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HOLIDAYS SUGGESTED READING

At the major seasonal holy days, called sabbats, Adler, Margot. Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Wiccans celebrate oneness with life. The myths of the Drulds, Goddess-Worshippers, & Other Pagans in holiday are enacted and dancing, singing, feasting and America Today. Boston: Beacon Press, 1987. revelry are all enjoyed. Wiccans visualize the calendar Budapest, Zsuzsanna. The Holy Book of Women’s of sabbats as a with eight spokes— Mysteries.Berkeley, CA: Wingbow Press, 1989. the four pastoral and agricultural festivals and the Campanelli, Pauline. Wheel of the Year. St. Paul, MN: four solar festivals of the and . Llewellyn Publications, 1989. Crowley, Vivianne. : The Old Religion in the New OCTOBER 31 Age. London: Aquarian, 1989. Cunningham, Scott. Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Known also as November Eve or Hallows Practitioner. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, The Celtic New Year, where the dead are remembered 1989. The Truth About Today. St. Paul, and is performed. MN: Llewellyn, 1988. DECEMBER 21 Farrar, Stewart & Janet. Eight Sabbats for Witches. Redmond, WA. Phoenix, 1983. Known also as Winter Gardner, Gerald B. High ’s Aid. London, The longest night, when some commemorate Houghton, 1949. Witchcraft Today. London, Rider, the Goddess as Mother giving birth to the Sun God. 1954. The Meaning of Witchcraft. London: FEBRUARY 1-2 Aquarian Press, 1959. Guiley, Rosemary. The Encyclopedia of Witches & Known also as February Eve Witchcraft. New York: Facts on File, 1989. Candles are lit to hasten the journey of the sun and K, Amber. True Magick A Beginner’s Guide. St. Paul, celebrate rebirth at this festival of Bridget, the Celtic MN: Llewellyn, 1990. Fire Goddess. Leland, C.G. Aradia: Gospel of the Witches. Custer, OSTARA MARCH 21 WA Phoenix, 1990. . The – A Rebirth of the Ancient WICCA Known also as Vernal Religion of the Great Goddess. New York: Harper & Day and night are equal. The Goddess Ostara (or Row, 1989 (2ⁿd ed.). Eostre) returns bringing Spring, the eggs of new life, Valiente, Doreen. Witchcraft for Tomorrow. Redmond, and the fertile rabbit. WA Phoenix, 1978. THE OLD RELIGION BELTAINE APRIL 30 Known also as May Eve FOR MORE INFORMATION The plant world blossoms and folk dances celebrate To learn more about the Covenant of the Goddess, fertility and pleasure. In some traditions the Maiden visit our web page at www.cog.org or write to us at Goddess meets Her lover, the Young God. the address below. LITHA JUNE 21

Known also as or Summer Solstice On this, the longest day, we honor the union of sun COVENANT OF THE GODDESS and earth, and for some, the marriage of the Goddess POST OFFICE BOX 12193 and the God. SAN BERNARDINO, CA JULY 31 92423-2193

