Wicca ( English: ), also called Pagan Witchcraft , is a new contemporary Pagan religious movement. It was developed in England during the first half of the 20th century and was introduced to the public in 1954 by Gerald Gardner, a retired British civil servant. Wicca refers to a variety of ancient pagan and 20th century hermetic motifs for its theological structure and ritual practices.
Wicca has no central authority. Its core beliefs, principles and practices were initially outlined in the 1940s and 1950s by Gardner and Doreen Valiente, both in published books and in secret written and oral teachings passed on to the initiates. There are many variations on the core structure, and religion grows and develops over time. It is divided into a number of diverse lineages, sects and denominations, referred to as tradition , each with its own organizational structure and level of centralization. Because of its decentralized nature, there are some disagreements over what Wicca really is. Some traditions, collectively referred to as Wicca Traditional English, strictly follow Gardner's genealogical lineage and consider the term Wicca to apply only to similar traditions, but not to newer eclectic traditions.
Wicca is usually duotheistic, worshiping a Goddess and God. It is traditionally viewed as the Goddess of the Moon and the Horned God, respectively. These gods can be viewed in a henotheistic way, as they have many different divine aspects which in turn can be identified with many diverse idol gods from different historical pantheons. For this reason, they are sometimes referred to as the "Great Goddess" and the "Great-Goddess God", with the adjective "superstitious" which defines a god containing many other gods in their own realm. Both of these gods are sometimes viewed as aspects of the greater pantheistic deity, which is regarded as an impersonal force or process than a personal god. While duotheism or bitheism is traditional in Wicca, Wiccan's broader beliefs range from polytheism to pantheism or monism, even to the monotheism of the Goddess.
The Wiccan celebration encompasses both the Moon cycle, known as the Esbats and is commonly associated with the Goddess (female god), and the Sun cycle, a seasonal-based festival known as the Sabbats and commonly associated with the Horned deity (male deity). The unknown statement known as Wiccan Rede is a popular expression of Wiccan morality, though not universally accepted by Wiccans. Wicca often involves the practice of magic rituals, though that is not always necessary.
Video Wicca
Definition and terminology
Scholars of religious studies classify Wicca as a new religious movement, and more specifically as a form of modern Paganism. Quoted as the largest, most famous, most influential and academically studied form of paganism, it has been identified as sitting at the end of the eclectic and reconstruction spectrum. Some scholars also categorize Wicca as a form of religion of nature, a term that is also shared by many religious practitioners. However, given that Wicca also incorporates the practice of magic, some scholars refer to it as "magico-religion". Wicca is also a form of Western esoterism, and more specifically part of the esoteric currents known as the occult.
Despite being recognized as a religion by academics, some evangelical Christians have tried to deny such legal recognition, while some Wiccan practitioners themselves distanced themselves from the term "religion" - linking the latter purely with organized religion - instead of supporting "spirituality" or " way of life ". Although Wicca as a religion differs from other forms of contemporary Paganism, there is much "cross-fertilization" between these different Pagan religions; therefore, Wicca has been influenced and influenced by other Pagan religions, thus making a clear distinction between them more difficult for religious scholars to make. The terms wizard and warlock are generally blocked in the community. In Wicca, denominations are referred to as traditions , while non-Wiccan are often called pagans .
"Magic" and "Wicca"
When religion first became public attention, it was commonly called "Magic". For example, Gerald Gardner - the man who is regarded as "Mr. Wicca" - referred to it as "Wise Craft", "magic", and "wizard witch" during the 1950s. There is no evidence that he ever called it "Wicca", although he referred to the Pagan Witch's collective community as "the Wica" (with one c ). As a name for religion, "Wicca" was developed in England during the 1960s. It is not known who exactly finds the term "Wicca" referring to religion, although one possibility is that it might be Gardner's rival Charles Cardell, who referred to it as "Craft of the Wiccens" in 1958. The first noted use of the word "Wicca" in 1962, and has been popularized to the extent that some British practitioners set up a bulletin called The Wiccan in 1968.
Although pronounced differently, the term Modern English "Wicca" comes from Old English wicca ( ) and wicce ( ), masculine and feminine terms for witches, respectively, used in Anglo-Saxon English. By adopting it for modern use, Wiccan both symbolically folded their relationship to the ancient, pre-Christian past, and adopted a less controversial appointment of "Magic".
In early sources, "Wicca" refers to an entire religion rather than a special tradition. In the following decades, members of certain traditions - known as the British Traditional Wicca - began to claim that only those who should be called "Wiccan", and that other forms of religion should not use them. From the late 1980s onwards, the various books that spread Wicca were published, again using a broader and wider definition of the word. Thus, in the 1980s, there were two competing definitions of the word "Wicca" used among the Pagan and esoteric communities, one broad and inclusive, the other smaller and exclusive. Although there are exceptions, among the Pagan study scholars it is the longer and inclusive use of terms that have gained wider use. In contrast, in various popular cultural forms, such as the Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Charmed, Wicca has been used as a synonym for more common witchcraft, including non- religious and non-Pagan.
Along with "Wicca", two other names often used for religion by practitioners are "Magic" and "Craft". However, the use of the word "Magic" in this context is problematic because it causes confusion both with other non-religious magical forms as well as other religions - such as Satanism and Luciferianism - which are sometimes expressed by practitioners as "Witches". Another term sometimes used as a synonym for "Wicca" is "Pagan Magic", although there are also other forms of modern Paganism - like the Heathenry type - which also practice magic and can thus be described as "Pagan Magic". From the 1990s onwards, various Wiccan began to describe themselves as "Traditional Witches," though problematically it was a term also used by practitioners of other magico-religious traditions such as Luciferianism.
Maps Wicca
Confidence
Theology
The theological views in Wicca are diverse, and religion includes theists, atheists, and agnostics, with some views of religious deities as entities with literal existence and others seeing them as Jung's archetypes or symbols. Even among the Wiccan, there are different beliefs, and Wicca includes pantheons, monotheists, duotheists, and polytheists. However, the same in this different perspective is that the god Wicca is seen as ancient pre-Christian divine forms by its practitioners.
Most of the early Wiccan groups adhered to the worship of the god of the Fertility Horn and the Mother Goddess, with practitioners usually believing that this was an ancient god worshiped by Old Stone Age hunter-gatherers whose cult has been inherited in the secret right to this day. This theology is derived from Margaret Murray's claim of a wizard wizard; he claimed that while the cult as recorded in the early modern magician's trial had glorified the Horned God, centuries earlier he had also worshiped a Mother Goddess. The structure of the Duotistic God of the Horn/Goddess is embraced by Gardner - who claims that it has the roots of the Stone Age - and remains the fundamental theological foundation of Gardnerian tradition. Gardner claims that the names of these gods must be kept secret in tradition, although in 1964 they were openly declared as Cernunnos and Aradia; the name of Gardnerian's secret god was later changed.
Although different Wiccan attributes different properties to the Horned God, he is most often associated with animals and the natural world, but also with the afterlife, and he is furthermore often seen as an ideal example for men. The mother goddess has been linked to life, fertility, and spring, and has been described as an ideal example for women. Wicca duitism has been compared to the Tao yin and yang systems. Thus they are often interpreted as "the embodiment of the lifestyle manifest in nature".
Another Wiccan has adopted the original duetistic Gods/Goddess structure of Gardnerian but has adopted the god form apart from the God of the Horn and the Goddess of Mother. For example, God has been interpreted as the King of Oak and King Holly, as well as the God of the Sun, Son/Beloved of God, and God of Vegetation. He has also been seen in the role of Wild Hunting Leader and Master of Death. The Goddess is often described as the Goddess of Three, thus becoming a triadic deity consisting of the goddess Maiden, the goddess of Mother, and the goddess Crone, who each have different associations, namely virginity, fertility and wisdom. Another Wiccan conceptualization has described it as the Goddess of the Moon and as the Goddess of Menstruation.
Gardner states that beyond the two gods Wicca is the "Great God" or "Prime Mover", an entity that is too complex for human understanding. This belief is supported by other prominent practitioners, who call it the "Cosmic Logo", "Supreme Cosmic Power", or "Godhead". Gardner envisioned this Supreme God as a deis entity that had created the "Under God", among them gods and goddesses, but who were not involved in this world; alternately, other Wiccan have interpreted such entities as pantheistic forms, in which God and Goddess are the sides.
Although Gardner criticized monotheism, calling the Crime Problem, Wicca's explosive monotheistic forms flourished in the 1960s, when the US-based Wicca Church developed a theology rooted in worshiping what they described as "one god, without gender." In the 1970s, Dianic Wiccan groups were developed that were devoted to a single goddess, monotheistic; this approach is often criticized by members of the British Traditional Wiccan group, who railed like a goddess monotheism as an imitation of reverse Christian theology. As in other forms of Wicca, some Dewi monotheists have expressed the view that the Goddess is not an entity with a literal existence, but Jung's archetype.
Like pantheism and duotheism, many Wiccan accept the concept of polytheism, thus believing that there are many different gods. Some accept the view held by occult Dion Fortune that "all gods are one god, and all goddesses are one goddess" -that is, the gods and goddesses of all cultures, respectively, aspects of one God and the Goddess. With this mindset, a Wiccan can regard Germanic ostre, Hindu Kali, and Catholic Virgin Mary respectively as manifestations of one of the highest Goddess and also, Celtic Cernunnos, ancient Greek Dionysus and Jewish-Christian Yahweh as aspects of one,. A stricter polytheistic approach holds various goddesses and gods to be separate and distinct entities in their own right. Wiccan writers Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone have postulated that Wicca became more polytheistic as an adult, tending to embrace a more traditional pagan worldview. Some Wiccan regard the gods not as literal personalities but as archetypes or metaphorical mindsets, thus technically allowing them to become atheists. Such a view is recognized by High Priestess Vivianne Crowley, himself a psychologist, who considers the Wiccan gods as Jung's archetypes in the subconscious that can be awakened in ritual. For this reason he says that "Goddess and God manifest to us in dreams and visions."
Many Wiccan also adopt a more polytheistic or animistic view of the world about the universe as being full of spirit beings. In many cases these spirits are related to the natural world, such as the genius loci, fairy, and elementals. In other cases, such beliefs are more idiosyncratic and unspecific; Leading Wiccan Sybil Leek for example supports belief in angels.
Afterlife
Beliefs in the afterlife vary between Wiccan, and do not occupy a central place in religion. As the historian Ronald Hutton says, "the instinctive position of most [Wiccan]... seems to be that if one makes the most of life today, in all things, then the next life will inevitably benefit from the process, and so one may concentrate on the moment ". Although there are practitioners who do not believe in life after death, it is still a common belief among Wiccan that humans have a spirit or soul that survives physical death. An understanding of what this soul is varies among different traditions, with the Wicca Ferry for example having adopted the belief of the Hawaiian religion that man has three souls.
Although not accepted by all Wiccan, the belief in reincarnation is the dominant belief in the afterlife in Wicca, originally supported by Gardner. An understanding of how the reincarnation cycle operates differently among practitioners; The prominent Wiccan Raymond Buckland, for example, insisted that the human soul would only be incarnate into the human body, while the other Wiccan believed that the human soul could be incarnated to another life form. There is also a common Wiccan belief that every Witch will be reincarnated as a future Wizard, an idea originally expressed by Gardner. Gardner also articulates the view that the human soul rests for a period between physical death and its incarnation, with this resting place usually referred to as The Summerland among the Wiccan communities. This allows many Wiccan believe that the media can contact the deceased's spirit, the belief adopted from Spiritualism.
Magic
Many Wiccan believe in magic, the manipulative power that is done through the practice of magic or magic. Many Wiccan agree with the definition of magic offered by a magician magician, such as Aleister Crowley, who claims that magic is "the science and art that causes change to occur according to will," while other ceremonial magician MacGregor Mathers states that it is " the power of the secret of nature ". Many Wiccan believe magic to be a law of nature, which has not been misunderstood or ignored by contemporary science, and therefore they do not see it as supernatural, but part of what Leo Martello calls "superhuman powers in nature". Some Wiccan believe that magic only fully utilizes the five senses to achieve surprising results, while other Wiccan do not claim to know how magic works, just believe that it is done because they have observed it. Some spell "magick", a variation created by influential Aleist Crowley, though it is more often associated with Crowley's religion in Thelema than with Wicca.
During ritual practices, often performed in sacred circles, Wiccan spells out mantras or "work" intended to bring about real change in the physical world. Common Wiccan spells include those used for healing, for protection, fertility, or to repel negative influences. Many early Wiccan, such as Alex Sanders, Sybil Leek and Alex Winfield, call their own magic "white magic", in contrast to "black magic", which they associate with evil and Satanism. Sanders also uses a similar terminology of "left handedness" to describe evil magic, and "right-handed path" to illustrate well-done magic; terminology derived from occultist Helena Blavatsky in the 19th century. However, some modern Wiccan have stopped using black-and-white magic and the dichotomy of a left-to-right path, for reasons that black does not necessarily have an association with crime.
The religious scholars Rodney Stark and William Bainbridge claimed in 1985 that Wicca had "reacted to secularization by plunging into magic" and that it was a reactionary religion that was about to die. This view was heavily criticized in 1999 by historian Ronald Hutton who claimed that the evidence presented was contradictory: that "large numbers [Wiccan] are at work on the cutting edge [scientific culture], such as computer technology."
Morality
There is no moral dogmatic or code of conduct universally followed by Wiccan from all traditions, but the majority follow a code known as Wiccan Rede, which states "no harm, do what you will do". This is usually interpreted as a declaration of freedom to act, along with the need to take responsibility for what follows from one's actions and minimizes harm to oneself and others.
Another common element of Wiccan morality is the Law of Threefold Returns which states that any act of evil or evil committed by a person will return to that person with a threefold strength, or with the same power on each of the three levels of the body, mind and spirit, similar to the eastern idea of ​​karma. The Wiccan Rede is most likely introduced to Wicca by Gerald Gardner and publicly publicized by Doreen Valiente, one of his High Priestesses. The Threefold Law is an interpretation of Wiccan ideas and rituals, made by Monique Wilson and further popularized by Raymond Buckland, in his books on Wicca.
Many Wiccan also seek to cultivate a set of eight virtues mentioned in Doreen Valiente's Charge of the Goddess, this is joy, admiration, honor, humility, strength, beauty, strength, and compassion. In Valiente's poetry they are ordered to pair up with complementarity, reflecting the common dualism along the Wiccan philosophy. Some based Wiccans also observe a set of Wiccan Laws, commonly called Craft Laws or Ardanes, 30 of which are in the Gardnerian tradition and 161 of which exist in the Alexandrian tradition. Valiente, one of Gardner's original High Priestess, argues that the first thirty rules were most likely invented by Gerald Gardner himself in artificial-archaic language as a by-product of the inner conflict in the Bricket Wood treaty - the other being the later additions. by Alex Sanders during the 1960s.
