The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

It is in this spirit of welcome and cooperation that we adopt these few principles of Wiccan belief. In seeking to be inclusive, we do not wish to open ourselves to the destruction of our group by those on self-serving power trips, or philosophies and practices contradictory to these principles. In seeking to exclude those whose ways are contradictory to ours, we do not want to deny participation with us to any who are sincerely interested in our knowledge and beliefs, regardless of race, color, gender, age, national or cultural origins, or sexual preferences.

We therefore ask only that those who seek to identify with us accept these few basic principles:


"1.We practice rites to attune ourselves with the natural rhythm of life forces marked by the phases of the moon and the seasonal quarters and cross-quarters.

2.We recognize that our intelligence gives us a unique responsibility toward our environment. We seek to live in harmony with Nature, in ecological balance offering fulfillment to life and consciousness within an evolutionary concept.

3.We acknowledge a depth of power far greater than is apparent to the average person. Because it is far greater than ordinary, it is sometimes called "supernatural," but we see it as lying within that which is naturally potential to all.

4.We conceive of the Creative Power in the Universe as manifesting through polarity - as masculine and feminine - and that this same Creative Power lives in all people, and functions through the interaction of the masculine and feminine. We value neither above the other, knowing each to be supportive of the other. We value sexuality as pleasure, as the symbol and embodiment of Life, and as one of the sources of energies used in magickal practice and religious worship.

5.We recognize both outer worlds and inner, or psychological worlds - sometimes known as the Spiritual World, the Collective Unconscious, the Inner Planes, etc. - and we see in the interaction of these two dimensions the basis for paranormal phenomena and magickal exercises. We neglect neither dimension for the other, seeing both as necessary for our fulfillment.

6.We do not recognize any hierarchy, but do honor those who teach, respect those who share their knowledge and wisdom, and acknowledge those who have courageously given of themselves in leadership.

7.We see religion, magick, and wisdom-in-living as being united in the way one views the world and lives within it - a world view and philosophy of life, which we identify as Witchcraft or the Wiccan Way.

8.Calling oneself "witch" does not make a Witch - but neither does heredity itself, or the collecting of titles, degrees, and initiations. A Witch seeks to control the forces within him/herself that make life possible in order to live wisely and well, without harm to others, and in harmony with Nature.

9.We acknowledge that it is the affirmation and fulfillment of life, in a continuation of evolution and development of consciousness, that gives meaning to the Universe we know, and to our personal role within it.

10.Our only animosity toward Christianity, or toward any other religion or philosophy-of-life, is to the extent that its institutions have claimed to be "the one true right and only way" and have sought to deny freedom to others and to suppress other ways of religious practices and belief.

11.As American Witches, we are not threatened by debates on the history of the Craft, the origins of various terms, the legitimacy of various aspects of different traditions. We are concerned with our present, and our future.

12.We do not accept the concept of "absolute evil," nor do we worship any entity known as "Satan" or "the Devil" as defined by Christian Tradition. We do not seek power through the suffering of others, nor do we accept the concept that personal benefits can only be derived by denial to another.

13.We work within Nature for that which is contributory to our health and well-being."*

I live in the bible belt and in a christian dominated area where I have lectured at the local community college in the "Religions of America" class, which is taught by a baptist minister. Since Paganism itself is way too broad of a subject for an hour long class, and most of the class is made up of christians (except for the few pagans that asked me to lecture) I picked this subject to start with. I copied these princibles and handed them out, then went over them one by one and answered any questions that came up. I thought that by using these principles, I may be able to gain a little understanding from at least a few of the christians within the class. I was successful in that aspect, but thought that I may have come up short for the pagans in attendance. What is your oppinion...should I have picked a different subject?


*Plagiarism is not allowed. Please be sure to site where you copied and pasted your information from.

I think you did fine.....

You said it yourself.... many of the class WAS NOT familar with other religions....

Look at your lecture as "Pagan 101" and was ment to inform those with little to no knoweledge of outside spiritualities.....

:)

It sounds as though it would have been an excellent introduction into a pagan religion. Nice, simple, a way for people to really understand some aspects of it without them feeling uncomfortable. Well done.

Kudos to you. Well done and well presented.

It looks fine to me and a very admirable effort but...if you don't define your take on witchcraft and what YOU specifically mean by it, to me I would be wondering which group you were representative of. Even in America is is very diversified. How do you separate what is American folkmagic which in certain ways is similar to Wicca and actual traditional witchcraft and all the variations thereof. Was this to encompass all forms of magick and belief based on a more nature oriented religious premise? My opinion is if you include the word "witchcraft" in there you will have certain sectors yelling about it and I don't mean mainstream religious folks.

Kudos hun, I think that you done a very good job in this presentation. You picked the right subject to start with.

I live in one of the bible belt areas myself and I can say that around here attendance for the pagans is low because not everyone is willing to stand up and say what religion they are openly. Now you have everyones attention as to who and what you are giving the lecture on try and go a little further if you get the chance to do another lecture.

Hawk has a very good point on this and I would agree with him.

Indeed, it is a great article that you found. Yes the 13 principles of a witch, as not all of us are Wiccan and so don't always heed by the Wiccan laws the creeds that have hence been enstowed upon our belief system are to be upheld. No different then and other order of religious matter. Yes in perfect love and perfect trust heed the warning do as you will but harm none, is what I follow.

Sounds pretty much like what I have read before, but I haven't read the stuff in awhile. I like,

"8.Calling oneself "witch" does not make a Witch - but neither does heredity itself, or the collecting of titles, degrees, and initiations. A Witch seeks to control the forces within him/herself that make life possible in order to live wisely and well, without harm to others, and in harmony with Nature."

I like the way it put that....looking inside one's self. I have not met a so called witch that realizes that. And it's what I do in my spiritual beliefs...looking inside to try to reign in my self.

The hierarchy though....I have seen witch groups (not quite covens) that have their leaders. ? Guess they don't know about that one.

Wonderful. I to live in the Bible Belt...but more and more people are coming out practicing Wicca. We do attune ourselves to nature. We do have to look within ourselves. Once again wonderful subject.

I notice many people that carry lives on a more spiritual level have 13 laws. You have the one stated above. Then in vampyrism there is the black veil. There's several versions of the black veil, but the main one is 13 sets of laws.

I also live in the Bible belt so I know what you have to go through. I feel you did very well and it read wonderfully , its very hard being a pagan in this state among so many Christians who only want to tell you that you,re going to hell and you worship Satan I,m surprised to here that no one didn't condemn you and threaten you ,I feel we all should learn about all religions and in that way learn tolerance and respect for everyone.

Sounds dogmatic and to have “13” sounds like the sort of stuff one finds on the instant witch book just add money ….. I know the craft and thirteen was the moons in a year however with the churches good work, they managed to make three and thirteen suppositious…….. funny old world when you know history.

The Principles here seem a generally good philosophical foundation for most anyone and not just witches; well written and well done!

Where actual witchcraft is concerned, and not its contermporary re-invention as "Wicca," and amongst those witches who were originally identified as such, there would seem in history to exist a far more basic "Principle" by which and for which all true witches were and are known:

"To conclude: All witchcraft comes from carnal lust, which is in women insatiable."
(Malleus Maleficarum, Question VI; 1487 CE).


To my view this singular "Principle," this foundational identifying female characteristic of unlimited sensual capacity (as was so well documented by the truly evil and despicable Church-sponsored Inquisitors of the "Burning Times") is what most exemplifies and glorifies true witches.

- Upir'

Ah the witches hammer ….. truly a horrible German book … which should be burnt at the steak

Yeppers! It's such a FUN lil' book, ain't it? ;)

How truly evil that men's recogniition of the female's natural sensual insatiability could have been by them (well, by the male clergy) so evilly twisted into a condemnation of the entire gender as inferior and inherently immoral due solely to that lovely unlimited orgasmic potential.

But... when in religion the flesh is condemned as evil and the spirit only is exalted as good... what else is to be expected?

