Ben GruagachComments Off on View an Online Beltane Festival
2020 has been a rather unusual year due to a global pandemic which has resulted in stay-at-home orders in many places, and all the usual public events being cancelled. Some, like the Beltane Fire Society in the UK, decided that this year they would hold their festival online instead of in the usual way. Even though the event is now… Read more »
Ben GruagachComments Off on So You Want to Become A Wiccan? Tips for Getting Started
I’ve seen the question come up more and more often lately: “I’m interested in becoming a Wiccan. How do I start?” Here are some articles and suggestions for books to read that will give you a solid beginning. First, you need to get a better idea of if you want to become a Wiccan, a Witch, or a Pagan. What’s… Read more »
Ben GruagachComments Off on Pagan Booklist: Witchcraft History
There are lots of books about the history of witchcraft. Many do not even mention modern practitioners, let alone witchcraft religions like Wicca. Some do mention modern practitioners but fail to fact-check claims resulting in some of the worst speculations being reported as fact. Here are some books about the history of witchcraft, ancient and modern, that tend towards being… Read more »
Ben GruagachComments Off on Pagan Roots in the North
Throughout history the British Isles have been swept by waves of new inhabitants and ideas. Some came as invaders and others as settlers from other lands. As each new ethnic group became established and eventually assimilated into British culture their unique qualities were absorbed too. One of the notable influences on the British Isles and therefore on English occultism and… Read more »
Ben GruagachComments Off on Pagan Roots in the West
Pagan religions are living traditions that have evolved over time and continue to change today. Occult practices and religions such as Wicca in particular have drawn from inspiration around the world including sources originating in the Americas. The West has had a very noticeable impact on the development of occult philosophy that is easy to see when we look for… Read more »
Ben GruagachComments Off on Pagan Roots in the South
“Listen to the words of the Great Mother, who was of old also called Artemis, Astarte, Dione, Melusine, Aphrodite, Cerridwen, Dana, Arianrhod, Bride, and by many other names…” This opening passage from the Charge of the Goddess used by Wiccans around the world is familiar to many, but how many realize that this introductory statement was inspired by the ancient… Read more »
Ben GruagachComments Off on Pagan Roots in the East
Paganism and occultism in the English-speaking community today owes a lot to the East. Sure, most of the borrowed Eastern ideas have been adapted and changed over the years by various English practitioners but the basic ideas themselves are from Eastern sources. We don’t have to look very hard to find things that come from the Middle East, from India,… Read more »
Ben GruagachComments Off on Pagan Booklist: Spirit Work
[Note: this article has been edited since it was first posted to include new books on the topic.] Some magickal practitioners focus on working with non-physical entities, whether these entities are described as elementals, faeries, ghosts, ancestors, angels, demons, saints, loa, intelligences, or deities. Different systems have different ways of categorizing and classifying — some are very strict about putting… Read more »
Wicca is a pretty diverse religion today with assorted different denominations (usually called “traditions”), independent covens, and thousands if not millions of solitary practitioners around the globe. What exactly makes all of these practitioners Wiccan? Historically the religion of Wicca traces to Gerald B. Gardner who first promoted and taught a form of religious witchcraft as far back as the… Read more »
Ben GruagachComments Off on The Principles of Wiccan Belief
Way back in the Spring of 1974 during a Pagan conference called “Witchmeet” in Minneapolis, MN USA a diverse group of 73 witches, representing a range of groups as well as solitary practitioners, formed what they decided to call the American Council of Witches. The group held only a single meeting before they chose to disband. At that meeting they… Read more »
