Posted by deirdrehbrt on March 12, 2006, at 12:12:23
In reply to Re: Interesting peice about Wiccans and the military, posted by Bobby on March 12, 2006, at 11:21:52
Most witches / wiccans, etc. have some form of 'spells', etc. We also follow strict moral principles though, which prohibit us from working against an individual's free will. The idea of a "love potion" or spell to that effect would be contrary to their free will, and would be considered negative, with negatvie repercussions toward the person who cast the spell, performed the ritual, etc. Curses are in the same category; it's operating out of anger, jealousy, hatred, etc. There may be some who do such things, but many of us, possibly the majority won't deal with such things.
We will though, just as Christians offer prayers to their god, hold rituals, etc. for pease, for the world to come to it's senses and strive for environmentally sound decisions from our leaders, etc. We will cast spells, etc. to keep negativity out of our homes, for our gardens to grow, to keep our children safe. We will perform cleansings and blessings on the homes of our friends (with their permisson).
Some of us are legal clergy. We will perform handfastings (weddings), wiccanings (blessings of babies and young ones), and that sort of thing.The closest thing that we have to a universal law is this: "An it harm one, do what thou wilt". On the surface, this seems to say "If it doesn't hurt someone, do what you want". IRL though, it's like the last 7 commandments all rolled into one. If you're being selfish, you're probably harming another. It's not license to do whatever pleases you. Even smoking hurts yourself, and others. hurting yourself is out too.
Many of us are quite politically active. We have lawyers working for true freedom of religion. A Pagan alternative to scouting has been created to allow children to enjoy scouting without having to make pledges to a Christian God. http://www.spiralscouts.org/metadot/index.pl This group is quite environmentally conscious.
If you would like more details of what Paganism / Wicca / Witchcraft is about, why not do a post on Faith? On Politics, I'd rather discuss the political issues, like the memorials and such for service members, how we tend to be discriminated against regarding states that require clergy to be licensed, that sort of stuff.
Thanks for the interest and questions though.
Blessings,
--Dee
poster:deirdrehbrt
thread:618773
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20060304/msgs/619350.html