Wicca & Spirituality page 6

Worship in Wicca and witchcraft is almost always based upon individual interpretation - whether the practitioner is a solitaire or a member of a coven.  Solitaires are the most individualistic in their worship - placing their own personal interpretation upon the ritual being performed or celebrated.  But the same can be said for some covens.  Some covens emphasize very strongly the free will of their practitioners.  On the other hand, some covens - as in all group dynamics - establish rules and guidelines adhered to casually or strictly.

Added to this is a plethora of many different "traditions".  The traditions can be Celtic, Druidic, shamanic, Sumerian, Egyptian, Norse, faery, Feminist, Gardnerian, Golden Dawn, alchemical, Ferrarian, Alexandrian, etc, etc, just to name a few.

Rarely are there formal buildings associated with Wicca and witchcraft.  Because of the secrecy and/or fear of persecution that still inhibits many practitioners and covens, worship often takes place in private homes.  Outdoor celebrations take place in forests, woods, or fields - where some privacy is afforded to the practitioners.

What also is very common in Wicca and witchcraft worship is an altar.  Altar tools vary in accordance with practitioners' traditions.  Nevertheless, it is generally agreed that an altar should contain an athame {ritual knife}, a wand, a chalice {drinking cup}, a pentagram, a crystal ball, candles, a cloth made from natural materials, a broom, and a mortar & pestle.  Most of these particular altar tools originated with European medieval alchemists, and therefore, are not a necessity.
Sabbats and esbats

A Gallery of Mesopotamian Goddesses

Inanna, the Mother Goddess of the Sumerians {top left} being seductive and fertile.

Ishtar, the Mother Goddess of the Akkadians and the Babylonians {middle left and right} was both identified and merged with the Sumerian Inanna.  Inanna's myths became Ishtar's.  In the middle left view, Ishtar is shown as the Goddess of both Hunt and War-the Lady of Battle, with her foot upon a lion - one of both Inanna's and Ishtar's sacred symbols.  The bow and quiver were also their sacred symbols.  As Goddess of War, Ishtar was often identified with the biblical, Esther.  The famous alabaster figurine {right} shows Ishtar as the Goddess of Love and of the Sacred Marriage - passionate, procreative, sensuous, and powerful in her sexual energy.

Astarte /Ashtaroth {bottom left} was the same Goddess but of the Assyrians, Phoenicians, and Canaanites.  She shows a distinctive Egyptian wig - typical of Phoenician art.  Inanna, Ishtar, and Astarte became identified with the Egyptian Mother Goddesses - Isis, Hathor, Bastet, and Nut - and numerous Greco-Roman Goddesses.

All three Goddesses had sacred prostitutes at their shrines - in their roles as fertility Goddesses and independent women.  Sadly, because of this, the Goddesses and their priestesses were vilified by the Hebrews and deemed as "filthy", shameful, and wanton.  Even today, the word shame is derived from one of Inanna's titles, Sharrat Schame, Queen of Heaven.

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