Witchcraft Beliefs

This section explores the general principles of Witchcraft belief, whereas what I do personally is discussed under Practice.

There is no sacred text & definitely no gurus in witchcraft. Nothing here is to be taken as 'the one true way' of witchcraft. There are as many different ways of interpreting the basic beliefs of the Craft as their are witches. We celebrate our own diversity & always respect the beliefs of others. Having said all that, the outline I give below is a fair representation of the core of a witches beliefs.

This shows the cycle of the Sun from 'birth' at Winter Solstice or Yule, through to the glory of Summer Solstice at Midsummer, & then to the coming of Autumn, celebrated at the Equinox, followed by Samhain, better known as "Hallowe'en". Whereas some other religions have only two or three big festivals a year, we celebrate eight times every Solar cycle. This may account in part for the huge growth in Witchcraft over the last few years. It certainly has something to do with the love of life common to all witches. We do enjoy a good party!

Of course there is more to these Festivals that getting off your head & dancing naked around a huge bonfire for half the night. If only I could remember what it is...

For those of serious intent, here is the basic significance of each Festival:

Yule, 20-21st December
Yule is usually celebrated during the longest night. We feast, scry, talk & play games through the night & then perform a Ritual to greet the rising Sun. From Yule the days will get longer until the Summer Solstice, so this is a celebration of the 'Reborn Sun'. This may sound oddly familiar to those of you who celebrate Christmas.

Imbolc, 1 February
(Pronounced 'Im-olg'). This is the time of 'the quickening of the year', when the first signs of the coming Spring appear, & we honour Brigid, the great Celtic Mother Goddess.

Spring Equinox, 20-21st March
Marks the beginning of Spring, & that is well worth celebrating! On a more esoteric level, this symbolises the continuing rise in the power of the young Sun God. His sexual energy manifests with the rising of the sap, so we come to...

Beltane, 1st May
(Pronounced 'Bel-tain). The most sexual festival in the Witches year, for this is the time of mixing energies & mingling bodies. Symbolically the Young God & the Goddess mate at Beltane, as the tides of life & love are in full flood.

Midsummer, 20-21st June
Summer Solstice brings the longest day, & at this time we celebrate the power of the Sun God at His peak. After the Solstice, the days begin to shorten again as we approach Autumn.

Lughnasad, 1st August
Pronounced 'Loo-na-da', this is the time of the harvest. The Sun God, who is celebrated here as the Celtic God-Hero Lugh, is sacrificed with the cutting of the corn, & will not come to power again until the Spring Equinox. This is a time to look back over the year & celebrate your own personal harvest.

On a deeper level, this is a time to honor the constant sacrifice of life that feed us. It is part of the pattern of existence that something must die to feed life. That death may be animal or vegetable, but the sacrifice is still made and should be honored.

Autumn Equinox, 21st September
In farming communities the harvest must be gathered in by now, & the Equinox brings celebrations of the harvest home. For witches this may be the last warm night under the stars, so a big party is in order! It is also a time to prepare for the coming darkness of Winter, to turn within & look to more subtle matters which we may have ignored during the bright days of Summer.

Samhain, 31st October
(Pronounced 'Sow-ain'). Perhaps the high point in the witches year. On Samhain night the veil between the worlds of the living & the dead is thin. At Samhain witches celebrate our ancestors & our beloved dead. We might meet with the Lord of Death, & meditate on our own mortality. To witches death is not to be feared; without it there can be no new life, for all birth emerges from the fecund body of death. How many thousand trees fell during the great storm of the mid-80's? How many million insects & fungi fed on their dead wood? And how many new plants have grown in the sunlit spaces they left behind?

There are photographs of some of my own Festival Altars in the Practice section.

The Solar cycle tends to centre on the journey of the witches God, but every month we celebrate the Lunar cycle as symbolic of the Goddess.

The Goddess has many forms, but in many of Her manifestations She has three aspects. These three faces of the Goddess are mirrored by the phases of the moon. The Goddess as Maiden is represented by the waxing moon. The full moon symbolises the Goddess as Mother, while the waning moon represents the Crone Goddess.

The God & Goddess have many different names & aspects. Some are from the Greek pantheon, others from Celtic belief. I have mentioned Lugh, the Celtic Sun God, & Hekate, Greek Goddess of Witches. There are thousands of different aspects of the Goddess & God, & each one shows one part of the infinite diversity that is within everything. The myriad names given to the Goddess & God are like the facets of a diamond. Each facet is part of the jewel, & each aspect is a face of the infinite power which is a Unity & a multiplicity in the same paradoxical moment. (Gods & Goddesses can do that kind of weird stuff!) I could go on for pages about the deeper significance of each aspect, but I'd rather recommend a few books for those who want to know more. I've listed a few favorite titles in the Resources section.