Finally, ...

Neither the Correllian Nativist Tradition of Wicca nor the Circle of the Mountain Fire are in the business of telling you what to believe and Whom to worship. In our view, all positive paths that help people and the world really exist to help each and everyone one of us to spiritually (and physically) evolve into something better, something higher up the ladder. Ultimately, our goal is to advance enough spiritually to be able to rejoin that Ultimate Source from Which all things come.

Don't get me wrong. We are not saying that anything goes. We are saying, though, that just as the Baptists have their own doctrine and practices that identify them as Baptists and not as Hare Krishnas--or even other Christian denominations--Wicca also offers its own unique perspectives, practices, and beliefs. You can't just believe that only one God or Goddess is the "way" to heaven and assert that everyone else is going to Hell in a handbasket while claiming to be Wiccan, but Wicca is able to be more flexible to a certain extent.

So, what is Wicca?

• Wicca is a religion! It is focused on personal relationships with Deity no matter the particular pantheon--it's just that Wicca does not tell what Deities you must worship. It is a religion of morality and ethics. It is a religion with its own rites and holy days.

• Wicca per se is a new religion. It is based on many of the beliefs and practices of pre-Christian Europe--and other places, too!--but it is a relatively modern religion for a modern world that seeks connection with the Old Ways, with Nature, and with the Divine.

• Wicca seeks balance. It revolves around the worship of a Goddess and God. It does not throw out One or the Other. These Deities can come from any culture or pantheon.

• Remember that I said that Wicca is a modern religion for a modern world? Well, Wicca was pieced together in the 1940s in England by Gerald B. Gardner. Mr. Gardner was a retired English civil servant who was interested in the beliefs and practices of native peoples in southeast Asia and had been initiated into a coven of Witches in the Old Forest in England by one Dorothy Clutterbuck. Working with others, such as Aleister Crowley and Doreen Valiente, Mr. Gardner was able to begin the framework for what is now modern Wicca.

• Wicca is not a religion of theory and scriptures. It is a religion that encourages its members to experience Truths through personal study, our observations of the world around us (mindfulness can be useful here), and what we personally experience in the world. Truth is not revealed to us and is forever etched in stone; it is something to be experienced on the personal lvel and may look differently to each person.