The pentagram within a circle, a symbol of faith used by many Wiccans.

Wicca Portal

Wicca IPA: /ˈwɪkə/, is a nature-based religion popularised in 1954 by Gerald Gardner, a retired British civil servant, who at the time called it Witchcraft.^[1] He said that the religion, of which he was an initiate, was a modern survival of an old witchcraft religion which had existed in secret for hundreds of years, originating in the pre-Christian paganism of Europe.^[1] The veracity of Gardner's statements cannot be independently proven, however, and it is possible that Wiccan theology began to be compiled no earlier than the 1920s.^[2] Wicca is a Neopagan religion. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... A pentagram A pentagram (sometimes known as a pentalpha or pentangle or, more formally, as a star pentagon) is the shape of a five-pointed star drawn with five straight strokes. ... For other uses, see Faith (disambiguation). ... Image File history File links Portal. ... It has been suggested that New Forest coven be merged into this article or section. ... For other uses, see Initiation (disambiguation). ... Witch redirects here. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Relation to other religions Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Christianity Portal This box:      Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. ... Pagan and heathen redirect here. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ...

Various Wiccan traditions have since evolved from that established by Gardner, which came to be called Gardnerian Wicca. These other traditions have distinctive beliefs, rituals, and practices, and some remain secretive and require that members be initiated. Other traditions have also formed independently of Gardnerian lineage, including a growing movement of Eclectic Wiccans who do not believe that any doctrine or traditional initiation is necessary in order to practice Wicca.^[3] A tradition is a story or a custom that is memorized and passed down from generation to generation, originally without the need for a writing system. ... This article or section contains information that has not been verified and thus might not be reliable. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

The term 'Wicca' has somewhat different usage between Britain and North America. In Britain 'Wicca' has traditionally referred only to initiatory witchcraft in the lineage of Gerald Gardner and the New Forest coven (e.g. Gardnerian and Alexandrian Wicca), sometimes referred to as British Traditional Wicca in North America. In North America the term 'Wicca' has become more inclusive and encompasses a number of traditions inspired by but independent of that lineage.^[4] The New Forest coven was a witchcraft coven that met in Englands New Forest region. ... 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. ... 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. ...

Core concepts

Wicca is one variety of pagan witchcraft, with distinctive ritual forms, seasonal observances and religious, magical^[5] and ethical precepts. Other forms of witchcraft exist within many cultures, with widely varying practices. Many Wiccans, though not all, call themselves Pagans, though the umbrella term Paganism encompasses many faiths that have nothing to do with Wicca or witchcraft. Wicca has also been described as a Neopagan or a Mesopagan path.^[6] Because there is no centralised organisation in Wicca, and no single orthodoxy, the beliefs and practices of Wiccans can vary substantially, both among individuals and among traditions. Typically, the main religious principles, ethics, and ritual structures are shared, since they are key elements of traditional teachings and published works on the subject. Witch redirects here. ... For other senses of this word, see ritual (disambiguation). ... Various Religious symbols, including (first row) Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Bahai, (second row) Islamic, tribal, Taoist, Shinto (third row) Buddhist, Sikh, Hindu, Jain, (fourth row) Ayyavazhi, Triple Goddess, Maltese cross, pre-Christian Slavonic Religion is the adherence to codified beliefs and rituals that generally involve a faith in a spiritual... Not to be confused with Magic (illusion). ... An umbrella term is a word that provides a superset or grouping of related concepts, also called a hypernym. ... Pagan and heathen redirect here. ... Neopaganism or Neo-Paganism is any of a heterogeneous group of new religious movements, particularly those influenced by ancient, primarily pre-Christian and sometimes pre-Judaic religions. ... Pagan and heathen redirect here. ...

As practised by initiates in the lineage of Gerald Gardner, Wicca is a variety of witchcraft founded on religious and magical concepts. As such it is distinguished not only by its beliefs, but by its practice of magic, its ethical philosophy, initiatory system, organisational structure and secrecy.^[7] Some of these beliefs and practices have also been adopted by others outside of this lineage, often termed Eclectic Wiccans, who generally discard the institutions of initiation, secrecy and hierarchy, and have more widely varying beliefs. Some Eclectic Wiccans neither perform magic nor identify as witches. Within traditional forms of Wicca there are three degrees of initiation. First degree is required to become a witch and gain membership of a coven; those who aspire to teach may eventually undergo second and third degree initiations, conferring the title of "High Priest" or "High Priestess" and allowing them to establish new covens.^[7] At initiation, some Wiccans adopt a craft name to symbolise their spiritual "rebirth", to act as a magical alter-ego, or simply to provide anonymity when appearing as a witch in public (see Acceptance of Wiccans below). Coven or covan was originally a late medieval Scots word (c1500) meaning a gathering of any kind, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. ... A Craft name, also known as a magical (or magickal) name is a secondary religious name often adopted by practitioners of Wicca and other forms of neopagan witchcraft. ...

