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Hi I have afew Questions to ask to anyone how will reply.
but first I will get so back ground so you know where i stand and why i ask the questions.

I was raised a Nazerine(Christian) and wanted to be a missionarty. I worked at a India Boarding school as a dish washer. i watch co worker put down the culture and heratiage of the kids. I hated what they where doing so tryed to stop them from saying deminning thing to the kids (who were Navajo and Hopi mainly). I realized that because of fear, prejustice, and just plan ignoreice they were distorying a chance to witness to them. I truly believe that a person has the right to there own believe and culture. its not my place to shove it down there throats or scrare them in to believeing my way or hell. it tics me off!! any way I realized that I dont now much about any other religian or culture. so I started reading books and asking question. i learned that asking Christians about other relegians is very unuseful I learn a name and why its wrong that does not tell me any thing and the same with books they get or start over my head or there christian author warning of the danger of...

So you see my delema? I dont want to change anyones mind or critize, jugde... I would love just the basics of what you believe.

Do you have a Bible (is that the right term?)?
what is it called?
Do you believe in a God (s)?
where does your "Bible" come from? who wrote it?
how old is Wicca?
do you have Bible storys like christians?
Am I being offencive?

I hope its ok to post this here. Again I am sorry if i offend anyone that truely was not my intent. Lee <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />
ps if i posted this twice i am sorry i am new at posting <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Lets see....

there is no Bible persay in Wicca. We have a couple of writings that we hold close but there is no one text that defines our religion.

Personally,I believe in a Universal source that is both God and Goddess. I believe that there is a duality in life as well as deity. As above, So Below. OTher Wiccans incorporate the Goddess alone or maybe with the God as a secondary deity, and still others work with whole pantheons (specific groups of Gods & Goddesses - such as Egyptian, Celtic or Greek)

Wicca as a religion was started in the 1940's & 1950's by a man named Gerald Gardner. It is based on practices older than that, however.

We dont have "Bible" stories but we do use mythology from all over the world to learn from. They are used sort of the way bible stories would be I guess, to teach life lessons etc.


As far as being offensive goes, I believe that actually wanting to learn about something is never offensive. It only becomes offensive when you use that knowledge or lack of knowledge to harm someone, or when you choose to remain ignorant of something after it has been explained. You dont have to agree but you do have to be respectful

Thank you for respecting this forum by asking.

your welcome. so is the Universal source 1 Deity with bot male and female energy/quilitys? is at the duialit your talking about?
And can you explane pantheons?

So in Wicca, it is like everyone believes in there own believe and theorys? whats right for one is or maybe wrong for some one else and thats ok? or Is it more like Denominations in christianty where if you Baptist you believe one way and Nazerines believe another and both side agree to disagree because you believe in the same basic princepals? or is it more like Caltholics believe that they are the only right religian and prodestins believe the are and the religous battle begins...?

You said that there is no Bible but you hold a few text close, what are they? I have heard of a Book Of Shadows?
Is that in Wicca or witchcraft... or is it the same?

oh boy i could ask questions all day but i think ill stop here for now. thank you for replying. Lee

Hey! I'm Rae, the Pagan editor here, and I can field a few of these.

A "pantheon" historically was a temple dedicated to all gods and not just one. The word now is used to refer to the groupings of gods that are associated with various beliefs system. For example, Zeus, Apollo, Aphrodite and all the Greek gods are the Greek pantheon. Shiva, Durga, Kali and Parvati are all part of the Hindu pantheon. I hope that helps explain it.

Fiona wrote a great article about what a Book of Shadows is and you can read it here

oh what a great idea to have a book of shadows!!! i read in to Candle magic and the Wiccan Rede. so let me see if i am undersanding this. Spells are kind of like prayer in rhyme asking God for help or favore with something. and all Wiccan follow the Wiccan Rede which is like a code of conduct.

so do you woship the candles like aGod and each color candle is a different God(ess) or do they repercent a God (ess) or do you use the energy from the candle and colors to combimed with you energy for what ever the purpose?

Its ok i know some one out their reading this has got to be laughting at my ingnorence. <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />lol

I work with candles sometimes, but to me, the candle isn't the Deity, it's a tool to help me focus my intention.

Colors have certain psychological associations, like blue is cooling and healing, green is manifestation, red is vibrant energy, etc. So, depending on what I'm trying to do, I might pick a certain color to help me keep a certain mental and emotional focus. I use the burning flame as a visual aid for meditation, and I also view the smoke as being a vehicle to help carry my prayers to the Goddess. A lot of religions burn candles and incense for the same reason.

What I call doing a ritual some people call prayer, and some people call it casting a spell. I've run into people who get that it's the same thing but different, and I've met people who utterly invalidate my spiritual practices because they are different from theirs. I'm sure you've met both kinds of folks too.

The sacred text I was referring to are things like The Charge of the Goddess or the Wiccan Rede. Things that someone might copy into thier Book of Shadows.

Candles, statues and other things like that are not worshiped at all. As Rae said, they are tools we use to focus our energy. For example if you were lighting a candle like you would for a prayer at church, then everytime you looked at the candle or took the time to light the candle you would be focusing your energy on the thing you were praying about.

When I speak of duality I mean the balance of masculine and feminine in everything including Deity. For me that is the balance of God and Goddess. Wicca is an interesting religion because there are a variety of beliefs. But for the most part there are a few core beliefs that are followed by most Wiccans. These include the Wiccan Rede, "an it harm, none do what you will" and a belief in God and Goddess, and a belief that the four elements/directions have energies that we can call on and work with.

Many of the articles in my section called Basic Wicca can answer some of those questions more fully

cool but just so you know i and Nazerine and we dont light candles in church. this does however explane why Catholices do. the Glossory is very helpful. ok here is a sticky question. do Wiccans believe in Sacafies (anamal, human) or does that go against what you believe or up to the indaviudle? BTW i am dyslesic so for give the spelling i haven't figured out the spell cheack!

Sacrifice? That sounds scary! I have sacrified the occassional candle. I like to write prayers, thoughts, things I didn't get to say, etc. on a piece of paper then burn them outside and watch the smoke carry them where the need to go.

Harm none. Sacrifice would harm people and animals.

As for spell check, I type in Word, spell check, then copy & paste in this here little box <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />