Were does Wicca come from?

Question

What country?

Answer 1

The origins of Wicca are deeply shrouded in secrecy and mystery. There are many different opinions about how and when the Craft first came into practice.
Cave paintings found in France dated more than 30,000 years ago depict a man with the head of a stag, and a woman with a swollen, pregnant belly. They stand in a circle with eleven mortals. Tribes developed their own forms of language, government, religion and philosophy. The stories and artwork of ancient times depict an important person with in the tribe who seemed to hold the knowledge and power of the divine. This person, being the Shaman, medicine person or power wielder, be it female or male. The pictures often showed them consulting the sun, moon, clouds and the night, sometimes working with plants and animals in what appears to be early forms of rituals. These drawings are difficult to interpret with certainty.
As tribes progressed into societies and civilization, so did organized religions such as Christianity. With the development of Christianity arose the belief that magic was a form of evil. Some believe this was brought about by the Christians to convert people to Christianity while others may be inclined to think this born out of fear. Fear of what is unknown, fear of a power that no mortal woman or man should possess. The Holy Bible of the Christian faith speaks blatantly against Witches and The Craft............hope this helps......i am in the Wicca

Answer 2

Wicca, also known as British Traditional Witchcraft is from England - Gardner founded Wicca after being a part of the New Forest Coven located in Hampshire England in the early 1900's*

* The exact date is up for debate as no one knows for a fact when he came up with Wicca, as there is discussion as to whether it was pre-existing to some degree, and also because witchcraft was illegal in England before 1951 so keeping Wicca out of the public eye until then.

Wicca is a new religion, it did not exist prior to Gardner's involvement with the New Forest Coven and certainly no Wicca has ever been slaughtered in 'the burning times', the witch trials were social and economically fuelled, religion simply providing the smoke screen. Gardner took influences from pre-Christian Pagan beliefs that would have existed during times when Pagans were persecuted and before when Pagans persecuted other religions, he also introduced Eastern philosophy and from traditions such as Golden Dawn which is influenced from many areas of religious mystical practices. A lot was taken from the tradition within the New Forest Coven; however Gardner put into it influences from other influences he picked up during his travelling.

Two good sources;

http://www.cyprian.org/Articles/gardchron.htm - Gardnerian Chronology and Bibliography.
http://www.geraldgardner.com – Gerald Gardner/The history of Wicca.

Answer 3

It's a mix.

Primarily, you're looking at British, specifically English, roots. The father of Wicca, as it were, was a British civil servant named Gerald Gardner. He worked primarily with the English folklore, which is more Anglo-Saxon (read: heavily Nordic/Germanic) than Celtic - though there's a certain amount of Celtic influence as well.

Combined with that is a Greco-Roman flavored Ceremonial Magic system, and potentially elements from Gardner's time in India.

Answer 4

Gerald Gardner who is sometimes called the Father of Modern WitchCraft, was taught in New Forest, England. These same claims of "New Forest Witches" were later substantiated by Sybil Leek. Who was raised a Witch in this Area.

Gardner was only credited as the "founder" of Wicca, because Gerald refused to name the names of his teachers, because of his Oaths. Even though he later broke those Oaths, by writing the books he did.

The only names he mentioned were Dorothy Clutterbuck and a few others.

Answer 5

Wicca was founded by Gerald Gardner in the 50's-60's in Great Britain. The principles he pulled from when creating it are from around the world, and some from purely inside his head. I would say your answer would have to be G. Britain.

Answer 6

Gerald Gardner was British, so I suppose England, but if you go by the roots he used to make Wicca, it could be from anywhere and everywhere.

BB
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Answer 7

Personally I think from Great Britian, but again no one knows for sure. I can say this though, throughout history wiccans have been slaughtered by the thousands and I do mean the thousands. Every so often the people get scared and decide to rid themselves of the wise ones. And then the burning times begin again. Sigh. So much of our history and our magick has been lost throughout the ages from the dark burning times as we had to keep secret.

Answer 8

Wicca itself is a new religion, but its orgins date back to before Christianity even began.

Archeologists have found drawings on caves from the stone age that would suggest that Wiccan, or Witchcraft, dates that far back, but it's hard to be certian. Artifacts have been found from the first few centuries that suggest that there were Witches back then.

The belief that magick was a form of evil and came from the devil himself, grew in the late 13th century. People who practiced Witchcraft were viewed as being bound with Satan and were considered evil.

Answer 9

It's roots are Celtic and Northern European, but because we recognize that many Pagan pantheons run on similar themes, many modern Wiccans borrow from many different Pagan belief systems.

Answer 10

Its a very mysterious religion. I know that it wasn't POPULARIZED until Gardner decided to break his oaths. (yes, I am saying that he isn't the creater!) Some believe that it came from Europe (I personally think its from Ireland). But no one really knows for sure.

-Wiccan Teen )O(