Although Gerald Gardner initially showed an aversion to homosexuality, claiming that it undermines the "curse of the goddess", is now generally accepted in all Wicca traditions, with groups like the Ikhwan Minoan openly based their philosophy on him, and various important figures in Craft, such as Alex Sanders and Eddie Buczynski, openly homosexual or bisexual.
Five elements
Many traditions hold belief in the five classical elements, although they are seen as symbols as representations of the material phase. These five elements are summoned during many magical rituals, especially when consecrating a magic circle. The five elements are air, fire, water, earth, and ether (or spirit). Aether unites the other four. Various analogies have been designed to explain the five-element concept; for example, Wiccan Ann-Marie Gallagher uses trees, consisting of soil (with soil and plant matter), water (gums and moisture), fire (through photosynthesis) and air (the creation of oxygen from carbon dioxide), all believed to be united through spirits.
Traditionally at Gardnerian Craft, each element has been linked to the cardinal point of the compass; air with east, fire with south, water with west, earth with north, and spirit with center. However, some Wiccan, such as Frederic Lamond, have claimed that the cardinal points set apply only to southern British geography, where Wicca evolved, and that Wiccan must determine which direction best fits each element in their region. For example, those living on the east coast of North America should plead for water in the east and not west because colossal water bodies, the Atlantic oceans, are in their east. Other craft groups have connected the elements with different cardinal points, for example the Tuban Clan of Robert Cochrane connects the earth with the south, the fire to the east, the water with the west and the air with the north, and each one controlled by different gods seen as children of the Gods and the Horned Gods. Five elements are represented by five pentagram points, the most prominent Wicca symbols used.
Practice
Neopagan's researcher and High Priestess Margot Adler, who defines the ritual as "one of the methods of reintegration of individuals and groups into the cosmos, and to bind the activities of daily life to the presence of those who are always present, are often forgotten," noting that rituals, celebrations and rites the transition in Wicca is not "a dry, formalized, and repetitive experience," but is done with the aim of encouraging the religious experience within the participants, thus altering their awareness. He notes that many Wiccan remain skeptical about the existence of gods, hereafter etc, but remain involved in Craft because of his ritual experience, with one, Glenna Turner, saying that "I like myths, dreams, visionary art." The Craft is the place where all these things fit - beauty, procession, music, dance, song, dream. "
The High Priest and Craft historian Aidan Kelly claim that practice and experience in Wicca are actually far more important than beliefs, stating that "it is a religion of ritual rather than theology.The ritual is first, the myth is the second and takes the attitude that the myth of Crafts is' true history 'in the fundamentalist viewpoint of the Genesis legend actually looks crazy.This is the space of the alien chief.'Similarly, Adler states that "ironically, given the many statements against Witchcraft as a threat to reason, the Craft is one of the few fully religious views compatible with modern science, allowing total skepticism about even its own methods, myths, and rituals ".
Ritual exercises
The practice of Wicca often involves the practice of magic rituals, ranging from "low magic" or "folk magic" from shamanism and magic to more complex and complex rituals influenced by Western Hermetic Tradition ceremonies.
There are many rituals in Wicca that are used when celebrating the Sabbath, worshiping the gods and magic that work. Often this happens on a full moon, or in some cases a new moon, known as Esbat. In typical rituals, coven or solitary assemblies in ritual and pure magic circles. Casting a circle may involve calling "Guard" from the cardinal points, in addition to their own classic elements; air, fire, water and earth. After the circle is cast, seasonal rituals can be performed, the prayers to God and the Goddess are said, and the mantras sometimes work; this may include various forms of 'energy boosting', including raising the power cone for the purpose of sending healing or other magic to people outside the sacred space.
The classical ritual rituals in the Traditional English Wicca tradition are:
- Purification of the sacred space and participants
- Send circles
- Call the element place
- Power cone
- Lowering Gods
- Incognito
- Extraordinary Rites
- Wine, cookies, chants, dances, games
- Separation to quarters and participants
These rites often include a special set of magical tools. These usually include knives called athames, sticks, pentacles and trophies, but other tools include brooms known as brooms, cauldrons, candles, incense and a curved knife known as a boline. An altar is usually present in a circle, where ritual tools are placed and representations of God and Goddess can be displayed. Before entering the circle, some traditions fast for the day, and/or bathe in a ritual. After the ritual is complete, the Gods, Goddess, and Guardian will be grateful, the direction is closed and the circle is closed.
The main aspect of Wicca (especially in Gardnerian and Alexandrian Wicca), often perceived by the media is the traditional practice of naked work, also known as skyclad . This practice seems to originate from the line at Aradia , Charles Leland's alleged account of Italian magic. Other traditions wear robes with straps attached to the waist or even regular street clothes. In certain traditions, the sex magic inaugurated is done in the form of the Great Rite, where a High Priest and the High Priest summon God and Goddess to possess it before engaging in sexual intercourse to increase magical energy to be used in mantras. In almost all cases it is actually done "in tokens", so it is only symbolically, using athame to symbolize the penis and the cup to symbolize the womb.
