Well, here I am again with another long-winded post.
I've finally started in on the actual Wicca book that you originally recommended. I've been reading the books on elemental powers first. I've enjoyed them thoroughly, and I really like Scott's presentation because he does encourage abstraction and personal inclinations as well as personal incantations.
This is about as non-dogmatic as a religion can get. (at least as presented by Scott Cunningham)
I love the way that he also presents Wicca with the same abstraction. This is the way religion should be!
He presents the Goddess and God basically as the Yin and Yang of the universe. He confessed them to be abstract notions and not actual deities, however, he explains that because we are human it can be beneficial to visualize them as actual deities simply to facilitate a better communiqué with them.
I think a lot of people who are so used to viewing God as a person-like deity would probably wonder what it could even mean to communicate with a spiritual essence that isn't a deity. In fact, it's that very mindset that drives the deity façades of the Goddess and God. How we view God is really a matter of our own ability (or inability) to imagine abstractly.
He shows that the Goddess is traditionally associated with the Moon, and the God with the Sun. But these are truly metaphors. None the less by viewing these great lights in the sky and experiencing their presence we can indeed experience a rapport with the Yin and Yang of the spiritual nature of the universe. And it is beneficial to have actual objects to turn to, to appease, to worship, and to appeal to. He also suggests to visualize an actual human-like God and Goddess if this is helpful to our own psyche and emotions. He offers various names and descriptions based on images associated with ancient mythologies, or suggests to visualize them anyway you feel comfortable with.
I think for some people this immediately sounds like they are 'making up a God'. But in truth it's no different at all from the popular conventional religions. Who's to say what God looks like? Everyone has their own visual images of God even in the conventional religions. It's no different. The point is that we need to attune ourselves to God, and this is best done by conjuring up images of some sort or another.
I really like the God and Goddess approach of Wicca. Scott actually presents these as being the Yin and Yang of a single spirit. They are of equal import and it's not truly polytheism at all. It's just a recognition that God has both feminine and masculine aspects. (At least as Scott presents Wicca). There may be other people who view Wicca differently stressing more importance on the female Goddess of the Moon and maybe even demanding that she's an actual deity. That, to me, it just a representation of Wicca that is leaning toward the more traditional view of the dogmatic religions. Before they know it they'll be putting words in the Goddesses mouth and making claims about what she wants specifically from people. Then they will have destroyed the true beauty of Wicca.
They already have her basically saying, "Do as you will, but harm none". I think that's quite enough. No need to write a book of detailed rules and regulations.
In any case, I'm about to begin the extended rituals of opening up a more direct channel of communiqué with both the Goddess and God (the Yin and Yang) of the universe. I will indeed use the Sun and Moon as abstractions of their presence as is done with traditional Wicca. I'm not sure how much I will 'deify' them. I think I will allow them to present themselves to me over time and allow that aspect to evolve in its own way. I also see the Yin in the Earth, and Water, and the Yang in Air, and Fire. So I see the Goddess and God in more than just the two great lights in the sky. I see them both in all facets of nature.
Just on a side note, as an alchemist, I've notice that much of the powers of the Wind are attributed to the Goddess, yet Air is masculine. I'm a real stickler for understanding how these things can be. Well, I've decided that Air is masculine as pure element. But when it moves over the Earth due to temperature difference caused by the Earth's surface (the feminine element), then Wind becomes more than just 'Air'.
In other words Wind is a dance between the Yin and the Yang and therefore Wind carried both the God and the Goddess. In fact, this can be said of all the elements. In their purest state they are either masculine or feminine, but in dynamic settings they can be a mixture of both.
That's probably a bit too analytical for many people who are merely interested in the spiritual aspects, but as an alchemist I tend to be a little more observant to the tangible details of how the ethereal spirit is manifest. I take this all quite seriously.
I've just learned how to set up an altar, and I'll need to find a suitable cauldron. I know I have a heavy cast iron one around here somewhere, quite old actually.
I'm truly amazed at how much sense this religion makes. It's a beautiful religion. Utterly stunning. A real tribute to the creator of this universe. I've never genuinely looked into is seriously before. I was always taught that witchcraft was just fairytale stuff. I never realized that this is a serious religion. It makes far more sense than the dogmatic religions I was taught. And it's far more positive and loving. People have no clue what they are missing. Talk about a romantic religion, this is like the epitome of romance. A genuine love affair with God. Anyone who wants to love God should definitely look into Wicca. This is a seriously romantic religion.
I'm just starting to read the chapter on Broom Magic. I've already started reading a bit and I'm already utterly amazed. I definitely need to buy a suitable broom, and it's not going to be from Wal-Mart either. This is definitely going to be a trip to an antique store. No question about that. I might even be lucky enough to find one that was actually owned by a witch previously.
Wow! Harry Potter here I come!
Thank you so much Ruth for suggesting this book, I'm loving every page of it. I really like the abstract way that Scott presents everything, he leaves the actual relationship with God entirely up to the reader. He sets the reader free to communicate with God in whatever way the reader so desires. Which is precisely the way it should be. He strips it entirely of any dogma and just gives the abstract concepts of how to interact with God directly. No pretense, no make-believe, just very clear and powerful explanations.
It's Excellent! And it's perfect for me. This is me. No doubt about it. I've been suppressed my entire life by people who were blind to the beauty of this religion. Such a shame, I would have been a great witch as a child! This religion fits me to a 'T'. It's precisely how I view the world, and God. And anyone who thinks it's evil is just plain sick. That just a huge dogmatic lie of another religion. A religion that never did anything for me but made me feel unnecessarily guilty for wanting to do good things! I'm still angry about that and rightfully so!
I love Wicca as Scott Cunningham presents it. I'm not going to necessarily support it overall because I'm not sure how other Wiccan's might view it, and I'm not necessarily going to support their views.
Like you've said, the last thing anyone should want to do is push Wicca toward becoming dogmatic. I'm afraid that if it became mainstream that's precisely what would happen to it. It would be destroyed by the fundamentalists who want to write dogma, name the Gods, and write manuals of rules and regulations that the Gods expect from everyone. What would we'd have then? It'd just be Jesus on a broom.
Anyway, thank you for recommending the book. It was well worth the purchase, as were the other two by Scott on Earth Power, and Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. These are right up my alley.
