“We practice rites to attune ourselves with the natural rhythm of life forces marked by the phases of the Moon and the seasonal Quarters and Cross-Quarters.”

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The first principle set forth by the Council of American Witches (CAW) goes straight for the heart of one of the most common opportunity for misunderstanding and misconception of the Wiccan path — ritual.  It’s a short, quick trip in the mind of a non-Wiccan from ‘Wiccan’ to ‘witchcraft’ to some media-nursed vision of people doing Who-Knows-What in the dark.  Interrupting this trip can help the record straight, which usually requires explaining what Wiccans do long before you actually get down to what Wiccans believe.

As the first tenet, Principle #1 is the receptionist for the Office Of Wicca.  It’s your smiling first impression.  Its job is to put you at ease, make you comfortable, open the door for you.  Principle #1 neatly sets up the Wiccan Universe:  we honor life forces and work to become one with them, we use ritual to do this, and we time these rituals based on the moon cycles and the seasonal quarters and cross quarters.  See?  At ease.  Wiccans aren’t a threat.  Our faith is for us, because we honor life and want to be in synch with life.  We do this by doing ritual at certain times.  Welcome to our world.

But the first Principle isn’t a pandering throw-away either.  Our receptionist is clever.  The first Principle doesn’t explain itself — it begs further questions.  Most people know what the phases of the moon are, but what’s a Seasonal Quarter?  It’s simple, the receptionist says.  A Seasonal Quarter is a date that our common calendars mark as the beginning of each of the four seasons, namely spring, summer, fall, and winter.  These are instantly recognizable to a person questioning.  Most of us – Wiccan or not — have been celebrating or acknowledging these our whole lives.  And thus, whether obvious or not to the person questioning, instant common ground manifests.  We share the same world, with the same seasons, and the same Moon.  It’s good to begin an educational lesson on what our differences are with a principle that first shows us what we have in common, don’t you think?

The obvious follow-up question asks for an explanation of the Cross-Quarters.  It’s easy enough to say that these are the points between the four Seasonal Quarter Sabbats, however, doing so also presents the opportunity for the diagram of the Wheel of the Year to be drawn.  We all share the dates on the calendar where seasons begin and end, but the Cross-Quarters are a little different.  They are particular to our faith, even if there are other celebrations that have been laid on top of them.  Non-Wiccans in America are often pleasantly surprised to find that Imbolc falls on Groundhog Day.  Even more enjoyable is tying the tradition of the groundhog predicting the coming of spring to the quickening we celebrate at Imbolc.  Both holidays have to do with growing light and the diminishing shadow.  

However, Wiccans don’t just follow the movements of the Sun.  There is another gear turning in the celestial timepiece — the Moon.  She is hardly recognized by modern man aside from the light She gives at night.  As a modernized society, we have moved away from growing, hunting, and raising our own food.  Farmers utilized knowledge of the Moon’s influence to know when to plant and reap crops, cut down trees for firewood, and know when to hunt various animals.  Children aren’t taught to recognize the Moon’s phase by shape and the time She rises or sets.  Many calendars no longer even include information about the Moon’s phases or do so only as an appendix to the calendar, in complete disregard for the fact that the calendar itself owes its existence to the recognition of the Moon’s rounds.  

Principle #1 recognizes that both the Moon and Sun set the rhythm to which all the forces of life move and we honor both.  While it does not explicitly state at this point that Wiccans honor equally the feminine and masculine, it’s there… stated with subtlety in this first line.  Interestingly enough, the Moon is mentioned first.  While some might see this as a nod to the Goddess as the origin of all things and thus giving Her preference, it could also be pointed out that following the Moon phases is something that sets Wiccans apart from many other mainstream faiths, and thus restores the Goddess to a place of prominence.  We follow the Moon’s phases, yes.  She is the closest body to us in this celestial ocean – and we will ignore Her no longer. 

My favorite phrase in Principle #1 is this:  practice rites.  Practice is an action.  Wiccans do.  Practice doesn’t make us perfect… that’s not what we’re aiming for anyway.  We practice rites.  Rites are sacred actions done in a particular way to effect a desired outcome.  In this case, our rites are to help us attune ourselves with something larger than ourselves.  We practice “righting” ourselves with the natural rhythms of life forces.  It’s not a habit.  Habits are unconscious.  When you practice something, you are concentrating, putting yourself into it, repeating your efforts.  There is a goal, yes, but the work itself is its own reward. 

In my 20+ years on this path, I have yet to meet a Wiccan that doesn’t agree with Principle #1.  Every Wiccan I know honors both the Lunar and Solar Wheel in some way — whether it be in celebration or utilizing the timing in a magickal working.  And every Wiccan I know performs ritual.  It might not be the same ritual.  It might not have the same bells and whistles.  But the goal is the same — a sacred alignment between man and the Universe, between the microcosm within and the macrocosm without. 

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Follow-up Questions for Readers:

1.  Do you agree with Principle #1?  Why or why not?

2.  What rites do you practice to attune yourself to the Moon’s cycles?

3.  What rites do you practice to attune yourself to the Seasonal Quarters and Cross-Quarters?

4.  What forces of life are measured out by the Moon and the Sun?  How many can you list?

5.  If the purpose of practicing our rites is to attune ourselves to life and these cycles, how do you know your practice has been successful?  In other words, what benefit do you receive from your practice that reaffirms your path for you?

6.  Principles In Action:  Create your own round of rituals for the year where you live.  Decide if you will celebrate during a particular day during the Moon’s cycle and how you will do so.  If you are female, you might choose to set aside a particular day of your menstrual cycle as sacred and perform an attuning rite then.  Are you feeling a little lax in marking the turning of the seasons in some sacred format?  Do research into your family’s cultural heritage to discover simple things you can do to make the turnings of the Wheel sacred for yourself.  Perhaps there are traditions native to your area that are actually folk traditions that have survived into modern times (such as a summer fair, hay ride and harvest, or other celebration).  Keep a journal of your rituals and how you feel afterwards.  Did you feel the Wheel turn?