Beliefs

Main article: Wiccan views of divinity

For most Wiccans, Wicca is a duotheistic religion worshipping a God and a Goddess, who are seen as complementary polarities, and "embodiments of a life-force manifest in nature."^[8] They are sometimes symbolised as the Sun and Moon, and from her lunar associations the Goddess becomes a Triple Goddess with aspects of "Maiden", "Mother" and "Crone". Some Wiccans see the Goddess as pre-eminent, since she contains and conceives all; the God is the spark of life and inspiration within her, simultaneously her lover and her child. This is reflected in the traditional structure of the coven.^[9] In some traditions, notably feminist Dianic Wicca, the Goddess is seen as complete unto herself, and the God is not worshipped at all. Wicca is essentially an immanent religion, and for some Wiccans, this idea also involves elements of animism. A key belief in Wicca is that the goddesses and gods are able to manifest in personal form, most importantly through the bodies of Priestesses and Priests via the ritual of Drawing down the Moon (or Drawing down the Sun). Triple Goddess symbol of waxing, full and waning moon Wiccan views of divinity coalesce around a Goddess and God, with the Goddess sometimes given primacy. ... For other uses, see Dualism (disambiguation). ... A Triple Goddess symbol (probably originating from Classical Greek lunar symbolism), representing the three aspects of the moon (waxing crescent, full moon, waning crescent) and womankind (maiden, mother, crone). ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Immanence, derived from the Latin in manere to remain within, refers to philosophical and metaphysical theories of the divine as existing and acting within the mind or the world. ... The term Animism is derived from the Latin anima, meaning soul.[1][2] In its most general sense, animism is simply the belief in souls. ... While most widely known as the title of an influential book by Margot Adler, Drawing Down The Moon is a powerful ritual now most commonly seen in Wiccan practices, although Judica Illes asserts that the ritual itself predates Wicca by centuries. ...

According to Gardner, the gods of Wicca are ancient gods of the British Isles: a Horned God and a Great Mother goddess.^[10] Gardner also states that a being higher than any of these tribal gods is recognised by the witches as Prime Mover, but remains unknowable.^[11] Patricia Crowther has called this supreme godhead Dryghten,^[12] and some link this to ideas of a pantheistic view of God, such as the Hindu Brahman. The Pashupati-like figure on the Gundestrup cauldron The Horned God is a modern syncretic term, invented to link together numerous male nature gods out of such widely-dispersed and historically unconnected mythologies as the Celtic Cernunnos, the Welsh Caerwiden, the English Herne the Hunter, the Hindu Pashupati, the Greek... The Great Mother manifests itself in myth as a host of archaic images. ... The cosmological argument is a metaphysical argument for the existence of God, or a first mover of the cosmos. ... Patricia Crowther is considered influential in the early promotion of the Wicca religion. ... Pantheism literally means God is All and All is God. It is the view that everything is of an all-encompassing immanent God; or that the universe, or nature, and God are equivalent. ... This article discusses the adherents of Hinduism. ... Brahman (nominative ) is a concept of Hinduism. ...

Some Wiccans have a monotheistic belief in the Goddess and God as One. Many have a duotheistic conception of deity as a Goddess (of Moon, Earth and sea) and a God (of forest, hunting and the animal realm). This concept is often extended into a kind of polytheism by the belief that the gods and goddesses of all cultures are aspects of this pair (or of the Goddess alone). Others hold the various gods and goddesses to be separate and distinct. Still others do not believe in the gods as real personalities, but see them as archetypes or thoughtforms.^[13] Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone have observed that Wicca is becoming more polytheistic as it matures, and embracing a more traditional pagan world-view.^[14] For the Celtic Frost album, see Monotheist (album) In theology, monotheism (from Greek one and god) is the belief in the existence of one deity, or in the oneness of God. ... For other uses, see Dualism (disambiguation). ... Polytheism is belief in or worship of multiple gods or deities. ... For other uses, see Archetype (disambiguation). ... It has been suggested that Thought-form be merged into this article or section. ... Farrar, in a photograph taken by her husband, Stewart Farrar, demonstrates the Osiris pose in a 1981 book she co-authored. ... Gavin Bone is an author and lecturer in the fields of magic, witchcraft, Wicca and Neo-Paganism, and an organizer in the Neo-Pagan community. ...

