If Wiccans don't believe in a devil do they believe in a hell?
Generally not, only that which we make for ourselves.
There is nothing so good or bad but that thinking makes it
so.
Do Wiccans believe in heaven? Many do. We refer to the
Summerlands where we will meet with our loved ones and our
ancestors before being reincarnated. This is not the
Christian heaven of golden thrones with angles and harps all
around. (Nor is the Christian idea of heaven and hell
in keeping with the teaching of Jesus. See
The Gospel of Thomas)
The Summerlands are where we rest and perhaps think of
things we could have done better in our past life. In
our next life we get to try again and in so doing advance
toward the true heaven of our final destination, that of all
life.
To Wiccans and Pagans in general Now is heaven, our
brothers and sisters, all life, the world around us, the sun
the moon and the stars.
What it means to be a witch is to be first and foremost
good. This ideal is put forth in the beautiful
Charge of the Goddess by
Doreen Valiente
Runewolf of WitchVox has put together a fine essay on the
Charge and the eight virtues therein:
One of the sovereign touchstones of Wicca, one which is
rarely disputed or quibbled over - whatever other
differences may exist between camps - is the Charge of
the Goddess. Along with the Rede and the Law of
Threefold Return, it is as close as Wicca comes to a
universal sacred text.
We are not a “revealed” religion, in that we do not adhere
to a sacred text or texts said to have been dictated to the
faithful by the reigning Deity of the religion. However, we
do recognize the phenomenon of Drawing Down, or invoking
Deity into a willing and receptive individual, that Deity
might more intimately manifest and participate in our rites,
and speak through the chosen vessel, if Deity is so moved.
If we believe in this, then it follows – in my mind at least
– that Deity may choose, at times, to communicate certain
Truths spontaneously through members of the faith (or simply
through the average Joe, as I believe occurred in the case
of Bill Wilson and the basic texts of Alcoholics Anonymous).
So I, for one, believe that the Charge of the Goddess is in
fact the word of the Goddess, transmitted through the
willing and capable instrument of Ms. Valiente, and it
deserves careful consideration by those dedicated to this
path.
As I do every so often, I am currently overhauling and
“buffing up” my routine of prayer and meditation. The
practice of a “lovingkindness” meditation has once again
been brought to my attention, and I have re-instituted that
as part of my meditative practice. But this time around,
something rather marvelous has happened. Now, it might seem
a bit of a “Duh!” to some of you, but to me it was one of
those things that was hiding in plain sight for a long time,
and only today was it made clear to me.
In brief, the lovingkindness meditation is – as far as I
know – of Buddhist origins, and consists of repeating a
mantra of virtues and gifts that one wishes bestowed on
oneself, others and, ultimately, the entire world. For
instance, one starts by chanting: “May I be joyful, gentle,
calm and loving.” Once this has taken root, one expands
this, to, say, one’s family: “May my family be joyful,
gentle, calm and loving.” When one has worked up to it, one
opens the heart and spirit to the totality of our little
blue-green marble, chanting: “May all beings in the world be
joyful, gentle, calm and loving.”
As with so much of the Buddhist canon – simple, elegant and
powerful.
When I incorporate techniques from other paths into my
(nominally Wiccan) practice of the Craft, I always try to
amend them in some way, to make them more relevant to my
experience as a Witch or Warlock. (For those of you who may
be shocked by the “other W-word,” please see
my essay on that topic.) So as I drove to work today, I
cast my mind into the aether, searching for virtues and
gifts that I might use in my lovingkindness meditation that
were a bit more, well, Crafty.
And a soft, contralto voice whispered in my ear: “And
therefore let there be beauty and strength, power and
compassion, honor and humility, mirth and reverence within
you.”
I almost drove into a bridge abutment…
As soon as I got the old Subaru back on the road, I had to
try it out, whispering to myself: “May I be beautiful and
strong, powerful and compassionate, honorable and humble,
mirthful and reverent…” Wowzers! I got the chills. Needless
to say, I had found the “Crafty” terms for my lovingkindness
meditation that I was seeking. But in considering those
virtues and gifts for the remainder of my commute, I
realized that I had also opened a door to a broader
possibility.
One of the things I have always admired about Asatru is the
“Nine
Noble Virtues,” a list of values that one may use as
touchstones for living an exemplary life. Many folks I know
in the Craft have adopted them, or a version of them (much
to the annoyance of certain Asatruar), but I have always
thought that we should have “our own,” (although there is
certainly nothing wrong with nor lacking in the NNV as they
stand).
It struck me this morning, of course, that the blessings
wished upon us by the Goddess in Her Charge were a perfect
source for the “Virtues of the Craft!” They may not be a
comprehensive list of values that one needs to live, love
and thrive in one’s life, but they are obviously points
worthy of focus, consideration and cultivation, or the
Goddess wouldn’t have mentioned them!
