Before reading this, do realise that Wicca is a very free flowing religion and that not all denominations (or even people in the same denomination) have the same views on deity or ceremonies. This is but my view.

Who/what is the Divine?
For a Christian, it would translate into the alpha and omega (beginning and end). A Jew might be a bit more philosophical – one translation of Jehovah, for instance means “to be”.

For myself (being Wiccan), the divine translates into the sum total of all energy…and everything and everyone is energy; therefore you are all Godly beings, every tree and rock is part of you and your Divine conscious. There is thus no such thing as the woman down in the street being hurt – you are being hurt, your God is being hurt…do something about it.

Seeing the Divine in such a broad term does make worshiping very abstract, so the Divine is often divided into a male and female aspect – God and Goddess, Lord and Lady.
-The Lord
Known as the Great Horned God (also Cernunnos, Pan, Faunus, Lucifer, Baal etc) and is seen as being manifested by the Sun. The major attributes attached to The Horned One are lust and protector of nature. [the image of a Horned God comes from ancient human beings - they hunted horned animals, so it was logical that the God helping them hunt would have horns. The attribute of hunting was replaced greatly by protector of nature when humans started planting crops and hunting was less important]
-The Lady
Known as the Trinity Goddess and is seen as being manifested by the Earth and Moon. The major attribute of the Lady is fertility. [in ancient times, women were associated with fertility as they had physical signs of pregnancy. The Goddess' function later on also included the fertility of crops and domesticated animals]

Now, these two aspects are still very broad – so, let’s add some more functions of what a God would do: (for example) He would be wise and strong. This can now be expressed by the archetype of Odin if you are drawn to the Nordic pantheon, or Thoth if you are drawn to the Egyptian pantheon. So one can go on and describe The Lord and Lady’s aspects by means of other Pagan Gods.

A few principles
- Wiccans (male and female) are known as witches
-Witchcraft is the manipulation of Energy to attain a certain goal
-We have Esbats (rituals done during full moon, and sometimes dark moon) as well as 8 Sabbats (these are related to the changing energy of the Male and Female aspects of the Divine as seen during seasonal changes)
-”An it harm none, do as ye will” is the summary of our laws
-A belief in karma (the law of Three Fold Return)

Wicca, as a religion, is a synergistic way of living and acknowledgment of the Divine nature of everything.

This is a VERY compact summary of Wicca…if anything was unclear and you would like to know more, simply ask =)

tombe@wayoftherede.com