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    Witchcraft and Wicca for Beginners: The Complete Guide for the Beginner Witch: Wiccan History, Finding a Path, Magic Spell and Ritual Crafting, Divination, Runes, and More
    Witchcraft and Wicca for Beginners: The Complete Guide for the Beginner Witch: Wiccan History, Finding a Path, Magic Spell and Ritual Crafting, Divination, Runes, and More
    Witchcraft and Wicca for Beginners: The Complete Guide for the Beginner Witch: Wiccan History, Finding a Path, Magic Spell and Ritual Crafting, Divination, Runes, and More
    Ebook197 pages1 hour

    Witchcraft and Wicca for Beginners: The Complete Guide for the Beginner Witch: Wiccan History, Finding a Path, Magic Spell and Ritual Crafting, Divination, Runes, and More

    By Brittany Nightshade

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    About this ebook

    This beginners guide to witchcraft contains everything you need to know to start your journey into the world of magic!


    In "Witchcraft and Wicca for Beginners" best selling author Brittany Nightshade covers many of the questions that beginner witches might have. She goes over the history and founding of the modern Wiccan religions and their influences and how they branched off and into the many traditions we know today.


    Many of the common terms you will encounter during your spiritual journey into witchcraft are explained in detail including common ritual tools, the holiday Sabbats, and the different kinds of witches and magic practices.


    "Witchcraft and Wicca for Beginners" has an entire section dedicated to teaching you how to craft your own spells and rituals with several example spells and rituals for you to reference, take influence from, or adapt to make your own. There's also a section on divination with several methods outlined for you to learn and practice. 


    Some of the topics included in the book are:


    History and information regarded the founding and principles of modern Wicca


    Explanations of the variety of traditions and practices of modern Witchcraft


    How to choose your path, Gods, and Goddesses.


    Detailed descriptions of common tools used in magic rituals


    Information on casting circles and calling the Elements


    Guide to crafting your own rituals and magic spells


    Example Rituals and Spells


    Introduction to Divination and Sigil Magic


    Rune Casting and Reading


    Complete in-depth guide to the Elder Futhark Runes and their meanings


    Learn how to read the threads of fate and construct rituals and sigils to altar that fate to your liking. Witchcraft and Wicca is a fulfilling path that can be walked by any witch with the dedication to walk it. Become the master of your own destiny, let this beginners guide be a stepping stone on your journey to power and understanding.  

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrittany Nightshade
    Release dateFeb 13, 2020
    ISBN9798607279592
    Witchcraft and Wicca for Beginners: The Complete Guide for the Beginner Witch: Wiccan History, Finding a Path, Magic Spell and Ritual Crafting, Divination, Runes, and More

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      Honestly I felt like this was a great starting choice I read it in less than 24 hours and has truly helped me start to carve my spiritual path

    Book preview

    Witchcraft and Wicca for Beginners - Brittany Nightshade

    (Homeland)

    Introduction

    Merry Meet!

    My name is Brittany Nightshade, I’m an author and Eclectic Wiccan, in this book I'm going to do my best to explain Witchcraft in its many incarnations. While everyone has an idea of what they think a witch is, the truth is there are nearly limitless paths and ways to practice with a rich history of traditions based on ancient pagan beliefs.

    One reoccurring theme I’ve noticed is that many people have common misconceptions about Wicca and witchcraft in general. My goal in this book is to bring you accurate information about one of the fastest growing religious practices in the world, I've always been extremely interested in the history of witchcraft and I contribute a lot of my spiritual growth to the fact that I've learned the history and the intricacies of the different paths the pagan world has to offer.

    So even if you're a seasoned witch or an initiate to the craft, I hope this book helps you grow as a practitioner as you learn about this vast and varied belief system.

    -Brittany Nightshade

    Wicca and Witchcraft

    Wicca and witchcraft are terms that are traditionally used to describe a belief system of pagan worship or observance of nature that typically includes the worship of gods and goddesses, also known as deities. Wicca can have a variety of meanings and can be used in an exclusionary sense to describe a specific tradition or teaching. It can also be used as an umbrella term that refers to anyone who practices witchcraft, sometimes referred to as eclectic wiccans or witches.

