AboutMabon Stag Expertise I would be happy to answer general and specific questions concerning Wicca (including traditional forms of witchcraft), Paganism, Western Ceremonial Magick, Thelema, & much more! I am a student and practitioner of medieval metaphysics and a Certified Chikara Reiki Master using Usui and Tibetan attunements. I am a traveling Pagan Clergyman and offer marriage, hand-fasting, and blessing and saining services. I can offer advice on spell creation and casting as well as protection. Thank you for considering me for your needs.
Specialized topics of knowledge:
*Wicca.
*Western Ceremonial Magick.
*Thelema.
*Spiritualism.
*Spellcraft.
*Protection.
*Rites.
*Actual practice and ritual.
*More!
Experience For over twenty years have I been a practicing Wiccan and practitioner of Western Ceremonial Magick. Thus, I am always looking to network and communicate with other like minded individuals who are looking to explore the spiritual and metaphysical boundaries outside of the confines of the commonly accepted mundane parameters.
Education/Credentials Long have I traveled down the path of spiritual growth. I have been initiated into and am learned in several esoteric orders. My educational studies have been very eclectic. I am a professional with multiple degrees from mundane institutions, and multiple degrees from less "traditional" institutions as well as years of "self-taught" learnings from practitioners of various "crafts." I am a certified Usui Reiki Master, Tibetan Reiki Master, and Chikara-Reiki-Do Master.
I was Ordained (by certification & ordination letter) through the Universal Life Church (ULC) and Monastery in 2001.
I also have an education in comparative religions and serve as a traveling Pagan Clergy Minister. I practice Wicca and Western Ceremonial Magick and observe the rites of both. By practice I observe the Sabbats, Esbats, and Full & New Moon Rituals. I do teach students and am a certified Instructor of Metaphysics.
Please note that I am licensed to perform legal marriages. The majority of states have defined a legal marriage as a legal and ceremonial union between a male and female couple.
Paganism and Modern Wicca/Witchcraft as belief systems are more relevant today than ever. I feel that as human beings the need for belief in a higher power(s) is/are instinctive and necessary for survival.
Please see my profiles on "The Witches Voice (WVOX)" website: http://www.witchvox.com/vn/vn_detail/dt_pa.html?a=uspa&id=260371.
Question QUESTION: Hello. I am exploring many different religions & was wondering what the Wicca viewpoint on suicide is. I was born & raised Catholic, but I don't agree w/many of the teachings (my mother is a lesbian & many other things that are wrong, but are sometimes accepted in other beliefs). My father was mentally ill & committed suicide when I was 12. I was told he was going to hell & it really stuck w/me. I know that in most religions it's frowned upon, but I would like to find a religion that fits my lifestyle & one that doesn't make me think that my father was a terrible person. I did read somewhere that a man said that in the Wiccan religion it's considered a cop out & that person is going to live the same miserable life & keep committing suiceide when they are reincarnated. Is this common belief?
ANSWER: Well met Ashley.
I was going to delve into a lengthy diatribe regarding your situation and then caught myself as the paragraphs began to sound like a seminar on comparative religions.
Let me simply say this, there is no official stance on suicide within Wicca. Wicca as a "religion" is very, very new without official codification, assembly, and oversight on publications. Some practitioners of Wicca have interpreted the last sentence of the long version of the "Wiccan Rede" (which was only published circa 1974) to influence a stand on suicide. The last sentence is known as the short Wiccan Rede and states: "Eight words ye Wiccan Rede fulfill - An’ it harm none, Do what ye will." These Wiccans focus on the aspect of harming one's self to be a transgression against the Rede. Again, however, it is only one interpretation.
As all of the World's monotheistic and polytheistic religions discourage suicide due to the high regard placed on human life, it should come as no surprise that Pagan religions may feel the same way.
As with anything in this material world there are choices to be made. People who commit suicide make a permanent choice to end what they feel are overwhelming and insurmountable problems. My personal feeling is that they should not be punished for making that choice.
My version of Wicca does not emphasize reincarnation but I do believe in entering the Summerland (the Wiccan version of Heaven) and perhaps re-entering the material world to learn new and valuable lessons on life and self by one's own choice. In my version of Wicca I hold true to the aspect of free will and the importance of personal freedom that it confers if followed appropriately (insert Wiccan Rede here).
These are just my perspectives but make no mistake about it, you cannot allow others to make you feel guilty for the act of free will your father committed. For all we truly know he may have found the peace he was seeking.
Keep searching. You will know your answer when you find it because it will be comforting.
Be blessed!
MS
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Thank you. I'm not worried about people judging me about it. They're going to do it anyway & I just brush it off. It's more about my peace of mind about where he ended up.
My father did that because he believed my brother & I would have a better life w/o him. I would hate to think that because he wasn't thinking clearly & tried to do something to better my life that he's damned himself. In Christian religions, there are 3 stipulations about suicide that make it a mortal sin. One doesn't apply to him because he was sick, so he would be allowed the chance to go to Heaven. Would this be the same for the Summerland?
I like to think that because he wasn't in his right mind, was trying to make sure my brother & I had a good life & most likely didn't realize the permanent solution to his action that this may give him a little leeway (sp?). If he was perfectly okay mentally & did it because he couldn't deal w/life I'm sure I would feel differently. In a way, though, he died for my brother & I so I'd like to think he's in a better place.
Answer Ashley,
Yes. He obviously did what he felt that he had to with the knowledge he had at that time. As I said, suicide will allow one to enter The Summerland. Then one may re-enter the world to learn and experience what is necessary to attain balance. That is where he is.