Beliefs in the afterlife vary among Wiccans, though some support reincarnation. Reincarnation is a traditional Wiccan teaching - Raymond Buckland holds that a soul always reincarnates into the same species,^[15] though this belief is not universal. Raymond Buckland was the first person in the United States to openly admit to being a practitioner of Wicca. ...

Morality

Main articles: Wiccan morality and Homosexuality and Wicca

Wiccan morality is largely based on the Wiccan Rede: An it harm none, do what ye will, which is usually interpreted as a declaration of the freedom to act, along with the necessity of taking responsibility for what follows from one's actions and minimising harm to oneself and others.^[16] Another common element of Wiccan morality is the Law of Threefold Return which holds that whatever benevolent or malevolent actions a person performs will return to that person with triple force.^[17] The pentagram within a circle, a symbol of faith used by many Wiccans, sometimes called a pentacle. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The Wiccan Rede is a saying that was formulated to sum up the ethics of the neo-Pagan religion Wicca. ... The rule of three (or threefold law) is an important tenet in Wicca. ...

Many Wiccans also seek to cultivate a set of eight virtues mentioned in Doreen Valiente's Charge of the Goddess,^[18] these being mirth, reverence, honour, humility, strength, beauty, power and compassion. In Valiente's poem, they are ordered in pairs of complementary opposites, reflecting a dualism that is common throughout Wiccan philosophy. Some lineaged Wiccans also observe a set of 161 Wiccan Laws, commonly called the Craft Laws or Ardanes. Valiente, one of Gardner's original high priestesses, argued that these rules were most likely invented by Gardner himself in mock-archaic language as the by-product of inner conflict within his Bricket Wood coven.^[19][20] Doreen Valiente (1922 - 1999) was a co-creator of Wicca, together with Gerald Gardner. ... The Charge of the Goddess is a traditional inspirational text sometimes used in Neopaganism and Wicca. ... For other uses, see Dualism (disambiguation). ... The Wiccan Laws, also called the Craft Laws, the Old Laws or simply The Laws are the traditional laws of Wicca from the Book of Shadows. ...

Although Gardner initially demonstrated an aversion to homosexuality, claiming that it brought down "the curse of the goddess",^[21] it is now accepted in many traditions of Wicca. Homosexuality refers to sexual interaction and / or romantic attraction between individuals of the same sex. ...

A handfasting ceremony at Avebury in England, which occurred during Beltane of 2005.

Download high resolution version (530x700, 179 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (530x700, 179 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... This article is about the Avebury prehistoric site. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... This article is about the Gaelic holiday. ...

Ritual practices

When practising magic and casting spells, as well as when celebrating various festivals, Wiccans use a variety of rituals. In typical rites, the coven or solitary assembles inside a ritually cast and purified magic circle. Casting the circle may involve the invocation of the "Guardians" of the cardinal points: East (Air), South (Fire), West (Water) and North (Earth). This use of the classical elements is a key feature of the Wiccan world-view. Every manifest force or form is seen to express one or more of the four elements. Some add a fifth or quintessential element called Spirit (also called aether or akasha). The five points of the frequently worn pentagram symbolise, among other things, the four elements with spirit presiding at the top.^[22] Once the circle is cast, a seasonal ritual may be performed, prayers to the God and Goddess are said, and spells are sometimes worked. This article is about the magicians organization. ... An invocation (from the Latin verb invocare to call on, invoke) is: A supplication. ... . Bön . Hinduism (Tattva) and Buddhism (Mahābhūta) Prithvi / Bhumi — Earth Ap / Jala — Water Vayu / Pavan — Air / Wind Agni / Tejas — Fire Akasha — Aether . ... . Bön . Hinduism (Tattva) and Buddhism (Mahābhūta) Prithvi / Bhumi — Earth Ap / Jala — Water Vayu / Pavan — Air / Wind Agni / Tejas — Fire Akasha — Aether . ... Chinese Wood (木) | Fire (火) Earth (土) | Metal (金) | Water (水) Japanese Earth (地) | Water (水) | Fire (火) | Air / Wind (風) | Void / Sky / Heaven (空) Hinduism and Buddhism Vayu / Pavan — Air / Wind Agni / Tejas — Fire Akasha — Aether Prithvi / Bhumi — Earth Ap / Jala — Water Water has been important to all peoples of the earth, and it is rich in spiritual tradition. ... . Bön . Hinduism (Tattva) and Buddhism (Mahābhūta) Prithvi / Bhumi — Earth Ap / Jala — Water Vayu / Pavan — Air / Wind Agni / Tejas — Fire Akasha — Aether . ... Many ancient philosophies used a set of archetypal classical elements to explain patterns in nature. ... Hinduism (Tattva) and Buddhism (Mahābhūta) Vayu / Pavan — Air / Wind Agni/Tejas — Fire Akasha — Aether Prithvi / Bhumi — Earth Ap / Jala — Water Chinese (Wu Xing) Japanese (Godai) Earth (地) | Water (水) | Fire (火) | Air / Wind (風) | Void / Sky / Heaven (空) Bön Māori According to ancient and medieval science, Aether (Greek αἰθήρ, aithēr[1... Akasha is the Hindi/Sanskrit word meaning aether in both its elemental and mythological senses. ... A pentagram A pentagram (sometimes known as a pentalpha or pentangle or, more formally, as a star pentagon) is the shape of a five-pointed star drawn with five straight strokes. ...

