what do you know about Wicca?

Question

i am doing a school report as well as some personel reserch. i am very interested in wicca and was wonder if there are ne followers out ther ?

Answer 1

Wicca is a henotheistic religion, which recognises its own specific gods, while not denying the existence of gods and goddesses from other pantheons. Wicca itself is a 'hard polytheistic' religion, meaning that Wicca see their deities as specific individual beings. The gods of Wicca are known as the Horned God and Great Mother, these are outer court references meant to be used as place holders for the real names of their gods until the Seeker is initiated and taught those names.

Wicca was founded by Gerald Gardner in around the 1930's, although the exact date is open for discussion, also open for discussion is whether Gardner founded Wicca entirely or whether it was an already existing spirituality which he merely re-introduced and re-invented, either way he is considered the founding father of Wicca. Gardner brought together Paganism with influences from many sources including the rituals and teachings of Freemasonry and Golden dawn resulting in a unique orthopraxic religion. Wicca embraces it's early Pagan roots in history, the history of Pagan faiths and the gods whom they followed and worshipped, Wicca also introduces eastern philosophy into it's primarily western path, along with this possibly one of Wicca's best known features, that of religious witchcraft.

Wicca is gaining much attention due to a change in peoples approach to religion and the increase in public awareness of the religion through media attention and with this attention there has come much change to the face of Wicca with many forms:


WICCA:
Wicca is an initiate only mystery tradition, or more precisely a priesthood, where one can trace their lineage back to Gardner. Initiation is the only way into Wicca, and is carried out by a Wicca coven, initiation into a coven requires formal training after which initiation and a system of degrees is followed.

Wicca follows a strong set of doctrines, one who takes on the name 'Wicca' is also taking on these doctrines as well as practices and beliefs of Wicca, the title of 'Wicca' implies more than that you are a member of Wicca, but also that you have worked long and hard to earn that title.
Seekers are those who wish to become Wicca however have yet to find a Wicca coven. Wicca covens can be hard to find let alone become a member of, often those whom are without a coven continue to study Wicca and surrounding subjects while seeking a Wicca coven to join.

Often Wicca is described as 'Traditional Wicca' or 'BTW:British Traditional Wicca'.


NEO-WICCA:
Neo-wicca is a new phenomenon, which is usually wholly eclectic, however like Wicca there are various different traditions. Neo-wicca often learn on their own terms, from books and other sources, but have little or no formal training and no initiation into Wicca. The beliefs of Neo-wicca are generally similar to that of Wicca however the details can often vary greatly as it follows the new age idea of personal belief/spirituality over formal religious doctrine. Neo-Wicca have varied views of the divine, either following soft-polytheism seeing all gods and goddesses as one god/goddess, polytheism working with gods and goddesses from various pantheons or pantheism working with a single divine present in all.

The 'Neo' in Neo-wicca refers to the New Age approach taken by Neo-wicca that puts emphasis on personal spirituality or belief over the organized religion of Wicca. It also refers to a new take on Wicca, this has less to do with the age of the religion but the idea that this is a belief system which may have come naturally from Wicca if it was allowed to evolve in it’s own time, media influences have brought about Neo-wicca, it develops paralleled to Wicca, but is not part of Wicca.

Often Neo-wicca describe themselves as 'Eclectic Wicca' or 'Solitary Wicca', although not actually Wicca.


Although Wicca is heavily influenced or based upon witchcraft it is not the main belief behind Wicca, the terms 'Wicca' and 'witch' are not interchangeable. The practice of witchcraft fits well with the Wicca way of prayer and ritual, which often involves a highly personal relationship with the divine, the witchcraft of Wicca also works well with how Wicca views the universe as working, however it should be noted that witchcraft can be practiced by many religions as well as by Atheists and Agnostics.

Wicca is not dogmatic, much of the morality and ethics of Wicca are in fact determined by the individuals take on a given situation. Often followers of Wicca will incorporate utilitarianism, which means that an act is carried out for the greater good or elements of their own morality rather then seek to find suitable behavior based on Wicca doctrine.

The rede plays a large part in the morality and ethics of Wicca, there are many takes and much documentation on the rede that can be found in many places, the rede however in itself can be clearly understood by the quote below given by Gardner himself.

