Wicca

An Introduction to Wicca

Wicca is a modern religion founded arguably in 1954 by Gerald B. Gardner, a retired British civil servant. Gardner's Wicca contains some elements from the traditions of old British witchcraft, however, Wicca was primarily based on a number of external sources including the Ceremonial Magick of the Order of the Golden Dawn and the beliefs and practices of other secret societies.

Gardner may have been a genius but the formation of Wicca is a conundrum, a problem having only a conjectural answer. Either he got incredibly lucky or he had the acuity of mind to sense an immense need for a revival of Paganism in general, and of British Witchcraft specifically in modern society.

But what is this "spectrum of source material"?

Well, the list is rather surprising. It includes concepts, beliefs, practices, organizational structure, rituals, and high magic ceremonialism of:

• The Order of the Golden Dawn,
• The Freemasons,
• The Ordo Templi Orientis,
• The Rosicrucians, as well as
• Eastern philosophy, and
• Some bits from British Traditional Witchcraft, as well as
• Celtic mythology, and very notably
• The teachings of Aleister Crowley. It is believed that Crowley must have written part of the original Wicca liturgy.

Legitimacy

Since Wicca was assembled from various external sources, and it appears that Gardner tried to conceal this fact, you may ask, "Can such a religion be valid?"

In the case with Wicca, the answer is a very strong "Yes".

While on principle the use of "borrowed" material could be irksome to some, it is a fact that all religions have assumed ownership of materials that pre-existed in earlier religions or in other sources.

Christianity is a prime example. It was created entirely from "borrowed" sources. There is virtually nothing that is unique to Christianity, except the name of the baby.

In the end, the intrinsic legitimacy of any religion is its effectiveness in fulfilling the spiritual needs of its members and in providing a strong moral and ethical base for proper human behavior. Gardner's Wicca has been enormously successful in creating such a religion.

The Duality of One

Most Wiccans tend to see Wicca as an henotheistic religion, meaning they believe in many gods and goddesses with one that is supreme. This Supreme God/Goddess is named The One and this divine entity is without gender, is all knowing, and is all powerful.

Wiccans are also usually pantheistic, which means that Wicca also sees God/Goddess as being part of everything, which is to be understood as: God is everywhere, and everywhere is God. In this manner, God is universal, as God is the universe, the universe is God.

Wicca believes that The One is beyond human comprehension, so Wicca personifies the deity in a male and female representatives known my several names such as the Horned God and Goddess of the Moon, or Father Sky and Mother Nature. In ritual, this God and Goddess, or the Lord and Lady, are the ones invoked and the recipients of prayer.

It must be acknowledged that some Wiccans can also be polytheists, monists, animists, and non-commitedists. What I state is only a generalization.

Reincarnation and Karma

We know Gardner studied Eastern philosophy and religion. It is obvious that he adopted the Eastern philosophical view of reincarnation and karma and brought them into Wicca. The details of belief are much the same as in New Age thought.

Ethics

Wicca is an ethically-based religion. The Wiccan Rede is a document to guide the Wiccan community in areas of ethics and morals. The often quoted line, An it harm none, do what ye will, means "if it harms none, do what you wish." The Threefold Law, states, "Mind the Threefold Law ye should, Three times bad and three times good," means that good deeds and bad deeds come back to the sender 'in threes'. Example: Do one thing bad and you will receive three bad things in return.

Nature

Wiccans are encouraged to forge a meaningful connection with nature. Wiccan rituals are preferably conducted in nature, out-of-doors, at an isolated setting. However, Wicca has a mostly urban following, so many practitioners may have limited access to an isolated. At the very least, Wiccans do take a special interest in nature, ecology, and other environmental and animal rights causes. Many volunteer their time for such causes.

Skyclad

Gardner was a long-time nudist and he brought nudity, or being "skyclad," into Wiccan ritual even though nudity had never been a tradition in witchcraft in Britain or in Ceremonial Magick.

While it is true that the more conservative Wiccan covens expect members to be skyclad during important rituals, many liberal covens and solitary practitioners remain robed during ritual.

Wheel of The Year

Wiccans follow the Wheel Of The Year during which the eight (8) festivals are rather evenly spaced throughout the year. All eight are of prime importance in Wicca religion. In Wicca the festivals are called sabbats.

The eight sabbats are the four (4) Celtic Festivals (Imbolc, May Day, Lammas, and Samhain), plus the two solstices and the two equinoxes (Ostara, Midsummer, Mabon, and Yule).

Wiccans follow the Celtic yearly mythological saga of the birth, death, and rebirth of the God (the Sun God), with the Goddess playing the major role. Each festival provides an installment in the sacred story.

The esbats, the monthly celebration of the Full Moon, is usually observed but is held in secondary importance.