Known also as August Eve The Celtic Sun God Lugh is honored as His energy is The Covenant of the Goddess is a federation of transformed into grain and the days diminish in Wiccan covens and solitary elders, founded in 1975, length; also Lammas, the Saxon Feast of Bread. to foster cooperation among Witches and Wiccans; to MABON SEPTEMBER 21 secure for Witches and covens the legal protection enjoyed by other religions; and sponsor educational Known also as Harvest Home or Autumnal Equinox outreach. With light and dark again in equal balance, this A GENERAL INTRODUCTION PRESENTED harvest festival is held to thank the Goddess for Her abundance. BY THE COVENANT OF THE GODDESS WICCA: THE OLD RELIGION Wiccans consider the Earth, our bodies, and the MAGIC & RITUAL natural cycles of life to be sacred. Spirit and matter Wicca is an Earth religion. In city apartments, in are not two separate things, one holy and one The primary purpose of magic is the transformation of suburban backyards, in country glades, groups of profane. Witchcraft honors nature and the feminine in the self to fully develop one’s gifts and capacities to women and men meet on the new and full moons and a way that many religions do not. These values, the live a full, joyful and spiritual life. Magic is also used at festival times to attune themselves with the life Goddess, and the other Gods of Wicca provide a for practical ends such as healing, divination, force of nature and the energies of the Earth. They spiritual model for treating all people—all of life—with purification, and blessing, and raising energy to create circles of love and trust in which, through reverence. achieve positive goals, such as fulfilling work. creative ritual, they celebrate life, raise magical STRUCTURE & TRADITIONS energy, and honor the old Goddesses and Gods. Magic is an art. It requires careful training and self- discipline to achieve the conscious direction of will The word Wicca is the Anglo-Saxon root of the word Individual Wiccans may practice their religion alone toward a desired end. It also requires wisdom and Witch. Many contemporary Witches use the term as a (as “solitaries”), in their families, or as part of covens. maturity, patience and passion, and an abiding less misunderstood term for Witchcraft. Wicca is the Covens, or circles, are self governing, and the commitment to the sacred. Magic is never used to most common form of Neo-Paganism, a group of structure of each group depends upon its particular gain power over anyone, or to manipulate, injure or modem Earth religions which borrow and adapt from tradition. control another. pre-Christian Pagan religions, sometimes with additions from contemporary religious thinkers. Some are conducted by a High Priestess who may be Most rituals are performed within a sacred space assisted by a High Priest. Some are initiatory, and demarcated by a circle. Magical work may include BASIC PHILOSOPHY many require years of study and hard work leading to singing, ritual drama, chanting, dancing, drumming, as a Priestess or Priest. Some groups are meditation, visualization, trances, and other As in all Earth religions, Wiccans believe that all life is self-taught and members share the responsibility of techniques. Ritual usually includes the and sacred and interconnected. Wiccans honor nature as decision making and leadership. honoring of the Goddess and/or the God, and when the embodiment of divinity. Their practices seek to the celebration, teaching or magical work is done, All Wiccan circles are characterized by the active food and drink are blessed and shared by all. bring the individual into harmony with the Earth and participation by all members, and work that facilitates its natural cycles as sources of spiritual wisdom and the direct and personal experience of the divine by ETHICS union with the divine. Wiccans oppose the idea that each member. In Wicca it is understood that there are the world is a resource to be exploited and subdued. many paths to the sacred, and individuals are Because all of life is sacred, Wiccans subscribe to one encouraged to explore and find the one that works BELIEFS fundamental ethical precept known as the Wiccan best for them. Rede: “An it harm none, do what ye will.” This honors Wicca is a life-affirming, Earth- and nature oriented There are many traditions (denominations) within the the freedom that each individual has to ascertain religion that reveres the natural world as the Craft. Some reflect the particular practices of pre- truth, to experience the divine directly, and to embodiment of Divinity and experiences the Divine as Christian religions by certain ethnic groups such as determine how best to live her or his own life. feminine as well as masculine— Goddess as well as Celtic, Welsh, Greek, Italian, Norse, Finno-Ugric, With that freedom, however, comes a profound God. Like the spiritual world view and practices of Lithuanian, etc. Some are part of the initiatory responsibility that none should be harmed by one’s Native Americans and Shintoists, Wiccan spiritual traditions made public by such practitioners as Gerald actions. For example, it is unethical to work a spell to practices are intended to attune humanity to the Gardner and . Still others practice with control or manipulate others. As in many religions, cycles of nature as a means of personally the guidance of liturgical works published and taught individual Wiccans may reach different conclusions experiencing Divinity. by contemporary Witches. Some practitioners search when applying these precepts to such issues as within themselves for inspiration and direction, or abortion, vegetarianism, or participation in war. Wicca is not a religion of absolute or revealed truth; work creatively in groups in a mutually agreed-upon there is no Wiccan bible, and there is no single leader structure. or spokesperson. Wicca is not a religion of dogma, but of practices enabling an individual to experience the Witches and other Pagan groups sometimes join divine that dwells within and fills the world around us. together in regional, national or international organizations such as Circle or the Re-formed For Wiccans, concern for the environment is not Congregation of the Goddess. The Covenant of the merely scientific or utilitarian, but a visceral and Goddess is an international federation of Wiccan profound spiritual reality. Divinity is not believed to covens and solitary elders with local councils in many exist separately and apart from humanity, or from the areas of the United States, as well as members in Earth, but to imbue every aspect of it. The Earth does Canada and overseas. not belong to humanity. We belong to the Earth. We are not Her masters with license to exploit and destroy for our own ends. Rather, we are a strand in a vast web of life, one of an uncounted number of species sharing in a greater life that is our planet.