An athame (black handle) and boline.

Many Wiccans use a special set of magical tools in their rituals. These can include a broom (besom), cauldron, chalice, wand, Book of Shadows, altar cloth, athame, boline, candles, crystals, pentacle and/or incense. An altar is usually present in the circle, on which ritual tools are placed and representations of the God/Goddess may be displayed.^[23]. Before entering the circle, some traditions fast for the day, and/or ritually bathe. After a ritual has finished, the God, Goddess and Guardians are thanked and the circle is closed. Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Athame Athame, athamé or arthame is what some practitioners of ritual magic call their ceremonial knives. ... Boline is the name given to a knife used by some practitioners of ritual Magick. ... The Magician from the Waite-Smith tarot. ... broom A broom is a cleaning tool consisting of stiff fibres attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical handle, the broomstick. ... Three-legged iron pots being used to cater for a school-leavers party in Botswana. ... Derrynaflan Chalice, an 8th or 9th Century chalice, found in County Tipperary, Ireland For other uses, see Chalice A chalice (from Latin calix, cup, borrowed from Greek kalyx, shell, husk) is a goblet intended to hold drink. ... The giant Galligantua and the wicked old magician transform the dukes daughter into a white hind. ... The Book of Shadows is a journal or collection of magical and religious texts of Wicca and other Neopagan witchcraft traditions, containing the core rituals, magical practices, ethics and philosophy of a Wiccan or other tradition. ... An altar cloth is used by magicians, Wiccans, Satanic witches, and other practicioners of the occult for one or more of several reasons. ... Athame Athame, athamé or arthame is what some practitioners of ritual magic call their ceremonial knives. ... Boline is the name given to a knife used by some practitioners of ritual Magick. ... For other uses, see Candle (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Crystal (disambiguation). ... A pentacle or pantacle is an amulet, generally made of parchment, paper or metal (although it can be of other materials), on which the symbol of a spirit being evoked is drawn. ... Incense is composed of aromatic organic materials. ... This article is about the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... For the 1934 film, see The Goddess (1934 film). ...

A sensationalised aspect of Wicca, particularly in Gardnerian Wicca, is the traditional practice of working in the nude, also known as skyclad. This practice seemingly derives from a line in Aradia, Charles Leland's supposed record of Italian witchcraft. Skyclad working is mostly the province of Initiatory Wiccans, who are outnumbered by the less strictly observant Eclectics. When they work clothed, Wiccans may wear robes with cords tied around the waist, "Renaissance-faire"-type clothing or normal street clothes. Depiction of nude witches from the 16th century. ... Title page of the original edition of Aradia Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches is an 1899 book by Charles Godfrey Leland. ... Charles Godfrey Leland (1824–1903) was an American humorist and folklorist, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and educated at Princeton University, and in Europe. ...

