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 As I am trying to put this all together, I hope to bring about an understanding that Witchcraft, like any religion, has undergone it's changes throughout the centuries. It is my personal feeling, however, that the religion of Witchcraft has undergone far fewer changes than any other in history. As the song sung by Neil Diamond starts: " Where it began, I can't begin to knowin..." Witchcraft, sorcery, magic, whatever can only begin to find its roots when we go back as far as Mesopotamia. With their dieties for all types of disasters, such as Utug - the Dweller of the Desert waiting to take you away if you wandered to far, and Telal - the Bull Demon, Alal - the destroyer, Namtar - Pestilence, Idpa - fever, and Maskim - the snaresetter; the days of superstitution were well underway. It was believed that the pharaohs, kings, etc. all imbued some power of the gods, and even the slightest movement they made would cause an action to occur.
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Notable Quote
 We are not evil. We don't harm or seduce people. We are not dangerous. We are ordinary people like you. We have families, jobs, hopes, and dreams. We are not a cult. This religion is not a joke. We are not what you think we are from looking at T.V. We are real. We laugh, we cry. We are serious. We have a sense of humor. You don't have to be afraid of us. We don't want to convert you. And please don't try to convert us. Just give us the same right we give you--to live in peace. We are much more similar to you than you think." Margot Adler
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 A Goddess is a female divine being, and had been worshipped in various cultures around the world for thousands of years. The idea of female divine form probably came from the fact that the female was the creator of life, and the omnipresent creator was seen as a female – the Mother of all life. Statues and artifacts have been excavated that verify worship of female deities, and cave paintings, etc, have been found that date back to more than 35,000 BC. The full figured form of the Goddess symbolized prosperity, and security from hunger.
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 Bide the Wiccan Laws we must
In perfect Love and perfect Trust.
Live and let live,
Fairly take and fairly give.
Cast The Circle thrice about
To keep the evil spirits out.
To bind the spell every time
Let the spell be spake in Rhyme.
Soft of eye and light of touch,
Speak little, listen much.
Deosil go by the waxing moon,
Chanting out the Witches rune.
Widdershine go by the waning moon,
Chanting out the baneful rune.
When the lady's moon is new,
Kiss the hand to her, times two.
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The Council of American Witches finds it necessary to define modern Witchcraft in terms of the American experience and needs. We are not bound by traditions from other times and other cultures, and owe no allegiance to any person or power greater than the Divinity manifest through our own being. As American Witches we welcome and respect all Life Affirming teachings and traditions and seek to learn from all and to share our learning within our Council. It is in this spirit of welcome and cooperation that we adopt these few principles of Wiccan belief. In seeking to be inclusive, we do not wish to open ourselves to the destruction of our group by those on self-serving power trips, or to philosophies and practices contradictory to those principles. In seeking to exclude those whose ways are contradictory to ours, we do not want to deny participation with us to any who are sincerely interested in our knowledge and beliefs, regardless of race, color, sex, age, national or cultural origins or sexual preference.
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