Do I even understand my own religion?

a really in depth description? I guess I could but that is more typing than I am willing to do right now.

to me wicca is to bring a person closer to the earth mother- closer to nature, and through casting a circle and focusing- feel the earths energy- and be able to utilize that energy .

WICCA- An alternate, and often preferred, name for the religion of contemporary witchcraft. Many witches prefer to call themselves wiccans rather than witches, and say that they practice wicca, rather than witchcraft, because the words do not carry the negative stereotypes attached to witch and witchcraft. The terms wicca and wiccan distinguish practitioners of contemporary witchcraft the religion from practitioners of folk magic and other forms of witchcraft as sorcery. they signify an organized religion with a set of beliefs, tenets, laws, ethics, holy days, and rituals. some wiccans believe that wicca is derived from the old english terms ‘wita’ which means ‘councilor’, or ‘wis’ which means ‘wise’. wicca is old english for ‘witch’, as is the old english term wicce. wiccian means to work sorcery and to ‘bewitch’. still another old english term, wican- means , to bend. in the sense that witches use magic to influence events, wicca and wiccan are therefore appropriate terms.

as far as I am concerned- me personally , I define myself as both wiccan and pagan- they kind of go hand in hand- I am a solitary, meaning that I do not belong to a coven. a general description would be someone who has learned to use natural earth energies to create a specific or general occurance. a wiccan (as well as pagan) should know how to heal through herbology, should seek to use energies for protection of themselves and others,and should be able to gain knowledge from focusing and meditation rituals. simply put- allow themselves to be a part of the much larger picture that nature has provided for us.

I’m kinda Wicca and pagan, (that’s why I put sorta in my question), but I was thinknig of becoming properly Wiccan. I think I’ve decided not to, as at the moment, it’s not really me, so I’m sticking as what I am. I know how to use herbs and stuff (I learnt that from my dad) and I have done a few successful spells and stuff. and right now, I should reallly be revising for a maths test. =(

It would be WAY to much to type into an answer on here. Just do some research - there are TONS of books and information on Wicca that you can read up on. If your serious about your religion you are going to have to do your own research on it and learn for yourself.

wolffaery, sorry about not answering your question, its really I complicated thing to explain, hope you had a merry imbolc, and we do get critized a lot. I am a wiccan myself. blessed be!