Introduction

    Some people would call me a wizard. They would call my mate a Witch.  We call ourselves flamens (Specialized vocabulary used in this book is defined in the glossary.) of the Wicca faith.  In the modern world there has been a revival of interest in the oldest religion, and much has been written about it by those who purport to know all.  This book is for the courageous few who can cast off centuries of force-fed dogma and magic, the few who are willing to try the original ways, the natural and happy ways.

    You will find the only evangelical remarks in this book in the next few paragraphs.  We are not seeking converts.  Our religion does not require a large congregation making weekly cash payments, nor does it require converts who cannot rationalize the difference between what they feel must be true and what central dogmatic authority tells them.

    Throughout the ages it has become the custom to divide things humanity does not understand into two categories: magic or religion.  It is merely a question of whether a given ceremony is practiced by the "true faith" or by some "dirty, underground, lustful, bacchanalian" group.  To our believers, Wicca is a religion.  We practice religious ceremonies in an attempt to stay in tune with natural laws.  We try to show a new path to the misguided who practice magic and to those of faiths whose leaders are more interested in keeping ahead of "those other people across the street" than in healing the sick and guiding the young.

The critical question before us is,

WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE?

    Do you really believe the things you've been told all your life?  Consider again the following dogmas:

- Physical love is evil.

- You commit a sin if you fail to have daily sexual intercourse.

- If you are married, you must reproduce, no matter what.

- Babies are conceived in sin. Their souls are dirty, and they must work all their lives to erase this sin.

- Babies are born pure and are corrupted throughout their lives.

- The bread and wine you take at communion are actually flesh and blood.

    It is obvious that the above statements are taken from the dogma of various religions stemming from the single-god concept of a man called Moses and modified through the years by money-grubbing "holy" men and and power-seeking princes.

    "Reproduce; make the church larger - but don't enjoy it: that would be a sin."\

    "When I say certain words and pass my hands over this tax-free wine, it magically becomes blood for you to drink!"

    Compare these dogmas to the tenets of Wicca:

- Physical love is enjoyable and natural.

- Reproduction is a considered process depending on love, health, wealth, and many other factors.

- A soul comes to a baby by gift of God, and it is on earth to learn and to develop.

- The birth date of an individual affects his future life.  Telepathy, clairvoyance, and faith healing are proven facts, not delusions.

WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE?

    When you've enjoyed a good sex experience, are you going to say it was not enjoyable?  Are you going to run to the priest and tell him you've sinned, or to the psychoanalyst to have him remove your guilt by magic?

    Perhaps the more occult areas of Wicca trouble you; for example, our birth-date belief may smack a quack astrology.  Let us face facts.  In the northern hemisphere a child starts to attend school in September.  The age range of children in a given classroom spans a year.  The age range of children in a given classroom spans a year.  The older children can take it easy, but the younger have to work hard to keep up.  Recent tests clearly show that IQ is dependent on the month of birth.  If this macroscopic measure is true, why not finer distinctions of Chaldean astronomy?  The Chaldeans continuously charted the stars and their effects on man for 350 years ending about 750 BC - a very large statistical sample!

    Read Dr. Rhine's work on telepathy, or talk to the people who recommend shield caps for statesmen as protection from thought waves deliberately sent by an opposing power.

    Read an account of Swedenborg's remarkable and well documented case of clairvoyance in Sweden.  He recounted the minute-by-minute progress of a disastrous fire in his home town, which was three hundreds miles away.

    Faith healing is the most well-attested of all Wicca beliefs and practices. Psychosomatic illness has proven to be a curable phenomenon.  Do you believe in Jesus? I do; he was a great healer, and his power cured more than those afflicted by psychosomatic illness.

WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE?

    I ask that you look at nature.  Seeds from pharaoh's tombs have grown after thousands of years of dormancy.  Isn't that more of a miracle than the magic of the bread and wine?

    This book will not attempt to convert you to Celtic Wicca or to provoke an argument.  It is the definition of our beliefs and a textbook for those who wish to practice the old religion.

    We ask that you take your time and give Wicca a fair trial.  You have been exposed to a lifetime of propaganda that stems from a year in the life of a man, written up by four other men two generations later in another land.  So don't be impatient.  We don't believe in the cataclysmic "savings" and conversions of other religions.  If we have planted a seek in your heart and your mind, gently nurture it.  Don't let it die, and don't force it to grow in a hothouse environment.

    Wicca may not transform your world in twenty-four hours, but after all, what will?  Give Wicca an open-minded trial period.  You will like it.