- Upir'

The flesh evil...Interesting Upir,considering the fact that we are alegedly created in his image...

Absolutely, Oceanne. Though to be fair, the oral traditions and original written accounts of Genesis were composed hundreds of years prior to the advent of sex-negative Pauline Christianity.

It is one of the great tragedies of religious history that one man should have so effectively and one-sidedly hijacked the name, the teachings and the actual mission of the historical Yeshua (Jesus). And yet, this is exactly what Paul (Saul) accomplished: a man who never met "Jesus" nor knew him (despite his claim to a "vision"), a man who never was called by him as an apostle nor ordained as such by the actual apostles, a man who was frequently in open rebellion against the actual apostles, and lastly... a man who prior to his claimed "vision," had been actively working for the Jewish High Priest (himself a puppet of Rome) in persecuting, imprisoning, torturing, and murdering Christians... and who, by the end of the New Testament record, was gifted by the Roman Empire with a villa of his own in Rome from which residence he preached, sent letters, and ran the entire fledgling Christian movement without censure!

And yet it is this man (who was quite probably a Roman agent provocateur tasked with hijacking Christianity and turning it into an ultimately Roman-friendly religion, which he did) and his sex-negative, female-negative views that today are equated with and considered as Jesus' own... which they were most certainly not. Such tragic irony!

And, to the point of this forum thread, it was precisely due to such sex-negative, flesh-negative Pauline philosophy that so many horrors and bloodthirsty atrocities have occurred ever since in the name of "God." These all closely mirror, in fact, Paul's own bloodthirsty persecution of the true Christians and Yeshua's true mission... a part of which was directly related to the attainment of our true potentials in this life: spiritual, emotionally... and most certainly also... sensually (read the Gnostic Gospels of Philip and Thomas for more specific evidences).

Thus, in fact, being as historically were "witches" in developing and potentiating an "insatiable" "carnal lust" is, in fact, part of our mission in this life... as also is developing our full "insatiable" potentials in all the other wonderfully positive aspects of life, as well: intellectually, spiritually, and physically.


If "God" (our Creator) did indeed join us together, both flesh and spirit, then ought we not to be found in complete harmony therein? After all... "What God hath joined together, let no man put asunder."


- Upir'

I love what was said above me. A problem I've had with my faith for a long time is reconciling my belief in Jesus and his teachings with the man made judgement and critisicm that seems to come with organized Christian religion.

As for the 13 principles, I'd love to know where you found those and when they originated?

They're great principles to live by and to be honest I don't see why Wicca and Christianity must be polar opposites. One does not inherently require the destruction of the other. At least not when stripped down to their basics.

I am not sure if it is justified as a "problem" per say, but many religious groups, not nessessarily the religions themselves tend to leave out certain aspects of the religious society, such as the pagans, budhists, muslims etc. Not sure if it is the leaders of those religious groups that leave the extras out purely out of spite, close mindedness, or they wish to teach christian atmosphere and believe involving other aspects is nonchristian...Correct me if I am wrong.

In a side view, I think any sort of principles are common sense in a way. Unless you are trying to learn something new. Like the Black Veil, or the Satanic rules...The Witchcraft principles are not too far apart from the others. Much of it is a way of life, other parts are by choice.

As a Wiccan I have to say your summary is very good. The only one I have trouble with is #3. We don't believe we have a deeper well of power - we simply have learned how to dip into it better than some people.

As for the question of heirachy - a comment was made regarding covens having people who are higher than others. This is not technically true - although you could see the priest and/or priestess as being higher than the other particiapants in the ritual - this is completely untrue! Actually, in our coven we take turns as to who our priest and priestess are - it is simply a way for one to assign a job to one of our members. Generally we have a priest, a priestess, someone who acts as maid, one as a mother and one as crone, as well as one person to call each of the elements and all others add their energy to whatever ritual we are performing.

In no way is one person more important than another in ritual - each person is part of our circle and their energy is used the same, each has a job to do in ritual and each job is just as importanat as the others.

Hope that clears it up a bit.