Why does it attract so many young people? Pastoral idylls and the Yearly Cycle. Wicca appeals to the intuition rather than the intellect. Wicca is a nature-based religion which offers an escape from the soulless, stressed-out, dehumanised, over-regulated and proceduralised existence which is modern urban life.
Nature festivals and rituals are extremely important in Wicca. There are eight of these representing turning points of the year which are the two solstices, the two equinoxes, and the four pivotal Celtic festivals: Candlemas on February 1st - 2nd. Offering of lights to the Goddess in the aspect of the Maiden. Lengthening of the days becomes perceptible.
Beltane or May Eve on April 30th - May 1st. A fertility festival. Offerings of garlands to the Goddess in the aspect of the Mother. Lammas 31st July - 1st August - beginning of the harvest.
Halloween 31st October. The death of the year. Festival of ghosts and spirits. Fires, lanterns and fireworks. The turning of the year also symbolises the processes of birth, death and rebirth of the individual. To the jaded city-dweller, these ancient numinous festivals with their evocative names and customs seem to offer a glimpse of a long-lost pastoral idyll. In fact the way of life in ancient communities was probably just as stressful and vastly more uncomfortable than the modern urban habitat.
A cynic might detect a certain aspect of 'Celtic Twilight' romanticism about Wicca. The grass was always greener back then, and nowadays even nostalgia isn't what it used to be. But then that's maybe just the workings of impermanence and dukkha. Celebration of the feminine. There is no place for the feminine aspects of spirituality in standard patriarchal monotheism.
However Wicca celebrates the divine feminine with colorful ceremonies, symbolism and rituals. Many Wiccans are accomplished artists and designers. The non-macho nature of Wicca extends to welcoming gays and lesbians, who are still treated as abominations unto the Lord by some of the traditional patriarchal religions.
Lack of dogma. The lack of any philosophical basis for Wicca is a double-edged sword. On one side there's no coherent intellectual structure, but then again there's nothing to disagree with. You aren't expected to believe six impossible things before breakfast. In an age of fundamentalism and Biblical literalism this has obvious attractions.
Buddhism and Wicca - the future. A Buddhist will probably find little to disagree with in Wicca, precisely because it is so content-free. The differences don't so much lie with disagreeing with what is there, as with being aware of what is missing. For example there is - No path out of samsara. Other similarities between Hinduism and Buddhism are easier to see.
Both religions maintain a broad perspective of religious worship; they are very indirect about it in their teachings. Hinduism is polytheistic while Buddhism maintains no structured belief in an independent; Buddha himself did not want to be worshipped. Either of these concepts creates a religion which can adjust and conform to local tradition and adaptations in intellectual and spiritual thought.
The good karma will aid a person in breaking the cycle of rebirth, but if too much bad karma accumulates then the person is automatically reincarnated. Reincarnation takes various forms like a deity, man, animal or hungry ghost; however, the only wa Overall, having three different ways for people to practice Buddhism ensures that restrictive measures will not leave anyone without a religious option.
Theodore De. Open Document. Essay Sample Check Writing Quality. Buddhism is a beautiful religion that surprisingly shares many of the same beliefs as Wicca. They are both unique religions that share a lot in common but are strikingly different in their own respectable ways. Never the less, these stereotypes should not set an example for what the religion really is. So why do people even join these kinds of practices? The answer, lies behind how each religion functions as a means towards ultimate transformation.
In this essay I will discuss the origins of Buddhism and Wicca , their central beliefs, practices, and how each religion does or does not offers a means towards ultimate transformation. Buddhism was first originated in the late 6th century B. Having been on a long journey and achieving enlightenment, he became known as the enlightened one and began to preach a path of salvation to his followers. In general, Buddhism denies a supreme deity. It takes its roots in India and spread along major trade routes and rivers into central Asia.
There are believed to be about million Buddhists around the world while the population of Wiccans is around , Saari This is one of the most notable differences between the two religions is how the amount of followers they have. But another noteworthy difference between the two is their time of origin.
Wicca is a relatively new religion that was created in the early 20th century in England and was made popular in by a Gerald Gardner. It is a Pagan religion because it is centered on nature. Wicca is a Ultimately, both religions have much in common and share many of the same view points on nature and tolerance.