Ritual Tools

Wicca's primary ritual tools are the chalice, Pentacle, athame, and wand. These represent the four Hermetic elements that appear in the high rituals of many occult organizations. Of course, additional tools are used in ritual, such as the scourge, besom, bell, censer, and cauldron.

Magic

The type of magic practiced in Wicca is a combination of Ceremonial Magick, or High Magick, which comes from the Western Esoteric Tradition, with some limited influence from Traditional Magic, the indigenous traditional magical arts of the British Isles. However, Wiccans never think of themselves as Ceremonial Magickians unless they have specific training outside of Wicca.

Wiccans subscribe in the concept of good and bad magic, or white and black magic. Their practice is restricted to white magic, which is used for positive purposes only. In theory, a Wiccan should never use a hex or a curse even as a means of protection, although this is not always followed, especially by experienced witches originally trained outside of Wicca.

Divisions Within

In order to understand the somewhat wide scope of practices and organization in Wicca, I believe it best to think of Wicca as divided into two primary divisions. These I name Traditional Wicca and Progressive Wicca.

Traditional Wicca

Also called British Traditional Wicca, especially in the United States, this is a coven-based family of Wiccan traditions related to the founding Gardnerian Wicca. This is the most conservative wing of Wicca which includes the Gardnerians, Alexandrians, Georgians, Correllians, and other such groups.

All Traditional Wiccans are initiated and can trace their initiation lineage back directly to Gerald Gardiner himself. To them this is very important.

Traditional Wiccan covens are always highly hierarchical and have a strict degree-level system of ranks. They all tend to be rigid and secretive. Entry into one of their covens is by member sponsorship only. The process of gaining membership can be slow and difficult.

To test mental stability, some covens will place perspective members under strong psychological pressure during the interview process so as to weed out those they feel to be too weak. Some have criticized these groups for being overly invasive and emotionally abusive in this selection process.

Conservative Wiccans seldom allow a member to be a solitary practitioner. The only exception is when a long-time member is in poor health. Otherwise attendance at scheduled coven events is always required.

Progressive Wicca

This is the liberal wing of Wicca. There must be hundreds of covens and tens of thousands of solitary practitioners that are progressive in spirit but Wiccan in core belief and practice. Covens usually have a looser structure and varied practices. Many foster a co-operative, helpful attitude to those wishing to join. Of course, most or all coven rituals will still be held in private; and members are expected to attend. But there is no question that these groups represent an important reform movement.

Very surprisingly, practicing magic privately is often considered optional. Many liberal covens and individual practitioners do not consider witchcraft to be their 'calling'.

Many in Wicca, especially younger members, are only involved in Wicca for worship rituals and the social aspect of the group. So, interest in magic in Progressive Wicca can be extremely variable.

Nevertheless, many Progressive Wiccans consider witchcraft and magic to be important and take it very seriously. Some leading witches are Progressive Wiccans.

Sleights of Mind

Unfortunately, many Wiccans have ideas about their religion that are misleading or simply not true. Most of this misinformation came from Gardner himself. It seems that Gardner viewed certain aspects of Wicca with no regard to actual tradition in British witchcraft or the facts of history. Although some have argued that Gardner simply did not know better.

1) "Wicca is descended from the "Old Religion." There is no historic evidence to presume this to be correct. Nevertheless, Wiccans, especially conservative Wiccans, stubbornly insists this is true. As with the other points on this list, conservative covens even teach this mistaken belief as fact.

The fact is that the Wicca religion is not ancient paganism and was not based on ancient British religion. It would be more accurate to say that Wicca is a nature-based religion that draws much of its inspiration from the Pagan religions of old Britain.

2) "Wicca is Celtic." This is not possible. The Celts were a culture of various peoples that once covered a wide part of Europe. It was not a religion. Anthropologists believe it is very likely that Celtic groups held radically different religious beliefs to that of modern Wicca. It would be more accurate to say that Wicca draws much of its inspiration from Celtic myths and culture.

3) "Wicca is witchcraft." Wicca is a religion, it is not witchcraft. Witchcraft is "magical practice" and is not of itself a religion. Wicca uses a unique blend of two distinctly different forms of magic thereby producing one of several forms of witchcraft in use today. Wicca 'does not own the whole pie'.

4) "Wicca is British Traditional Witchcraft." Conservatives, such as the Gardnerians and the Alexandrians, stubbornly insists they are traditional British witches. This is NOT possible.

Wiccan magical practices were obtained primarily from various external sources, as mentioned earlier. Wiccan magick does NOT substantially reflect the traditions of British witchcraft.

It would be more accurate to say that conservative Wicca is British Traditional Wicca.

Pagan Religions