Back Home
Index
Back Home
Index
Back Home
Index
Back Home
Index
Back Home
Index
Back Home
Index
Back Home
Index
|
The Craft
(Witchcraft - NOT to be confused with Satanism.
A true
Witch has
nothing to do with this, even though
there are some
Satanists
who (unright-fully) call themselves "Witch".) contains
a
large number
of groups with bonds to each other, for the most part,
which
are looser than those you will find between Christian churches.
Each has it's
own traditions, it's own beliefs, it's own pantheon,
etc.
So just WHAT is it that, overall, a Witch believes
in? The
American Council
of Witches was formed to determine what it was that
all
Witches have in common, belief-wise. In the
early 1970's, a
paper
was released with their findings, and gives a
good overall
picture of it.
The following is the text of that paper.
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THE CRAFT
1.
The first principle is that of love, and it is expressed in
the ethic,
"DO AS YOU WILL, SO LONG AS YOU HARM NONE"
a) love is not emotional in its essence, but is an attribute of
the individual as expressed in relation to other beings;
b) harming others can be by thought, word, or deed;
c) it is to be understood the "none" includes oneself;
d) the harm which is to be regarded as unethical is gratuitous
harm; war, in general, is gratuitous harm, although it is
ethical to defend oneself and one's liberty when threatened by
real and present danger, such as defense against invasion.
2.
The Witch must recognize and harmonize with the forces
of the
universe, in accord with the Law of Polarity: everything
is dual;
everything has two poles; everything has it's opposite;
for every
action there is a reaction; all can be categorized as either
active or reactive in relation to other things.
a) Godhead is one unique and transcendent wholeness, beyond
any limitationsor expressions; thus,it is beyond our
human capacity to understand and identify with this
principle of Cosmic Oneness, except as It is revealed to us
in terms of It's attributes and operation.
b) The most basic and meaningful attribute of the One that
we, as humans, can relate to and understand, is that of
polarity, of action and reaction; therefore Witches
recognize the Oneness of the Divinity, but worship and
relate to the Divine as the archetypal polarity of God
and Goddess, the All-Father and the Great Mother of the
universe. The Beings are as near as we can approach to
the One within our human limitations of understanding and
expression, though it is possible to experience the
divine Oneness through the practices of the Mysteries.
c) Harmony does not consist of the pretty and the nice, but
the balanced, dynamic,poised co-operation and
co-relation.
3.
The Witch must recognize, and operate within the framework of the
Law of
Cause and Effect; every action has it's reaction,
and
every effect
has it's cause. All things occur according to this law;
nothing in the
universe can occur outside this law, though we may not
always appreciate
the relation between a given effect and it's cause.
Subsidiary to
this is the Law of Three, which states that whatever
goes forth must
return threefold, whether of good or ill; for our
actions affect
more than people generally realize, and the
resulting reactions
are also part of the harvest.
4.
As Above, So Below. That which exists in the Macrocosm
exists,
on a smaller
scale and to a lesser degree, in the Microcosm.
The
powers of
the universe exist also in the human, though in
general
instance they
lie dormant. The powers and abilities can be
awakened and
used if the proper techniques are practiced, and this
is why initiates
of the Mysteries are sworn to guard the secrets
from the unworthy:
Much harm can be done by those who have power
without responsibility,
both to others and to themselves according
to the Laws
of Cause and Effect and of Threefold Return.
a) Since our philosophy teaches that the universe is the
physical manifestation of the Divine, there can be
nothing in the universe which does not partake of the
nature of the Divine; hence, the powers and attributes of
the Divine exist also in the manifest, though to much
smaller degree.
b) These powers can be awakened through the various
techniques of the Mysteries, and, although they are only
capable of small effects in and of themselves, it is
possible to use them in order to draw upon the forces of
the universe. Thus humanity can be the wielders of the
power of the Gods, a channel for Godhead to act within
It's own manifestation. This, then, is further reason
for the oath of secrecy.
c) Since the universe is the body of the One, possessing the
same attributes as the One, it's Laws must be the
principles through and by which the One operates. By
reasoning from the known to the unknown, one can learn of
the Divine, and thus of oneself. Thus the Craft is a
natural religion, seeing in Nature the expression and
revelation of Divinity.
5.
We know that everything in the universe is in movement or
vibration and
is a function of that vibration. Everything vibrates;
all things rise
and fall in a tidal system that reflects the motion
inherent in
the universe and also in the atom.
Matter and energy
are but two
poles of one continuous phenomenon.
Therefore the
Witch celebrates,
harmonizes with, and makes use of the tides of the
universe and
of life as expressed through the cycle of the seasons
and the motion
of the solar system. These ritual observances
are
the eight great
Festivals of the Year, referred to as the Wheel
of
the Year.
Further, the Witch works with the forces and tides of the
Moon, for this
body is the mediator of much energy
to our planet
Earth and thus
to ourselves.
6.
Nothing is dead matter in the universe. All things exist,
therefore all
things live, though perhaps in a different manner from
that which we
are used to calling life. In view of this, the
Witch
knows that there
is no true death, only change from one condition
to another.
The universe is the body of Godhead, and therefore
possesses one
transcendent consciousness; all things partake of the
consciousness,
in varying levels of trance/awareness.
a) Because of this principle, all things are sacred to the
Witch, for all partake of the one Life.
b) Therefore the Witch is a natural ecologist, for Nature is
part of us as we are a part of Nature.
