Where did Wicca originate?

Question

This religion has piqued my interest. Does anyone know? Does it have a set of rules or is it more subject to interpretation? What are its beliefs about the afterlife? Thanks!

Answer 1

I think it's great that you are looking into the history of Wicca. It is important to know your religion's history and founders. Wicca was developed after Gardner's initiation into a group in the New Forest area in Britain. The founder of Wicca was Gerald B. Gardner. For a short bio on Gardenr:
http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/g/gardner_gerald_b.html
For a very good (but long) article on the history of Wicca:
http://www.geraldgardner.com/History_of_Wicca_Revised.pdf

The oldest branches of Wicca are Gardnerian and Alexanderian. They worship/practice in covens. Each branch (tradition) has it's own standards. Many (although not all) Wiccans believe in reincarnation.

Neo-Wicca has less structure and is not an initiatory path. "Neo" simply means new. For a description:
http://www.witches-tutorial.com/paths/neowicca.html

Wicca is not Celtic. Very little was drawn from the Celtic culture in the formation of Wicca. For some excellent articles on this:
http://www.clannada.org/wicca.php
http://wicca.timerift.net/not_celtic.shtml

Unfortunately, since the word "Wicca" sells books, many authors try to cash in on it and some of their works have been questionable at best. It is important to read carefully or you may end up believing that there was an ancient Irish potato goddess or that pumpkins dotted the English countryside in King Arthur's time. (Potatoes and pumpkins weren't introduced into those countries at those times). You may be interested in these articles:
http://www.cyberwitch.com/wychwood/Library/whenIsACeltNotACelt.htm
http://www.ecauldron.com/opedtarnishedsilver.php
For a good recommended reading list:
http://www.tangledmoon.org/reading_list.htm

Answer 2

Founder Of Wicca

Answer 3

Wicca originated in the New Forest area of Great Britain.

It definitely has rules. Like most rules, some of it is open to interpretation. But not all. It is an initiatory mystery tradition that is lineaged and oathbound. Most of what is called "Wicca" today is not Wicca at all but rather an eclectic form of Neo-Paganism loosely based on Wicca.

The Wicca hold a belief in reincarnation whereby one is reborn "to the tribe".

Answer 4

Wicca was started by Gerald Gardner in New Forrest England circa 1950. He was a nudist & masochist and basically created Wicca as a sex cult. Followers nowadays like to forget that part, and instead fantasize they have magical powers.

Adian Kelly wrote a book on the history of Wicca called "Crafting The Art of Magic" in the 1980's. Wiccans had a fit when it was published, and pressured Llewyllyn to take it out of print. It was supposed to be the first in a series of books. I think Adian Kelly probably summed it up best when he said this about the Gardnerian "Book of Shadows", the closest thing Wicca has to a sacred book:

" [M]any of the Book of Shadows rituals did not exist in 1954 (when Witchcraft Today was published) but instead were still being written. [T]he major sources from which the rituals had been constructed included: (a) Mather's edition of the Greater Key of Solomon; (b) Aleister Crowley's Magic in Theory and Practice; (c) Leland's Aradia (d) some Masonic rituals akin to those described by Duncan and those of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (aside from those transmitted by Crowley; and (e) Margaret Murray's The Witch Cult in Western Europe. There were also bits and pieces from other works by Leland, Jane E. Harrison, Gilbert Murray, James Frazier, and other great classicists from the 19th century. That accounted for EVERYTHING in the rituals! There was nothing left that differed in any important way from what you can find in those sources- - but that is NOT at all what Gardner had claimed!"

It's a religion where anything can be added in, where the followers mistakenly think they have magic powers, and it's not older than rock and roll, even though it's called the "Old Religion". Authors like Gavin and Yvonne Frost, Silver Raven Wolf, Raymond Buckland, Scott Cunningham crank out books about how to get love, money, and above all else "protection". The Frost's Magic Power of White Witchcraft says "Witchcraft Can Make You Rich in a Ghetto" according to the title of chapter 11. However, the Frosts themselves aren't rich. Coincidentally, they claim to have taken a "vow of poverty" according to one of their webpages, to explain why they apparently can't make their spells work either.

