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• The Wiccan Rede
• Thirteen Principles of Wiccan Belief
• The Charge of the Goddess
• The Magician's Manifesto
• Thirteen Goals of a Witch

The Wiccan Rede

Bide the Wiccan laws we must, in perfect love and perfect trust.
Live and let live; fairly take and fairly give.
Cast the Circle thrice about, To keep all evil spirits out.
To bind the spell every time, let the spell be spake in rhyme.
Soft of eye and light of touch, speak little, listen much.
Deosil go by the waxing Moon, sing and dance the Witches' Rune.
Widdershins go when the Moon doth wane, and werewolf howls by the dread wolfsbane.
When the Lady's moon is new, kiss thy hand to Her times two.
When the moon rides at Her peak, then your heart's desire speak.
Heed the Northwind's mighty gale, lock the door and drop the sail.
When the wind comes from the South, love will kiss thee on the mouth.
When the Westwind blows o'er thee, departed spirits restless be.
When the wind blows from the East, expect the new and set the feast.
Nine woods in the cauldron go, burn them fast and burn them slow.
Elder be the Lady's tree - burn it not or cursed be!
When the Wheel begins to turn, let the Beltane fires burn.
When the Wheel hath turned to Yule, light the log and let Pan rule.
Heed ye flower, bush and tree, and by the Lady, Blessed Be!
Where the rippling waters flow, cast a stone and truth you'll know.
When ye do truly need, hearken not to others' greed.
With the fool no season spend, nor be counted as his friend.
Merry Meet and Merry Part, bright the cheeks and warm the heart.
Mind the Threefold Law ye should, three times bad an' three times good.
When misfortune is enow, wear the blue star on thy brow.
True in love ever be, unless thy love is false to thee.
Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill: "An' ye harm none, do what ye will."

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Principles Of Wiccan Belief

The Council of American Witches finds it necessary to define modern Witchcraft in terms of the American experience and needs. We are not bound by traditions from other times and other cultures and owe no allegiance to any person or power greater than the Divinity manifest through our own being. As American Witches, we welcome and respect all life-affirming teachings and traditions, and seek to learn from all and to share our learning within our Council. It is in this spirit of welcome and cooperation that we adopt these few principles of Wiccan belief. In seeking to be inclusive, we do not wish to open ourselves to the destruction of our group by those on self-serving power trips, or to philosophies and practices contradictory to those principles. In seeking to exclude those whose ways are contradictory to ours, we do not wish to deny participation to any who are sincerely interested in our knowledge and beliefs, regardless of race, color, sex, age, national or cultural heritage, or sexual preference.We therefore ask only that those who seek to identify with us accept those few basic principles:

1. We practice rites to attune ourselves with the natural rhythm of life forces marked by the phases of the Moon and the seasonal Quarters and Cross-Quarters.

2. We recognize that our intelligence gives us a unique responsibility toward our environment, We seek to live in harmony with Nature, in ecological balance, offering fulfillment to life and consciousness within an evolutionary concept.

3. We acknowledge a depth of power far greater than is apparent to the average person. Because it is far greater than ordinary, it is sometimes called "supernatural," but we see it as lying within that which is naturally potential to us all.

4. We conceive of the Creative Power in the Universe as manifesting through polarity - as masculine and feminine - and that this same Creative Power lives in all people and functions through the interaction of the masculine and feminine. We value neither above the other, knowing each to be supportive of the other. We value sexuality as pleasure, as the symbol and embodiment of Life, and as one of the sources of energies used in magickal practice and religious worship.

5. We recognize both outer and inner or psychological worlds - sometimes known as the Spiritual World, The Collective Unconscious, The Inner Planes, etc. - and we see in their interaction of these two dimensions the basis for paranormal phenomena and magickal exercises. We neglect neither dimension for the other, seeing both as necessary for our fulfillment.

6. We do not recognize any authoritarian hierarchy, but do honor those who teach, respect those who share their greater knowledge and wisdom, and acknowledge those who have courageously given of themselves in leadership.