    Witchcraft in the Modern Age

    The term wicca that has been commonly used since the mid 1900’s comes from the Old English term wicca and wicce, the masculine and feminine term for witch. The term was popularized in modern times by a prominent English witch and scholar named Gerald Gardner in the 1950’s. Gardner referred to the collective community of Pagan Witches as The Wica, and in 1958 Charles Cardell referred to his practice as the Craft of the Wiccens.

    Up until this time the common name for the practice of pagan magic and ritual was just known as Witchcraft or magic for the most part but Gardner and Cardell’s popular works on the topic created a boom in interest in pagan religions and practices resulting in the term wiccan becoming more and more common.

    It wasn’t until 1962 that we find the first recorded usage of the term that we know today and in 1968 a group of British practitioners started a newsletter called The Wiccan further solidifying its usage in the common vernacular.

    Gerald Gardner

    What is Paganism?

    Paganism is a term that can be used to refer to many different traditions and belief systems, today's pagans often take influence from animism, spiritualism, shamanism, hermeticism, and a variety of other ancient folk practices and traditions.

    The word pagan can be used to describe a way of life that seeks a return to ancestral beliefs and traditions. It’s common to hear the word pagan used interchangeably with Wiccan, and while they do share many things in common, they don’t necessarily mean the same thing, as pagans don’t necessarily practice witchcraft. The quickly growing Asatru faith is a great example, while being a pagan belief system and culture most adherents don’t practice the Norse magic of Seidr and rarely consider themselves witches and typically refer to themselves as heathens or pagans.

    Historically the word Pagan has been used to encompass any faith-based tradition outside of the standard Abrahamic monotheistic cultures like Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Paganism isn’t a defined set of beliefs or a religion itself, but a general term that can manifest in a variety of forms, usually ancestral and polytheistic worship.

    The actual origin of the word is Latin, paganus, meaning rustic or country dweller. It has traditionally been used as a pejorative by westerners to refer to what has historically been referred to as heathens or infidels and is used to refer to anyone outside of their personal belief system.

    It wasn’t until the latter part of the 20th Century that pagan has become a self-designation used by the adherents of the Neopagan Wiccan movement that came out of Great Britain in the late 1900s.

    Most pagan’s religious observances center around the changing of the seasons and are similar if not the same as the wiccan sabbats. Paganism is commonly earth-centered, celebrating Nature and worshiping gods and goddesses that represent different facets of nature and the cosmos, the belief in many deities (gods) is called polytheism. In many cases pagans don’t have a dedicated building as a place of worship but choose to commune with nature during their rituals and celebrations.

    The main difference between the terms wiccan/witch and pagan is that not all pagans practice witchcraft. So while most witches are pagans, all pagans are not necessarily witches.

    As a general rule, modern paganism has no central hierarchy or dogma and enjoys mass spiritual diversity, most believing that it’s not always fitting for people to share the same beliefs and practices.

    Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn

    The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, commonly referred to as The Golden Dawn, was a secret society in Great Britain in the late 1800s dedicated to the study of the occult and metaphysical world.

    The Golden Dawn practiced Theurgy, which is the use of sigils and rituals to invoke spiritual entities to achieve henosis, which is a state of perfection and unity with the divine.

    The Hermetic Order was based around a collection of coded writings called the Cipher Manuscripts, the manuscripts are of unknown origin but the paper they are written on is watermarked 1809. The manuscripts are a collection of 60 folios containing initiation rituals that correspond to the elements of earth, air, water, and fire.

    The works are a compendium of classical magical theory that contained the knowledge of magic the western world was aware of at the time. It set out to combine this wealth of information into a single cohesive model that is arranged into a syllabus for instruction in this Western esoteric tradition that is heavily influenced by Hermeticism, Qabalah, Astrology, Tarot, and Alchemy.

    The founding members of the Golden Dawn were Free Masons named William Woodman, William Westcott, and Samuel Mathers.  The order claims that the manuscripts originally came into Westcott’s possession when they were passed along from a masonic priest named Reverend Woodward who received them from an English Masonic scholar named Kenneth McKenzie. Westcott decoded the text and with his masonic compatriots founded the first temple, The Isis-Urania Temple, in 1888 setting themselves apart from the main organization of the Free Masons.

    While Masonic in origin and having a very similar structure The Golden Dawn allowed women into their ranks with "perfect

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