1. Wicca is NOT a cult.
2. Magik, or spell casting, is done by some followers of Wicca, but it not required or forced.
3. The basic principles of Wicca revolve around nature, harming no one, and just being a good soul!
4. Wicca followers do NOT believe nor worship the devil.
The following is an article I found about Wicca, written by Laura C, and I wanted to share it with you. She is letting the reader know about things you do NOT have to do to be Wiccan, and it is a bit amusing.
Wiccans do not have to.....
- Be initiated by someone else. Initiation is necessary to be a member of the various Traditions out there. But there are quite a few eclectic Wiccans out there. See below.
- Follow a tradition, or claim to. It is perfectly acceptable nowadays to combine elements of various Wiccan and Pagan traditions to suit your personal way of doing things. However, your personal way of practicing Wicca is not a tradition. You came up with it yourself. The word "tradition" implies that something's been going on for a few generations, at least. Until your initiates have initiates of their own, it isn't fair to call your brand of Wicca a "tradition." Doing so belittles the efforts of established Traditions to keep their particular ways alive.
- Follow an ancient religion, or claim to. A lot of the traditions used by Gardner in Witchcraft Today came from the New Forest Coven. Some material came from the writings of Leland and Crowley. A bunch of it is stuff Gardner made up himself to hold the rest of it together. Gardnerian Wicca and its many offshoots only date back to the 1950’s. This does not make Wicca any less valid as a religion. Remember, ALL religions were brand-new at some point. There is no shame in belonging to a "young" religion.
- Wear ostentatiously "Pagan" things. Tie-dyed peasant skirts are not a Wiccan uniform. Neither are Goth clothing or silver jewelry. Wear what you feel comfortable wearing, but don't claim it as part of your religion. Wicca doesn't have a dress code, and isn't a fashion statement.
- Worship skyclad. For many Wiccans, worshiping skyclad is deeply meaningful and uplifting. However, if it makes you uncomfortable to worship naked, don't do it. If a coven tries to force you to go skyclad, ditch that coven. Worshiping naked is not about voyeurism or having sexual power over others. If you feel that the people in your coven are approaching skyclad ritual or the Great Rite in such a manner, leave NOW and don’t look back.
- Belong to a liberal political party. It's one thing to decide that you, personally, interpret Wicca as endorsing a leftist perspective. It's quite another to assume everyone else does so as well. Wicca is a religion, not a political organization. There are left-wing Wiccans, and there are right-wing Wiccans. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.
- Cast spells at every single opportunity. Understanding when magic is and is not appropriate is part of spiritual maturity. It is up to you to determine whether a given spell is an appropriate response in a given situation. As a general rule, casting more than three different spells a day is probably going a bit overboard.
- Spell "magic" with a K. I don't care if you spell it “magic, ” "magick, " or even "majikk." Neither does anybody else. Just don't correct my spelling when I choose to spell it the same way as the dictionary.
- Hate Christians. Christian-bashing is not part of Wicca. Most Christians aren't out to get you, and the few who are, are only encouraged by complaints about how nothing ever went wrong before Christians ruined everything. Not to mention that if you're an ex-Christian yourself, this makes you quite the hypocrite. This rule also goes for Islam, Judaism, Jainism, Hinduism, and any other belief system you can think of. And Goddess help you if you think starting a witch war is going to solve anything.
- Use a Craft name. I don't care whether you go by Kate, Rowan, or "Sparkly Elf Princess." I don't see why the Goddess and God would care either. Use a Craft name if you want, but don't act like people who don't are less serious about Wicca than you are. Even if you have a Craft name, you don't have to use it in public unless you really want to. If you do choose to change your legal name to your Craft name, don’t be surprised when some people stare.
- Enjoy Harry Potter, Charmed, Twilight, etc. This may come as a bit of a shock to some of you (I certainly hope not) , but there are Wiccans who couldn't care less about any given book, movie, or television show that references the occult. Even your absolute favorite one. Don't take it personally.
- Buy fancy tools and decorations. Metaphysical stores and websites make a killing off people who think they have to have a fancy store-bought wand, a pentacle tarot box, and a half-dozen fairy figurines in order to prove their dedication to the Goddess. There are enough guides in print and on the Internet to enable you to make half this stuff yourself, and the other half is mostly meaningless clutter. * Store-bought tools and decorations are nice, but they aren't necessary to be Wiccan. Otherwise, there would only be wealthy Wiccans, because there are lots of fancy Pagan toys out there, and many are pretty darned expensive.
