1. Wicca teaches spiritual self-empowerment. I love following a path that honors my own spiritual authority and that of others, teaching, "if it harms none, do as you will"-- a deceptively simple and profoundly wise maxim. We mind our own business and have no mandate to convert others or tell anyone else what to do.
2. Wicca honors the divine feminine. In my religion, the female soul is empowered and the female body revered, and the Goddess is right there at the center of everything. As a woman there is no disadvantage to being a Wiccan. I don't have to change pronouns in prayers or songs or stories to feel included. Wicca's masculine traditions -- such as the Horned God and the Green Man -- also offer delightful embodiments of sacred masculine energy.
3. Wicca is Earth-friendly. There is no contradiction or gap between the awe and spiritual power I find in nature, gratitude to the earth for sustaining my life, and my religion. On the contrary, as a witch, I know that recognizing my inherent connection with all life is an integral part of my religion.
4. Wicca has a rich spiritual vocabulary. Like many contemporary Wiccans, I recognize and honor deities from all cultures as aspects of the divine. The rich range of wisdom embodied in the Goddesses Kali, Brigid, Aphrodite, Yemaya and Kwan Yin, to give just a few examples, are all available for me to study and incorporate into my meditation and worship.
5. Wicca honors the physical. Sex, food, the body and the physical world are revered as sacred in Wicca. We even dance for devotion and celebration. "All acts of joy and pleasure are my rituals," says the traditional Wiccan text called "the Charge of the Goddess." The Goddess is immanent in the world, not apart from it.
6. Wicca involves creative freedom. We share some traditional actions and songs, but nothing is set in stone, and there is not only room but a need for poetry, songs, art, inner journeys, spontaneous inspirations and laughter. Each celebration, solitary or shared, is a creative, expressive act.
7. Wicca nurtures family bonding. My favorite multigenerational activities, from Maypoles to jack o' lanterns to Yule trees to Easter eggs (named after the Goddess Ostara), are all traditional parts of Wiccan celebrations. Gracefully and organically, such crafts and activities unite families and communities across generations in reverence and gratitude for the earth, ancestors, the gifts of life and the ineffable power of the spirit.