Wicca is a Pagan religion that is based on a relationship of love among its members and the God and Goddess, the natural world, and our fellow human beings (both Wiccan and non-Wiccan). As with Paganism, there are many understandings of Wicca, and many Traditions following those understandings. This section describes the Gaia Tradition’s understanding of Wicca.
Wicca teaches growth and fulfillment through living in harmony with all the forces of nature and all aspects of the self. It emphasizes the good in all people, choosing to see our origin in blessing, rather than in sin. In Wicca each person is trusted and empowered to guide his or her own life and destiny, with only the general ethical guidance of the Wiccan Rede. Neither the sins of our ancestors nor those of a mythic pair in the Jews’ holy book are on our heads. Instead, we feel the love and blessing of the whole world, and realize that evil comes from the souls of people -- as does love.
Wicca holds the female and the male as equally sacred, worthwhile, and capable. Some Traditions accord men and women complete equality, with people of both genders equally sharing authority and responsibility. Other Traditions give the feminine a distinct priority over the masculine; examples of these are the Gardnerian and Alexandrian Traditions. A few traditions are totally women, or totally men; but even these Traditions affirm the sacredness of both the male and the female. The Gaia Tradition adheres to the principle of complete equality -- except that in cases where a single voice is required, the High Priestess, as the image of the Goddess, takes precedence; she also acts as a coven’s main point of contact with people outside the coven when only one such contact person is needed.
Wicca is non-hierarchical: the coven, the basic unit of Wicca, is completely independent of any regulation from above. This tradition derives from the historic need of groups of witches to stay separate for self-preservation, and also from the fact that finding 13 Wiccans to agree on anything is hard enough: with several dozen it would be impossible. A coven is generally governed by a High Priestess and/or a High Priest, with details of their selection, duties, responsibilities, and powers varying between Traditions and covens. A Gaia coven has both a High Priestess and High Priest, both of whom are elected each year at Samhain (the Wiccan New Year) to jointly coordinate the activities of the coven for the year.
Wicca's view of the Divine is that described in the section on Paganism; specifically, we see the Divine through the model of the Divine Feminine and the Divine Masculine, the Goddess and the God. The Charges of the Goddess and God -- "charge" in the sense of "assignment" or "instructions" -- give insights into our view of these two Divine Ones.
The word "Wicca" can be understood in two different ways: as "wise ones" or "the way of wisdom", and as "bending" or "adapting". We embrace both those meanings. We continually seek wisdom, which we feel comes from the life of learning, loving, and growing that we all try to lead. As to the second meaning, Wiccans see themselves as able to bend reality with will. Some call that ability "magick" (the "k" is to differentiate what we practice from stage illusions); and some simply call it "the power of positive thinking." We are healers, altering the reality of illness to the reality of wellness; we are teachers, changing ignorance to knowledge; and we are spell-casters, altering the fabric of reality itself with the power that all people have, but few choose to use.
We need to talk about another word, too: "witch." "Witch" is simply another word for "Wiccan," or follower of Wicca. The word has been given a lot of bad press by the Christians over the last thousand years or so, but we proudly claim it as our own anyway. Some people try to make the distinction that a witch is a practitioner of magick, and a Wiccan is someone who sees Wicca from a religious/philosophical viewpoint; but we use the two words interchangeably. The only real difference is that mundane people who tend to be scared off by the word "witch" usually have less problem with "Wiccan," and we try to be sensitive to that.
The last scare-word to talk about is "coven." It, too, has been given a patina of dread over the centuries by those who would destroy us. In fact, it is derived from the same Latin word as "covenant" and means just that -- a community that is bonded together by the word and the agreement of its members.
Wicca's only "rule of morality," the Wiccan Rede, says merely, "An (if) it harm none, do as thou wilt." As we understand it today, the Wiccan Rede forbids the harming of any living thing needlessly, by action or lack of action; and nothing -- not pride, anger, lust, power, profit, revenge, whatever -- can create such a need. Because of the simplicity of the rule, there are only two ways to violate it (what Christians would call "sins"): harming any living thing needlessly, and violating another person’s will.
Wicca teaches that we are here to learn, to love, and to grow through as many lifetimes as are required. The karmic return of the energies we have produced, constructive or destructive, are seen as valuable opportunities to learn, rather than as reward or punishment. This is true both within the life we are living now and from one lifetime to the next. Karma has another implication, as well: most witches understand that whatever we send out comes back to (or at!) us, often as much as three times over. This gives us a real incentive to try to send out only good.
Wicca encourages study and development of all our apparent and hidden talents, in whatever way can be used most effectively to help and heal. When some people begin to manifest "psychic" abilities, they often hide them away and deny them, because they are experiencing what everyone else says is impossible. Wicca accepts these people and their abilities as gifts of the God and the Goddess, and teaches them how to accept themselves and how to use their gifts for the good of others and themselves.
Finally, we must reluctantly discuss the accusation most often leveled at us by our detractors: that we worship the devil. Witches are not Satanists or devil worshipers. In order to believe in Satan, one must accept the Christian mythos. We do not accept it -- how, then, can we believe in Satan?
We condemn, not promote, the harmful and illegal activities that "Satanist" groups often engage in. In fact, Satanism is the only religion we cannot respect as a viable path to the Divine, because those who use that label have deliberately chosen to seek, serve, and worship the mythical embodiment of evil that the Christians name Satan. Satanism is involved with coercion and degradation, and with violations of others’ deepest selfhood: their will. Wicca, on the other hand, is dedicated to loving, supporting, and sustaining those whom it touches, and offering to each the benediction that has become our sigil, "Blesséd be!"