How to Become a Witch by Amber K. (large ebook reader txt) 📗

as long as the Witch adheres to a code of ethics along the lines of the Wiccan Rede or similar.

Witchcraft: The skills and arts of the Witch; also Wicca. Sometimes distinguished from Wicca as not necessarily including the religious foundation.

Witch Jewels: Special headgear, necklaces, rings, or bracelets worn by Craft priests and priestesses. A high priestess may wear a crescent-moon tiara, a necklace of amber and jet, and a silver cord; a high priest may wear an antler crown, a torc, and a gold cord.

Witches’ Pyramid: A model of magick made up of four sides aligned with the elements, with a base of knowledge, filled with love, and crowned by spirit.

Witchy-in-the-Night: Slang term for Witches who are especially in love with all things dark, mysterious, and eerie. Some dress the part.

Wizard: A male magician.

Woo-Woo: Slang term for all the arcane, esoteric, and mystical parts of the Craft.

Yule: One of the eight sabbats. Celebrates the Winter Solstice, the return of the light in the midst of winter; usually celebrated on the Winter Solstice, December 21–23.

Appendix C

Contact Points

Organizations

Circle Network

From the website: “Founded in 1977 by Selena Fox, Circle Network is an international Nature Spirituality network of individuals and groups, centers, periodicals, gathering communities, and other organizations.

“Circle Network includes those who are involved in one or more paths of Wiccan spirituality, Druidism, Animism, Pantheism, Ecospirituality, Shamanism, Goddess spirituality, Egyptian mystery traditions, Heathenism, ancient and contemporary forms of Paganism, and related ways.

“The purpose of Circle Network is to help Pagans from many paths and places connect with each other and share information, ideas, and energy to mutually benefit each other, Pagan culture, and the greater web of Life on planet Earth and the universe. There is no fee to be affiliated with Circle Network.”

Circle offers newsletters, festivals and other events, and opportunities to connect with other Pagans.

Address: Circle Sanctuary, P.O. Box 9, Barneveld, WI 53507 USA

Website: www.circlesanctuary.org/network/

Covenant of the Goddess

COG was organized in 1975, in order “to increase cooperation among Witches and to secure for Witches and covens the legal protection enjoyed by members of other religions.” It is one of the largest and oldest Wiccan religious organizations and serves primarily the United States.

COG fosters cooperation and mutual support among Witches. The Covenant publishes a newsletter, issues ministerial credentials on request to qualified persons, sponsors a national festival each summer, and encourages networking nationally as well as regionally through local councils. The Covenant is non-hierarchical and governed by consensus.

The Covenant has taken part in spiritual and educational conferences, interfaith outreach, large public rituals, environmental activism, community projects and social action, as well as efforts to correct negative stereotypes and promote accurate media portrayals. Its clergy perform legal marriages (or handfastings), preside at funerals and other rituals of life transition, and provide counseling to Witches, including those in the military and in prisons.

COG offers membership to Goddess-supporting covens or solitaries who meet certain criteria. Potential members must:

Generally focus theology and ritual, etc., around the worship of the Goddess and the Old Gods (or the Goddess alone; coven or solitary)

Proclaim themselves Witches or Wiccans in their Statement of Practice (coven or solitary).

Believe in and follow a code of ethics compatible with that of the Covenant (coven or solitary).

Have been meeting monthly or more often for at least six months (coven).

Have three or more members who have been formally accepted into the clergy (coven).

Be a cohesive, self-perpetuating group (coven).

A Local Council is a branch of the Covenant, consisting of at least three member covens of at least two different traditions in reasonably close geographic proximity. They meet at least twice a year and usually more often. They may initiate independent projects, sponsor local festivals, and work together for common goals close to home.

Address: P. O. Box 1226, Berkeley, CA 94701 USA

Website: www.cog.org

The Pagan Federation

Founded in 1971 primarily for the United Kingdom, the Pagan Federation now has programs in many countries and thousands of members from many different traditions of Paganism. It was organized to “actively fight…ignorance and negative attitudes toward Paganism” and to “create a network of like-minded people who…work together for the benefit of Paganism.”

The Pagan Federation offers Associate Memberships which, after one year, may become Full Memberships. Members can read the newsletter, receive invitations to events, and help with the work of the Federation. Members must subscribe to the following three principles:

“(1) Love for and Kinship with Nature. Reverence for the life force and its ever-renewing cycles of life and death; (2) A positive morality, in which the individual is responsible for the discovery and development of their true nature in harmony with the outer world and community. This is often expressed as “Do what you will, as long as it harms none”; and (3) Recognition of the Divine, which transcends gender, acknowledging both the female and male aspect of Deity.”

Address: PFI International, P. O. Box 473, 3700 Al Zeist, The Netherlands

Website: www.paganfederation.org

Website

The Witches’ Voice (Witchvox)

This is “a proactive educational network providing news, information services and resources for and about Pagans, Heathens, Witches and Wiccans.” Witchvox provides thousands upon thousands of listings of Pagan groups, individuals, clergy, events, stores, and much more, listed by country, state, or province.

The “critical resource tools” they offer include articles that can be used for public education regarding Paganism. “We provide educational materials on the basic beliefs of the religion of Witchcraft/Wicca to dispel the stereotypical image perpetuated by the media and centuries of negative propaganda. We uphold the civil and religious freedom guaranteed to all citizens in the Constitution and Bill of Rights and will actively resist those who would seek to suppress or restrict these rights.”

The website tries to maintain a neutral, even-handed policy toward all Pagan religions that follow a positive code of ethics.

Website: www.witchvox.com

Magazines And Newsletters

Circle Magazine

From the website: “CIRCLE Magazine is a 72-page magazine published quarterly, with each issue dedicated to a particular theme and filled with a variety of articles, rituals, meditations, illustrations, invocations, contacts, news, photos, herbal formulas, reviews, magical development exercises, chants, advertisements, and other material.”

Address: Circle