Special occasions

Wiccans hold a wide range of occasions with religious significance. Each full moon, and in some cases a new moon, is marked with a ritual called an Esbat. Wiccans also follow the Wheel of the Year and celebrate its eight festivals known as Sabbats.^[24] Four of these, the cross-quarter days, are greater festivals, coinciding with Celtic fire festivals. These are Samhain, Beltane or May Eve, Imbolc, and Lammas or Lughnasadh. The four lesser festivals are the Summer and Winter solstices, and the Spring and Autumn Equinoxes, which are referred to by some groups as Litha, Yule, Ostara and Mabon, respectively. The names of these holidays are often taken from Germanic pagan and Celtic polytheistic holidays. However, the festivals are not reconstructive in nature nor do they often resemble their historical counterparts, instead exhibiting a form of universalism. Ritual observations may display cultural influence from the holidays from which they take their name as well as influence from other unrelated cultures.^[25] Wiccans and many other Pagans celebrate the esbats, which are the full moons. ... In Neopaganism, the Wheel of the Year is the natural cycle of the seasons, commemorated by the eight Sabbats. ... A cross-quarter day is a day falling halfway between one of the four main solar events (two solstices and two equinoxes) and the next one. ... Diachronic distribution of Celtic peoples:  core Hallstatt territory, by the 6th century BC  maximal Celtic expansion, by the 3rd century BC  the six Celtic nations which retained significant numbers of Celtic speakers into the Early Modern period  areas where Celtic languages remain widely spoken today Celts (pronounced or , see pronunciation... Look up Samhain in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article is about the Gaelic holiday. ... Imbolc is one of the four principal festivals of the Irish calendar, celebrated either at the beginning of February or at the first local signs of Spring. ... In English-speaking countries in the Northern Hemisphere, August 1 is Lammas Day (loaf-mass day), the festival of the first wheat harvest of the year. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Midsummer may refer to the period of time centered upon the summer solstice and the diverse celebrations of it around the world, but more often refers to European celebrations that accompany the summer solstice, or to Western festivals that take place in June and are usually related to Saint John... This article is about the astronomical and cultural event of winters solstice, also known as midwinter. ... “Summer solstice” redirects here. ... For other uses, see Equinox (disambiguation). ... Litha, the entire light half of the year, is centered upon Midsummer, with which it is easily identified, so that the summer solstice holiday is often referred to as Litha, especially in the recreated calendar used in the revived Germanic religion of Asatru. ... For other uses, see Yule (disambiguation) and Jul (disambiguation). ... This article is about the solar holiday. ... Mabon is one of the eight solar holidays or sabbats of American Neopaganism. ... ROSIE IS A GERMN LADYGermanic paganism refers to the religion of the Germanic nations preceding Christianization. ... Celtic polytheism refers to the religious beliefs and practices of ancient Celts until the Christianization of Celtic-speaking lands. ... This article is about Universalism in religion and theology. ...

Handfasting is another celebration held by Wiccans, and is the commonly used term for their weddings. Some Wiccans observe the practice of a trial marriage for a year and a day, which some traditions hold should be contracted on Lammas (Lughnasadh), as this was the traditional time for trial, "Telltown marriages" among the Irish. Infants in Wiccan families may be involved in a ritual called a Wiccaning, which is analogous to a Christening. The purpose of this is to present the infant to the God and Goddess for protection. Despite this, in accordance with the importance put on free will in Wicca, the child is not necessarily expected or required to follow a Pagan path should they not wish to do so when they get older. Handfasting is an ancient Celtic wedding ritual in which the brides and grooms hands are tied together —hence the phrase tying the knot. It was a part of the normal marriage ceremony in the time of the Roman Empire. ... Telltown or Taillten is an outdated place name in County Meath, Ireland. ... == Wiccaning Ritual ==]] Goal: This ritual is for the purpose of formally naming a child, and presenting him or to the universe. ... Water is poured on the head of an infant held over the baptismal font of a Catholic church in the United States in 2004 In Christian religious practice, infant baptism is the baptism of young children or infants. ...

Book of Shadows

In Wicca a private journal or core religious text known as a Book of Shadows is kept by practitioners, similar to a grimoire.^[26] In lineaged groups, such as Gardnerian Wicca, the Book's contents are kept secret from anyone but the members of the lineage concerned (i.e., those initiating and initiated by a particular coven). However, several proposed versions of the Book have been published.^[27][28] Sections of these published versions, such as the "Wiccan Rede" and the "Charge of the Goddess", as well as other published writings about Wicca, have been adopted by non-initiates, or eclectic Wiccans. For many eclectics, they create their own personal books, whose contents are often only known by themselves. The Book of Shadows is a journal or collection of magical and religious texts of Wicca and other Neopagan witchcraft traditions, containing the core rituals, magical practices, ethics and philosophy of a Wiccan or other tradition. ... This design for an amulet comes from the Black Pullet grimoire. ... This article or section contains information that has not been verified and thus might not be reliable. ... The Wiccan Rede is a saying that was formulated to sum up the ethics of the neo-Pagan religion Wicca. ... The Charge of the Goddess is a traditional inspirational text sometimes used in Neopaganism and Wicca. ...

