Introduction
Understanding Wicca
Wicca is a modern religion inspired by folklore, ceremonial magic, nature romance and ancient assumptions about witchcraft. It does not constitute the secret and uninterrupted survival of a prehistoric cult, even though some early Wiccans believed it.
Gardner's tradition was publicized in the 1950s after the repeal of British laws against witchcraft.
To be retained
Four essential principles
- Wicca is a modern religion inspired by folklore, ceremonial magic, nature romance and ancient assumptions about witchcraft.
- Gardner's tradition was publicized in the 1950s after the repeal of British laws against witchcraft.
- The ritual circle creates a consecrated space.
- wicca is a contemporary religion of nature, ritual, autonomy and magical responsibility.
Small timeline
A tradition shaped by history
Origins and training
Gardner's tradition was publicized in the 1950s after the repeal of British laws against witchcraft.
Historical developments
The Gardnerian and Alexandrian Wicca operate with initiatory covens.
Ritual life and teachings
The ritual circle creates a consecrated space.
A living and plural tradition
Eclectic, feminist and solitary forms then spread widely, including books and the Internet.
History and development
Gardner's tradition was publicized in the 1950s after the repeal of British laws against witchcraft. The Wicca Gardnerian and Alexandrian works with initiatory covens.
Eclectic, feminist and solitary forms then spread widely, including books and the Internet.
Worldview, beliefs and practices
The ritual circle creates a consecrated space. The four directions and elements are invoked, then the divinities honored by prayers, meditations, magic and symbolic meal. The Sabbaths follow solstice, equinoxes and seasonal holidays rebuilt.
The "Wiccan Rede*, "if it does not harm anyone...", is influential without being a universal command. The "law of triple return" is not shared by all.
Texts, symbols and transmission
Books of Shadows proper to the lines, Load of Goddess and works of Gardner, Valiente and Starhawk. Symbols: pentacle pointed up, athamé, chalice, baguette, cauldron and moon.
The wiccan pentacle is not satanic.
What research can and cannot say
Historians have refuted the idea of a witch religion intact since ancient times. Magic is a matter of belief and symbolic practice, not of proven causality.
References