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    New to the Craft

    Tools of the Trade Wicca is a path rich in symbolism.  Ritual and symbols connect practitioners, forming a common thread which ties them to the same tradition.  Solitary Wiccans are not necessarily as bound as coven members to follow the same protocols – after all there is no one working alongside them to see what they may or may not do in their private practice.  But just as myths form a common heritage of wisdom which we can all draw upon, the traditional symbols of Wicca offer a way of joining both coven witches and solitaries via the same language.  After all, symbols are not necessarily useful in themselves, but…

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    New To The Craft

    In the Realm of Magic For many of us who enjoy a good Harry Potter book or the fairy tales of childhood, there is a special word that draws us to the study of Wicca: magic.  That one mysterious word conjures up a euphoria of wonder and excitement that feels alien in comparison to our daily lives.  Suddenly, anything is possible, and we become more than mere mortals bracing against the tides of fate.  These are certainly the types of emotions the idea of magic can inspire, but daily we are told to keep such notions in the realm of fiction where they belong.  There is the world of reality…

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    New To The Craft

    A Green Religion One of the main aspects that drew me to learning about Wicca is that is an earth-based spiritual practice.  Honor and respect for our planet is now more important than ever as we hurtle ever faster towards a worldwide environmental crisis.  Though of course it is not impossible to both care for the environment and follow a traditional Western religion or other path, earth-based practices differ in that they shift the focus of what constitutes the sacred.  Wicca does not view the earth as a mere residence or a set of resources.  To many she is the very Goddess herself: Gaia.  Her green limbs extend upward to…

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    New To The Craft

    Earth-Air-Fire-Water To some outside the Craft the idea of the four classical elements can seem quaint – an outdated theory constructed before the advent of modern science.  We now have the periodic table to explain the “true” elements that compose matter, so what use are the concepts of the ancients?  It can be easy to dismiss older beliefs and practices if one takes the point of view that we have since replaced them with newer and better discoveries.  But that is awfully presumptuous as well.  So let us take a closer look at what wisdom may lay behind the elements of earth, air, fire and water to explain why they…