Does Wicca have any relation to the Native American beliefs, such as spirit animals? What significance do animals hold in Wiccan society?

Wicca — also known as the Old Religion, Witchcraft, or the Craft — is derived from the old Anglo-Saxon word “wicce,” pronounced “witche,” giving rise to the commonly used but frequently misunderstood term Witchcraft. “Wicce” meant a practitioner of the Old Religion, and reflects the influence of the Old Norse word “vitke,” meaning a priestess, seer or shaman. The word pagan is from the Latin “paganus”, a country dweller. “Heathen,” another related term also misinterpreted as a pejorative, meant one who dwelt on the heath. All were European peoples who, like Native Americans and other indigenous groups, lived close to the Earth and respected their relationship to nature as sacred. Nature is a large part of the Native American traditions and Wicca follows many similar traditions.

The Wiccan tenet is that spiritual insight is achieved through living in harmony with the Earth. Like the spiritual worldview and practices of Native Americans, Taoists and many indigenous Earth religions, Wiccan spiritual practices will attune humanity to the natural rhythms and cycles of nature. Rituals coincide with the phases of the moon, which are particularly significant for women, and the seasonal changes. Wiccans seek to live in a balanced way with nature and to practice their spirituality not only in sacred rituals but in the way they live each day. Thus the Divine is experienced not only in prayer, meditation, ritual, and shamanic work, but in gardening, preparing a meal, recycling trash, making love, giving birth, and growing old. Divine presence is felt in the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food upon our tables, the creatures and plants with which we share this beautiful planet, and the sacred Earth that nourishes and sustains us.

Reverence for the Earth expresses reverence for the Divine which it reflects a deep ecological concern which is more than pragmatic. As an embodiment of the Divine, the Earth is not treated as a utilitarian object, to be exploited, polluted and destroyed for man’s short-term greed. Rather it is inherently sacred in its value. This fundamental respect for the Earth as sacred has drawn many people to the practice of Wicca and, like other indigenous religions, may be one of its greatest contributions to a world imperiled by ecological crisis.