Traditions

See also: List of Wiccan organisations and Category:Wiccan traditions

A "tradition" in Wicca usually implies the transfer of a lineage by initiation. There are many such traditions^[29][30] and there are also many solitary or Eclectic Wiccans who do not align themselves with any particular lineage, some working alone, some joining in covens. There are also other forms of witchcraft which do not claim origins in Wicca. Traditions within the United States are well described in Margot Adler's Drawing Down the Moon, Starhawk's The Spiral Dance, and Chas S. Clifton's Her Hidden Children: The Rise of Wicca and Paganism in America^[31]. This is a list of Neopagan movements and organizations. ... Solitary Practitioners is the term used in the Wiccan community for people who practice without a Coven or group. ... Margot Adler (born 5 November 1946 in Little Rock, Arkansas) is a journalist and correspondent for National Public Radio. ... Drawing Down the Moon by Margot Adler was, perhaps, the first academic examination of Neopaganism. ... Starhawk (born Miriam Simos in St. ... The Spiral Dance: a Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess is a best-selling book about Pagan belief and practice by Starhawk. ...

The lack of consensus in establishing definitive categories in Wiccan communities has often resulted in confusion between Lineaged Wicca and the emergence of Eclectic traditions. This can be seen in the common description of many Eclectic traditions as traditional/initiatory/lineaged as well. In the United States, where the confusion usually arises, Wiccans in the various linages extending from Gardner may describe themselves as British Traditional Wiccans. 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. ...

Covens and Solitary Wiccans

Lineaged Wicca is organised into covens of initiated priests and priestesses. Covens are autonomous, and are generally headed by a High Priest and a High Priestess working in partnership, being a couple who have each been through their first, second and third degrees of initiation. Occasionally the leaders of a coven are only second-degree initiates, in which case they come under the rule of the parent coven. Initiation and training of new priesthood is most often performed within a coven environment, but this is not a necessity, and a few initiated Wiccans are unaffiliated with any coven.^[15]

A commonly quoted Wiccan tradition holds that the ideal number of members for a coven is thirteen, though this is not held as a hard-and-fast rule.^[15] Indeed, many U.S. covens are far smaller, though the membership may be augmented by unaffiliated Wiccans at "open" rituals. When covens grow beyond their ideal number of members, they often split (or "hive") into multiple covens, yet remain connected as a group. A grouping of multiple covens is known as a grove in many traditions. 13 (thirteen) is the natural number after 12 and before 14. ...

Initiation into a coven is traditionally preceded by a waiting period of at least a year and a day. A course of study may be set during this period. In some covens a "dedication" ceremony may be performed during this period, some time before the initiation proper, allowing the person to attend certain rituals on a probationary basis. Some solitary Wiccans also choose to study for a year and a day before their self-dedication to the religion.

In contrast, Eclectic Wiccans are more often than not solitary practitioners. Some of these "solitaries" do, however, attend gatherings and other community events, but reserve their spiritual practices (Sabbats, Esbats, spell-casting, worship, magical work, etc.) for when they are alone. Eclectic Wiccans now significantly outnumber lineaged Wiccans, and their beliefs and practices tend to be much more varied.^[7] Taken during a Hindu prayer ceremony on the eve of Diwali. ...

History

Main article: History of Wicca

Gerald Gardner, first populariser of Wicca. ...

