Wiccan History

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=168 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="2f72f2f3.gif"> <div> <A HREF="id74.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Article Submission"><U><B><U>Article Submission</U></B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id67.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Vengeance Article"><U><B><U>Vengeance Article</U></B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id71.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Unicorn Article"><U><B><U>Unicorn</U></B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id79.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Wiccan History"><U><B><U>Wiccan Article</U></B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id70.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Craft Article"><U><B><U>The Craft</U></B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id73.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="To be a Witch"><U><B><U>To Be a Witch</U></B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id75.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Paganopolis"><U><B><U>Paganism</U></B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id76.htm" TARGET="_top" 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HREF="http://all.at/arcane" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://all.at/arcane"><U><B><U>ARCANE Images</U></B></U></A></div> <div> <B><U><IMG SRC="51d69660.gif" border=0 width="105" height="102" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></B></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="2f72f2f3.gif"> <div> <B>Tannim's Religion</B><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FF3333" FACE="Copperplate Gothic Bold" >    </FONT></div> <div> <IMG SRC="03ef4010.gif" border=0 width="500" height="1" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <I>Wiccan History</I></div> <div> <A HREF="http://geocities.com/silverstarwicca/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://geocities.com/silverstarwicca/"><U><I>The Coven Of The Silver Stars</I></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <I>Wicca history finds its roots very far back. As far back as 7000 BC in the Neolithic period. There we find the Neolithic Cult of The Goddess. Their beliefs and teachings traveled all throughout Europe eventually ending up with the Kelts. The Kelts embracing these teachings and beliefs molded with their own. Then in 4000 BC the Kelts invaded England. There they encountered the Cult Of The Dead. During their occupation of England the Kelts excepted the Cults teachings. Some Believe that the Druids are the surviving Priesthood from the Medaterianien Cult Of The Dead. Thus the Druids became the islands Priesthood, preserving the ancient teachings. </I></div> <bR> <div> <I>The Keltic beliefs are later again changed by the Romans. During much of the seventh and sixth centery BC, the Kelts expanded through France, the British Isles, and eastward from central Europe. Keltic bands later entered Italy, Romania, Thrace, and Macedonia. Here they attacked Etruscan and Roman Territories, and were eventually driven back across the Alpine foothills by Roman Legions. </I></div> <bR> <div> <I>From the middle of the first century BC the Kelts were caught by the expanding Roman Empire along the Rhine and Danube and the Germanic invaders from the south. By the end of the centruy the Kelts had lost their hold of the continent and were contained by Rome who moved to invade England. First by Julius Caesar in 56 BC. Eventually their culture was transformed by centuries of Roman occupation. </I></div> <bR> <div> <I>To further understand how the Romans influenced the Kelts we must look at how the Etruscan influenced Rome. Again it goes back to The Cult of The Goddess In 7000 BC. The beliefs of the Cult also made its way into Italy and merged with the Etruscan. The Etruscan came to power in 1000 BC in Italy. They inherited or maintained much of the Old European religions, passing it along to the Romans who embraced many Etruscan teachings and beliefs. Rome went on to conquer most of the known world at the time spreading the Italian Paganism. So great was the influence of 400 years of Roman occupation that Keltic culture, religious art and architecture were unalterably changed. Their culture was not this greatly changed again until the Roman Catholic Church. </I></div> <bR> <div> <I>These traditions flourished until the fourth century AD when early Christians looted and destroyed Pagan Temples, preventing them from performing their rituals. In AD 324 Emperor Constantine decreed Christianity should become the official religion of the Roman Empire. Pagan temples were destroyed or converted into Christian churches. Throughout the years Pagan Customs were consumed by Christianity, and the old religion began to withdraw into the shadows. </I></div> <bR> <div> <I>In Southern Europe certain regions still held strongly to the old religion. Tuscany in the north of Italy was probably the strongest centers of Paganism, followed by the region of Beneveto in central Italy. In time even these strongholds fell to the Christians. In AD 662 a Christian Priest named Barbatus was sent to Beneveto to convert its Pagans. The ruler of that region was a man named Romualdus, and Barbatus tried unsuccessfully to convert him. The Emperor Constans II laid siege to Beneveto, threatening to destroy the entire city. Barbatus obtained the Emperor's permission to spare the city if they would renounce their Paganism. Romualdus agreed to this as long as the city was spared. In AD 663 the siege was lifted and Barbatus was chosen to be Bishop of Beneveto. The Pagan sites of worship were destroyed, and Christianity officially replaced Paganism. </I></div> <bR> <div> <I>All survivals of Pagan belief, worship and practice were condemned as demonic and were suppressed by Christian theology and law. Its intreasting to know that in order to be a heretic one must first be a Christian, and Pagans have never been Christians. The Synod of Rome AD 743 outlawed any offerings of sacrifices to Pagan Gods or spirits. The Synod of Paris in AD 829 issued a decree advocating the death of witches, sorcerers ect., citing the Biblical passages Leviticus 20:6 and Exodus 22:18. Although witchcraft was a punishable crime throughout thirteenth century, the witch mania of northern Europe did not sweep Europe until the early fifteenth century. </I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Papal Bulls, like the one issued by Innocent VIII in 1484 turned the persecution of witches into an untroled epidemic. In the first year forty-one people were burned in Como, Italy after the zealous investigations of the Domician Inquisitors. In 1510, one hundred and forty witches were burned at Breseia and another three hundred more at Como three years later. At Valeanonia seventy people were burned and another five thousand were under suspicion. In Germany there were six thousand executions. Northern European figures fifty thousand over the corse of the persecution. France and England had less then two thousand, while eastern Europe totaled approximately seventeen thousand. </I></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I>In England 1951 the last of the laws against of witchcraft were lifted and a revival of the cult arose. During the 1950s and 1960s Wicca grew and expanded across parts Europe and into the United States and Australia. From there Wicca evolved into what we know it as today. The Old Religion has survived the test of time. But let us not forget the burning times and those who lost their lives.</I><I> </I></div> <div> <I>The God and Goddess:</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Most Wiccans believe in deity as the creative source. The creative source being both masculine and feminine, and is seen as the God and Goddess. The Goddess in Wiccan Belief represents the Great Mother. She is also known as the Tri-fold Moon Goddess of Maiden, Mother, and Crone. Each corresponding with one of the three major phases of the moon. The God is the horned God of the forests, the fertility aspect common in ancient pagan religion. They are known by many different names. This does not mean that there are many different gods, they just have different names.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>The Wiccan Rede and The Rule of Three:</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>The Wiccan rede and the rule of three go hand in hand. These rules are probably in my opinion the most important of the craft. </I></div> <bR> <div> <I>This is basically saying that what ever you do make sure it harms none including yourself, and the rule of three says what ever you do will come back times three. It's on the same basis as Karma.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Reincarnation and The Summerland:</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Reincarnation is the belief that the soul is reborn again into the physical world after death. After the soul dies it passes into what is known as the Summerland. The Summerland is a Pagan paradise. This is not the final resting place of the soul. The goal of the soul is to return to the source of all creation were the soul can know the everlasting peace. In order to do this the soul must learn lessons in life. A soul does this by being reincarnated. Once a soul learns a lesson its physical body dies, its soul travels to the Summerland and then is reborn again. So even the shortest lives on earth are important. To that soul it served the purpose of learning a lesson in life.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Magick:</I></div> <div> <I>In wiccan belief magick is the ability to bring about changes to ones desires. But one must remember the Wiccan Rede and The Rule of Three.</I></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://geocities.com/silverstarwicca/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://geocities.com/silverstarwicca/"><U><I>The Coven Of The Silver Stars</I></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>