Pricticing The Craft Why Young People Are Attracted To Wicca

Book: Pricticing The Craft Why Young People Are Attracted To Wicca by Anonymous

This article first appeared in the Effective Evangelism column of the Christian Research Journal, volume 30, number 5 (2007). For further information or to subscribe to the Christian Research Journal go to: http://www.equip.org In April of this year, the Department of Veterans Affairs approved the use of the Wiccan pentacle—a fivepointed star surrounded by a circle—on tombstones at Arlington National Cemetery and other U.S. military burial grounds. The pentacle joins a list of 38 other approved religious symbols including an atom for atheists, the humanist emblem, and various forms of the Christian cross.

Wicca, long considered a fringe spiritual practice, has entered the mainstream and the number of practitioners has skyrocketed over the past decade. According to the American Religious Identification Survey1 conducted every decade by the City University of New York, the number of Wiccans in America was seventeen times larger at the beginning of this decade than it was in the early 1990s. Not only are there military personnel who practice Wicca, but many high school and college students do as well. Wiccans on college campuses have been forming their own clubs for years.

If we hope to engage this growing segment of our society—particularly the young people who practice Wicca—typical Christian tactics such as organizing boycotts, letter-writing, and shunning Wiccan believers, must become a thing of the past. Too often, Christians have refused to treat Wiccans as their neighbors and have been content to remain ignorant about what Wiccans really believe and why they believe it. We know that Paul on Mars Hill and other members of the early church looked with compassion on the pagans in their midst and effectively engaged them in conversations about the gospel. We must do no less with modern-day pagans.

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Anonymous - Pricticing The Craft Why Young People Are Attracted To Wicca

The Moon Phases

At the end of this page is a Module that will show you the current moon phase. If you click on it it will take you to the people whom make the software that you may download so you can have full month calendars. This will help you to plan when to do your Spells or plant your seeds for your Herb Garden.

The Moon phase... The proper Moon phase is one of the keys to success in Spell casting. There are many Spells that I do on the night of the Full Moon for maximum effect and potency just as farmers may plant there seedlings during the Full Moon. The Moon effects everything and can effect our moods and actions. Ever notice that people seem to be more wound up and crazy during the Full Moon? I see it all the time. There are four phases of the Moon... New Moon, Waxing Moon, Full Moon and the Waning Moon. Each of these phases has a 7 day period for doing your Magical workings. If you add these phases up, you come up with the 28 day lunar month. The time period for each phase is... 3 days before to 3 days after. This gives you plenty of time to plan and do you Spell casting. Not everyone can plan on doing magic on one certain day, so this opens the window of opportunity for those of you who have a busy schedule. Here is what the different phases are normally used for in Magic.

New Moon - There are usually two days of the new moon. This phase is very similar to the Waning Moon and used to rid ones self of things.

Waxing Moon - This is when the moon is increasing in size of visibility. This phase is for doing Spells that might increase your gain such as Love, money, power or other material things.

Full Moon - This the phase where I do my most important spells. For my beliefs are that my Magic is much more powerful during this phase. Most people like my friends only consider the Full Moon the actual day that it is the fullest and marked on the calendar. They do not know that the Moon has the same influence for a seven day period. Once again I personally prefer to work on the night of the Full Moon, at its fullest.

Waning Moon - This is when the moon is decreasing in size of visibility. This phase is normally for Spells that do away with things or make things go away. Such as making an enemy go away or a bad spirit or slander along with many other things.

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The Great Cycle

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... The cycle of a year, it's birth and death is mirrored in the lives of all living Things. This cycle is also mirrored by the day/night cycle, and a multitude of other cycles. Many gods are used to personify either the circle in it's entirety, or a specific aspect of the cycle (The Green Man for birth or rebirth, the springtime, growth).

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What Does It Mean To Be Wiccan

To be Wiccan is to worship the Goddess and her companion the Horned God, and to follow the philosophies, ethics and practices of the old religion. Originally rooted in Paganism, Wicca existed long before Christianity and long before the Church was founded.

Wiccans honour the Earth as their spiritual Mother (the Goddess) and the Sky and the wildness of nature as their spiritual Father (the Horned God). In practice, this means that they esteem nature and the planet on which we live. They venture not to harm anyone or anything, because to them, everyone in the world are their brothers and sisters with an equal right to exist. Wicca is a tradition that works to harm none in thought, word, or deed. Therefore, anyone who says they are a witch but works otherwise should not be considered an authentic Wiccan practitioner.

