THE BASICS
Wicca is a fairly new neopagan religion centered around the reverence of nature and both the divine feminine and the divine masculine. Contrary to popular belief, Wicca is not “whatever one wants it to be,” although it does not have strict dogma and leaves a lot of room for creativity. Practitioners adhere to two similar ethical codes of conduct. One is the Wiccan Rede, which states that as long as one does no harm, they may do as you wish. The other belief regarding morals is the Threefold Law, which says that any action, good or bad, comes back to a person Threefold. This does not necessarily mean that if a person shoots their coworker, that three gunman will appear and shoot them in the face (that would be awkward), but the action that returns will have three times the impact and three times the not-good effects.
DEITY
Most Wiccans are henotheists, meaning although they have no doubt that other deities are real, they only worship a chosen few. Since Wicca is very much about the balance of the feminine and the masculine, a primary male and female deity is common. Sometimes the deities are named (ie., Pan and Diana), but other times practitioners simply say Lord or Lady. These beings are believed to be in and of everything and everyone. They are not separate from the physical, rather they immerse themselves in it. They are omnipresent, loving, caring deities, forces that expand as far as the eye can see. They are both light and dark. Note that there is a difference between “dark” and ”evil“. A hurricane is definitely dark and destructive, but one would not call it evil, no? A serial killer is dark, and also evil. Darkness is scary, sure, but it is a part of life. It brings pain, but without discrimination and without bias. Evil is darkness with pure malevolence, the intent to hurt and cause pain. We recognize that our deities are both like and dark, happiness, joy, sorrow, and anger. We recognize that while they influence our lives, we must still take responsibility for our actions. That is Wiccan thought. And even though Wicca is many things, at its heart is the reverence of deity, present and active in all.
