Wicca is a modern pagan, witchcraft religion

Wicca is a diverse religion with no central authority or figure defining it.

Wicca often involves the ritual practice of magic, though it is not always necessary

Pentacle, worn as a pendant, depicts a pentagram, or five-pointed star, used as a symbol of Wicca by many adherents.

Beliefs in Wicca range from hard polytheism to even monotheism.

Wicca is typically duotheistic, worshipping a god and goddess traditionally viewed as a mother goddess and horned god.

The term Wicca first achieved widespread acceptance when referring to the religion in the 1960s and 70s

Application of the word Wicca has given rise to "a great deal of disagreement and infighting".

The Goddess and the God may be regarded as the Divine Feminine and the Divine Masculine

The God and Goddess are generally seen as lovers and equals, the Divine Couple who together co-create the cosmos.

Traditionally the God is viewed as a Horned God, associated with nature, wilderness, sexuality, hunting and the life cycle

The Horned God is given various names according to the tradition, and these include Cernunnos, Pan, Atho and Karnayna.

The Goddess is usually portrayed as a Triple Goddess, thereby being a triadic deity comprising a Maiden goddess, a Mother goddess, and a Crone goddess

Some Wiccans, particularly from the 1970s onwards, have viewed the Goddess as the more important of the two deities, who is pre-eminent in that she contains and conceives all. In this respect, the God is viewed as the spark of life and inspiration within her, simultaneously her lover and her child.

Showing posts with label harry potter universe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label harry potter universe. Show all posts

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Devout Or Just Stupid

Devout Or Just Stupid
This one made me laugh out loud. The original story was pretty familiar - another case of a supposedly devout Christian protesting kids reading the Harry Potter books. The stated that a British teaching assistant refused to let a child in her class read one of the Harry Potter books, was disciplined by the school, and resigned from her position. I considered adding the story as an update to my last Harry Potter entry, but decided that there wasn't much too it besides the usual self-righteous censorship.Well, I was wrong. The assistant turned around and sued the school for religious discrimination, claiming that it was unreasonable for the school to discipline her because of her beliefs. And what were those belief, you ask? Why, she was frightened of the spells in the Harry Potter book!Teaching Assistant Quits in Fear of Potter SpellYup, that's right kids. As a practicing ritual magician all I have to do is wave my wand and vibrate AVADA KEDAVRA in order to kill you! In fact, here's my entire Grimoire detailing the extent of my arcane and esoteric skill and knowledge. Fear my awesome power!You know, I'm not sure what I find more pathetic about this story - that this idiot actually believed that Harry Potter had anything to do with real magick, or that her motivation had nothing to do with faith or morality and everything to do with cowardice. Wouldn't an actual devout Christian believe that her God is powerful enough to keep her safe from a ten year old mumbling imaginary curses? Or even real curses?But hey, at least she provided me with a laugh.UPDATE: (JUNE 12TH) The legal tribunal hearing the case didn't take very long to rule against this idiot.'I don't do witchcraft' teacher loses tribunalI'm still surprised that she believed she had any chance whatsoever of winning, given that the Wicca religion has absolutely nothing to do with the Harry Potter series and that if the Potter books were found to be discriminatory the same logic would apply to the entire fantasy genre. C.S. Lewis has spells in his books, too, and just like in the Potter books, they aren't real spells.