My Personal Beliefs

My personal beliefs are that of the Witchcraft religion. I picked up Witchcraft when I was about 13 or 14 years old in the 8th grade. My first books included Gerina Dunwich's Wicca Spellbook and Silver Ravenwolf's To Ride A Silver Broomstick. I never thought of Witches as evil beings. My parents didn't raise me with a specific religion, although we celebrated holidays we considered Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day, etc. I'm fortunate to have friends who aren't prejudice to religions that are different than theirs, and we get along without our beliefs interfering.

I believe there is an energy source which connects all living and nonliving things. This energy source is broken down into female and male energies that are personified as the Lord and Lady. Although the Lady is more revered than the Lord, they are equally important and one cannot live without the other. Many other Pagans or Witches feel the same way. In case you haven't figured it out, Witches don't worship Satan or the Devil; never have, never will. There are those people out there that consider themselves Witches of Satan or whatever, but their practices have nothing to do with ours.

I do believe in magick, like other witches, and see it in many different forms. Magick is love and emotions, it's believing in yourself to make things happen, and it's putting positive energy into everything you do. Witches believe in something called the rule of three or in karma. The rule of three suggests that everything you send out, like negative energy, comes back to you threefold. Karma is a theory that originated in India that states the energy you put out comes back to you in equal amounts. I believe in karma. If you are interested in learnging more, I suggest the authors Silver Ravenwolf, Gerina Dunwich, and Scott Cunningham.

I have nothing against Christians, except those people who refuse to accept that sometimes different religions than theirs make some people more spiritually whole.

I have many morals that revovle around my Witchcraft religion. I don't hurt other people or things purposely, whether we're talking in physical or magickal terms, and I don't eat other animals or things that come from them, except an occasional egg. I don't think that human beings were meant to eat other mammals. In my opinion, insects and fish are allright, though I wouldn't eat them, even though there are many Witches and Pagans out there who do eat meat. I also don't eat dairy because I think it's disgusting. I can't picture myself suckling to a cow, so why should I drink from it in a nice and pretty glass?

The word "witch" is derived from the Old English word "wicce" meaning feminine and the male word "wicca." Wicca is what most Neo-Pagans practice. Right now I like to call myself a Strega or Witch. Other Witches may prefer to call themselves Pagans, Wiccans, Celts, Druids, etc. I don't care for meditation, though so many Witches do. I just can't get my brain to shut up for long enough.

A few weeks ago I picked up Raven Grimassi's Ways of the Strega. I have no idea what drew me to the book; the idea just popped into my head. I absolutely love the book and have decided that the ways of the Strega are right for me(Strega is Italian for Witchcraft). It revolves around Central Europe and pre-dates all other forms of Witchcraft. It includes Roman and Greek deities that vary from location to location and tradition to tradition. The book also contains the teachings of Aradia, who was a Witch that brought about a Strega revival in the 14th century. I like the Gods and Goddesses very much, and the book is quite informative, but I don't like the Sabbat rituals. I think they're kind of hokey and they use a lot of animal remains, which conflict with my beliefs.

The Gods and Goddesses of my Pantheon are Tana and Tanus, Jana and Janus, Fana and Faunus, and many others. Tana and Tanus are the male and female aspects of the Universe. They are the main Gods. Jana is the Goddess of the Moon and Janus is the God of the Sun. Fana is the Goddess of the forests and Nature, while Faunus is the Horned God of the same. Diana is the Goddess of all Witches and one of the aspects of the Moon phases. Dianus, Diana's consort, also serves the same purpose as Faunus, God of the forests. Now, I'm not Italian, I've never been to Italy, but this religios system makes the most sense to me. That's what really matters.

I hope you enjoyed this little explaination about my beliefs. If you want more info on Witchcraft you can visit these other at The The Book of Shadows.