7. We see religion, magick and wisdom-in-living as being united in the way one views the world and lives within it - a world-view and philosophy-of-life which we identify as Witchcraft, the Wiccan Way.

8. Calling oneself "Witch" does not make a Witch, but neither does heredity itself, or the collecting of titles, degrees and initiations. A Witch seeks to control the forces within him/herself that make life possible in order to live wisely and well, without harm to others and in harmony with Nature.

9. We acknowledge that it is the affirmation and fulfillment of life in a continuance of evolution and development of consciousness that gives meaning to the Universe we know and to our personal role within it.

10. Our only animosity toward Christianity or toward any other religion or philosophy-of-life is to the extent that its institutions have claimed to be "the one true, right and only way" and have sought to deny freedom to others, and to suppress other ways of religious practices and belief.

11. As American Witches, we are not threatened by debates on the history of the Craft, the origins of various terms, the legitimacy of various aspects of various traditions. We are concerned only with our present and our future.

12. We do not accept the concept of "absolute evil" nor do we worship any entity known as Satan or the Devil, as defined by the Christian tradition. We do not seek power through the suffering of others, nor do we accept the concept that personal benefits can only be derived through denial to another.

13. We seek within Nature for that which is contributory to our health and well-being.

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Charge of the Goddess

Of the mother darksome and divine, mine the scourge and mine the kiss; The five-point star of love and bliss, here I charge you with this sign. (Draw earth-invoking pentagram with athame.)

Listen to the words of the Great Mother, who of old was also called among men Artemis, Astarte, Athene, Diane, Aphrodite, Isis, Brid, Hecate, Demeter, Kali and by many other Names:

"Whenever you have need of anything, once in the month, and better it be when the moon is full, you shall assemble in some secret space and adore the spirit of Me who is Queen of All the Witches. There shall you assemble, you who are fain to learn all sorcery, yet have not won its deepest secrets. To you will I teach things that are yet unknown. You shall be free from slavery, and as a sign that you are truly free you may be naked in your rites. You shall dance, sing, feast, make music and love, all in My praise. For Mine is the ecstasy of the spirit and Mine also is joy on earth. My law is love unto all beings. Keep pure your highest ideal, strive ever towards it; let nothing stop you or turn you aside. I am the gracious Goddess, who gives the gift of joy unto the heart of man. Mine is the secret door that opens upon the land of youth, and Mine is the cup of the wine of life, and the Cauldron of Cerridwen, which is the holy grail of immortality. Upon earth I give the knowledge of the spirit eternal; and beyond death I give peace and freedom and reunion with those that have gone before, until once again the wheel of birth, death and rebirth spins. Nor do I demand aught of sacrifice, for behold, I am the Mother of All Things and My love is poured out upon the earth."

Hear the words of the Star Goddess, in the dust of Whose feet are the hosts of heaven, and Whose body encircles the universe:

"I, Who am the beauty of the green earth, and the white moon among the stars, and the mysteries of the waters, and the desire of the hearts of man, call upon your soul. Arise and come unto Me. For I am the soul of nature that gives life unto the universe. From Me all things proceed and unto Me all things must return. Let My worship be in the heart that rejoices, for behold - all acts of love and pleasure are My rituals. Let there be beauty and strength, power and compassion, honour and humility, mirth and reverence within you. And you who seek to know Me, know that your seeking and yearning shall avail you not unless you know the Mystery: if that which you seek, you find not within yourself, you shall never find it without. For behold, I have been with you from the beginning, and I am that which is attained at the end of desire.

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The Magician's Manifesto

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Thirteen Goals of a Witch

1. Know yourself.
2. Know your Craft.
3. Learn.
4. Apply knowledge with wisdom.
5. Achieve balance.
6. Keep your words in order.
7. Keep your thoughts in good order.
8. Celebrate life.
9. Attune with the cycles of the Earth.
10. Breathe and eat correctly.
11. Exercise the body.
12. Meditate.
13. Honor the Goddess and God

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