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Introduction

Over the past 40 years, many books have been written about Wicca. At Imbolc 1989, the first version of this book was published. Since then, Wicca has been rapidly evolving. New generations have been initiated into the Craft, many of them coming from countries whose first language is not English. My husband and I have spent much of our time teaching Wicca in England and overseas. The students who have passed our way have become our teachers. In seeking to answer their questions, our own understanding of Wicca has deepened. The time was therefore ripe to take another look at Wicca in the light of what we have learned.

This has resulted in changes from the first edition. The Wiccan community’s understanding of its own history has evolved and a newer and clearer picture has emerged of the enduring Paganism that underlies European culture. Our understanding of the processes of inner change has also evolved. As each of us travels on our own initiatory journey, our understanding of the path which we have walked evolves. We can look back and ponder our own journey. We can watch those whom we initiate and train grow and develop. This does not mean that I now have all the answers. As each year passes and the turning wheel of the seasons unfolds the mysteries of life and death, I learn still more.

I wrote in the last edition that there are difficulties in writing about Wicca. No book can ever fully capture its essence. Wicca is not a religion or Craft that can be taught through and learned from books. It is a living, growing system of thought, belief, ideas, knowledge and experiences, each part of which is built upon the next. It is also essentially an oral tradition. It is only in recent years, with the development of literacy, that Wicca has been recorded. Wicca is still something which we must learn from others, by observation and by doing. A book can only be a shadow of the reality. This is why, in Wicca, our ritual books are called Books of Shadows.

Another difficulty is our oaths. The words of the oath of the first initiation bind us to secrecy. Wicca is a Mystery religion and if the Mysteries are to effect inner change, they must always contain elements that we cannot understand; elements which confound but also tantalize the conscious mind and force it to work on them until realization comes. The power of the Mysteries lies in maintaining their ability to mystify. If too much is explained about a mystery, it is rationalized and becomes a product of the finite conscious mind, not a product of the infinite unconscious.

When writing about Wicca, we must balance the desire to reveal where the Mysteries can be found, so allowing greater access by a greater number, with maintaining the essence of the Mystery. The decision about what should or should not be written must be a decision for each individual; but the decision is made easier because the true essence of Wicca cannot be expressed in words. The world of Wicca is the world of what is sometimes called Dionysian truth. This is truth that is intuitive and non-verbal; truth which is communicated through symbols and myth. Words and books cannot convey the full essence of this truth. Whatever we write cannot therefore convey what we can only experience by being in Wicca, working its rituals and participating in its myths.

There are, however, other difficulties in writing about Wicca. One of the beauties of Wicca is its lack of dogma. This allows Wicca to evolve. The danger of writing about Wicca is that people will accept too readily what we write and will not seek to find the answers, and more importantly the right questions, for themselves. Another danger is the egotistical one of writing about Wicca because we believe that our view of Wicca is the right one. Any book about Wicca can only be the personal view of the individual priestess or priest who writes it. It will contain truth and error, good bits, excellent bits and bad bits. It will please some of the people some of the time and none of the people all of the time. Other, and sometimes opposing views will be equally valid and right for those who hold them.

So why write at all? I write because I believe that Wicca has important messages for the world today. These messages are not just for those who decide to follow a Wiccan path, but also for all those who are concerned about the fate of our planet and ourselves. Wicca speaks to those who honour the Gods of our ancient past, because they hold the keys to truths that will guide us through the darkness of the future. Wicca speaks to all those who believe that the Gods are within us all and also in-dwelling in the Nature that our species seeks to destroy. Wicca speaks to those who believe that a purely masculine Deity is only part of the mystery of the Divine: that the truth is found in both God and Goddess. Lastly, but not least, Wicca speaks to those who are on the quest to draw nearer to the Gods.

Our task as walkers on the Wiccan path must be to rehabilitate the beliefs of our ancestors and to let the truth and beauty of Wicca shine forth through the murk of the misunderstandings of others. We must put Wicca in the context of what we know about humanity’s spiritual aspirations, so that we can see the shape of the child which has been brought forth. Wicca can then take its true and special place amongst the religions and spiritual paths of today, a link between the past, present and future – the Old Religion in the New Millennium.