Questions about Wicca...

[Catsmeow]

So I was raised a Methodist Christian, but I have come with some issues with the ideas concerning it. So I have some questions about Wicca!

1. Is more reverence given to deities or nature?

2. Is it more monotheistic or polytheistic? Do I have a choice when practicing?

3. The Wiccan Golden Rule: "Do as ye will as long as ye harm none" How far does this rule extend to?

4. Does it have a problem with unnatural things entering the body? Such as medicine or alcohol?

5. What kind of spells are allowed and which kinds aren't?

6. Does practicing include only spells, or are there other rituals?

Forgive my ignorance, but I need to ask these questions or I won't find out. IF there was anything I hadn't asked that I should know, please say!

 

[Quintessence]

The answer to many of these questions are going to depend on which Wiccan (or Wiccan tradition) you're talking about. Neopaganism in general tends to be a very personalized religious path unless you're associated with a specific tradition that expects you to adhere to their rules. The vast majority of Neopagans (including Wiccans) are solitary, though, so I can't emphasize enough that answers are going to vary widely. Disclaimer aside...

1) This feels like the wrong question to ask because it presents something of a false dichotomy. You need to understand that in Neopaganism in general (including Wicca), the divine isn't understood to be wholly transcendent. It's immanent; that means that deity isn't separate from nature in the first place. The Wiccan God and Wiccan Goddess in particular are strongly tied of natural cycles and forces. Wiccans will often choose to work with other deities, though, and some of these may be less of what we would call "nature" than others (i.e. Hephaestus, Athena).

2) Neither. Wicca is predominantly duotheistic, or centers around two principle deities: the God and the Goddess. Beyond that, some Wiccans are also polytheist or possibly henotheists, but very rarely do you see strict monotheism in Wicca or Neopaganism. While others might disagree with me on this, I personally think that if you do not honor the God and Goddess you probably shouldn't call yourself Wiccan. Much of Wiccan mythology centers around that male-female dynamic, and I think removing that radically changes what the religion would be about.

3) This is one that is really going to depend on the individual practitioner. However, it can be said that Wiccans (and Neopagans) often have a more ecocentric ethic than mainstream society. This means that "harm none" is not applied only to humans, but also to the nonhuman world. Clearly it is impossible to actually live by this ethic; you can't live without causing harm. It's a paradox each person who follows the Rede needs to sort out on their own.

4) Generally no, but an individual practitioner might object to it. There are some who abide by the philosophy "my body is my temple" but I usually see this manifest as basic healthy living, not extreme prohibitionism. If anything, Neopagans and Wiccans are hedonistic (and I don't mean hedonist in the negative sense, I mean it in the philosophical sense).

5) Typically anything that violates the Rede is not allowed. In simple terms, no curses, no vindictive motives, no revengeful power trips, etc.

6) The distinction between a "spell" and a "ritual" can be fuzzy sometimes, IMHO, but Wicca has a wide variety of practices beyond what most would call spellcraft/magic. Things that honor the God and Goddess, the Lunar Cycle, the Solar Cycle, you could all consider to be rituals. I'd say these are the focus more than spellcraft. If you're looking to just do spellcraft, it isn't necessary to follow Wicca. There are plenty of magical traditions out there that don't have the more overtly religious elements attached to it.

 

[Catsmeow]

Thank you! This really has shed some light on Wicca for me. And, I am more interested with the religious elements (that's not a bad thing, is it?). I love the whole God/Goddess dynamic, that's a bit refreshing because Christianity is very male-dominated (male angels, male prophets, male God...) to me, personally.

 

[Quintessence]

It's definitely not bad to be interested in the religious elements. It's just something I wanted to mention, because some people are interested primarily in spellcraft (aka, non-religious witchcraft) rather than religion (aka, Wicca). If you were interested mostly in spellcraft, there are other directions people could point you for advice. Many do find Wicca's appeal to be the God-Goddess dynamic. For me it was actually a turn-off and led to my abandonment of Wicca as a system, but that's a whole different story.

 

[nnmartin]

that is interesting that you say the God-Goddess dynamic was a turn off.

Why do you feel that way and would you care to expand a little?

I find the idea appealing.

for myself, I feel that Christianity has a female energy within that has been supressed over the years due to cultural norms. I believe it is definitely there though.

And I have the general idea of the Earth Goddess coexisting on another plane with Jesus - what do you think of that idea?

 

[Quintessence]

Before I respond to that, I'm going to lay out some terminology.

When I say "sex" I mean physiological and anatomy. Sex is a biological reality that cannot be disputed. When I say "gender" I mean human social construct(s) relating to the concept of masculinity and femininity (i.e. behaviors, personalities, and roles deemed appropriate by a culture for males and females). Gender is not a biological reality, but a cultural creation open to dispute. Sex and gender are not technically interchangeable words, but unfortunately most people tend to use them that way. I do not use them interchangeably, so I wanted to make this clear up front.

There are two core reasons why I dislike Wicca's emphasis on male-female duality.

First, it fails to represent the reality of nature in terms of sex. While it is comfortable for humans to think in terms of males and females because that is our biological reality, there is considerably more diversity in sex than male and female. The overwhelming majority of the universe is completely nonsexual. Even if we are just looking at life, the vast majority are either asexual or hermaphrodites. I like to model my practices on the reality of nature and on science, so I find Wicca's simplification of things into male and female undesirable.

Second, I reject the social construct of gender entirely. I do not find it useful to stuff men and women into gender categories, even less so to stuff things that don't even have penises and vaginas into gender categories. I find this practice inherently sexist. Much of my dislike of gender is personal. I'm one of those folks whose gender doesn't "match" their biological sex according to society, and frankly I'm sick of people projecting expectations on me in the first place based on something so incredibly superficial. I'm not about to tolerate it from my religion.

That said, I may at times use sex where I find it appropriate. The male-female dynamic is certainly important for humans, so I do honor it; but it is not at all as central for my path that it is in Wicca. I refuse to put gender designations onto anything. "Masculine" elements, herbs, and stones registers either a "huh?" or "WTF?!" reaction from me. :sorry1:

 

[nnmartin]

so is this what they do in Wicca

Ie: assign genders to objects?

I see Yin and Yang forces operating within all things and as far as Christianity goes I take the orthodox view as the obviously male Yang part with a spiritual infusion of female Yin energy in the form of its repressed Pagan roots and the concepts of Christian Mysticism and some Gnostic beliefs.

As far as gender goes within religion I think I am with you on that one - ie: gender doesn't really exist but it makes the theological concepts easier to deal with.

Can you relate to this?

 

[Quintessence]

I think I understand. I try to avoid too much dualistic thought in my practice, and that includes Yin-Yang modalities. I use them sometimes, but I remember that they're a map, not the territory. The Four Elements are a more important map for my practices, so I will use this four-fold division of reality instead of a two-fold one.