Last year, when I was a senior, a group of kids and I decided to form a Witches' Circle. Blame it on the movie The Craft or the fact that Nicole was kinda freaky, but we decided to. It never took off the ground, but the books were fun to look at, and I know Nicole did a lot of the spells.

Well, it kind of took off the ground. The four of us found out that a friend's mother had cancer, so we asked him to bring us something of hers. (Well, Nicole arranged all of this.) We sat in a circle, each of us holding a part of her necklace, and we tried a small chanting spell. Scary thing is, she got better for awhile.

Frankly, I think Nicole was into it because it made her different. Everyone else, including me, just went along. But I bought a book (How To Ride a Silver Broomstick) as a general Wiccan book. Second high school was over, I promptly forgot about it.

But today, I was sitting and I saw the book again. I liked the picture on the cover, so I watched it awhile, and I realized one thing every Wiccan I've ever met has that I don't: inner peace. No matter what external things piss them off from time to time, they have this inner peace that I truly envy. I started to wonder if Wicca could do the same thing for me. I know the general principles - respecting the Earth, respecting, if not worshipping, the Mother Goddess (Mother Nature) and the like. I realized that, in a way, its the way to go. So I started reading the book. I'm not ready to declare myself a Witch yet, and I doubt I ever will, but I find that many of their beliefs are the ones that I've been building myself in the past few years.

An organization of Witches put together a synopsis of these beliefs and it was placed at the beginning of the book. I'll put them here.

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.

Well, I'm not sure how far I'd go with that, but I believe that things ebb and flow with the moon. I believe that everything forms a cycle, and the smaller cycles can be measured by the moon or the season. I've never practiced a rite - yet.

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 conciousness within an evolutionary concept.

Uh.....don't hunt and don't litter. Check. (Actually, I know its more than that. I'm already pretty attune with nature - I prefer it over city life, believe me, and the only part of nature that bothers me is bugs, and I'm fine with bugs as long as they're not crawling on me. But what they're talking about here is peace - I still want that.

3. We acknowledge a depth of power far greater than is apparent to the average person. Because it is greater than ordinary, it is sometimes called "supernatural," but w3e see it as lying within that which is naturally potential to all.

See my entry on things like telepathy - Tony and I already have some of this depth of power. I know I do - its all something given to all that few want to believe they have.

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 cuntions 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.

I don't really believe what they say about sex, but everything else sounds right.

5. We recognize both outer worlds and inner, or psychological worlds - sometimes known as the Spiritual World, the Collective Unconcious, 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 as both are necessary for our fulfillment.

Uh, I haven't learned that part yet.

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

In other words, down with the police!! hehehe.

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.

What she said.

8. Calling onself "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 makes life possible in order to live wisely and well, without harm to others, and in harmony with Nature.

ie, inner peace.

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

In other words, roll with it.

10. Our only animosity towards 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 beliefs and practices.

Yeah, that kinda pisses me off too. I used to have this friend (Oddly, also from NE) who used to try to convert me online. I mean, I'm not Christian, Catholic, or anything like it, and I have absolutely no intention of becoming one. I have no idea how people can worship both a flesh-and-blood man AND a God (since many say they're not the same person) and claim there is only ONE God. But I have no problem with them believing it, as long as they don't push me to do the same. "I may not agree with what he has to say, but I will defend to the death his right to say it." Believe what you will, and let me do the same.

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.

Something I always do - I rarely live in the past.

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.

 Live and let live. Got it.

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

This all sounds good to me. Its something I intend to pursue, or at least to read more about.