British Traditional Wicca (abbreviated BTW) is a term used to describe some Wiccan Traditions which have their origins in the New Forest region of England. The most prominent such tradtions are Gardnerian Wicca and Alexandrian Wicca, but other traditions either derived from them, or claiming a shared New Forest history (notably Central Valley Wicca) are also considered to be British Traditional Wicca. In the case of some traditions (notably Blue Star Wicca) some lines are considered to be British Traditional Wicca and some are not. The pentagram within a circle, a symbol of faith used by many Wiccans. ... Bucklers Hard on the Beaulieu River For other uses, see New Forest (disambiguation). ... This article or section contains information that has not been verified and thus might not be reliable. ... Alexandrian Wicca is a tradition of the Neopagan religion of Wicca, founded by Alex Sanders (also known as King of the Witches) who, with his wife Maxine Sanders, established the tradition in the 1960s. ... Blue Star Wicca is one of a number of Wiccan traditions created in the United States in the 1970s based loosely on the Gardnerian and Alexandrian traditions. ...

History Of The Term

The term "wicca" is well-attested as the Anglo-Saxon word for "[male] witch". In modern usage however it came into the public lexicon with the works of Gerald Gardner, with the spelling "wica". That the term (in either spelling) was used solely for a particular group of witches was generally accepted both by Gardner's initiates and unrelated witches who did not use the word to describe themselves, and in some cases would speak scornfully of the "Wiccans". Indeed the derived word "Wiccan" appears to have been coined by the witch Robert Cochrane who used it derisively. The cover of Witchcraft Today, in which Gardner made the disputed claim to have encountered religious witchcraft survivals in England. ...

Initially "The Wica" was used as the term for the group in question. Members of the group where described as "of the Wica", and their religion was merely labelled "The Old Religion". The usage changed to the current trend of referring the the religion and priesthood as "Wicca" and its practitioners as "Wiccan" (used both as a noun and an adjective).

Due to the impact of Gardner, Alex Sanders and their initiatory descendants upon Pagan witchcraft, and possibly due to the term being originally relatively unknown and hence not sharing nuances and preconceptions that "witch" and "witchcraft" have, the term "Wicca" became the term used for almost all Neopagan witchcraft. Alex Sanders (June 6, 1926 - April 30, 1988), born Orrell Alexander Carter, was the founder of the Alexandrian tradition of Wicca. ...

This led to three groups using the term in different ways:

1. The New Forest-descended covens were using the term "Wicca" solely to describe themselves.
2. Neopagan Witches were using the term "Wicca" to describe all or nearly all Pagan witches, certainly including themselves as well as the New Forest-descended covens, and often including those witches that disassociated themselves from the term. In many cases arguing that "Wiccan" and "Witch" were synonymous.
3. Some who would label themselves "witches" (some of these also labelling themselves "Pagan", some not) would be aware of the term "Wicca" but, however they understood it, not consider themselves Wiccan.

This difference in definition led to some hostility between the first and second groups. The New Forest-derived covens saw the Neopagan Witches as claiming a name that did not belong to them, but only to "family". The Neopagan Witches saw the New Forest-derived covens' claim to the term as élitist and disparaging of their own paths. As historical hostility between Gardnerians and Alexandrians waned, the differences between them and others using the term "Wicca" became all the more apparant.

The term "British Traditional Witchcraft" was suggested, mainly in the United States, as an uncontroversal label for the New Forest-descended covens, but that term is used in Britain to refer to those traditions, such as Cochrane's, that claim a heritage predating Gardner's publications, but not related to Gardner's groups or recent predecessors of it.

Hence the term "British Traditional Wicca" became the term used to uncontroversally label the New Forest traditions, though they will generally use "Wicca" amongst themselves to refer only to British Traditional Wicca.

Recognition as British Traditional Wicca

For someone to be recognised as practising British Traditional Wicca by another practitioner the most basic requirement is that they were initiated into the tradition by someone who was themselves a BTW initiate of sufficient degree - and hence having an initiatory heritage tracable back to someone indisputably of the Tradition, generally being traced as far as Gardner, Sanders, etc.

However it is also a requirement that the training they received, and the tradition they continue to work, remain consistent with BTW practice. The exact requirements of this are not well defined, and apparantly contain at least a few oath-bound matters not discussed with non-initiates.

Defining Features of British Traditional Wicca

Because BTW has been highly influencial upon other Wiccan traditions pretty much every aspect of BTW practice will be found in some other Wiccan tradition. Even the importance of initiatory lineage is found in some - whether because they are traditions descended from BTW, but having departed from it, or because they have a similar, but unlinked, place for initiatory lineage.

Notably, Isacc Bonewits defines BTW not as Neopagan (which he categorises other Wiccan paths as) but as Mesopagan.

http://www.neopagan.net/PaganDefs.html

Geographic Distribution of Usage

The term is most commonly used in the United States, where the British origins of these traditions is more noticable. The term is becoming more common in Britain and Ireland, though there is some resistance to its adoption due to the word "Wicca" being more commonly identified amongst Pagans there as referring solely to the New Forest traditions (or at least, of that narrower definition as being one, if not the only, definition of the word) and the fact that "British" is unremarkable in Britain (where being "British" is after all the norm) and has negative connotations in Ireland for historical reasons.