Witchcraft is still the only Spiritual Tradition that raises the female above the male, in contrast to patriarchal religions such as Christianity and Judaism. They venerate an almighty male deity, with little positive mention of the female at all. Because of its veneration of a Goddess, Wicca follows the moral values associated with feminine spiritual powers – such as love, peace, and joy – rather than the more masculine religious attitudes of domination, strength, and authority.

Witches work by peaceful means, seeking to unite rather than to divide, to be of service to our communities, and to be the healers, counsellors, and the guardians of all life on Earth. This is because they see themselves as the children of the Goddess and the Horned God that they honour. When this is a truth within a witch, they can only ever love and look after what has been so lovingly created for us.

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Further Notes On The History Of Witchcraft In Massachusetts

Book: Further Notes On The History Of Witchcraft In Massachusetts by Abner Cheney Goodell

HISTORY OF Witchcraft IN Massachusetts, Containing ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE OF THE PASSAGE OF THE ACT OF 1711, FOR REVERSING THE ATTAINDERS OF THE VlTCHES; ALSO, AFFIRMING THE LEGALITY OF THE SPECIAL COURT OF OYER AND TERMINER OF 1692 : WITH A HELIOTYPE PLATE OF THE ACT OF 1711, AS PRINTED IN 1718, AND AN APPENDIX OF DOCUMENTS, ETC. BY ABNER CHENEY GOODELL, JR. .

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Abner Cheney Goodell - Further Notes On The History Of Witchcraft In Massachusetts Orc Version
Abner Cheney Goodell - Further Notes On The History Of Witchcraft In Massachusetts

Silvers Spells For Protection

Book: Silvers Spells For Protection by Silver Ravenwolf

Silver is the first Wiccan author whom I have discovered so far, who has had the focus to dedicate her time and energies writing this "Silver's Spells For..." series. I declare that she is doing quite a good job!

Silver Ravenwolf's Silver's Spells for protection is just the right size. By that I mean that the format of this book makes it an ideal "take along" for purse, backpack, or pocket. This book covers how to handle stalkers, abusers, and other nasties with practical information as well as magickal techniques. It also discusses some of the other irritants in life-like protecting yourself from your mother-in-law's caustic tongue and how to avoid that guy who's out to take your job.

As for the one or two folks who declared that they needed to know Wicca or how to manipulate magickal energies before they used her books, well, you are entitled to your opinion. Considering that EVERY person on this planet has the potential for magick, I dare say that you all are trying to put magick in a box! Naturally Silver remembered to put the usual cautions and admonitions about the laws of magick in the first chapters of her book...so relax, OK?

Of course, unless the information in this book was valuable, there'd be no reason to take it along at all. But since it comes to spells, methods, and technologies for spiritual protection and prevention, this book has everything you need. That's why I started off by saying this is the right size to carry along with you: You're going to want to take it everywhere!

There is a self-blessing ritual and spells to protect your vehicle. There are spells to protect those in your home and ones to uncross yourself when confronted with negativity and setbacks. You'll find techniques to get people to stop lying about you, and others to aid you in court.

In fact, by understanding what underlies the techniques given in this book, you can come up with Protection Spells for any purpose. The appendices give you correspondences and suggestions so you can easily convert the spells given in this book to exactly work with your needs.

What do you do when you discover that your best friend at work sabotaged your promotion? Or if a neighbor suddenly decides that you don't belong in his town? What if a group of teens sets out to make your life a living hell? Silver's Spells for Protection contains tips for dealing with all these situations, and more.

One of the best parts of this book is a basic introduction to magick. Even if you're an old hand at spells and rituals, this section will refresh your memory and give information on ideas you didn't know or might have forgotten. How long should a ritual or spell last? Why didn't my magick work? When should I do this ritual? If magic for evil purposes works, why shouldn't I do it? All of these questions are clearly answered.

This book makes an excellent gift — to a friend or to yourself. Protection from the problems of life and from negative energies is needed by all. You can find answers here.

Anyway, don't let the naysayers put you off-- it is an excellent series, and the wide array of spells, their size and power being in direct proportion to the seriousness of the problems/people/situations at hand, are just what I needed! I live in a big city where there is LOTS of noise, and I used her suggestions for stress. Also, my ridiculous relatives have been harrassing me psychically to contact them (which in and of itself is not magickally ethical), and the "Simple Folk Spells for Little Troubles" worked wonderfully. All of her spells are, as Wiccan ethics go, WITH HARM TO NONE. Blessed Be!

Buy Silver Ravenwolf's book: Silvers Spells For Protection

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