Nature is divinity to Wiccans - Coeur d'Alene Press: Sholeh Patrick:
For millennia winter has been a time for festivals and meaningful celebrations, so "happy holidays" encompasses multiple traditions. This year I was invited to join in a different holiday tradition - the yule log in celebration of winter solstice, when the sun slowly lengthens its daily presence.
After an offering was given for its gift, this locally harvested log had little holes drilled in it to receive slips of paper with the participants' hopes for the coming year. Once filled, the log is burned and voices lift in song. My invitation came from a kind-eyed Wicca priestess with a warm home and lovely holiday tree topped with a pointy hat, although Yule isn't restricted to Wiccan tradition.
Wicca's roots are hard to pin down. Once called simply "the Old Religion," Wicca has been translated as "soothsayer" and "craft of the wise" in Old English. Wisdom in old times was associated with a deep understanding of nature. With Celtic connections to the fall festival of Samhain and other ancient rites, Wicca has piecemeal spiritual origins in other nature-based, pagan religions and rituals throughout the centuries, but gained momentum in the 20th. The first Wiccan church in the U.S. was established in 1968; Wicca was federally recognized as a religion in 1972.
Yes, there is magic, but not the kind you're thinking of. Wiccans believe all of nature is divine, and that every living thing is spiritually and in a way, physically connected to every other. The more connected one is to this divinity, to this energy, the more of its power one can harness. While Wiccan beliefs can vary, one idea is universal: "And it harm none, do as ye will."
'via Blog this'
For millennia winter has been a time for festivals and meaningful celebrations, so "happy holidays" encompasses multiple traditions. This year I was invited to join in a different holiday tradition - the yule log in celebration of winter solstice, when the sun slowly lengthens its daily presence.
After an offering was given for its gift, this locally harvested log had little holes drilled in it to receive slips of paper with the participants' hopes for the coming year. Once filled, the log is burned and voices lift in song. My invitation came from a kind-eyed Wicca priestess with a warm home and lovely holiday tree topped with a pointy hat, although Yule isn't restricted to Wiccan tradition.
Wicca's roots are hard to pin down. Once called simply "the Old Religion," Wicca has been translated as "soothsayer" and "craft of the wise" in Old English. Wisdom in old times was associated with a deep understanding of nature. With Celtic connections to the fall festival of Samhain and other ancient rites, Wicca has piecemeal spiritual origins in other nature-based, pagan religions and rituals throughout the centuries, but gained momentum in the 20th. The first Wiccan church in the U.S. was established in 1968; Wicca was federally recognized as a religion in 1972.
Yes, there is magic, but not the kind you're thinking of. Wiccans believe all of nature is divine, and that every living thing is spiritually and in a way, physically connected to every other. The more connected one is to this divinity, to this energy, the more of its power one can harness. While Wiccan beliefs can vary, one idea is universal: "And it harm none, do as ye will."
'via Blog this'
No comments:
Post a Comment