One of Wicca's famous liturgical texts is "The Charge of the Goddess". The most common version used by Wiccans today is the recession Doreen Valiente, who developed it from the Gardner version. Gardner's words about the original "Charge" add extracts from Aleister Crowley's works, including The Book of the Law, (mainly from Ch 1, pronounced by Nuit, Star Goddess) so that connecting modern Wicca does not can be recalled by the principles of Thelema. Valiente rewrote Gardner's version in the stanza, storing material originating from Aradia , but removing material from Crowley.
Wheel of the Year
Wiccan celebrates several seasonal festivals this year, commonly known as Sabbats. Collectively, these events are called Wheel of the Year. Most Wiccans celebrate this set of eight Sabbaths; However, other groups such as those associated with the Tubal Cain Clan only follow four. In the rare case of Ros an Bucca group from Cornwall, only six were obeyed. The four Sabbaths common to all English derivative groups are the cross-quarter days, sometimes referred to as the Greater Sabbat . The names of these festivals are in some cases taken from the festival of Ancient Irish fire, although in most of the traditional wiccan covens the only similarity with the Celtic festival is the name. Gardner himself made use of English names from this holiday, stating that "the four great Sabbaths are Candlemass [sic], May Eve, Lammas, and Halloween; equinoxes and solstices are celebrated as well." In Egyptologist Margaret Murray The Witch-Cult in Western Europe (1921) and Wizarding God (1933), where he dealt with what he believed to be historical Wizards, he stated that four major festivals have survived Christianization and have been celebrated in pagan religions. Furthermore, when Wicca first flourished in the 1930s to the 1960s, many early groups, such as Robert Cochrane's Clan of Tubal Cain and Gerald Gardner's Bricket Wood coven, adopted these four Sabbat memorials as described by Murray.
The other four festivals commemorated by many Wiccans are known as Lesser Sabbats, and consist of solstices and equinoxes, and were only adopted in 1958 by members of the Bricket Wood coven, before being adopted by other followers. from the Gardnerian tradition, and finally other traditions such as Alexandrian Wicca and the Dianic tradition. Commonly used holiday names are often taken from German idol holidays. However, the festivals are not reconstructive, nor do they often resemble their historical counterparts, but show the form of universalism. The observed rituals can display the cultural influences of the holidays from which they take their name as well as the influence of other unrelated cultures.
Rite of passage
Various rites of passage can be found within Wicca. Perhaps the most important of these is the initiation ritual, in which one joins Craft and becomes Wiccan. In the tradition of British Traditional Wiccan (BTW), there is a line of initiation that returns to Gerald Gardner, and from him is said to return to the coven New Forest; however, the existence of this coven remains unproven. Gardner himself claims that there is a traditional "one year and one day" length between when one begins to learn Crafts and when they are initiated, although he often violates this rule with fellow initiates.
At BTW, initiation only accepts someone to the first level. To proceed to the second level, an initiate must go through another ceremony, where they mention and explain the use of ritual tools and tools. It was also at this ceremony that they were given the name of their craft. By holding the rank of second degree, BTW is considered capable of initiating others into Crafts, or establishing their own semi autonomous covens. The third level is the highest in BTW, and this involves the participation of the Great Rite, both actual and symbolic, and in some cases ritual signs, which is a rite often abolished because of its sado-masochistic tone. By holding this rank, an initiate is considered capable of forming a fully autonomous covens from his parent coven.
According to the new religious scholar James R. Lewis, in his book Wizard today: the Wiccan Encyclopedia and the neopagan tradition, a high priest becomes queen when he has managed to live out of his first new coven under a third-level priest a new level (in an orthodox Gardnerian system). He then becomes eligible to wear the "moon crown". The high order of priests and queens traced back to Gerald Gardner is known as a lineage, and every Orthodox Gardnerian High Priest has a set of "term paper" that proves its authenticity.
The following three-tier degree initiation systems are unique to BTW, and tradition is strongly based on that. The Cochranian tradition, which is not BTW, but based on Robert Cochrane's teachings, lacks three degrees of initiation, has only a beginner and start stages.
Some solitary Wiccans also perform self-initiation rituals, to dedicate themselves to being Wiccan. The first of those to be published is in Paul Huson Mastering Witchcraft (1970), and the recitation of the Lord's Father's Prayer is enclosed back as a symbol of resistance to the History of the Witch. Furthermore, a more pagan self-initiation ritual has since been published in books designed for solitary Wiccans by authors such as Doreen Valiente, Scott Cunningham and Silver RavenWolf.
Handfasting is another celebration held by Wiccan, and is a term commonly used for their marriage. Some Wiccan observe the practice of one-year and one-day trial marriages, which some traditions retain should be contracted out to the Lughnasadh Sabbath, as this is a traditional time for trials, "Telltown's marriage" among the Irish. The general wedding vow at Wicca is "as long as love lasts" over traditional Christians "until death separates us". The first Wiccan wedding ceremony known to take part in the 1960s between the Bricket Wood coven, between Frederic Lamond and his first wife, Gillian.
Babies in the Wiccan family may be involved in a ritual called Wiccaning, which is analogous to Baptism. The goal is to bring baby to God and Goddess for protection. Parents are advised to "give their children Wicca presents" in a way appropriate to their age. In keeping with the importance of using free will on Wicca, the child is not expected or required to obey Wicca or other forms of paganism if they do not want to do so when they reach adulthood.
