Wicca
I haven't had much experience with this word or its concepts until I met Mary and Natalie at DePauw, and I learned a little bit about it by spending time with them. I was raised in a Catholic family, but it wasn't so strict that I couldn't explore other religions. While I knew there were other systems of belief in the world, I was still too nervous of what my parents would think to actually pursue any one seriously. They were fine (sort of) with me not being Catholic, but how would they react to my studying Buddhism or even Wicca? There are times when I realize that the limits to my parents' open-mindedness are not as far as I thought. I personally am comfortable with using the word and talking about it with other people, but I think that I would have to keep it from my parents' friends and my family, who are mostly Catholic. I wonder that they might be uncomfortable at first, but if I explained it to them, their comfort would increase...
Witchcraft
This word has way too many negative connotations in my memory to be able to use it comfortably, after reading about the Salem witch trials and the treatment of witches and those thought to be witches during the Middle Ages. I like to think that we've evolved past such narrow ways of thinking, but that's being too idealistic. If I were to begin to seriously practice Wicca, I couldn't refer to myself as a witch, because of all the popular misconceptions and my own discomfort with the word.
Power
After starting massage therapy school last summer, I began to view power more as an energetic force rather than the physical. As we got more in touch with ourselves, I could start to feel other people's energy, and now I regard those who have a very strong personal energy as being powerful. It's all in what you project that makes you powerful or not. The physical body is a fragile thing, easily damaged; it's the spirit that defines a person. I could go on and on, repeating myself and being redundant....
Ritual
This word isn't all too discomforting, since it seems to be used so commonly. There are rituals in every religion and people have their daily rituals, before they go to work or go to bed....
Magic
This word, to me, is most often used in reference to magicians performing tricks. My experience with magic has been superficial, as has many people's experiences, so I don't know how I could use this word in explaining Wicca with others....
Occult
I honestly don't know much about the occult; I've heard it used many times, but I've never bothered to look up the true meaning, so I'm not sure how it relates to Wicca....
Pagan
I actually really like this word, it refers to a time period and a people that I feel really drawn to, a time before Christianity became the popular religion. I feel this intense desire to live in closer connection with the earth, and hopefully this journey through Wicca will help it to become at least partially realized...
*as it gets later in the evening, my answers become shorter and shorter...
Spell
Casting spells has always been portrayed negatively, in my experience, in order to harm another person or for selfish gain. I realize that spells can be positive and I hope that I can learn more about that aspect of Wicca. Again, since it has rather negative connotations in popular society, I don't think I could this word comfortably with anyone outside this sphere of knowledge....
Earth-Religion
This phrase seems a bit hokey to me, like some stereotypical New Age-y phrase used by people pretending to be Wiccan or Pagan. I hadn't heard of it until now, but I wouldn't necessarily use it to describe Wicca....
Well, that's it for me, I'm caught up (look at this, two days in and I'm already behind!) I was wondering, in case you read this and have to comment, do you think that, instead of writing themes on a candle, burning it and then burying the wax, I could write the themes on bits of paper, burn them and scatter the ashes? Honestly, I don't have the time to bury the wax, and like the idea of watching my old beliefs burn away and being able to really let them go.What do you think?
1 comment:
Lovely answers, Jen! I'm gearing up to do my own "Real Day Two" right now...so maybe I shouldn't have read it. Meh. I shall rely on my short term memory loss.
As far as the candles vs. paper goes...paper is totally fine. I suspect Roderick's suggestion to carve the words into a candle is a) to begin acquainting you with candle magic...which is über-popular in the pagan world and used frequently later on, b) to make the exercise longer and stranger, and c) burning a candle is slightly more fire safe than the alternative.
I think the more important one in that group is b. With magic work, you usually seek out ways to make the working a little more difficult, because taking the extra steps helps you to focus on the task. You're making it less routine, basically, which means more thought and more magical intent.
That being said, writing words on a piece of paper, burning the paper, then scattering the ashes will accomplish the same thing. Just make sure to really concentrate on your intents.
Post a Comment