What are the beliefs and main spiritual practices of Wicca and witchcraft?
Belief and worship of the Goddess.
The Goddess is also known as Mother Earth or Mother Nature and she has always been associated with the Moon.  As found in many other world religions {modern and ancient}, she is depicted as a trinity - the maiden, the mother {Earth}, and the crone/wise woman {Moon}.  Ancient statuary and carvings from Europe, the Mediterranean civilizations, and the Middle East civilizations often portray {what were originally prehistoric and then later} ancient goddesses with the three faces of youth, childbearing {middle} age, and old age.

There is a very good possibility that the planet associated with the maiden was the Sun.  Though there is not a great deal of prehistoric and ancient evidence left, there are numerous remnants.  For example, both Hathor and Isis of the Egyptian pantheon had Sun headdresses and the supreme god in the Japanese Shinto pantheon was Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess.

All of the ancient Mother Goddesses were analogous with fertility - human, wild animals {for hunting/fishing}, wild plants {for gathering}, and later, domesticated livestock and agriculture.  The most common fertility symbols associated with these ancient Goddesses were snakes, sheathes of grain, large breasts and tummies {pregnancy}, shells {particularly of coastal peoples}, and hunting weapons.  {These goddesses were also known as Corn / Harvest / Grain Goddesses and Hunting Goddesses.}  However, symbols differed from culture to culture - any plant or animal that was considered a plentiful food source by a particular culture could be a symbol of the Goddess.

The Goddess' names are numerous, worldwide, and cross-cultural - some well-known names are:
- Brighid, Danaan, Freya, Frigg, Ilmater, Makosh, Mab, Medhbha [Celts, Norse, & Europe]

- Aphrodite, Artemis, Circe, Demeter, Diana, Hera, Juno, Medea, Medusa, Selene
  [Ancient Greece & Rome]
- Hathor, Isis, Mut, Bastet, Nut [Ancient Egypt]
- Inanna, Astarte, Ishtar, Cybele [Ancient Mesopotamia & Asia Minor]
- Modjadji, Yemanja [Africa]
- Aitya, Devi, Lakshmi, Parvati, Sarasvati [Indian subcontinent]
- Dou Mou, Guan Yin, Nu Wa, Tien Hou [China]
- Amaterasu, Benten, Sengen, Uke Mochi [Japan]
- Kunapipi, Papa, Pele, Si Deak Parujar  [Aborigine, Maori, Pacific, & South East Asia]
- Ataensic, Iyatiku, Shipap, Sipapu [North American First Nations]
- Mayahuel, Xochiquetzal [Aztec]
- Bachue, Mama Coya, Pachamama [Inca]

You'll also notice that many of these Goddesses were Goddesses of Death.  If you think about it, it's a logical progression of fertility - that which is born must die - to prosper, to grow, to be fer

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