the universal dance: not
enemies, but fellow strugglers seeking as we do, to live and learn to keep time
with the music.
Q. What is this ceremony you're doing?
A. It depends on the moment. You may be
watching a circle dance, or a Maypole dance, or a feast of "cakes and
ale", or just a group hug. (We like to have fun.) Possibly, since you were
handed this, you're watching us "cast a circle". That's one of our
basic religious ceremonies.
When we "cast a circle", we mark
off a space as dedicated and protected for our use, rather like Christians
consecrating a church. (The difference is, we don't need a building, and we let
the space go back to normal after we've used it.) Within this circle, we ask
for the protection of guardians -- call them the four elements of Air, Earth,
Fire, and Water, or the four archangels Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, and Uriel -- again, the names may vary. Then we invite the Lord
and the Lady to be with us for a time. We have a nice visit, a little snack of
cookies and wine (or fruit juice), and then everyone goes home. It's very
friendly.
Along the way, sometimes we ask for help with
our problems, such as healing an injury or illness; if you believe in the power
of prayer, it's the same sort of thing -- but we try to put our own energies
into the task, rather than asking someone else to do all the work.
Q. How will what you are doing affect me?
A. If you're not participating, then probably
no more than any other religious service you watch from outside. If you're
shocked by other religions, you might choose to be shocked by ours. (Ours is
just out where you can see it, instead of hidden by walls.) Or you might choose
to accept our part of the universal dance as valid if different from your own.
You might even choose to participate -- and people of good will are generally
welcome among us.
Even if you do participate, there's no reason
to take any effect from our services that you don't choose to accept. Since --
for our own sakes -- we ask for nice things to happen, the biggest possible
results involve no danger. If we ask for more harmony in the world, and your
life becomes more harmonious, then you benefit from the same general effect as
if a church's prayer for world peace had worked. (After that, if you don't like
harmony, you could always work to make your own life more discordant; whatever
suits you.)
Q. Do all Witches practice the same way you
do?
A. There are about as many
"denominations" of Witches as there are of Christians, and since
no-one is forced to keep One True Orthodox Way, even a single group may do
things differently from time to time. The two mottoes that apply here are
"If it works, use it" -- and "AN IT HARM NONE, do as you
will."
Q. How can I find out more about you?
A. Ask one of us. We're easy to talk with. Or
read some books. Good books include Vivianne
Crowley's WICCA: the Old Religion in the New Age, Margot Adler's Drawing Down the Moon, Starhawk's
The Spiral Dance, and Raymond Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft.
There's also a lot of shocking nonsense and
pulp fiction out there -- notably in movies, paperback thrillers, and the sort
of newspapers sold at supermarket cash registers; we can only ask you to take
anything you find there with a skeptical pinch of salt.