Neopagan Witchcraft

    "The road goes ever on and on" to quote J.R.R. Tolkien. One of the first mysteries I discovered along my crooked path was the Hermetic Principles. I find them important to this day and figure this to be a good starting place for my blog. A lot of mythology has grown up around the Hermetic teachings. The first book I read on the Principles gave little to no background leaving me wondering where these ideas had originated. Being inquisitive, I need to know these things before accepting them blindly. In the following, I will try to lay out a little of the history I've been able to discover.   Hermes Mercurius Trismegistus is often cited as the source of the Hermetic Principles. Like many of the world's legendary religious figures it is likely he never physically existed. Legends claim this figure was either the Egyptian god of knowledge, magic, and writing, Thoth, or an ancient sage who received a vision from him. The name translates as "Thrice-greatest

 

There is more interest in Witchcraft today than ever before, with a growing number of individuals identifying themselves as following a pagan or “craft” path. Many are drawn to these spiritual traditions because they are more inclusive, touching on feminism, environmentalism, and acceptance instead of the suffocation found in most strict, mainstream religions. In addition, when you add all the hypocrisy and scandal found in the mainstream, people seem to crave a more personal, direct relationship with their spirituality. Witchcraft is a nature-based practice. Earth, water, sky, animals, plants, people are all considered an expression of life, of the Divine. Many people struggle with the idea of a God in heaven judging the lives of humans by a set of ten laws given to an earthly proxy; if you live by the laws, you enter Paradise; but if you don’t, you are eternally damned. In Witchcraft, there are no laws. Instead, divinity is in all things. Witchcraft is primarily a lunar path. Today,