Wicca is an earth-centered religion and a form of paganism. Although all witches are pagan, not all pagans are witches, due to the diversity of traditions represented by paganism.

Although it is an earth-centered belief system, at the core of wiccan practice is the recognition of the feminine force in the universe as well as the male. The special gifts and contributions of the Goddess are emphasized and she interacts in harmony with the God.

I wasn't aware wicca existed until I was about 27 years old and was randomly looking through the metaphysical section of the Borders in Gaitherburg, Maryland. Rae Beth's book, The Wiccan Path caught my attention and I sat down in front of the bookcases to read it. From then on I was absolutely sure that wiccan was what I was born to be. Wicca expresses reverence for the divine feminine, and it gave a name to what I had believed all of my life. I had long since accepted that I was different from the rest of my family and thought there was something wrong with me.

I had always wondered why I couldn't be comfortable as a christian.

The answer is simple. Because I was not meant to be one.

Reincarnation, psychism, spirit intuition (which I have), earth spirits, elementals (faeries, pixies), magick, karma, God as a woman...these were all things I had always felt were so, yet was afraid to acknowledge because of my christian upbringing. Dogma form a religion no longer practiced is a difficult thing to push aside, even when the person knows that the new faith they're drawn toward is their own personal truth. Once I was able to do that it felt as if the entire universe opened up in front of me and I had my own special place in it. Wicca encourages freedom of thought and expression, and emphasizes the connection we all have to every living thing around us. The Mother Goddess, the Father God, animals, the sea, the sky, the earth we walk upon, all of it is part of us just as we are part of it. No one element or person is more important than another. We are all one.

Wiccans, pagans and other witches do NOT worship the devil or consort with demons. This is a myth that began shortly after the birth of christianity and has been so often repeated it has become widely accepted as truth. The original text in the bible used to read, "Thou shalt not suffer a poisoner (a murderer), to live." The word "poisoner" was later changed to "witch", to discourage people from practicing pagan religions and help guide people toward christianity. True witches have no interest in working evil. We are neither foolish nor careless, and to purposefully consort with any kind of negative influence is both. To summon evil deities or traffic with demons not only puts our own existence at risk but that of our families and friends as well. Since we are all connected to one another, it makes sense that even a completely innocent person unknown to the practitioner could be in some way affected. We have no interest in doing this.

The only laws witches live by are "harm none" and the threefold law, which is the understanding that whatever energy you release into the universe, for good or for evil, comes back to you threefold.

As I have said many times, I did not choose to become a witch. In a sense, witchcraft chose me. It spoke to me as soon as I opened Rae Beth's book and it has become the truth of my spirit. It brings me joy and peace like nothing else, to know that there is both a mother and a father connecting me to the moon, the earth, the universe and all that lives within it. I do believe in an afterlife. There is a place we go to rest before rebirth and I know it is beautiful.

I have been here many times and will be back again someday after this life has long passed. When I do I will be connected to the same people I loved in this life and my other lives, though their forms will change and I may not always know exactly who they were before. To know that connection, to experience that familiarlity as deja vu or a subtle spark of recognition is a beautiful and loving gift that I will never take for granted.

I do practice magick. Many of my spells were written by me and have worked wonderfully well. My spirit is nurtured creatively as well as in the religious sense and I am better able to express myself through writing and design than I ever was before. My specialty is candle magick but I also work well with stones, colors and herbs as well as Runes and the Tarot. The knowledge I have gained has enriched my life like nothing else. I am mostly at peace.

My life has the same turbulence and trials as everyone else's but at the same time I feel as if I am being nurtured and am better able to deal with adversity. I may feel as if I'm about to fall apart but something always encourages me, whispers to me that I won't.

I know there are divine forces in the universe that embrace me, just as I embrace them. I feel their presence and see their work every day in other people and in the beauty of our world. The good things I do, the people I touch, the tiny mundane things I do everyday enhance that connection and make it all the more precious. I am sad for people who call themselves "God Fearing". If you live in fear, in what way is your life improved and your value established?

I don't regret my christian upbringing, though there have been times in which I have resented it. I have come to terms with it and learned to accept christians as people instead of seeing them as a source of intolerance and aggravation. It was a learning experience. I had to see both ends of the spectrum in order to find my truth. I'm a little rougher around the edges for the journey but if given the chance I'd have chosen to take it again. In a sense, wicca has been a road of sorts, the pathway between one world and the next.

The path that brought me closer to the divine.

By Sionainne, Copyright 2002

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