(^18) A Wiccan Bible
Section Introduction
This is the first of the Three-fold Path of Wicca.
Wicca is a personal religion. The exact format of the religion will change from one
Wiccan to the next. The names used to call our Lord and Lady will change from group
to group, coven to coven, and household to household.
Wicca is a mystery religion. Although a relatively clear structure has risen from
about 150,000 years of human experience, the religion is more experiential than educa-
tional. The basics are provided, the references are pointed to, but what develops within
you is what the religion is, not what you read in books.
Wicca is an initiatory religion. If you have heard anything about Wicca, you have
probably heard about a degree system. I am not a fan of the way this degree system is
used as a rank structure. But the degree system does serve to mark rites of passage, of
which there are three. This section contains those first passages, the Rites of Name. It
also contains the information on which that Rite of Passage is based. As all Wiccan
rituals follow the same format, here too is the basic format for Wiccan ritual, the what
(ritual) in the first chapter and the why (explanation) in the other chapters of this first
section. Even if you are a long time member of Wicca, you would do very well to read
on and learn the many things that have not been mentioned in other books. You see,
Wicca is not a Path that has an end. It is a process of learning and relearning which
continues throughout one’s life.
Even if you are a second generation Wiccan, having received the Rite of Wiccaning
when you were young, this section is most applicable as it examines Wiccan ritual from
a view that I do not believe has ever made it to print. Even if you have already per-
formed a Self-Dedication Rite, I think this section is important. Although you may
have gone through the motions listed in previous books, you may not have given much
thought to what was behind those rites. Why do we do these things? What are they
based on?
Now, let me humble myself for just a moment. I do not say this because I think I have
vastly more education than you. I say this because I was there. I was self-dedicated,
coven initiated, and yet I did not understand the application of my own religion. I did
not consider the message behind the rituals. I had not experienced that portion of the
mystery that I now relate. Yes, you will discover it on your own but the Path of that
discovery is dangerous. Although I am often called an alarmist for saying this, it has
taken at least one life and years earlier it nearly took mine. Wicca is a very dangerous
religion in many ways. Consider just one of those dangers to understand why I say this.
The Wiccan religion teaches that all acts of love and pleasure are our rituals. What
about sexually transmitted disease? What about the carnage that infidelity can bring to
a monogamous relationship? Other religions say, flatly, that sex prior to marriage is
wrong and that sex outside of marriage is wrong. If both members of a marriage listen
to these commandments, both members are safe from sexually transmitted disease as
well as the results of infidelity. Wicca, on the other hand, has no set standard for the
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