Ceridwen #64 @5803
Wed Dec 12 10:07:50 1990

           Copyright (C) 1990 By Heidi-Tanya L. Agin (a.k.a ceridwen)

Non-Commercial Republication is hereby Granted. Commercial useage only thru
special arrangement with the author. Elecrtronic redistribution granted for
all Electronic Free Public Access Boards within the United States of America.

            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spring, 1990

     A WICCAN'S VIEWPOINT CONCERNING EVIL, SIN, AND 'REDEMPTION'


   It has come to my attention that there are many Judeo-Christian
worshipers that are concerned with the Wiccan viewpoint surrounding
sin and redemption. Sin is defined as as act which defies divine
law or is an infringement of divine doctrine. The Christian religion
bases its entire existence on this concept of sin, specifically the
Original Sin of the Genesis Adam and Eve. In order to show the Wiccan
outlook on sin, allow me to reprint here, a synopsis of the eight 
primary principles which define Christianity (from Monica Sjoo and
Barbara Mor's "The Great Cosmic Mother"):

     1. The Creator is separate from creation and does
        not therefore participate in a continuous evolutionary
        process.
     2. The Creator is pure spirit mechanically dichotomized
        from a creation of impure matter.
  *  3. Human beings have committed a primal sin or crime
        of disobedience to the will of God.
  *  4. God has condemned the entire human race to continuous
        suffering and punishment on an evil Earth.
  *  5. To be born is to be born in sin (i.e. from a mother
        who represents the 'original sin' and inherently
        evil of flesh).
  *  6. To survive a world of sin, the male must dominate
        nature, while woman, as the embodiment of that
        sin and nature as it's 'vessel' must undergo
        domination.
  *  7. The only way to be saved from life on earth and life
        after death (in hell) is through submission to Jesus
        Christ, defined at the ONLY time in the history of
        the universe that spirit has entered flesh--i.e.
        incarnated.
     8. These principles exist because the world is divided
        mechanically into good and evil eternally at war, 
        eternally irreconcilable. Humans must choose one or 
        other and never transcend or resolve that dichotomy
        through a holistic awareness or consciousness (as for-
        bidden in the Garden of Eden of the Biblical Genesis)

(* dealing specifically with the concept of 'sin')


     In Mary Daly's "Beyond God the Father, Gyn/Ecology" and "Pure
Lust" she points out that 'sin' derives from a Latin word meaning 
'to be'. That is, 'to sin' is 'to be'. In modern English it has its
origins in the Old English word 'synn', with the root 'es', again 
meaning 'to be'. 'Es' , being the root of 'being' is a basic Indo-
European root. (An interesting sideline is that the Hebrew word
'sin' means 'the moon'. Perhaps because at one time, 'to be' was
to know the Goddess, whose symbol has often been the moon?)

     In other words, the original meaning of sin, was to risk being.
To risk living life, by living outside of the doctrine and dogma of
organized, beauracratic religious frameworks. By looking inward AND
outward, but OTHERWARD than the traditional. "The Christian dream has
already been written, from beginning to end. It says that only one 
life was worth living, and its already been lived, and it was his ...
While promising to save human souls Chrisianity exists by 'saving 
humans from' experiencing our souls ... The Christian Church lives
upon sin ... Christ depends on sin for his existence." (Sjoo) Essentially,
without the concept of original sin, without the myth of the Fall of 
Adam and Eve, there is no need for the sacrifice of the Son, or for
His existence at all.

     In Wicca, there is no Holy Book, no written doctrine, no divine
law. The only two 'laws' that are traditionally Wiccan, and are
considered to be those ideals by which we try to live, are :

      1. An it harm none, do what thou wilt.
      2. What thou wilt do, will come back three times.

What this means, pure and simple, is that there are no 'sins', such as 
sexual do's and don'ts, profanity, etc., AS LONG AS YOU STRIVE FOR
AND AS MUCH AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE, ATTEMPT TO BRING HARM ON NO ONE!!!
And we are promised our punishment and rewards in this life, not in
some future, posthumous time. Number two teaches us that (similar 
perhaps to the 'golden rule'), what we send out, will return to us
but in threefold nature. If we lie, cheat, steal, etc. then woe and
evil in like form will be visited on us, in this lifetime, but in
a threefold multiple. The same is for our attempts at patience, love,
kindness, etc.  The Goddess of the Wiccan is a truly all-loving, all-
forgiving, all-understanding Deity that recognizes human imperfection
and human frailty and strengths. She punishes and rewards as She
judges appropriate. And as with the Christian Jehovah, it is not for
us to question Her judgement. We do know right and wrong for She
has given us that knowledge. Our choice in life will determine our
life.

     As for 'evil' Wiccans do not dichotomize the Universal Truth
into 'good' and 'evil'. "In the pagan cosmic view, the supreme
creative polarity is that of the Goddess and God principles, for
without polarity, from divinity downwards, there can be no 
manifestation. 'As above, so below.'" (Stewart and Janet Farrar, in
"The Witches' God") The Farrars go on to explain that Dualism, (the good
and evil theory) is the subsitution that patriarchy replaced Polarity
with. Instead of the COMPLEMENTARY relationship of the Goddess and
God, it substituted God and the Devil, Good and Evil.  Wiccans, 
instead, have the masculine and feminine principles. Not mutually
exclusive 'items' but complementary aspects; each "contains the
seed of the other, just as in the Chinese Yin-Yang symbol (the
perfect expression of the polarity concept) the dark Yin contains
a bright Yang spot, and the bright Yang a dark Yin spot. Otherwise
they could not relate to each other."  Students of Jungian theory
will see this concept on the human level as the anima that is at
the heart of man, and the animus that is at the heart of woman.


The Goddess/anima whispering softly to the man, while the God speaks
loudly to him. And the God/animus whispering softly to the woman, 
while the Goddess speaks loudly to her. "Both the whisper and the
loud voice must be listened to" in order for us to be complete.

     Therefore, Wiccans need no salvation, and the only 'sacrifice'
that is seen in modern Wicca, is the ritual re-enactment (play) of
the God's annual self-sacrifice for the 'fertility' or well-being,
of Humanity.
