Sample Correllian text
Below you'll find a sample of the Correllian study material. What you see here is part of the introduction lesson for the first degree. The lessons normally have information, exercises, a ritual and a glossary for that lesson.
SO YOU WANT TO BE A WITCH
So you want to be a Witch?
What is all this witchcraft stuff, anyway?
Does being a witch mean you can point your finger and make things happen? Does
it mean you can learn to fly on a broom and turn people into toads?
Well, not quite.
Witchcraft, or Wicca, is a religion. Wicca is not primarily about magic, though
it does use it. Wicca is about your place in the Universe and your evolution as
a spiritual being. Wicca is about moving forward on your personal spiritual
journey - about learning, growing, and becoming the most you can be.
Wicca is a religion. Wicca is a way of understanding and interacting with Deity
and the Universe. It is a life-affirming path of growth and expansion.
Wicca is based on reverence for Nature and Her cycles, respect for the Earth and
all Her creatures. Wicca reveres the natural forces of the Universe and sees
them reflected in the world around us, and in every person and thing.
Wicca has great reverence for Deity, Who for us has both a Mother and a Father
aspect. Wiccans approach Deity through many names and forms, both masculine and
feminine, drawn from all over the world and from every age. We often compare
Deity to a diamond with many facets; each name or image for Deity is like one
facet on the diamond. Each facet may be considered separately and all are
beautiful in themselves, but all are aspects of the single stone.
Wicca believes that Deity comes to each person in the way that is best
understood by that person, and that this is different for different people.
Wicca believes that the relationship between a person and Deity is highly
individual, personal, and subjective. Not everyone will have the same
understanding of Deity, because not everyone is in the same place, or able to
understand from the same level or perspective. Because of this no one has a
right to judge another persons relationship with Deity, because each person is
different.
This is why we respect all the names and forms that have been used to honor
Deity through the centuries -Deity needs them all in order to come to all people
in the way they can best understand.
The most common way for Wiccans to approach Deity is in the form of the TRIPLE
GODDESS, Whose three forms are Maiden, Mother, and Crone, and Whose symbol is
the Moon. Her consort is THE GOD, Who rules the cycles of the solar year and is
called among other things Lord of the Dance. His symbol is the Sun. They are
viewed as POLARITIES, opposing but complimentary powers, like the Eastern
concept of Yin and Yang.
Wicca has a very strong moral base. By “moral” we mean treating each other
in an honorable and loving manner. Wicca has only one law which all traditions
agree on; DO AS YOU WILL, BUT HARM NONE. In other words how you dress and who
you sleep with is not our business -those issues are not what we mean by
“morality.” But a moral person doesn’t hurt other people, and this is the
criteria for all moral action; “Am I harming anyone?” If you are, you are
acting wrongly.
Wicca is a Pagan, or Native, religion. The word Pagan means “from the
countryside” and reflects the fact that Pagans follow indigenous, native
religions rather than the Book religions. Pagan religions are built up over
millennia as a result of peoples observations and experiences - they are living,
growing religions which can and do change when change is needed. Pagan religions
revere the natural forces and cycles of life, and it is from observation and
interaction with these that their beliefs developed.
Wicca is wholly unrelated to the Book religions; Judaism, Christianity, Islam,
and Satanism. The Book religions are all descended from the supposedly
historical bargain between Abraham and Jehovah, which is recorded in their
Bible. The Book religions all share common elements; belief in a final Day of
Judgment, in a jealous and vengeful God, in the basic sinfulness of humanity
(called Original Sin), the superiority of the male sex, and the idea of Hell; a
place of eternal torture. Most of all the Book religions believe in the
infallibility of their Book, the Bible (and it’s related books the Talmud, the
Q’uran, the Satanic Bible). Though these books were written by humans, the
Book religions claim they were written by God - this is the hallmark of the Book
religions. Absolutely NONE of these ideas are shared by Wicca. The Book
religions have a totally separate origin from the Pagan religions, and a very
different history.