Hackers Underworld 2: Forbidden Knowledge/Hackers Underworld 2: Forbidden Knowledge.iso/OCCULT/BASCRAFT.ASC

Text File | 1993-06-17 | 14KB | 212 lines

The Craft (Witchcraft - NOT to be confused with Satanism.  A true
Witch  has  nothing to do with this,  even though there are  some
Satanists who (unrightfully) call themselves "Witch".) contains a
large  number of groups with bonds to each other,  for  the  most
part, which are looser than those you will find between Christian
churches.   Each has it's own traditions,  it's own beliefs, it's
own panthion,  etc.   So just WHAT is it that,  overall,  a Witch
believes  in?  The  American  Council of Witches  was  formed  to
determine  what it was that all Witches have in  common,  belief-
wise.   In  the  early 1970's,  a paper was released  with  their
findings,  and gives a good overall picture of it.  The following
is the text of that paper.

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_BASIC_PRINCIPLES_OF_THE_CRAFT_

1.   The first principle is that of love, and it is expressed in the ethic,
          "DO AS YOU WILL, SO LONG AS YOU HARM NONE"
     a) love is not emotional in it's essence, but is an attribute of the
        individual as expressed in relation to other beings;
     b) harming others can be by thought, word, or deed;
     c> it is to be understood the "none" includes oneself;
     d) the harm which is to be regarded as unethical is gratuitous harm; war,
        in general, is gratuitous harm, although it is ethical to defend
        oneself and one's liberty when threatened by real and present danger,
        such as defense against invasion.

2.   The Witch must recognize and harmonize with the forces of the universe, in
     accord with the Law of Polarity: everything is dual; everything has two
     poles; everything has it's opposite; for every action there is a reaction;
     all can be categorized as either active or reactive in relation to other
     things.
     a) Godhead is one unique and transcendant wholeness, beyond any
        limitations or expressions; thus, it is beyond our human capacity to
        understand and identify with this principle of Cosmic Oneness, except
        as It is revealed to us in terms of It's attributes and operation.
     b) The most basic and meaningful attribute of the One that we, as humans,
        can relate to and understand, is that of polarity, of action and reac-
        tion; therefore Witches recognize the Oneness of the Divinity, but
        worship and relate to the Divine as the archetypal polarity of God and
        Goddess, the All-Father and the Great Mother of the universe.  The
        Beings are as near as we can approach to the One within our human
        limitations of understanding and expression, though it is possible to
        experience the divine Oneness through the practices of the Mysteries.
     c) Harmony does not consist of the pretty and the nice, but the balanced,
        dynamic, poised co-operation and co-relation.

3.   The Witch must recognize, and operate within the framework of the Law of
     Cause and Effect; every action has it's reaction, and every effect has
     it's cause.  All things occur according to this law; nothing in the
     universe can occur outside this law, though we may not always appreciate
     the relation between a given effect and it's cause.  Subsidiary to this is
     the Law of Three, which states that whatever goes forth must return
     threefold, whether of good or ill; for our actions affect more than people
     generally realize, and the resulting reactions are also part of the
     harvest.

4.   As Above, So Below.  That which exists in the Macrocosm exists, on a
     smaller scale and to a lesser degree, in the Microcosm.  The powers of the
     universe exist also in the human, though in general instance they lie
     dormant.  The powers and abilities can be awakened and used if the proper
     techniques are practiced, and this is why initiates of the Mysteries are
     sworn to guard the secrets from the unworthy:  Much harm can be done by
     those who have power without responsibility, both to others and to
     themselves according to the Laws of Cause and Effect and of Threefold
     Return.
     a) Since our philosophy teaches that the universe is the physical
        manifestation of the Divine, there can be nothing in the universe which
        does not partake of the nature of the Divine; hence, the powers and
        attributes of the Divine exist also in the manifest, though to much
        smaller degree.
     b) These powers can be awakened through the various techniques of the
        Mysteries, and, although they are only capable of small effects in and
        of themselves, it is possible to use them in order to draw upon the
        forces of the universe.  Thus humanity can be the wielders of the power
        of the Gods, a channel for Godhead to act within It's own
        manifestation.  This, then, is further reason for the oath of secrecy.
     c) Since the universe is the body of the One, possessing the same
        attributes as the One, it's Laws must be the principles through and by
        which the One operates.  By reasoning from the known to the unknown,
        one can learn of the Divine, and thus of oneself.  Thus the Craft is a
        natural religion, seeing in Nature the expression and revelation of
        Divinity.

5.   We know that everything in the universe is in movement or vibration and is
     a function of that vibration.  Everything vibrates; all things rise and
     fall in a tidal system that reflects the motion inherent in the universe
     and also in the atom.  Matter and energy are but two poles of one
     continuous phenomenon.  Therefore the Witch celebrates, harmonizes with,
     and makes use of the tides of the universe and of life as expressed
     through the cycle of the seasons and the motion of the solar system.
     These ritual observances are the eight great Festivals of the Year,
     referred to as the Wheel of the Year.  Further, the Witch works with the
     forces and tides of the Moon, for this body is the mediator of much energy
     to our planet Earth and thus to ourselves.

6.   Nothing is dead matter in the universe.  All things exist, therefore all
     things live, though perhaps in a different manner from that which we are
     used to calling life.  In view of this, the Witch knows that there is no
     true death, only change from one condition to another.  The universe is
     the body of Godhead, and therefore possesses one transcendant
     consciousness; all things partake of the consciousness, in varying levels
     of trance/awareness.
     a) Because of this principle, all things are sacred to the Witch, for all
        partake of the one Life.
     b) Therefore the Witch is a natural ecologist, for Nature is part of us as
        we are a part of Nature.

7.   Astrology can be useful in marking and interpreting the flow and ebb of
     the tides of our solar system, and thus of making use of those tides;
     astrology should not be debased into mere fortune-telling.

8.   Throughout the development of the human race, civilizations have seen and
     worshipped many and various attributes of the Divine.  These universal
     forces have been clothed in forms which were expressive to the worshipper
     of the attribute of the Godhead which they expressed.  Use of these
     symbolic representations of the natural and divine forces of the universe,
     or godforms, is a potent method for contacting and utilizing the forces
     they represent.  Thus the Gods are both natural and truely divine, and
     man-made in that the forms with which they are clothed are products of
     humanity's striving to know the Godhead.
     a) In keeping with the Law of Polarity, these god-forms are brought into
        harmony by the one great Law which states:  All Gods are one God.  All
        Goddesses are one Goddess.  There is one Initiator.  This law is an