The Old Religion

Witchcraft is the Old Religion. It is the Craft of the Wise; a prospering nature-oriented religion that explores the hidden powers in woman and man. Sexual equality, ecology, the belief in reincarnation, love, attunement and magick are all part of the Old Religion, and despite a frightening and gruesome history of persecution, bloodshed and misunderstanding, it has survived for over 20 thousand years.

Witchcraft in England was made an illegal offense in the year 1541, and in 1604, a law decreeing capital punishment for witches was adopted. 40 years later, the 13 colonies in America also made death the penalty for the "crime" of witchcraft. By the late 17th century, the loyal followers of the Old Religion were in hiding and witchcraft had turned into a secret underground religion after an estimated one million persons had been put to death in Europe and more than 30 condemned at Salem, Massachusetts, in the name of Christianity.

Although the infamous Salem witchcraft trials of 1692 are the most memorable and well-documented ones in the history of America, the first hanging of a witch in New England actually took place in Connecticut in 1647, 45 years before the Salem witch hysteria. Other pre-Salem executions occurred in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1662.
The most popular method of witch extermination in New England was the gallows. In Europe, it was burning. Other methods included pressing to death, drowning and fatal torture.
For 260 years following the last witch execution, the followers of the Old Religion kept their practices hidden behind the shadows of secrecy, and not until after the laws against witchcraft in England were finally repealed in 1951 did witches officially come out of the closet.
Witches today seek to live in harmony with nature and practice their ancient rites to attune themselves with the natural rhythms of life forces marked by the lunar cycle and the seasons. Witches do not accept the concept of innate sin or absolute evil, and they do not worship the Devil as defined by the Christian tradition.
Unfortunately, many people who are not familiar with the actual practices and philosophy of witchcraft are led to believe that witches are Devil-worshippers. This is a terrible misconception that stems from centuries of church propaganda, fear and ignorance of the unknown.
The fact of the matter is that witches do not worship, receive their powers from, sign pacts with, or sell their souls to Satan, as many people wrongly assume. Actually, witches do not even believe in the existence of the 
Devil. They never have!
Satan is an invention of the Christian Church and never existed prior to the New Testament. Witchcraft is a pre-Christian religion existing long before the Church or its concept of Satan, who was never worshipped as a deity of the Old Religion. The Devil is a part of the Christian tradition, not the religion of the witches.
There are two main deities honored and worshipped in the rites of the Old Religion: the Mother Goddess of Fertility and the Horned God. Their names vary from one Wicca tradition to the next. Some traditions, such as the Gardenias; use different deity names in both their higher and lower degrees.
The Goddess is the female principle and represents fertility and rebirth. The moon is her symbol and she is often depicted as having three faces, each representing a different lunar phase. She is the Virgin (or the Warrior Maid), the Mother and the Wise Crone-the new moon, the full moon and the waning moon.
The Goddess possesses many different names. She is often called Diana, Cerridwen, Freya, Isis, Ishtar, Kali, the Lady or any other name that a witch feels responds to her or his own mythological vision.
In a coven, the Goddess is represented by the High Priestess and is usually worshipped in the spring and summer months as she symbolizes the fertility of the earth in the growing time. Some feminist Dianic covens worship the Goddess as their sole deity, but most worship both the Horned God and the Goddess.
The Horned God, represented as a hirsute bearded man having the hooves and horns of a goat, is a god of nature and the male counterpart to the image of the Goddess. In primitive times, he was worshipped as the Horned God of Hunting, but has since become known as the Homed God of Death and all that comes after. Like the Goddess, the Homed God is also known by many different names. In some Wicca traditions he is called Cerunnos, which is Latin for "the Horned One." In others, he is known as Pan or Woden. The autumn and winter months are when the Homed God is usually worshipped as he symbolizes the dark half of the year.
The worship of the Mother Goddess of Fertility and the Homed God symbolizes the Wicca belief that everything that exists in the universe is divided into female and male, negative and positive, light and darkness, life and death-the balance of nature.
Eight festivals, or Sabbath (four major and four lesser), are celebrated by witches each year. Contrary to the image of the witches' Sabbath that many imagine, it is not a time when witches gather together to perform magick, cast spells or concoct all sorts of weird potions. Magick is seldom, if ever, practiced at a Sabbath.
The witches' Sabbath is a religious ceremony deriving from ancient Druid festivals celebrating the change of the seasons. It is a time of dancing, singing, feasting and honoring the Horned God and the Goddess of Fertility.

The four major Sabbaths are:

Candlemas: February 2nd
Beltane: May 1st
Lammas: August 1st
Samahin: October 31st


The four lesser Sabbaths are:

Vernal (Spring) Equinox Sabbath
Summer Solstice Sabbath
Autumnal Equinox Sabbath
Winter Solstice Sabbath (Yule)

Magick is a force that combines psychic energy with will to produce "supernatural" effects, cause change to occur in conformity and control events in nature. It increases the flow of divinity and can be used for constructive purposes as well as destructive. The actual power of the magick is the same in the practice of black magick as it is in white magick. The direction of evil or good is determined by the practitioner.
Witches use the old spelling of the word MAGICK with the "K" at the end. This is done to distinguish the magick practiced by witches from the magic of theatrical stage conjuring and sleight of hand.
Magick is a powerful tool. It is serious business and should never be taken lightly or abused. It is an important part of witchcraft, although secondary to the worship of the God and the Goddess.
Just as there are many different traditions of witchcraft, magick also takes many different forms: black, white, Abramelin, ceremonial, Faustian, Enochian, kabbalah, voodoo and many more. Choosing the right form (or forms) of magick to practice depends entirely upon a witch's personal preferences. Some witches and magicians devote their entire lives to the study and practice of only one form of magick while others experiment and practice different types. It is up to the individual.
Magick is the science of the secrets of nature, and in order to work it properly, a witch must work in harmony with the laws of nature and the psyche. Bathing in salted water and cleansing the inner body by fasting for one whole day before performing a magick ritual is often necessary. To be able to produce power, the physical body must be kept in a healthy condition.
The moon and each of her phases are the most essential part of magick. Constructive magick, positive incantations and spells that increase are always performed during a waxing moon. Destructive magick, negative incantations and all spells that decrease are performed during a waning moon.
Working during the proper time of the moon, conviction, concentration and visualization of the end result are all the secrets of successful magick!
Whichever type of magick a witch chooses to practice, she or he should always bear in mind the Wicca Rede, the main tenet of witchcraft: "AND IF  IT HARM NONE, DO WHAT THOU WILT". Be free to do as you please, just as long as you bring harm upon no one-including yourself. If you do evil unto others, the evil will return to you threefold in the same lifetime. This same karmic law of retribution applies whenever you do something good-three times the good will come back to you.

MAY THE
GOD AND GODDESS
PRESERVE THE CRAFT
SO MOTE IT BE!