Wicca

When one thinks about Wicca some may get images in their heads of hippies waving peace signs or of people toting crystals and making offerings to the Sun and the Moon.  Well in fact these stereotypical images aren't completely true.  Although many of us love crystals and many of us are in love with the concept of peace, we are a group of people that follow a central belief in Nature as a set of deities that are personified as a Lord and Lady.  Within this belief system, we do in fact honor the moon and the sun but only as representations of the Lady and the Lord respectively.  Within this religious framework, we honor several days of the year within the cycle of a year which we call the Wheel of the Year.  Our Wheel of the Year reflects the life cycle of our gods and shows how they live, love and die.  Each holy day is called a sabbat and can be celebrated many ways according to various traditions.  In addition to the celebration of our holy sabbats, we also honor the moon and her many phases.  These lesser holy days (which are honored on the day of the full moon or dark of the moon) are called esbats.  In my own practice, I generally reserve esbats as working days or days to just sit out back in my yard, light a candle and just talk to "Mom" about things going on in my life or about things that our household may need or want.  Also as a practicing Norse Heathen, and one that has many interests in other traditions (including hoodoo, voodoo and the African Tradition Religions) these conversations can sometimes get pretty complicated....LOL!

Although the above mentioned material is a very generalized and simplistic view of modern day Wicca, it is for the most part the only thing that many Wiccan paths have in common (in my own personal opinion)...LOL!  Our paths and traditions are so diverse that it is almost impossible to see a common theme in them let alone any basic way that we all have in common in the way of worship.  Wicca is in fact many things to many people!! It is a faith that has borrowed many aspects from many other faiths. It is a belief system that is tailored to specific thought patterns and ways of life.  Our diversity can be a strength or it can drive us farther apart!