Let’s look briefly at each of these:
Beauty: Not necessarily physical beauty, of course, but the
appreciation and expression of balance, wholeness and
harmony. Accepting each moment for what it is, and realizing
the inherent beauty in the interplay of light and dark,
pleasure and pain, life and death. In the individual,
embracing and expressing the beauty and authenticity of
one’s True Self and True Will.
Strength: Not merely physical strength or even “energetic”
strength, such as chi or ond, but also strength of Will,
belief, conviction and ethics. The strength to do and say
the right thing, even in the face of severe consequences.
The strength to be gentle, loving and calm in the face of
tragedy, fear and aggression.
Power: A little out of order, as far as I’m concerned,
because to me power is the synthesis and interplay of all
the other virtues. But we’ll leave it where the Goddess put
it!
Compassion: True and mature love for oneself and others,
including our non-human brothers and sisters and the
“inanimate” manifestations of Gaea. The deep sharing of
another’s pain, the desire to relieve it and the willingness
to put that desire into action.
Honor: “Say what you mean, mean what you say, do what you
say you are going to do.” We often hear that “A Witch’s word
is her bond.” Upholding that bond is honor. Being honest
with oneself and others is honor. Living up to our
commitments is honor. Living by the Rede, the Law of Return
or whatever ethical system you embrace is honor. As the
Asatruar say, “Reputation is what others say about you.
Honor is what you know to be true about yourself.”
Humility: Being “right sized.” Humility is very much
misunderstood in the West, and has been warped into a kind
of neurotic and obligatory self-abasement by the
misapplication of Abrahamic philosophy. Toxic or false
humility – “Oh, it’s really nothing. I have no real
talent for art!” – is a slap in the face of the God and
Goddess who gave us our gifts! True humility is recognizing
both our strengths and our weaknesses, and working to
cultivate the former and transform the latter. True
humility, I have often been told, is looking someone in the
eye when they give you a compliment and simply saying,
“Thank you.”
Mirth: “Rule 62: Don’t take yourself so seriously.” Mirth
isn’t just about getting a case of “the giggles” in the
middle of a ritual, nor about singing bawdy filksongs around
a festival fire (although these are certainly aspects of
mirth). Mirth is about finding and joining in the sheer joy
of living, of laughing out loud at the way trees dance in
the wind or guffawing at oneself when you realize you have
just invoked “the Grateful Dead” instead of “the Mighty
Dead.” It’s about realizing that The Joke is on everybody,
not just on you, and that it’s a wonderful, blissful,
eternal Joke, not a nasty one.
Reverence: Love, awe, respect and veneration for Life, the
Gods and ourselves. Gratitude for all the gifts we have been
given, and the heartfelt willingness to pass those gifts on
to others.
These then, are my nominees for the “Eight Virtues of the
Craft;” the short list, if you will. There are obviously
other virtues and values that are important in living a
decent and fulfilling life in the service of the Lord and
Lady, but I can’t help but think, once again, that She
wouldn’t have pointed these particular virtues out if She
didn’t want us to consider them carefully. I shall be doing
that very thing in the days to come.
May you always be beautiful and strong, powerful and
compassionate, honorable and humble, mirthful and reverent.
In addition, some
of the more earthly beliefs were set out in 1974 by a group
called the Counsel of America Witches.
"We are
not bound by traditions from other times and other cultures,
and owe no allegiance to any person or power greater than
the Divinity manifest through our own being. As American
Witches, we welcome and respect all life-affirming teachings
and
traditions, and seek to learn from all and to share our
learning within our Council. 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 our selves to the destruction of our group by those
on self-serving power trips, or
to
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, sex, age, national
or cultural origins, or sexual preference. 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 that 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 lies in all people and functions through the
interaction of the masculine and the feminine. We value
neither above the other knowing each to be supportive of the
other. We value sex as pleasure as the symbol and
embodiment of life, and as one of the sources of energy used
in magical practice and religious worship.
5.
We recognize both outer
worlds and inner, or psychological worlds sometimes known as
the Spiritual World, the Collective Unconsciousness, the
Inner Planes etc – and we see in the interaction of these
two dimensions the basis for paranormal phenomena and
magical exercises. We neglect neither dimension for the
other, seeing both as necessary for our fulfillment.
6.
We do not recognize any
authoritarian hierarchy, but do honor those who teach,
respect those who share their greater 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 – the Wiccan Way.
8.
Calling oneself ‘Witch’
does not make a Witch – but neither does heredity itself,
nor the collecting of titles, degrees and initiations. A
Witch seek to control the forces within her/himself that
make life possible in order to live wisely and without harm
to others and in harmony with nature.
9.
We believe in the
affirmation and fulfillment of life in a continuation of
evolution and development of consciousness giving meaning to
the Universe we know and our personal role within it.
10.Our
only animosity towards Christianity, or towards any other
religion or philosophy of life, is to the extent that its
institutions have claimed to be ‘the only way’ and have
sought to deny freedom to others and to suppress other ways
of religious practice 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 accept that personal benefit can be
derived only by denial to another.
13.We
believe that we should seek within Nature that which is
contributory to our health and well-being.