Origins

The origins of Wicca are much debated. Gerald Gardner brought the religion to public attention in the 1950s. He claimed that after retiring from working in Asia, he encountered the New Forest coven and was initiated into it. Subsequently fearing that the Craft would die out,^[32] he worked on his book Witchcraft Today, releasing it in 1954, followed by The Meaning of Witchcraft in 1959. These books gave some details of the rituals and beliefs and attracted many new initiates from the 1960s onwards. Many of Gardner's rites and precepts can be shown to have come from the writings of earlier occultists and other extant sources (such as Aleister Crowley), and the remaining original material is uncohesive and mostly takes the form of substitutions or expansions within unoriginal material. Roger Dearnaley describes it as a patchwork.^[33] Gardner claimed that the religion was a survival of matriarchal pagan religions of pre-historic Europe, taught to him by members of the New Forest Coven; their rites were fragmentary, and he had substantially rewritten them. It has been posited by authors such as Aidan Kelly and Francis X. King that Gardner invented the rites in their entirety,^[34] incorporating elements from the pan-European witchcraft thesis of Dr. Margaret Murray, incantations from Aradia^[35] and practices of ceremonial magic.^[36] Philip Heselton concludes that while Gardner may have been mistaken about the ancient origins of the religion, his statements about it were largely made in good faith. It has been suggested that New Forest coven be merged into this article or section. ... For other uses, see Asia (disambiguation). ... The New Forest coven was a witchcraft coven that met in Englands New Forest region. ... Witchcraft Today is a Non-fiction book written by the inventor of the Wicca religion, Gerald Gardner. ... Aleister Crowley, born Edward Alexander Crowley, (12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947, pronounced ) was a British occultist, writer, mountaineer, philosopher, poet, and yogi. ... Pagan and heathen redirect here. ... The New Forest coven was a witchcraft coven that met in Englands New Forest region. ... We dont have an article called Aidan kelly Start this article Search for Aidan kelly in. ... Francis X. King (1939–1994) was a British occult writer and editor who wrote about tarot, divination, witchcraft, magic, and holistic medicine. ... This article or section seems not to be written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia entry. ... Title page of the original edition of Aradia Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches is an 1899 book by Charles Godfrey Leland. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ...

Some, such as Isaac Bonewits, have argued that Valiente and Heselton's evidence points to an early 20th century revival pre-dating Gardner, rather than an intact old pagan religion. This argument points to some of Gardner's historical claims which agree with the scholarship of that period but contradict later scholarship. Bonewits writes, "Somewhere between 1920 and 1925 in England some folklorists appear to have gotten together with some Golden Dawn Rosicrucians and a few supposed Fam-Trads to produce the first modern covens in England; grabbing eclectically from any source they could find in order to try and reconstruct the shards of their pagan past."^[37] The idea of a supreme Mother Goddess was common in Victorian and Edwardian literature: the concept of a Horned God — especially related to the gods Pan or Faunus — was less common, but still significant.^[38] Both of these ideas were widely accepted in academic literature and the popular press at the time.^[39] Phillip Emmons Isaac Bonewits (born October 1, 1949) is an influential Neopagan leader and author. ... Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, in Egyptian costume, performs a ritual of Isis (not a Rite of the Golden Dawn). ... The Temple of the Rose Cross, Teophilus Schweighardt Constantiens, 1618. ... A Cucuteni culture statuette, 4th millennium BC. A mother goddess is a goddess, often portrayed as the Earth Mother, who serves as a general fertility deity, the bountiful embodiment of the earth. ... The Edwardian period or Edwardian era in the United Kingdom is the period 1901 to 1910, the reign of King Edward VII. It succeeded the Victorian period and is sometimes extended to include the period up to the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912, the start of World War... The Pashupati-like figure on the Gundestrup cauldron The Horned God is a modern syncretic term, invented to link together numerous male nature gods out of such widely-dispersed and historically unconnected mythologies as the Celtic Cernunnos, the Welsh Caerwiden, the English Herne the Hunter, the Hindu Pashupati, the Greek... Pan (Greek , genitive ) is the Greek god of shepherds and flocks, of mountain wilds, hunting and rustic music: paein means to pasture. ...

Later developments

Gardnerian Wicca was an initiatory mystery religion, admission to which was limited to those who were initiated into a pre-existing coven. Wicca was introduced to North America by Raymond Buckland, an expatriate Briton who visited Gardner's Isle of Man coven to gain initiation. Interest in the USA spread quickly, and while many were initiated, many more non-initiates compiled their own rituals based on published sources or their own fancy.^[40] Mystery religions, or simply Mysteries, were belief systems of the Graeco-Roman world full admission to which was restricted to those who had gone through certain secret initiation rites. ... Raymond Buckland was the first person in the United States to openly admit to being a practitioner of Wicca. ...

Another significant development was the creation by feminists in the late sixties and seventies of an eclectic movement known as Dianic Wicca, or feminist Dianic Witchcraft. Dianic Wicca has no connection of lineage to traditional Wicca, and creatively interprets published materials on Wicca as a basis for their ritual structure. This specifically feminist, Goddess-oriented faith had no interest in the Horned God, and discarded Gardnerian-style hierarchy and lineage as irrelevant. Rituals were created for self-initiation to allow people to identify with and join the religion without first contacting an existing coven. This contrasts with the Gardnerian belief that only a witch of opposite gender can initiate another witch. This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

In the United Kingdom, initiates of Gardner had begun to perform their own initiations, and a number of lines of Gardnerian descent began to arise. From one of these (although it was originally claimed to derive from a traditional, non-Gardnerian source) came the line known as Alexandrian Wicca. Increasing popularity on both sides of the Atlantic, and in other countries, along with the increasing availability of published material, meant that many people started to practice a form of Wicca without being part of a coven or having participated in an initiation. In response to this, traditionally initiated Wiccans in North America began to describe their version as British Traditional Wicca. 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. ... 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. ...