Book of Shadows
In Wicca, no sacred texts are set up like the Christian Bible, the Jewish Tanakh, the Hindu Gita or the Koran of Islam, although there are certain scriptures and texts held by important traditions and influencing their beliefs and practices. Gerald Gardner uses a book containing a lot of different texts in his covens, known as the Book of Shadows (among other names), which he often adds and adapts. In his book of Shadows, there are texts drawn from various sources, including Charles Godfrey Leland's Aradia, or the Witch's Gospel (1899) and 19th century Aleyst Crowley occult works, which Gardner knew personally. Also in the Book are examples of poetry composed largely by Gardner and High Priestess of Doreen Valiente, the most famous of which is the Charge of the Goddess .
Similarly used for ceremonial grimoire ceremonies, the Book contains instructions for how to perform rituals and mantras, as well as religious poems and songs like Eko Eko Azarak for use in the ritual. Gardner's original intention was that every copy of the Book would be different, because a student would copy from his proponents, but change things that they felt were not effective personally, but among many Gardnerian sorcerers today, especially in the United States, all copies of Book it remained synonymous with the version copied by High Priest Monique Wilson of Gardner, without changing anything. The Book of Shadows was originally intended to be kept secret from non-initiates to BTW, but parts of the Book have been published by authors including Charles Cardell, Lady Sheba, Janet Farrar and Stewart Farrar.
Tradition
In the 1950s to the 1970s, when the Wiccan movement was largely confined to lineages such as Gardnerian Wicca and Alexandrian Wicca, "tradition" usually implies the transfer of lineage through initiation. However, with the emergence of more such groups, often established by those who did not have initial initiation lines, the term became a synonym for religious denominations in Wicca. There are many such traditions and there are also many solitary practitioners who do not adapt to certain lineages, working alone. There are also covens that have formed but who do not follow certain traditions, rather than choose their influence and practice eclectically.
Traditions that trace the line of initiation back to Gerald Gardner include Gardnerian Wicca, Alexandrian Wicca and the Algard tradition; because of their common history, they are often referred to as Wicca Traditional English, especially in North America. Other traditions trace their origins to different numbers, even if their beliefs and practices have been influenced by Gardner or greater. These include the Cochrane Craft and Tradition of 1734, both of which trace its origins to Robert Cochrane; Ferry, who traces himself back to Victor Anderson and Gwydion Pendderwen; and Dianic Wicca, whose followers often track their influence back to Budapest Zsuzsanna. Some of these groups prefer to call themselves wizards, thus distinguishing themselves from the BTW tradition, which more often uses the term Wiccan (see Etymology).
Many traditions, including the tradition of British Traditional Wicca, require formal initiation in an established coven for membership of their respective traditions. In this way, all BTW can trace a direct lineage all the way back to Gardner. Other traditions, however, do not consider this necessary.
Wicca has also been "adapted" to the different national contexts in which it has been introduced; for example, in Ireland, the worship of the ancient Irish gods has been incorporated into Wicca.
Covens
Lineaged Wicca is organized into priestly covens and an initiate priest. Covens is autonomous, and is generally led by High Priest and High Priestess working in partnership, becoming a couple each through the first, second and third initiation levels. Sometimes coven leaders are only second-degree initiates, in which case they are under the authority of the parent coven. The initiation and training of the new priesthood is most often done in a coven environment, but this is not a necessity, and some people who initiate Wiccan are not affiliated with any coven.
A traditionally quoted Wiccan tradition states that the ideal number of members for a coven is thirteen, though this is not held as a hard and fast rule. Indeed, many US covens are much smaller, although membership may be augmented by people not affiliated with Wiccan in "open" rituals. When covens grow beyond the ideal number of their members, they often divide (or "nest") into multiple covens, but stay connected as a group.
Initiation into the coven is traditionally preceded by an apprentice period of one year and one day. A study program can be organized during this period. In some covens a "dedication" ceremony can be performed during this period, some time before proper initiation, allowing people to attend certain rituals on a trial basis. Some solitary Wiccans also choose to study for a year and a day before their dedication to religion.
Eclectic Wicca
A large number of Wiccans do not exclusively follow a single or even initiated tradition. These eclectic Wiccans each created their own syncretic spiritual path by adopting and rediscovering the beliefs and rituals of the various religious traditions associated with Wicca and the wider Paganism.
While the origin of modern Wiccan practices lies in the covenant activities of selected elected initiates in established lineages, the eclectic Wiccan people are more frequent than single practitioners who know nothing in any tradition. The widespread appetite, especially in the United States, made the traditional initiation unable to meet the demand for involvement in Wicca. Since the 1970s, larger and more informal, publicly advertised, and publicized camps and workshops have begun. This less formal but more accessible form of Wicca proved successful. Eclectic Wicca is the most popular Wicca variety in America and the eclectic now significantly exceeds the Wiccans lineage.
