Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 11 replies, 12 voices, and was last updated 21 years, 2 months ago by
.
- Posts
To members of the Wiccan community: How does the Wicca worship/ceremony differ from that of the Protestant or Catholic ceremonies? When worshiping the earth and wind, do you still recognize God as the Creator?
User Detail :
Name : Saunra, City : N/A, State : NA, Country : United States,O.k., here’s a small answer to a really big question. As a practicing Witch (and former Catholic), the main diferences that I have experienced relate to involvement in the respective belief systems. As a Catholic, I sat in a church pew and observed a priest perform a ritual during the celebration of mass. Yes, I could read along, recite certain prayers & pray, but the congregation’s focus was on the priest and HIS sacred, time honored actions. Today, as a Witch, I actively participate in celebrations which, incidentally, take place in a circle. We face eachother, cast a circle together, raise energy together, call in the 4 directions together, etc. Usually, by about the middle of the celebration, I can really feel the energy we’ve created – it’s great! Anyway, in my group, we do have a Priestess and Priest who kind-of oversee the whole thing and usually guide the group with readings and a meditation. We also have altars where we place symbols of the season or holiday we have come to celebrate but, unlike a church, it’s usually placed inside the circle and we’re encouraged to contribute to it. At it’s most basic, Wicca honors the balance of feminine and masculine natural energies all around us. Because life-giving (birth) is feminine, we honor the Godess as the creator. But we honor the God too, because one of the things we find so magical is the natural, beautiful balance between the two. (Natural i.e. nature. Contemporary society hasn’t caught on to this yet) Well, I hope that helps to clarify a few things! Blesed be!
User Detail :
Name : Marcella, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Wiccan, Age : 32, City : New York, State : NY, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,The simple answer to your question is yes and no. Wicca is not a Christian religion like Catholicism, Presbyterian, Baptist, etc. A simple explanation is that Wicca worships Nature as a whole. God, as you view Him, is indistinguishable within Nature. The Created and The Creator if you will.
User Detail :
Name : C. Johnston, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Wiccan, Age : 26, City : Dallas, State : TX, Country : United States, Occupation : Systems Administrator, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,Wicca, as a religion, has a lot of different points of view, but overall, we do not *worship* nature so much as we revere it. Wiccans, in general, see aspects of the divine in the natural world, and our worship and ceremonies reflect this. With respect to God-the-creator, most Wiccans believe and hold sacred the idea of a God and Goddess as co-creators. Wiccans do believe in a higher, divine force, but not the specific God of Christians. However, opinions within Wicca are as varied as they are within Christianity.
User Detail :
Name : Seabhac, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Wiccan, Age : 27, City : Concord, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : Temporary Employee, Education level : 2 Years of College,First, I want to say this is not as simple of a question as it may first appear! Since I was raised Lutheran, many of my family members were/are Catholic and I am currently a Wiccan..I’m going to attempt an answer from my own perspective. Mind you, one *the* biggest differences is that w/in the Wiccan Community there is not ‘one’ way to perceive the god/desses. Some believe, like me that all the gods and goddesses are emanations/perceptions of the All which is beyond our capacity to see and relate to. Thus, for me, when I worship the archetype of the Lord and Lady, God as Jehovah is included in that. Other Wiccans are more Dualistic in that they see the Lord and Lady as seperate beings. Yet others, percieve all gods and goddesses to be seperate, being pure polytheists. None are said to be right or wrong. I’m simply presenting the variations here so that you might see where each might view the Judeo-Christian God in the scheme of things. Another essential difference lies in where we percieve the Holy (God/dess) to exist. For many Wiccans, like me (again not all, there is no one true way to percieve the world w/in Wicca), the Holy is present within everything. I truly believe there is a spiritual esssence in all the earth, animal, vegetable and mineral. Mind you I’m not talking about a consciousness or neccessarily a soul..an energy that has a kind of life it’s own. My understanding from my years as a Christian is that God is percieved as being Outside and over all. One must reach outward and upward to find God. I find the Lord and Lady within my own self, within nature, within any place that has been blessed as holy….. I realize I am making generalizations here! As I said, this question is more difficult than it seems at first glance. While it helps bridge people to see the similarities, there is a certain respect in the ability to say we are different, but that is ok. Thus, the short answer is no. The long answer is, in a way…yes.
User Detail :
Name : Chaelleigh, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Lesbian, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Wiccan, City : Laurel, State : MD, Country : United States, Occupation : Librarian, Education level : Over 4 Years of College,How is Wicca similar to Catholicism? I was raised Catholic and still have a strong devotion to Mary and the Saints. Wicca — or for me, it’s better described as the earth religions — has many similarities. There is high ritual which engages the senses and the spirit of the celebrants. There is music designed to raise energy. The Catholic ‘liturgy’ literally means the ‘energy of the people.’ Wiccan circles seek to raise and direct the energy of the witches for a purpose. Wicca has nothing at all to do with devil worship and honors a creator of the earth, moon and universe. While Wicca is poly-theistic, meaning it honors many gods and goddesses, some Wiccan individuals consider this to be a symbolic interpretation of the many aspects of the one unifiying, creating, loving spirit. There are many, many other similarities. I suggest you read Drawing Down the Moon by Margo Adler and Positive Magic by Marion Weinstein to get a good overview of Wicca and other earth-centered religions.