But Buddhism is best to be practiced if one wanted to escape human suffering and achieve ultimate salvation. But the problem would be that when you practice magick or worship spirits you're no longer working on self improvement. And there could be karmic backlash for relying on spirits.
Cloud Veteran. It is okay to mix beliefs, if beliefs are what you want. There is a better use of the Buddhist teachings when you tire of belief. Jeffrey Veteran. Serenity, It was very compelling what you wrote although I don't know much about Wicca. In Tibetan Buddhism there are 'spirits' in the form of Deities. The difference is that you realize the deity is luminous and empty.
Thats the first step. My teacher tells me thats all the steps too. Or at least the end. There might be some skillful means to awaken the seed and bring it to a stability and manifest? Sometimes when you are missing real compassion you can look up to avalokiteshevra or another friend and wish that that feeling and??
I think you are right that it isn't exactly a power, but power is ok as long as its not the center of our values. I imagine even witches are in tune with more than just power. The pull of a spirit could form an attachment, but for me thats like the pot and kettle I guess, in that I am attached to good feelings and it is like pulling teeth to get me in tune with the messages from reality in mindfulness. When Buddhism moved into Tibet, it merged into their culture and transformed this worshipping into luminous way of liberating self from suffering through compassion.
And as Mr Serenity explained as the beneficial psychology of one mind. There was no intent to invite spirits or magick as the practice is externalist that would not benefit physically and mentally and to the well beings of society at large. Mani Veteran. December edited December Just as an aside to what the few previous posters were mentioning, it is important to realize that "Tibetan Buddhism" is unique in that it did in fact merge with and incorporate certain aspects of their culture and the Bon religion.
It is important to remember that Vajrayana was practiced by the Indian Mahasiddha's before being introduced into Tibet, and many of these aspects were not taught as part of Vajrayana. Some other lineages of Vajrayana don't incorporate as much of these aspects into the practices. It depends on the lineage of one's teacher. I think sometimes certain core essence of Vajrayana itself can get lost in the mix of the many different aspects of practices used by the Tibetan lineages.
Just another perspective to offer Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator. Mix 'n match, pick and choose, Pick 'n' mix, match and choose I view this in the same way as I view Fusion cooking. What's the point? Buddhism is Buddhism, Wicca is Wicca Why try to meld the two? They combine the two because they feel committed to one, but reluctant to release the other So one foot in each canoe seems to make walking on water much simpler.
Until they start drifting apart, that is Then, you have to make the choice which foot to lift, and put into the same canoe as the other. I can only say that, given the lack of information that I've provided on how I seek to dissolve this impasse, you are more than apt in your deconstruction of my path.
Let me now take some time to delve into this issue. While reading, please keep in mind that the statements that I make concerning Wicca are tailored to my particular branch and understanding of it. I do not wish to misrepresent any differing interpretation of Wicca that one may possess. Thus, I affirm here that I do not speak for Wicca as a whole. Having said that Wicca is traditionally held to be duotheistic; it is founded on the presence of a God and a Goddess. These two figures are often further conceived of as manifestations of the One Thing, the non-dual source of all things that defies description and explanation.
Wiccans may work with and revere the Lord and Lady, but most are acutely aware that these figures serve as psychic intermediaries that allow the mind to interact with something that it would otherwise be unable to conceptually latch on to.
I should also mention that some branches of Wicca view deity as being immanent throughout the material world. Everyone and everything has a projection of the God and Goddess--and thus the One Thing--within. My conception of deity is more pantheistic in that I see all things as being deity; there is nothing to project into because that which receives the projection is nothing other than deity.
How am I defining deity, then? If Buddhism has no place for spirit worship, then how does the concept of any deity at all fit into the matrix of my beliefs? For me, deity isn't something that is external to me. It isn't an anthropomorphic entity or collection of entities. It is simply the underlying nature of all things.
It is an inconceivable, a changeless, and a pure state of being. Its Buddhist analog would be the Buddha-nature. My path does not require a worship of this nature; it merely offers means to reach it or to realize that it has always been there. This is where the God and the Goddess play a role and where I've borrowed from ceremonial magic and Tibetan Buddhism.
In my paradigm, I work with and "address" the God and Goddess as aspects of that nature that I already unknowingly possess that I aspire to, but I do not worship these figures as separate, autonomous entities. But what's the point of merging them?
Really happy?
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