Eclectic Wicca may not be entirely abandoning tradition. Eclectic practitioners can follow their own ritual ideas and practices, while still using one or more religious or philosophical paths. The eclectic approach to Wicca often uses the religion of Earth and the ancient traditions of Egypt, Greece, Saxon, Anglo-Saxon, Celtic, Asian, Jewish, and Polynesian.
History
Origins, 1921-1935
Wicca was founded in England between 1921 and 1950, representing what historian Ronald Hutton called "the only fully-formed religion that can be said to have given Britain the world". Characterized as a "tradition created" by scholars, Wicca was created from the patchwork adoption of many older elements, many of which were drawn from pre-existing religious and esoteric movements.
Wicca takes on the basis of the wizard's hypothesis, the idea that those who were persecuted as wizards during the early modern period in Europe did not, as the persecutors, Satanists claimed, but not the surviving pagan pre-Christian faiths. This theory was first expressed by German Professor Karl Ernest Jarcke in 1828, before being supported by Franz Josef Mone of Germany and then the French historian Jules Michelet. At the end of the nineteenth century it was adopted by two Americans, Matilda Joslyn Gage and Charles Leland, who last promoted the variant in his book in 1899, Aradia, or the Witch's Gospel. The most prominent lawyer in theory is the English Egyptologist, Margaret Murray, who promoted it in a series of books - especially in 1921 The Witch-Cult in Western Europe and in 1933 the Witches of the Witch i> - and in his notes on "magic" for EncyclopÃÆ'Â|dia Britannica . The wizard's theory represents "the historical narrative around which Wicca built himself", with early Wiccan people claiming to be the survivors of this ancient pagan religion.
Other influences at the beginning of Wicca include a variety of Western esoteric traditions and practices, including ceremonial magic, Aleister Crowley and his religion Thelema, Freemasonry, Spiritualism, and Theosophy. At a lower level, Wicca also uses folk magic and cunning folk practices. This is further influenced both by the scholarly work on folkloristics, in particular James Frazer The Golden Bough, as well as romantic writings such as Robert Graves' The White Goddess , and the pre-existing modern. Pagan groups like the Woodcraft Order of Warcraft and Druidism.
In the 1930s, the first evidence appeared for the practice of pagan religion (to be recognized now as Wicca) in England. It seems that several groups across the country, in places like Norfolk, Cheshire and the New Forest have positioned themselves as continuing the traditions of the Murray Witches, though with influences originating from different sources such as ceremonial magic, folk magic, Freemasonry, Theosophy, Romanticism , Druidry, classical mythology and Asian religions.
Initial development, 1936-1959
The history of modern Wicca begins with Gerald Gardner ("Mr. Wicca") in the mid-20th century. Gardner is a retired British civil servant and amateur anthropologist, with a wide familiarity in paganism and occultism. He claimed to have been initiated into a witch coven in New Forest, Hampshire, in the late 1930s. Intending to preserve this craft, Gardner founded the Bricket Wood coven with his wife Donna in the 1940s, having purchased the Naturist Fiveacres Country Club. Most of the early coven memberships are taken from club members and meetings are held within club areas. Many important figures from early Wicca were direct initiates of this coven, including Dafo, Doreen Valiente, Jack Bracelin, Frederic Lamond, Dayonis, Eleanor Bone and Lois Bourne.
The magic religion became more prominent since 1951, with the withdrawal of the 1735 Magic Act, after which Gerald Gardner and then others such as Charles Cardell and Cecil Williamson began to publish their own versions of the Craft. Gardner and others never used the term "Wicca" as a religious identifier, referring only to "witches of worship," "sorcery," and "Old Religion." However, Gardner did mention the witch as "the Wica". During the 1960s, the name of religion was normalized to "Wicca". The Gardner tradition, later called Gardnerianism, soon became the dominant form in England and spread to other parts of the British Isles.
Adaptation and deployment, 1960-present
After Gardner's death in 1964, Craft continued to grow endlessly despite the sensationalism and negative depictions in the English tabloids, with new traditions propagated by figures such as Robert Cochrane, Sybil Leek and most importantly Alex Sanders, the Alexandrian Wicca, who were largely based on Gardnerian Wicca, though with emphasis placed on ceremonial magic, spread rapidly and gained much media attention. Around this time, the term "Wicca" began to be commonly adopted over "Witchcraft" and the faith was exported to countries such as Australia and the United States.
It was in the United States and in Australia that new home-grown traditions, sometimes based on previous regional folk-magical traditions and often mixed with Gardnerian Wicca's basic structure, began to flourish, including Victor Anderson's Ferry Tradition, Joseph Wilson 1734 Tradition, New Order Orthodox Reformed New Order of the Golden Dawn and finally Zsuzsanna Budapest Dianic Wicca, each of which emphasizes different aspects of faith. It was also around this time that the books that taught people how to be magicians themselves without initiation or formal training began to emerge, among them Paul Huson Mastering Magic (1970) and Shadows Lady Sheba's Book i> (1971). Similar books continued to be published throughout the 1980s and 1990s, fueled by writings by writers such as Doreen Valiente, Janet Farrar, Stewart Farrar and Scott Cunningham, who popularized the idea of ​​self-initiation into the Craft. Among the wizards in Canada, the anthropologist Dr. Heather Botting (nee Harden) of the University of Victoria has been one of the most prominent, has become the first recognized Wiccan priest at a state university. The native female pastor of Coven Celeste, she is one of the founders of Canada's Aquarian Tabernacle Church.
