stRgrL,
Okay, #1, you're not retarded, LOL, just ignorant on a pretty esoteric topic that most folks know virtually nothing about. Nothing to forgive - you asked a set of perfectly honest and reasonable questions.
As for those questions... Well, the answer you're going to get is going to vary by the witch. That's one thing about having a "religion" (for lack of a better term) that has no set dogma - most of us sort of decide what we believe and work with that throughout our lives, revising our opinions as we learn from our mistakes.
Okay...the witch that abuses magic: Some believe in a "Rule of Three", I spoke about that briefly before. This idea basically states that what you send out (ie positive or negative energies, usually in the form of spells) will come back to you, TIMES THREE. (I've also rarely heard other versions that say times six, or slightly more frequently, times nine).
Personally, I do believe that you attract the same sort of energies you send out, but I don't see any sort of multiplication going on in any sort of consistent format.
A couple of good (if rather mundane) examples of this might be a witch that likes to portray herself as intimidating and powerful. If she runs around in black capes flinging hexes, should she be surprised when people vandalize her car and heave rocks through her front windows? She spewed out negativity, she got back negativity.
Now take a witch that is unassuming, she lives peacefully with her Christian neigbors even though she wears a pentagram openly, and uses the magic at her disposal to heal and soothe those she encounters. She is likely to be well-liked despite her "eccentricity", even if she is "found out" to be a witch. She spews positivity, she gets back positivity.
Granted, someone can look and act like the unassuming witch and hex herself silly all night in secrecy, but in my experience, it's very difficult to hide your true self for an extended period of time. Eventually, the truth appears, and consequences are paid in the form of loss of friendship, jobs, trust, and sometimes actual physical danger, depending on the situation.
Do you ("we") have a god...well, there's another that's going to vary depending upon the witch. This is actually a pretty big question! There are lots of variations of belief in Godhood...
Some believe there is a single supreme deity, most often a Goddess.
Some believe in a single supreme deity that is usually split into a male half (A God) and a female half (A Goddess) that are roughly equal in power. If one is considered supreme, it is most often the Goddess half.
Some believe there are hundreds or thousands of different Gods, none are supreme over the others, instead each are (usually) supreme over a certain aspect or two of nature. (IE a God/dess of Beauty, a God/dess of Childbirth, a God/dess of Healing, etc)
Still others believe in a mixture of the above - a single deity, usually split into male and female halves, but known by thousands of names across the globe, giving the impression of being several thousand Gods and Goddesses but is actually a dual or single being.
And then there's the belief that all things are God - every living thing is a bit of God, add us all up and you're getting there...
Some believe the concept of "God" is just a label we place on an unconscious universal force. Others believe the God and/or Goddess are thinking, feeling beings that reach out to, care for, and will communicate with human beings.
And then there are those that believe there are all sorts of different types of Gods in existance - some are unthinking forces, some are "elevated" or "enlightened" human souls, some are souls from a slightly different plane, etc.
Had enough yet?
And I'm just rattling this off the top of my head, I'm sure there are dozens and dozens of other beliefs.
Personally...well, I'm currently sort of in a blend of a bunch of these ideas. I think there is one main force in the universe that tends to make life happen - this is the true Creator, but it's a non-thinking being. What appears to reach out to us, that communicates with and loves us, is a layer of "being" added to that force, created by all the thousands of years of psychic activity in the form of prayer, ritual and spellwork humans have been pouring out since we became human. I believe we have literally given life to that force, made up of all the little bits we have willingly sacrificed to it over the years. How we percieve it from there, what sex we assign or what names we choose to call it are up to us. (all my own opinion, of course)
Many of those specialized God-names are still useful to me, however. I regularly revere the Hindu god Ganesha, the name of this God works for me as sort of a key into the corresponding wavelengths of this "Force" or "God", producing the results I desire. (Ganesha is known as the remover of obstacles.)
The elements...ahhh, yes! And like anything else, my answer will vary from someone else's...
Most recognize four elements - Earth, Air, Fire & Water. Obviously, these aren't the modern elements... I've heard these called the "old" elements, and the "alchemical" elements. I believe these are mainly from the British area, which is where most witchcraft is traced back to.
BUT - this is another that varies upon tradition. Druids see "realms" instead of elements - the Realms of Earth, Air and Water, and Fire is the means of moving between the three realms.
Chinese medicine has five elements - Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Metal. (I think those are right, anyway...one of those seems wrong now that I'm looking at it though...)
I use a modification of the first set - I observe five elements, the fifth being "Space" or "Spirit".
The elements are useful in spellwork - each element corresponds to several things. Water, for example, corresponds to the direction West, the Sea, deep emotion, and femininity (and many, many other things). So if your spell involves any of those things, the element of Water might be a good thing to include.
When in ritual, many covens (or groves, or circles, or whatever they're calling themselves) will ask the spirit of each direction to be present, to lend their energy to the ritual and to protect the group from intrusion. In this role, the elements are often referred to as the "Watchtowers", and each element/direction/watchtower is invoked individually, asked to peform as guardian, then ritually thanked and dismissed at the end of the ritual. (With lots of variations, depending upon the group.)
I'm certain I've missed a whole bunch of information here, but I think this is a long enough post for the moment, LOL, and hopefully it'll at least give us some good stuff to talk about.