7.
Astrology can be useful in marking and interpreting the flow and
ebb of
the tides of our solar system, and thus of making use of
those tides;
astrology should not be debased into mere
fortune-telling.
8.
Throughout the development of the human race, civilizations have
seen and worshipped
many and various attributes of the Divine.
These universal
forces have been clothed in forms which were
expressive to
the worshipper of the attribute of the Godhead
which
they expressed.
Use of these symbolic representations of the
natural and
divine forces of the universe, or god forms, is a
potent method
for contacting and utilizing the forces they represent.
Thus the Gods
are both natural and truly divine, and man-made in
that the forms
with which they are clothed are products of
humanity's striving
to know the Godhead.
a) In keeping with the Law of Polarity, these god-forms are
brought into harmony by the one great Law which states:
All Gods are one God. All Goddesses are one Goddess.
There is one Initiator. This law is an expression of our
understanding that all of the forces of the universe, by
whatever ethnic god-form is chosen to clothe and relate
to whichever force, can be resolved into the fundamental
polarity of the Godhead, the Great Mother and the
All-Father.
b) It is the use of differing god forms, of differing ethnic
sources or periods,which is the basis of many of the
differences between the various Traditions of the Craft.
EachTraditionuses theforms,andthusthenames,which
to that Tradition best express and awaken an
understanding of the force represented, according to the
areas of emphasis of the Tradition.
c) Because we know that differing names or representations
are but expressions of the same divine principles and
forces, we require our members to swear that they will
never mock the names by which another honors the Divine,
even though those names be different from and seemingly
less expressive than the names and godforms used by our
Tradition(for to the members of another Tradition, using
it's names, ours may easily seem equally less
expressive).
9.
A Witch refuses to allow her/himself to be corrupted by the great
guilt neuroses
which have been foisted on humanity in the name of
the Divine,
thus freeing the self of the slavery of the mind.
The Witch expresses
responsibility for her/his actions, and
accepts the
consequences of them; guilt is rejected as inhibiting to
one's self-actualization,
and replaced by the efforts of the Witch
to obey the
teachings of harmlessness, responsibility for the
consequences
of one's actions, and the goal of actualizing the full
powers of the
individual.
a) We refuse to believe that a human being is born innately
sinful, and recognize the concepts of sin and guilt
are tremendously inhibiting to the human potential; the
consequences of the Law of Cause and Effect, called karma
by some, are not punishment,but the recurrences of
situations and their effects because the individual has
not gained the Wisdom needed to handle or avoid such
situations.
b) There is no heaven except that which we ourselves make of
our life on Earth, and likewise there is no hell except
the effects of our unwise actions. Death is not followed
by punishment or reward, but by life and the continuing
evolution of the human potential.
c) One cannot damn the divine in oneself; one can, however,
cut oneself off from it through the rejection of wisdom
and a refusal to strive forself-realization. This
cutting off does not lead to personal suffering
in"hell", for there is no Self to suffer if the tie to
one's own divinity has been severed; what remains is
merely an empty shell, a "personality"or thought-form
devoid of it's ensouling Spark of the Divine Fire.
10.
We know of the existence of the life-force which
ensouls all
living things,
that is, all that exists. We know that a spark of this
Divine Fire
is within each and every thing that exists, and
that
it does not
die; only the form of it's existence changes. We
know
that this spark
of the life-force returns to manifestation
again
and again in
order to fully realize and actualize it's
potential,
evolving finally
to the peak and essence of existence which is pure
being.
In this process of reincarnation each form returns
in the
same type of
form, though it's ever-increasing actualization
may
lead to higher
levels of existence of that form.
Man returns as
man, cat as
feline, mineral as mineral,
each class of form
evolving as
the individual forms of that class evolve.
11.
This process of evolution through successive incarnations
in
manifest form
works through the utilizations of wisdom gained, t h e
essence of the
life-experience. This essence of experience,
o r
Wisdom, is an
attribute of the spark of life itself, one and
inseparable
(see 9a).
12. We
must care for the body, for it is the vehicle of the spark of
life, the form
by which we attain. Thus we must heal the body of
it's ills and
keep it a tuned and perfected tool; so must we heal
others
(both physically and psychologically) as far as it
is
within our power
to do so. However, we cannot interfere with the life
of another,
even to heal, except at their request or with t h e i r
express permission;
unless such non-interference would be inhibiting
to our own,
ethical existence and development -- and
even then the
responsibilities and consequences must be
understood and
accepted. This, then, is one of the important
reasons for
the communal life the Witches under the guidance of t h e
Priesthood:
That the group may be guided by wisdom and
experience,
with the aid and support of one's peers; and that one's
actions may
be guided by the influence of the ethical life of
the
group as a whole.
13. Harmony
with, and utilization of, the great natural forces of the
universe is
called magick. By magick we speak, not of the
supernatural,
but of the superbly natural, but whose laws and
applications
are not as yet recognized by the scientific
establishment.
The Witch must strive to recognize these forces, learn
their laws,
attune her/himself to them, and make use of them.
The
Witch must also
be aware that power corrupts when
used_only_
for thegains of theself, and thereforemust strive
to serve
humanity: Either through the service in the Priesthood,
or by
example and effects of his/her life on others. The choice
must be
made in accord with the true nature of the Witch.
|