Demographics

Isaac Bonewits points out some of the practical problems in establishing the numbers of any neopagan group.^[41] Nevertheless some estimates have been attempted. The 2001 American Religious Identification Survey estimated that at least 134,000 adults identified themselves as Wiccans in the United States, compared to 8,000 in 1990.^[42] In the UK, census figures do not allow an accurate breakdown of traditions within the Pagan heading, as a campaign by the Pagan Federation before the 2001 Census encouraged Wiccans, Heathens, Druids and others all to use the same write-in term 'Pagan' in order to maximise the numbers reported. For the first time, respondents were able to write in an affiliation not covered by the checklist of common religions, and a total of 42,262 people from England, Scotland and Wales declared themselves to be Pagans by this method. These figures were not immediately analysed by the Office of National Statistics, but were released after an application by the Pagan Federation of Scotland.^[43] Adherents.com, an independent website which specialises in collecting estimates of world religions, cites over 30 sources with estimates of numbers of Wiccans (principally from the USA and UK.).^[44] Their median estimate for Wiccan numbers is 800,000 worldwide. The Pagan Federation is a voluntary organisation, formed in 1971, which campaigns for the rights of pagans and to educate the public about paganism. ... UK Census 2001 logo A nationwide census, commonly known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday 29 April 2001. ... The Office for National Statistics is the UK government agency charged with the collection and publication of government statistics. ... The Pagan Federation is a voluntary organisation, formed in 1971, which campaigns for the rights of pagans and to educate the public about paganism. ... Adherents. ...

Etymology

See also: Witch (etymology)

The spelling Wica first appears in the writings of Gerald Gardner (Witchcraft Today, 1954, and The Meaning of Witchcraft, 1959). He used the word as a mass noun referring to the adherents of his tradition of witchcraft ('the Wica'), rather than the religion itself. He referred to the religion as witchcraft, never Wica. The word seems to be based on the Old English word wicca IPA: [ˈwɪtʃɑ]; similarly, wicca and its feminine form wice are the predecessors of the modern English witch. Magic Circle by John William Waterhouse // Main article: Witchcraft According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word witch dates back to Old English where the noun forms were wicca (masc. ... It has been suggested that Count noun be merged into this article or section. ... Old English (also called Anglo-Saxon[1], Old English: ) is an early form of the English language that was spoken in parts of what is now England and southern Scotland between the mid-fifth century and the mid-twelfth century. ... Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ...

Gardner himself claimed he learned the term from existing members of the group who initiated him into witchcraft in 1939: "I realised I had stumbled on something interesting; but I was half-initiated before the word Wica which they used hit me like a thunderbolt, and I knew where I was, and that the Old Religion still existed."^[45][46]

The spelling Wicca was not used by Gardner and the term Wiccan (both as an adjective and a noun) was not used until much later, but it is now the prevalent term to refer to followers of Wicca.^[47]

Acceptance of Wiccans

Main article: Religious discrimination against Neopagans

In the United States, a number of legal decisions have improved and validated the status of Wiccans in that country, especially Dettmer v. Landon in 1985. However, there is still hostility from some politicians and Christian organisations.^[48][49][50] Religious discrimination against adherents of various neopagan denominations. ... Dettmer v. ...

According to the traditional history of Wicca as given by Gerald Gardner, Wicca is a survival of the European witch-cult that was persecuted during the witch trials (sometimes called the Burning Times). Since then theories of an organised pan-European witch-cult have been largely discredited, but it is still common for Wiccans to feel solidarity with the victims of the witch trials.^[51] To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A witch-hunt is a search for suspected witches; it is a type of moral panic. ...

There have been assertions made that Wicca is a form of Satanism, despite important differences between these religions.^[52] Due to negative connotations associated with witchcraft, many Wiccans continue the traditional practice of secrecy, concealing their faith for fear of persecution. Revealing oneself as Wiccan to family, friends or colleagues is often termed "coming out of the broom-closet".^[53] Peter H. Gilmore, High Priest of the Church of Satan. ...

References and footnotes