Basic Wiccan Workbook, Eclectic Tradition
by Cynthia Gregory
Priestess and Witch, Circle of Winged Toads and Compost Coven
Table of Contents
1. Class Information
2. The Spiral Path
3. Grounding and The Circle
4. Elements
5. The Goddess
6. The God
7. Working Magic
8. Celebrations
9. Appendix
Imbolc/Brigid
1. CLASS INFORMATION
Class Format: 3 class series
Curriculum:
1. Casting the Circle and the Elements: How To Begin
2. The Goddess: and God. The God: Paradox Of The Untamable And The Sacrifice
3. Working Magic: Creating Change
Class will be experiential and in ritual format. You get more out of the class if you actively participate. There will be opportunities to lead invocations and other parts of the ritual as the class progresses. You won't be pushed (well, maybe gently). When you feel ready, please volunteer, or be willing to stretch your spiritual muscles and take a risk. Using ritual, we will cover the practice of grounding and purification; the elements and casting a circle, divinity in female and male aspects, and working magic. Plan to attend all sessions and call if unable to show up.
2. THE SPIRAL PATH
Wicca is an earth-based religion with a humanist bent, based on the immanence of the sacred within all. It is polytheistic and inclusive, with both male and female deities. Wicca is a practice rather than a dogma.
Wiccan is a religion of doing. It is practical. If it works do it. What witches1 do is ritual and magic. The rituals vary with the seasons, the needs and the creativity of the participants. Some rituals draw on old traditions and are celebrations of the interplay of earth and sun. Some are new, designed to meet immediate needs. They can be completely spontaneous and or planned in detail. The purpose is to connect our energy with that of the worlds and to create change in our lives and the environment we live in. We call that magic, others may call it prayer.
The practice of Wicca generally done as individuals or in small groups. Thus it is highly individualistic, creative and flexible. There is very little in the way of creed and no national, universally accepted hierarchy. There are a variety of flavors from those who recreate the feel of Celtic Druids, those who worship Goddesses only, faeries, the eclectic traditions and everything in between. Some use a very disciplined approach, others a more playful. The freedom to create what serves your needs is openly acknowledged and valued in this religion.
Wicca is a religion of engagement. Instead of looking to transcend our human existence, we embrace our humanity. Our bodies and imaginations are our primary tools for working magic. Because our bodies are the manifestation of the earth, the spirit is not valued over the body. As the Goddess says, " All acts of love and pleasure are my rituals."
As an earth based practice, Wicca is a way of interacting with the world, of acknowledging the cycles of the seasons; of light and dark; of birth and death. Wicca confirms the significance of these cycles in our lives. The goal is over time to achieve balance with the forces of nature. We flow with the natural processes of creation and decay.
The planting of spring brings the growth of summer. The harvest that follows is the death and sacrifice of grain to the continuing force of life. The fallowness of winter is a time of rest within the dark season that prepares us for the renewal and work of spring.
Without death there is no renewal, no room for new life. Without accepting pain, anger and fear as a natural part of life, joy is shallow and has no root. All emotions have reasons for being and to deny the power of any is to lose the lessons they can teach us. It is right to be angry at injustice. It is wise to fear what can harm us and to protect ourselves. It is important to pay attention to pain and to look for its root causes.
Often the lessons of the dark are avoided. We even use the term enlightenment to mean wisdom. Through Wicca we seek a deeper wisdom. Wisdom that has learned the value of endarkenment. The wisdom gained through the courage of looking inward, into our heart and our soul. Underground , in the decay of the grave, we find the power of transformation that is rooted in destruction, when that which is dead nourishes the young seedling. Death releases our prior form and energy so a new elemental form can emerge. This is the power of renewal, germination and rebirth. The Goddess is both dark and light.
The Goddess is balanced by the God as the earth is balanced by the sun. The God leads us into the untamed wildness within us. That primeval part of ourselves that resonates with the stag, master of his forest home. His power is charged with sexual energy, fertile and potent. Not only is he untamed but he cannot be tamed. The paradox of the God is that he is both the wild horned one and the willing sacrifice to the life force. His sacrifice is symbolized by his Corn God aspect. He is the mystery of the grain, which must be cut down to sustain life as sacred bread.
The God and Goddess, like earth and sun, are in motion relative to each other. Not static but ever changing as the light and warmth we feel changes while the earth tips her face to the sun. This relationship is celebrated in the seasonal holidays of solstices, equinoxes and cross-quarter days.
A spiral represents our path though life. As we move from birth to death, passing though the seasons many times, celebrating the holidays, we are different each time we experience them. We grow in body and wisdom from our beginning and feel our waning as we move into old age. Wicca is a tool for harmonizing with the natural elements, the cycles and the male/female energies both within and outside ourselves. Wicca is a way of accepting the natural ebb and flow we all experience and wisely working with it to accomplish our goals.
Basic Ritual Format
Preparation: Ground and purify participants
Cast the Circle: Create sacred space.
Invoke the elements.
East: Air
South: Fire
West: Water
North: Earth
Invoke the Goddess ( Triple)
Invoke the God (Horned)
Magical Work: Cone of Power; Spiral Dance
Feast: Bread ( Cakes) and Wine.
Devoke and Close.
1 I use the word witch in spite of the connotations to connect with the spirit of those who suffered for the Goddess during the Inquisition.