1-1 Theory

Shamanism has been defined as the first religion. It existed prior to the earliest civilizations, before our ancestors took the first steps down the long journey to the present. Prior to this time, the shamans were the medicine people, the power wielders, male and female. They wrought magic and spoke to the spirits of nature.
The shamans were the first humans with knowledge. they created, discovered, nurtured, and used it. Knowledge is power; women and men who possessed it in those far-flung days were shamans.
How did shamans capture or discover this power? Through ecstasy-alternate states of consciousness in which they communed with the forces of the universe. Early shamans first attained this state through the use of such "tools" as fasts, thirsts, self-infliction of pain, ingestion of hallucinogenic substances, concentration, ans so on. Once mastered, these techniques allow them to gain awareness of other, nonphysical worlds.
Through such "awareness shifts," all magical knowledge was obtained. Conferences with spirits and deities, plants and animals, opened up new vistas of learning. Among their own people, the shamans often shared some of this knowledge but reserved the rest for personal use. Shamanic lore wasn't for public consumption.
Later, shamans advanced in the use of tools to facilitate these awareness shifts, marking the advent of magical ritual. Shamans around the world still use tools such as drums, rattles, reflective objects, music, chants, and dance. Indeed, the most effective shamanic rights are those that utilize both natural and artificial tools-a sighing wind roaring ocean, flickering firelight, steady drumbeat, hiss of rattle. These, combined with darkness and chants, eventually overwhelm the senses, forcing a shifting from awareness of the physical world to the vaster realm of energies. Such are shamanic rites that exist to this day.
From theses primitive beginnings arose all magic and religion, including Wicca. Despite current controversy as to the "antiquity" of Wicca, it is spiritually descended from such rights. Though refined and changed for out world, Wicca still touches our souls and causes ecstasy-awareness shift-uniting us with deity. Many of the techniques of Wicca are shamanic in origin.

Wicca, therefore, can be described as a shamanic religion. As with shamanism, only a select few feel compelled to enter its circle of light.
Today, Wicca has dropped the ordeals of pain, and the use of hallucinogens in favor of chanting, meditation, concentration, visualization, music, dance, invocation, and so on. With these spiritual tools, the Wicca achieve a state of ritual consciousness similar to those attained by the most brutal shamanic ordeals.
I deliberately used the term "alternate state of consciousness." Such changed consciousness states aren't unnatural, but are a deviation from the "normal" walking consciousness. Wicca teaches that nature includes a broad spectrum of mental and spiritual states of which most of us are ignorant. Effective Wicca ritual enables us to slip into such states, allowing communication and communion with the Goddess and God.
Unlike some religions, Wicca doesn't view deity as distant. The Goddess and God are both within ourselves and manifest in all nature. This is the universality: there is nothing that isn't of the gods.
A study of shamanism reveals much of the heart of magical and religious experience in general, and Wicca particular. With ritual as a means to enter ritual consciousness, the shaman or Wicca constantly expands his or her knowledge, and knowledge is power. Wicca helps its practitioners to understand the universe and our place within it.
At present, Wicca is a religion with many variations. Because it is such a personally structured system, I can only state generalities about its creed from here, filtered through my experience and knowledge, to create a picture of the nature of Wicca.

Wicca in common with many other religions, recognizes deity as dual. It reveres both Goddess and the God. They are equal, warm and loving, not distant, or resident in "Heaven," but omnipresent throughout the universe
Wicca also teaches that the physical world is one of many realities. The physical is not the absolute highest expression, nor is the spiritual "purer" than the base. The only difference between the physical and the spiritual is that of the former is denser.

As in eastern religions, Wicca also embraces the doctrine of the reincarnation, that much-misunderstood subject. Unlike some eastern philosophies, however Wicca doesn't teach that upon physical death our souls will reincarnate in anything other than a human body. Also, few of the Wiccan believes we began our existence as rocks, tress, snails, or birds before we evolved to the point where we could incarnate as human beings. Though these creatures and substances do possess a type of soul, it's not the sort we humans have.
Reincarnation is accepted as fact by many millions of the east and west. It answers many questions: What happens after death? Why do we seem to remember things we've never done in this life? Why are we sometimes strangely attracted to places or people who we've never before seen?
Surely, reincarnation can't answer all these questions, but it is there for those who wish to study it. This isn't something that should be believed. Through contemplation, meditation and self-analysis, many come to the point where they accept reincarnation as fact.
The Wiccan ideal of mortality is simple: Do what you want, as long as you harm none. This rule contains another unwritten condition: Do nothing that will harm yourself. Thus, if you as a Wicca abuse your body, deny it the necessities of life, or otherwise harm yourself, you're in violation of this principle.

This is more than survival. It also ensures that you'll be in good condition to take on the tasks of preserving and bettering our world, for concern and love for our planet play major roles in Wicca.
Wicca is a religion that utilizes magic, (or magick. For Spell Check reasons I will use the spelling Magic)
This is one of its most appealing and unique features. Religious magic? This isn't as strange as it might seem. Catholic priests use "magic" to transform a piece of bread into the body of a long-deceased "Savior." Prayer-a common tool in many religions - is simply a form of concentration and communication with deity. If the concentration is extended, energies are sent out with the thoughts that may in time make the prayer come true. Prayer is a form of religious magic.
Magic is the practice of moving natural (though little-understood) energies to effect needed change. In Wicca, magic is used as a tool to sanctify ritual areas, and to improve ourselves and the world in which we live.
Many people confuse Wicca and magic as if the two words were interchangeable. Wicca is a religion that embraces magic. If you seek only to practice magic, Wicca probably isn't the answer for you.
Another fundamental point: Magic isn't a means of forcing nature to do your will. This is a completely erroneous idea, fostered by the belief that magic is somehow supernatural, as if anything that exists can be outside of nature. Magic is natural. It is a harmonious movement of energies to create needed change. If you wish to practice magic, all thoughts of it being paranormal or supernatural must be forgotten.

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