Time on Earth began. With it and through its passages human beings appeared and grew. Immediately, Man was confronted by Nature, in all of its fury and all of its peacefulness...its bounties and its solitudes. First because of fear and then with nurturing respect, humans began to assign deities to the forces constantly around them. These 'assignments' came naturally and instinctively.

The Great Horned God became the God Of Hunting. The Goddess became the Goddess Of Fertility, those being the two most important aspects on which everything hinged upon at the time. Although the aspects have changed, the Goddess and God remain as the Powers today.

The Goddess assumed a dual persona with the advent of agriculture. She guarded the fertility of the fields, the tribes and the animals. Both the Goddess and God had many different names over time, and many different aspects that went along with those names. Both of them were the same entities throughout what was becoming many different cultures.

Rituals and ceremonies developed naturally. Along with them the few who could bring more results -- both direct and eventually indirect -- became priests and priestesses. They were known as the 'Wicca' or 'Wicce'...the Wise Ones.

These Wicca held many responsibilities, amoung them: leaders of the religious rituals and a strong working knowledge of herbs, roots and the Magicks. They were healers, teachers, priests and Wise Ones all wrapped into one.

With the coming of Christianity, the Old Religions faced extinction through mass-conversion and the resulting mass killings. As the Old Ways believers were pushed further and further back into the fringes, they became known as 'Pagani' -- 'people who live in the country'.

Courtesy of The Pagan Tea House Group

By the actions of some powerful figures within the rapidly growing Christian Churches, a massive anti-Wicca (witch) hysteria ran through Europe like wild grassfire. The Burning Times -- named so because of the people accused of practicing Witchcraft being burned at the stakes -- saw 9 million people killed. Some were followers of the Old Religion, some were not. It never seemed to matter much at the time.

Thus, those Pagans who survived went into deep hiding. Rites and ceremonies were handed guardedly down by mouth and in rare cases by hand-written journals, or 'Books Of Shadows'. Small gatherings (Covens) were held in secret out of sheer necessity. Much was lost forever. The Belief remained.

Time on Earth went on. 1951 began a time that would finally allow Witches to come out from the deeper shadows. The last laws in England against Witchcraft were repealed. Gerald Gardner became the first major spokeman for the Craft, as well as those who followed, amoung them Raymond Buckland, Sybil Leek and Scott Cunningham.

As was true before, different belief-forms of the Craft sprang up. Many flourish today. We are all different, and the believers in the Magicks are no exception.