When I visited England (the birthplace of Wicca) in May, I found it was practiced mostly by juvenile deliquents, much the same way Satanism is here in the U.S. No one seems to take it seriously over there. An very knowldgeable historian I talked to in Kent, when asked about Wicca, told me I should try a pub!

Eventually Ronald Huitton wrote his own history of Wicca, called "Triumph of the Moon". Hutton is a history professor at Oxford, so he is not easliy dismissed. Even though some Wiccans have realized their history is a sham, they still want to cling to the "witch" fantasy by calling it a "reconstructionist movement". But you can't reconstruct something which never existed in the first place. Even so, these types still seem to allude to their religion being thousands of years old.

Answer 5

Modern Wicca originated in England in the 1950's, founded by a man named Gardiner. Although its modern beginnings are fairly recent, it incorporates many older traditions as well.

There is basically one cardinal rule, called the Rede. (pronounced like reed) "An it harm none, do as ye will."

Answer 6

Wicca as we know it is based on the pre christian religions of the British Isles.Gerald Gardner is credited with forming the religion around the 1930's.Since then, several other paths,or traditions, have formed,many of them centering on dual Deities,The Goddess, and Her Consort,God.Each path has their own philosophy,and differs on how they do things.The Gardnerian tradition is very ritual and coven oriented,Dianic Wicca is more focused on Goddess worship,so on and so forth.There is no 'set' belief in where you go when you die, but the majority of Wiccans believe in reincarnation.

Answer 7

No one is really sure, but the belief system termed Wicca seems to have originated in what Caesar called Gallia--which is roughly France, England and Germany. My personal belief, considering the nature of its worship and its lore, is that it is a bastardized degradation of Druidism, which almost literally died out as a major religion shortly after that area's conquest by the Roman legions. Who objected to other people sacrificing humans in the course of their religious observances.
Traditionally, Wicca was called the Old Religion, and has only one major rule, which is called the Rule of the Three--what goes around comes around, magnified. Individual ritual varies by group, but it is typified--or at least used to be typified--by a tradition bountiful in herbal and animal knowledge. As it is currently practiced, it is more a feminist pasttime than it was of yore, though men were not often public adherents of the tradition. As to the afterlife, I cannot say for sure, but I believe that opinion also varies from group to group, and region to region, depending on the religion in which their society was formed.

Answer 8

Wicca and Witta are derived from many translations, probably some botched, of occult celt languages, beginning with the ogham and continued through many slipshod astronomical alphabets used to hide the practice of the faith in unpopular times. Gardenarian wicca is traditionally practiced in the states. The "Llewllyn" brand of magick (a publisher) that many people study today was made most popular by Scott Cunningham (deceased), and is carried on in tradition by Silver Ravenwolf and associated authors.

It isn't clear how much different the practice is today, but for the most part, this much remains fairly universal: there are high and low magicks (use the K, it's a big deal) -- one bells and ceremony, the other more primal and rhythmic, inclusive of Pennsylvania-Dutch and Native American takes on tradition, which are very popular in the US.

The props are used to help the practicioner focus, but generally it's considered appropriate to use them in practice until you've found your talent for the craft, after which many wiccans consider it possible to practice in their heads if necessary; though it isn't always the preferred method.

A few good books to begin with are Scott Cunningham's Guide to Magickal Herbs, Silver Ravenwolf's To Stir a Magick Cauldron and also her To Ride a Silver Broomstick, all of which explain the modern fundamentals fairly well.

Answer 9

It was invented by a bloke called Gardener in the 1920s who claimed he was reviving the ancient paganism of pre-christian Europe.

Other people have split from that basic paradigm and now, like a lot of new age religions, it's every man for him/herself. You can basically pick and mix your own theology.

The absence of a recognised hierarchy and the emphasis on Mother Earth, makes it attractive to women.

Answer 10

Gerald Gardner claims he was initiated into a secret order of witches in britain and learned the basics of wicca from them. this is not proven. basically he just read up ancient pagan practices and esoteric beliefs and compiled them into wicca.