Q-A_p2

9. DO YOU CAST SPELLS ON OTHER PEOPLE?

The major law in our religion is: "Do what you will, an it hurt no other." (The Golden Rule)

In other words, no one is prevented from exploration of God and GodSelf as long as others are not harmed. We do believe in directing the energies of the universe toward accomplishment of certain ends, but magick is never effective on another person unless the person specifically requests it and takes responsibility for that request. Attempts at so-called `black' magick, or use of the universal energies for negative or harmful purposes, only result in karmic backlash magnified at least threefold on the unfortunate would-be black magician.

10. ARE PAGANS ANTI-CHRISTIAN?

No. But many Christians are anti-Pagan. Historically there has existed an adversary relationship between Christianity and the Nature Religions (largely created by Christians.)

It takes much universal love not to strike back when attacked, and occasionally a Pagan might seem bitter or afraid as the result of anti-Pagan treatment. This is only a personal reaction, not a characteristic of the religion itself.

It is also true that Wiccans and Pagans have suffered dismissal from jobs and worse simply from their religious affiliation being revealed. Events like these lead to a certain caution and sometimes even an attitude approaching mild paranoia.

11. WHO IS IN CHARGE OF PAGANISM?

Each person is in charge of him or herself, responsible totally to Godd/ess. One might hear an individual called High Priestess, or Priest, but this title has more to do with the role played in ceremonies than with status in any formal hierarchy.

12. WHAT MAKES WICCA DIFFERENT FROM OTHER PATHS THAT BELIEVE IN THE PSYCHIC POWERS?

We usually find that people most often comment on the robes and the tools. Traditionally we wear special garments while engaging in devotions, as a male Jew wears prayer shawl and skullcap. The garments have symbolisms, and stand for beliefs of the person wearing them.

The tools are: a cup, knife, staff (or wand), and the pentacle, a 5-pointed star with 5th point upward, enclosed in a circle.
For those familiar with the tarot cards, this was the original source of the tarot suits as well as many meanings and symbolisms in the tarot deck.

13. WHAT IS DONE WITH THE TOOLS?

They are used, along with other objects, like candles, bells, and incense to focus energies and influence Universal forces with our prayers. If the format reminds you of Roman Catholic mass, that's because much of the indigenous Nature Religion's mysteries were `adopted' when Christianity moved into Northern Europe -- into England, Scotland, Ireland and Scandinavia ... the lands of the Celts.

Also, if the tools and concepts seem to resemble elements in Rosicrucianism, the Caballa, and the Masonic Temple, it is because the latter paths drew and adopted Pagan rituals and forms for other uses. Since ours was an oral tradition we gratefully acknowledge the role these organizations played in bringing to modern times knowledge and insights which have otherwise been lost.

Here's a bit of trivia: Although the Founding Fathers of the U.S.A. generally held indifferent attitudes about Christianity they were all thirty-third degree Masons. Obviously they sought to incorporate their high ideals into writing our first constitution. This odd fact explains to some people why fundamentalist Christians and the constitution occasionally seem to be at cross-purposes.

14. HOW LARGE IS THE RELIGION?

Since Wicca, or Paganism, is an alternative religion uninterested in power or clout, we measure our `size' usually only by spiritual growth. There is a national newspaper published quarterly by which many Pagans keep in touch.

15. WHAT ABOUT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY?

That's magick, too! Craft practitioners of old WERE the scientists ... there was need for healers and herbalists, agriculture and astronomy experts. The scientific method has now made teaching these subjects respectable in universities. But in the process we have lost the lore's former integration of the spiritual relationship between God Expressed As Nature and ourselves.

Many of us are scientifically trained and hold technological jobs and interests. This does not interfere with but only adds to a desire for ritual celebration and union with Godd/ess. Also many of us are ourselves practicing psychics, or are interested in extrasensory perception (ESP) and its uses. Paganism makes available a philosophical structure for all of these ends utilized effectively for millennia.

It urges individuals to develop their personal powers within that structure and to use them thereafter in a responsible way.