The Wiccan worldview

One of the things most pagans and Wiccans seem to do is to collect – and read – books, lots and lots of them. Through this, we all are soaking up a large collection of common themes for a Wiccan worldview. There is much discussion about the definition or minimum definition of Wicca, and I do not want to get into this topic. (If you are interested, take a look at the homepage of my tradition, UEW).
However, there is a large number of themes that can be found in a variety of traditions, and a lot of books. Typical examples are the four elements: you do not have to believe in them or work with them to be Wiccan. Nonetheless, there are very few books on Wicca I have read so far that do not at least mention them. There are a lot of other examples, too.

Why is this important? These ideas influence our perception of the Universe. The divine universe is something we want to know more about, we want to grow closer to. So the different parts of the Wican worldview gives us a starting point for exploring the divine universe. We will take some of these parts and work with them in the next weeks. However, not everybody agrees on the different aspects that can be part of the worldview of a Wiccan, and each person might incorporate different parts into their personal view of the world. You might even be doing this subconsciously, agreeing to some things and discounting other things whenever you read about them. In fact, you most probably are doing it subconsciously, never realizing what you really believe in, not reflecting on what parts you agree with, which ideas might be worth incorporating, and what concepts might sound good on the surface, but do feel wrong or do not fit once you go into more detail. Of course, I might be doing you an injustice, and you are much more conscious of your believes. It might still be interesting to take the time to look at your believes in detail.

This week, the only exercise will be a contemplation on your personal version of the Wiccan worldview – or, if you prefer, on your personal worldview. We want to grow closer to the divine universe, and a very important step is to know what this universe actually is, what it consists of. A lot of books simply tell you what you should believe, and then present you with corresponding meditations etc. Of course, I will present meditations and exercises that fit into my personal view of the world, but I want you to become aware of your own view of the world, so you can decide whether or not you want to include an exercise. This week's contemplation will give you a better foundation on which to base your decision instead of vague feelings of not liking a particular instruction – which might also come from the subconsious realisation that you probably will not like the answers you are likely to get (wich should not keep you from doing it!).

Of course, you can perform an exercise for a topic you do not believe in or are unsure about. Your experience might change your mind. However, if you decide to skip some exercise, then go back to earlier weeks and choose something else to do instead. Do not break the habit of daily practise.

At this point, I want to include another piece of warning: do not overdo it. Create a regular habit, if possible, but do not try to do a 30 minute meditation, followed by a pathworking, followed by a contemplation on three different topics. You do not have to focus completely on one thing, but take care that the amount of time is something you can reasonably dedicate to daily practise regularly. Also, if you try to do too many things, the experience will probably either get too intense – leaving you disoriented in your everyday life – or too shallow, and you cannot get as much out of it as you could otherwise.