"Circle Round"
A:We worship Mother Nature.
We worship Mother Nature and the God of Growing Things.
We worship the sun and the moon and the earth.
A:It means to love and protect it and give it energy.But often instead of saying we worship a Goddess or a God,we'll say we work with a Goddess or a God-because we believe that we are partners with the Goddesses and Gods,and that they need our help to create abundance and happiness.
A:A Witch is someone who has made a deep commitment to the Goddess,the great powers of birth,growth,death,and rebirth.
Q:What is a Pagan?
A:A Pagan is someone who belongs to a sacred earth tradition of spirituality.
Q:How many Witches and Pagans are there in the United States?
A:Nobody knows.We have no slot on the census,and no national registry.All we know for sure is that the movement has grown tremendously in the last twenty years. We estimate that we number somewhere in the hundreds of thousands.
Q:Do Witches have supernatural powers?
A:All people have powers of intuition and imagination.Witches train and develop ours.
Q:Do Witches pratice magic?
A:We pratice true magic,the art if changing consciousness at will.Real magic is learning to use your mind and all of your senses.Real magic is training your imagination.
A:We believe the Bible is full of wisdom and many important teachings,but it is not our holy book.
Q:What is your holy book?
A:We believe in learning from nature.Books can help us,but our sacred teachings come from what we observe in the natural world.
A:We believe Jesus was a great teacher and healer,and the world would be a better place if more people praticed what he actually preached.But he is not our Saviour.
A:No. We worship the powers of life.Like other religions,our tradition teaches us to be honest,kind,compassionate,and caring,to protect the earth and all her living beings. We have no Devil in our tradition. The Devil is a Christian concept,and Satanism is a Christian heresy that has nothing to do with us.
A:The same way you know your not eating chocolate ice cream when you ordered vanilla.Evil has a different taste and flavor than good.Evil leads to actions that harm others-and evil acts can be carried out in the name of any religious tradition.We must always look at our actions and their consequences,not just the symbols we use or the names we call upon.
A:First of all there are no higher levels.We have no hierarchy that extends beyond the small groups called covens.No ethical Witch or Pagan will ever ask someone to do something that contradicts her or his on sense of right or wrong.Any group that uses coercion or force of any kind is acting against our tradition.Should you encounter such people,we encourage you to leave their group and seek support elsewhere.
A:No.Abuse of children is one of the worst violations of our core values that we can imagine.It contravenes our responsibility to care for the next generation.It destroys the love and trust that are the foundation on our tradition.Sexual abuse denies the sacred aspect of sexuality. Should you encounter any abusive situation where children are involved,we urge you to report the matter to Child Protective Services.
Charges of child abuse have been used against unpopular religions and groups for thousands of years.We must beware of believing every horrifying account of ritual abuse without evidence.In the name of protecting children,serious miscarriages of justice have occurred.
A:We use the focused power of the mind to bring about change.We might work on healing someone who is sick or injured,or on protecting someone we love,or on inproving our luck.We don't hex or curse,as we believe that we send out magically returns on us three times over.