User Detail :
Name : Morgan20356, Gender : F, Age : 33, City : New Orleans, State : LA, Country : United States, Social class : Middle class,As I was raised Catholic and now practice as a solitary Wiccan, I can respond only for myself and not for others. First, I believe in many gods and goddesses and I believe that they are all connected on a spiritual level that supercedes religion. I believe that the gods of all religions are a part of this, so that no matter the name we assign our gods they are all one in the same. As far as ceremonies go, I do not believe in rituals or wor- ship. I believe I best serve my beliefs by action.
User Detail :
Name : Kathleen, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Pagan, Age : 37, City : Rochester, State : MI, Country : United States, Occupation : Bartender, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I’m not Wiccan, but I am a member of a minority religion typically categorized as ‘pagan’ (though ‘gnostic’ would be more apropos). I perceive that all religions, spiritual paths, philosophies, systems of thought and/or belief, etc. in the world are all different languages or ‘maps’ describing the same territory – a territory of which NO human being on the face of the earth can ever accurately claim to have perfect, impeccable, unimpeachable, purely objective awareness. One of the main differences between pagan, syncretic or eclectic spiritual paths and the majority of monotheistic ones is the recognition of this fact. We are aware of the validity of differences and diversities in describing this ‘territory,’ while others consider that to be anathema and deception, preferring instead to claim there is only one ‘correct’ language and one ‘correct’ map, (and moreover, it is theirs, of course) and thus anyone who disagrees must be doing so because they are ‘evil,’ ‘deceived,’ ‘rebelling against God’ or whatever. I look very much forward to the day when the human species outgrows solipsistic behavior in the realm of spiritual and religious matters. To borrow a phrase from Christ himself, ‘By their fruits ye shall know them.’ Two thousand years has been more than adequate to test the fruits (war, prejudice, persecution, oppression, opposition to human advancement, etc.) of the ‘There is only one right way to think’ disease. These past two millenia of history reveal the results of that folly quite plainly.
User Detail :
Name : Shedona C., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : daimono/pneumata-sexual, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Thelemite, Age : 35, City : Gaithersburg, State : MD, Country : United States, Occupation : web design/development, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Like all Wiccans, I speak only for myself, and my tradition; we don’t have a single authority or dogma. Our ceremonies are called ‘circles.’ We don’t have sermons, where Priests address passive congregations. Every initiate is a Priest or Priestess; we all participate. We have no choir, no offering, no unison readings or printed confessions. Our celebrations are full of laughter; we are seldom solemn. We don’t have communion. We have ‘Cakes and Wine,’ celebrating the bounty of Mother Earth. We meet eight times a year for major celebrations, and sometimes when the moon is full, not every Sunday. We don’t worship the same God you seem to. (Saying ‘God’ implies you mean Jehovah.) We worship many Gods and Goddesses, like most world religions. Primarily we worship The Lord and The Lady. They are Creators, as are we. I created this letter, you created yours. It’s something we all do. ***I would like to include information detailing just what we do, but it exceeds the limit. Please let me know at robin@robinwood.com if you want it.*****
User Detail :
Name : RobinW, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 46, City : Detroit, State : MI, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College,Wiccan practices vary more than I could ever document. Without central organization of any kind, practices and beliefs are rarely the same between two people. I don’t see this as a bad thing. It simply is. I will answer for myself, though. I believe in One God that is the All. God manifests Him/Herself in the entire universe, which includes all religions. Wiccans focus on the Goddess and God, sometimes calling Them specific names such as Isis or Apollo. Even as I do this, though, I see Them as One (similar to the Trinity). I have never actually worshipped the wind, the sun, trees, nor any part of nature. I honor them as apects of the Divine. I appreciate the wind as the breath of God, but do not specifically worship that breath.
User Detail :
Name : Stephanie27784, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Bisexual, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Pagan, Age : 25, City : Austin, State : TX, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,You may get a variety of answers to this question since Wiccans tend to be an independant lot. The ‘short’ answer is no, we do not recognize ‘God’ (Christian, Jehovah, Yahwah) as the creator. Many of us worship Goddesses and Gods or Spirit, but generally not the Christian God. Speaking for myself as a Dianic Wiccan, I worship Goddess as the infinite Creatrix — She-Who-Gave-Birth-to-Us-All. She is manifest in the Earth, the elements, and in all of Her creatures. She is also much more. Our ‘ceremonies’ are usually based upon natural events. For example, many of us will celebrate the solstices and equinoxes, and/or lunar cycles. Ours is a very celebratory religion. We revere life as sacred and believe living on the Earth is a wonderful thing.
User Detail :
Name : Kassandra Sojourner, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Lesbian, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Wiccan, Age : 40, City : Madison, State : WI, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,When I was a Wiccan, my ceremony was very close to a Catholic mass, only shorter and by myself. This was because I was raised a Catholic, and it was what I knew. Wiccans believe in a God and a Goddess, with every god being a part of their God, every goddess being a part of their Goddess. For some people the Christian God isn’t included (which I think makes no sense, personally). They recognize these two deities in their ceremonies, as well as the elements air, water, fire, and earth.
User Detail :
Name : Jack, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 19, City : Oshkosh, State : WI, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class,
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.