The
Council of American Witches Principles of Belief
The Council of American Witches
finds it necessary to define modern Witchcraft in the 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 manifes 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 these
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.
We therefore ask only that those
who seek to identify with us accept these few basic priciples:
We pracice rites to attune ourselves with the
natural rhythm of life forces marked by the phases of the Moon and the seasonal quarters
and cross-quarters.
We recognize that our intelligence gives us a
unique responsibilty toward our environment. We seek to live in harmony with Nature,
in ecological balance offering fulfillment to life and consciousness within an
evolutionary concept.
We acknowledge a depth of power far greater than
is apparent to the average person. Because it is far greater than ordinary, it is
sometimes called "supernatural," but we see it as lying within that which is
naturally potential to all.
We concieve of the Creative Power in the Univers
as manifesting through polarity - as masculine and feminine - and that this same Creative
Power lives in all people, and functions through the interaction of the masculine and
feminine. We value neither above the other, knowing each to be supportive of the
other. We value sexuality as pleasure, as the symbol and embodiment of Life, and as
one of the sources of energies used in magickal practice and religious worship.
We recognize both outer worlds and inner, or
psychological worlds - the Inner Planes, etc. - and we see in the interaction of these two
dimensions the basis for paranormal phenomena and magickal exercises. We neglect
neither dimension for the other, seeing both as necessary for our fulfillment.
Wee do not recognize any authoritarian hierarchy,
but do honor those who teach, respect those who share their greater knowledge and wisdom,
and acknolege those who have courageously given of themselves in leadership.
We see religion, magick, and wisdom-in-living as
being united in the way one views the world and lives within it - a world view and
philosophy of life, which we identify as Witchcraft or the Wiccan Way.
Calling oneself "Witch" does not make a
Witch - but neither does heredity itself, or the collecting of titles, degrees, and
initiations. A Witch seeks to control the forces within him/herself that make life
possible in order to live wisely and well, without harm to others, and in harmony with
Nature.
We acknowledge that it is the affirmation and
fulfillment of live, in a continuation of evolution and development of cosciousness, that
gives meaning to the Universe we know, and to our personal role within it.
Our only animosity toward Christianity, or
toward any other religion or philosophy-of-life, is to the extent that its institutions
have claimed to be "the one true right and only way" and have sought to deny
freedom to others and to suppress other ways of religious practices and belief.
As American Witches, we are not threatened by
debates on the history of the Craft, the origins of various terms, the legitimacy of
various aspects of different traditions. We are concerned with oru present, and our
future.
We do not accept the concept of "absolute
evil," nor do we worship any entity known as "Satan" or "the
Devil" as defined by Christian Tradition. We do not seek power through the
suffering of others, nor do we accept the concept that personal benefits can only be
derived by denial to another.
We work within Nature for that which is
contributory to our health and well-being.
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