In the Realm of the Gods, no greater power exists than the Human Spirit.
In the prehistory of humanity, our ancestors crawled out of caves and began to live in huts of their own design. Animals were domesticated for food and labor, the beginnings of agriculture had started by the gathering of wild seeds to be planted near to the village for convenience. Knowledge of nature began to emerge. But an interesting thing had also begun. The fears of the forces of nature began to be replaced with a primeval respect. Something that everyone in the village shared and this was the first spark of what is called today, ‘religion’.
As they began to understand the ways of the land and the fertility cycles of the animals, they placed a mystique to every aspect of nature. They began to look about themselves with wonder and awe, realizing that something or someone greater than themselves, must exist.
The forces of nature around them, was fairly simple. For they had knowledge to change the ways that they planted, or in the way that they bred their animals, but, when they looked upwards into the sky, they no longer had any answers, other than the mystique. So, to the Earth and Her sister the Moon, they gave a feminine aspect.For it is from the Earth that all life arises, and the moon must have some control over the growing. Her grand, glowing, ever changing face held the greatest mystery of all; so unto the moon was given the position of ruling feminine deity, or Goddess. And it was She who ruled over nature.
High in the sky, a grand golden orb rose to greet them each morning, warmed them through the day, and slowly sank in the evening as if to say ‘I am also tired, the time has come to rest’. To the glowing orb was given the masculine, for they knew that without the warmth and light, life would not survive. To the sun was given the deity form of God.
This was the time when our mythology began, approximately 10,000 years ago. You may say that a form of religion existed long before that, and you would be right, it did. But, what existed was not a religion, per se’. It was more of a fear manifestation. The humans of 25,000 years ago knew that the flashes of light from the sky could kill them, so they feared it and worshipped itit to keep the light from striking them down. It was fear and not deity that they worshipped. It wasn’t until 10,000 years ago that the concept of true ruling deities began to unfold. Strange and unknown knowledge began to emerge to the early humans. Knowledge of Goddess’ and Gods, knowledge of agriculture and metals; but they didn’t know where it came from, except from the Gods themselves, which is indeed, where it came from.
As these early humans evolved in their capacity for knowledge, the Elder Gods made their presence known to them. The knowledge of these Elder Gods was imparted to the ones who were best suited to wisely use the knowledge. They became the tribal leaders, healers, and teachers. These humans were known as the ‘Wise Ones’ and their ways were known as their ‘Craft’. Much the same as the ways of metal working were the craft of the Smith. So the leaders, healers, and teachers were known, by their art, as the ‘Craft of the Wise’ or in the ancient Ogham as the Wicca.
The males of the Wicca were known as the ‘Witta’, the females as the ‘Wicce’. As the feminine forces of nature were known to be the driving force and the source of fertility, it was the Wicce who were the predominant leadership. The Witta were the hunters, farmers, and balancing force within the village. It was the Wicce and the Witta who were the beginning of what we know today as the Wicca, or the ‘Craft of the Wise’.
From the earliest time that the Elder Gods made their presence known to the Wicca, and taught them their knowledge,the bond was made between the humans and the Elder Gods that a time would come at certain intervals that the Elder Gods and the ones who stood with them, the ‘Ancient Ones’, would return to this earth to teach and judge the purity of the users of the knowledge. The name that was given to this returning is that of the ‘Awakening’. The Awakenings occur every 2,000 years.
In this dim past arose cultures known as the Erse and braiding, known today as the Irish and British. Combined they were known as the Celts. As the Celtic culture grew, they began to build wondrous temples and worship sights to the Elder Gods. Very few of them remain today, but the most famous is Stonehenge in Salisbury England. Each of these temples had several things in common. First they were set as a kind of calendar. Stonehenge as an example clearly is set so that the sun appears between a particular Trigolith at the time of a ‘Sabbat’ at dawn. Second, each temple was a sacred burial site for the Celtic leaders. The ‘Kings and Queens’ were buried facing the east, the direction that the moon and sun arose. Third, they were a place of permanent power and energy. Within these temples, the Elder Gods and Ancient Ones were called for knowledge and protection. It was a place where the very forces of nature were called upon for many uses, (the same as the Circle that we use today). Finally, the temples were the place of worship to the Goddess and God.
As the population of the Celtic culture increased, many of them began to spread through the world, as it was then. Some went into Europe and Northern Europe, others into the Mediterranean Basin, the Mid-East, and North Africa. The ancient knowledge of the Elder Gods and the Way of the Wicca were taught to the cultures that existed at the time. Translating the knowledge, these cultures took the images of the Goddess and God and gave them their own identity that fit their own particular cultural ideals, while maintaining the original knowledge. Just a few of these cultures were the Norse, Roman (which partially remains today in the form of the ‘Strega’), Greek, Catherian, Chaldean, Sumerian, Assyrian, Egyptian, and many more. Of course all this was done between 8,000 and 4,000 BCE, and continued beyond. These cultures molded and shaped the knowledge knowledge so as to be best understood by the people of the culture. But as human nature is, some of it was changed so as to be corrupted for the personal gain of a few. Some changed it as to attempt to control the Elder Gods themselves. Some only utilized the dark side of the ancient knowledge. For a time, these cultures prospered and other cultures were born out of them; each creating their own form of religion from the ancient knowledge. But with each Awakening, these cultures ceased to exist. Only the original Wicca continued to survive, unchanged.
By the time of the Awakening at 0 c.e., (c.e. stands for ‘common era’), very few of the ancient cultures remained intact. Mostly fragmented and scattered, the survivors of these cultures wandered among the civilizations of the time. The most notable, of which, was the survivors of the Catherian civilization. The Catherian and Sumerian cultures were quite similar in their religious philosophies, in that the knowledge was utilized in a more scientific manner. The Sumerian culture had vanished without any trace except minor ruins, except the Catherian began a rebirth of their culture, this time to be known as the Hebrews.
At this time, there were ‘tribes’ and villages of the remnants of the ancestors of the Celtic Wicca who had migrated into the region. These were known at the time as the ‘Other People’. They were mostly shunned at the time because of the fear that the destructions from the Awakenings had left, even though they had nothing to do with it. As the Hebrew culture had very few members, they were forced to intermarry with the ‘other people’ in order to survive. And this is how their rebirth succeeded. (It must be noted that this actually took place about 2,800, b.c.e.)