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Sex and sexuality is a fluid topic for Wiccans; Wicca itself provides no mandates about sex and no rules to follow beyond the basic Rede. Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals often find acceptance among Wiccans and ideas of non-traditional relationships find root much more readily among Wiccan communities. Sex before marriage is not frowned upon and sex in general is often seen as a blessing.
Sex and sexuality is a fluid topic for Wiccans; Wicca itself provides no mandates about sex and no rules to follow beyond the basic Rede. Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals often find acceptance among Wiccans and ideas of non-traditional relationships find root much more readily among Wiccan communities. Sex before marriage is not frowned upon and sex in general is often seen as a blessing.
While Wiccans do perform magic and use spells to attempt to change the world around them, doing so for express personal gain or to harm someone else is taboo. Attempting to solve ones problems with magic and ritual before exhausting mundane means is also strongly frowned upon and a Wiccan who engages in this on a regular basis will quickly find themselves pushed out of the greater Wiccan community. Along with that, an extreme importance is placed on free-will and the ability of the individual to make his/her own choices. Anything that impinges on that is not accepted by Wiccans; including preaching religious beliefs and use of ritual magic on someone without their knowledge or consent.
A term that crops up among Wiccans (and some Pagans) is "fluffy bunny." A fluffy bunny is a Wiccan who is new to Wicca and is lacking some of the more extended understanding that time spent participating in and studying Wicca brings and as such they tend to make over-arching statements of fact for which they have no backing for, make outrageous claims of what they do, wear large amounts of jewelry to identify as Wiccan, talk at length about the Burning Times, carry their Book of Shadows openly, and complain about Wiccans being oppressed. These individuals usually have a mercifully brief shelf life as eventually they get bored of the theatrics and move on to something else or they discover more about Wicca and become more serious. Many Wiccans began their lives in Wicca this way, though most are embarrassed to admit it.
==Wiccans and Deities==
==Wiccans and Deities==
Information on a ritual (and other parts of a Wiccan's religious life) are often contained in a Book of Shadows. Despite the ominous sounding name, a Book of Shadows is simply a book (although it can be a box) that contains information a particular individual wants to keep close, details of rituals, holiday information, drawings, notes, and anything else a person wants to keep in it. A Book of Shadows simply contains information about a Wiccan's practices.
Information on a ritual (and other parts of a Wiccan's religious life) are often contained in a Book of Shadows. Despite the ominous sounding name, a Book of Shadows is simply a book (although it can be a box) that contains information a particular individual wants to keep close, details of rituals, holiday information, drawings, notes, and anything else a person wants to keep in it. A Book of Shadows simply contains information about a Wiccan's practices.
==Wiccans and the Use of Spells==
Wicca as a religion does make use of magic and spells in it's practices. This is often differentiated by an alternate spelling of magic as "magick". This is to differentiate between the ritual magic performed by Wiccans and Pagans from the magic of illusions and card tricks. There is no universal agreement to the use of this term, it has been pointed out in the Wiccan community that a special spelling for magic seems more like a call for attention. Some individuals use "ritual magic" to differentiate between the magic of stage and of the circle.
Magic and spells are almost always performed in a ritual setting in Wicca; it isn't something done on-the-fly or with no preparation. The exact mechanics of magic are debated among Wiccans, but the general consensus is that ritual magic either redirects certain universal energies or curries favor with the gods for a specific effect. A cornerstone of this practice is not mis-using it. Using magic or spells to directly harm another person is as close to sacrilegious as it gets in Wicca and very few Wiccans would be willing to be party to a ritual for the purpose of harming someone else.
Spells are often written custom for the event however certain "canned" spells are available. There is a booming trade among less reputable book publishers in the selling of books with dubious collections of spells that are supposed to be used to do everything from getting the user great wealth to the ability to read minds. In practice, most Wiccans ignore these books or use them as examples of what not to do.
==Wiccan Symbolism==
==Wiccan Symbolism==