In the 1990s, amid a growing number of self-initiates, popular media began exploring "magic" in fictional films such as The Craft (1996) and television series such as Charmed ( 1998-2006), introducing a number of young people to the idea of ​​religious witchcraft. This demographic growth was soon fulfilled via the Internet and by writers such as Silver RavenWolf, many of which became criticisms of traditional Wiccan groups and individuals. In response to the way Wicca is increasingly portrayed as trendy, eclectic, and influenced by New Age movements, many Witches move on to Craft's pre-Gardiner origins, and to rival traditions such as Cardell and Cochrane, describe themselves. as follows "Traditional Witchcraft". Prominent groups in this Magicic Traditional awakening include Andrew Chumbley Cultus Sabbati and Cornish Ros an Bucca coven.
Debate on the origin of Wicca
According to Gerald Gardner's account at Witchcraft Today and The Meaning of Witchcraft , Wicca is the survival of a European witch persecuted during a witch trial. The theories of organized pan-European wizarding groups, as well as mass testing, have largely been discredited, but it is still common for Wiccan to claim solidarity with victims of magic trials.
The idea of ​​the survival of Wiccan traditions and rituals from ancient sources is contrasted by recent researchers, which show that Wicca is a twentieth-century creation that incorporates elements of 19th century freemasonry and occultism. However, historians such as Ronald Hutton have noted that Wicca not only preceded the modern New Age movement but also differed prominently in general philosophy.
In his 1999 book The Triumph of the Moon, University of Bristol professor Ronald Hutton examines Wiccan's claim that ancient pagan customs have survived to modern times after being Christianized in the mid-century as the practice of the people. Hutton found that most of the customs of the people who claimed to have pagan roots (like the Maypole dance) actually came from the Middle Ages. He concluded that the idea that medieval revels were idolaters was a legacy of the Protestant Reformation.
Modern scientific investigations have concluded that the Trials of the Witch are substantially less than the amount claimed by Gardner, and rarely held on the orders of religious authorities. For example, in Robin Briggs's 1996 book Witches and Neighbors, Robin Briggs examined the history of witchcraft in medieval Europe and refuted the widely-told story that a large number of independent women were burned at the goal posts by Christians who were verbal for crime practice naturalistic healing or neopagan religion. Some scholars estimate that a total of 40,000 people were executed as magicians during the medieval period, and that church authorities participated reluctantly in this process, largely driven by the political turmoil of the Reformation.
Demographics
The true number of Wiccans around the world is unknown, and it has been noted that it is more difficult to establish the number of Neopagan religious members than any other religion because of its irregular structure. However, Adherents.com, an independent website that specializes in gathering estimates of world religions, cites over thirty sources with an estimated number of Wiccan (mainly from the United States and Britain). From this, they develop an estimated average of 800,000 members. In 2016, Doyle White suggested that there are "hundreds of thousands practicing Wiccan around the world".
In the United States, the American Religious Identification Survey has shown a significant increase in the number of self-identified Wiccans, from 8,000 in 1990, to 134,000 in 2001, and 342,000 in 2008. Wiccan has also made significant proportions of different groups within the country ; for example, Wicca is the largest non-Christian religion practiced in the United States Air Force, with 1,434 pilots identifying themselves as such.
In Britain, the census of religious leaders was first collected in 2001; no detailed statistics were reported outside the six major religions. For the 2011 census, more detailed response details were reported with 56,620 people who identified themselves as pagans, 11,766 as Wiccans and 1,276 further describing their religion as "Witchcraft".
Wiccan Receipts
Wicca appeared in a predominantly Christian country, and from the very beginning religion faced opposition from certain Christian groups as well as from popular tabloids such as News of the World . Some Christians still believe that Wicca is a form of Satanism, although there are important differences between these two religions. Detractors usually describe Wicca as a form of evil Satanism. Because of the negative connotations associated with magic, many Wiccan continue the traditional practice of secrecy, hiding their faith for fear of persecution. Revealing yourself as a Wiccan to family, friends or colleagues is often called "coming out of a broom closet". In the same way, some people accuse Wicca of being anti-Christian, a claim disputed by Wiccan like Doreen Valiente, which states that while he knows many Wiccans who admire Jesus, "the magicians have little respect for the doctrines of the churches, which they regard as a manmade dogma ".
The scholar of religion, Graham Harvey, notes that "the popular and prevalent media image [of Wicca] is mostly inaccurate."
In the United States, a number of legal decisions have increased and validated the status of Wiccan, especially Dettmer v. Landon in 1986. However, Wiccan has faced opposition from several Christian politicians and organizations, including former president of the United States George W. Bush, who declared that he does not believe Wicca as a religion.
In 2007, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs after years of dispute added Pentagram to a list of confidence symbols that could be incorporated into markers, tombstones, and placards issued by the government in honor of the veterans who died.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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