Modern Wicca is a vibrant, uplifting nature religion practiced by hundreds of thousands of people in the United States alone. But wearing "witchy" jewelry and casting a few spells does not make one a witch, for Wicca is a lifestyle and those who walk its path have solemnly dedicated themselves to the service of the Goddess and God.
Wiccan Beliefs and Practices was written for the solitary witch or non-traditional small coven. Written by a Wiccan High Priest and retired aerospace engineer, Wiccan Beliefs & Practices includes crucial information not found in other introductory Wiccan books, including:
- Ethics of a Witch, including the Code of Chivalry
- How to write and develop your own spells and rituals
- The physically-challenged Witch
- Out of the broom closet: is it right for you?
- Know your rights: the legal protection of Wicca as a legitimate religion
Author Gary Cantrell speaks from personal experience with Wiccans of all ages and degrees of physical ability, bringing you an earnest examination of modern Wiccan beliefs and a practical guide to the Craft of the Wise.
In the following excerpt, the author explains why he chose to "come out of the broom closet."
I elected to reveal my practice of witchcraft publicly simply because I personally feel that the time for intentionally hiding ourselves has come to an end. We are practitioners of a kind, gentle, and peace-loving religion. We are not the bloodthirsty or depraved, orgiastic fanatics all too often portrayed by the entertainment and news media. The general public has been misled about witchcraft for over a thousand years, and now with our numbers reaching an all-time high, possibly in excess of one million people worldwide, we need to stand up and set that record straight.
We are out there by the hundreds upon hundreds of thousands. We are in the arts, the sciences, and the humanities. We are law enforcement officers, engineers, builders, doctors, and farmers. We are a legally recognized religion under the protection of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and our isolation from the rest of the religious community should and must come to an end. With the phenomenal growth of witchcraft since the 1970s and with the free and easy interchange of information afforded to us by things like the Internet, that time will come to pass and it will happen soon. It may be happening now.
Gary Cantrell was a Priest in an Eclectic-Celtic Path of Wicca and High Priest of a small Coven. He recognized the divinity of nature since the early 1970's but did not fully realize that he had been following the Pagan path until about 1991. He began a study of witchcraft in 1993, initiated as a witch and Priest of Wicca at Imbolc of 1995 and accepted the responsibilities of Coven High Priest in 1998. He retired after forty years as an engineer in the aerospace industry, and then wrote books on witchcraft and related subjects as a hobby.
Wiccan Beliefs and Practices: With Rituals for Solitaries and Covens is Cantrell's second book, the first title being Out of the Broom Closet? In addition to authoring two books on the Craft, Cantrell had several articles on Wicca published in local newspapers as well as in Pagan publications and had been the featured guest on a Los Angeles area television talk show to discuss Out of the Broom Closet.
Gary Cantrell passed away on June 28th, 2002. He is survived by his wife, son and daughter, and three grandchildren.
