MY WICCA   (Part 4 of 5)
                          By Durwydd MacTara

  
  b) It is the use of differing god forms, of differing
  ethnic sources or periods, which is the basis of many of
  the differences between the various Traditions of the
  Craft. Each Tradition uses the forms, and thus the names,
  which to that Tradition best express and awaken an
  understanding of the force represented, according to the
  areas of emphasis of the Tradition.

  c) Because we know that differing names or
  representations are but expressions of the same divine
  principles and forces, we require our  members to swear
  that they will never mock the names by which another
  honors the Divine, even though those names be different
  from and seemingly less expressive than the names and god
  forms used by our Tradition (for to the members of
  another Tradition, using it's names, ours may easily seem
  equally less expressive).

8. A Witch refuses to allow her/himself to be corrupted by the great
guilt neuroses which have been foisted on humanity in the name of the
Divine, thus freeing the self of the slavery of the mind.   The Witch
expresses responsibility for her/his actions, and accepts the consequen-
ces of them; guilt is rejected as inhibiting to one's self-actualiza-
tion, and replaced by the efforts of the Witch to obey the teachings of
harmlessness, responsibility for the consequences of one's actions, and
the goal of actualizing the full powers of the individual.

  a) We refuse to believe that a human being is born
  innately sinful, and recognize the concepts of sin and
  guilt are tremendously inhibiting to the human potential;
  the consequences of the Law of Cause and Effect, called
  karma by some, are not punishment, but the recurrences of
  situations and their effects because the individual has
  not gained the Wisdom needed to handle or avoid such
  situations.

  b) There is no heaven except that which we ourselves make
  of our life on Earth, and likewise there is no hell
  except the effects of our unwise actions.  Many of us believe
  in a "waiting place" sometimes called Summerland where we rest,
  recuperate and prepare for our next sojurn in the earth.  "Death
  is not followed by punishment or reward, but by life and the
  continuing personal evolution of our human potential.

  c) One cannot damn the divine in oneself; one can,
  however, cut oneself off from it through the rejection of
  wisdom and a refusal to strive for self-realization.
  This cutting off does not lead to personal suffering in
  "hell", for there is no Self to suffer if the tie to
  one's own divinity has been severed; what remains is
  merely an empty shell, a "personality" or thought-form
  devoid of it's ensouling Spark of the Divine Fire.