"[Witches] are inclined to the morality of the legendary Good King Pausol, "Do what you like so long as you harm no one". But they believe a certain law to be important, "You must not use magic for anything which will cause harm to anyone, and if, to prevent a greater wrong being done, you must discommode someone, you must do it only in a way which will abate the harm." Gerald Gardner, The Meaning of Witchcraft, p 127 in the 1982 and 1999 printings

Another aspect of the Wiccan ethical philosophy is that of the 'law of return' often known as the 'three fold law' which is similar to that of western karmic philosophy, that anything you do either good or bad will come back to you. Law of return is often more closely associated with magic ethics rather than the everyday ethics covered by the rede or other Wiccan ethical beliefs, however is often thought of as cause and effect. This is also often referred to as the 'rule of three' or 'law of three'. For the most part these morals and ethics are held more strongly by Neo-wicca, within Wicca these are often only taught to new initiates and Seekers to help them learn responsibility for their actions, for the most part Wicca rely on personal moral and ethical philosophies.


WICCA LINKS:
http://amberandjet.spiralpaths.org - Amber & Jet
http://www.cyprian.org/Articles/gardchron.htm - Gardnerian Chronology and Bibliography
http://www.wargoddess.net/index.php - Enyo`s Workshop
http://wicca.timerift.net/ - Wicca: For the Rest of Us
http://www.homecircle.info - Homecircle
http://www.starkindler.org/ - StarFire Rising
http://www.asiya.org/ - Asiya`s Shadows
http://www.whywiccanssuck.com - Why Wiccans Suck
http://www.newwiccanchurch.net - New Wiccan Church International
http://members.tripod.com/~Moonpfyr/gardnerian.html - Gardnerian Tradition
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Agora/2416/wildrose.html - Wild Rose Outer Grove
http://members.shaw.ca/stoneandcauldron/ - Coven Of The Stone And Cauldron
http://www.oldeenchantments.com/coven/ - The Hollywood Coven
http://www.geocities.com/DesertHenge - Desert Henge
http://www.geocities.com/firestonecoven/ - Firestone Coven
http://draknet.com/proteus/proteus.html - Proteus Coven’s Webspace
http://belladonna.hypermart.net/Sage-and-Sickle/index.html - Sage & Sickle Coven
http://paganwiccan.about.com/ - PaganWiccan
http://www.cogcoa.ab.ca/ - Covenant of Gaia
http://www.chasclifton.com/ - Chas Clifton
http://www.ravenwood.com/coven.htm - Ravenwood
http://www.avalonia.co.uk – Avalonia
http://www.rosemoon.com/ - Rosemoon
http://www.geocities.com/k_garber/wicway.html - The Wiccan Way
http://www.wildideas.net/temple/ - The Temple
http://www.candledark.net/silver/ - Pour Down Like Silver
http://www.thewellhead.org.uk/ - The Wellhead
http://dasa.on.ca/qs/ - Quicksilver Site
http://www.gis.net/~nagel/grovepage/ - Page of the Mists
http://www.geocities.com/gwydionfl/ - Pagan Place
http://www.geocities.com/reikihealer2001/ - NFTD
http://www.nectw.org/ - N.E.C.T.W.
http://www.doreenvaliente.com - Doreen Valiente 1922-1999
http://www.boniface.us/CTW/index.html - Compact of Traditional Wicca
http://www.pagansunite.com/ - Witch/Pagan Resources
http://www.geocities.com/thespiraloak/ - The Spiral Oak
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/4177/ - Manor-House For Wiccan Studies
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~sjgavula/wiccahist.html - History of Wicca in England
http://geocities.com/sphinxmuse/wicca/index.html - Wiccan Religion
http://davensjournal.com/index.htm?Header.xhtml&0 - Daven`s Journal
http://www.pangaeasanctuary.org/darkwood/ - Darkwood of PanGaea
http://www.wicca.utvinternet.com/ - Wicca na hErin
http://www.tryskelion.com/ - Tryskelion
http://www.mothersmagic.net/ - Breathless Noon
http://www.religioustolerance.org/witchcra.htm - Wicca, the religion
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/religions/wicca/faq/ - Wicca FAQ
http://www.allonewicca.com/ - All one Wicca
http://www.cuew.org/cffn/index.html - Coven of the Far Flung Net
http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/gbos/index.htm - Gardnerian Book of Shadows
http://www.paganspath.com/ - The Pagan`s Path
http://www.rantingwitches.com/ - The Ranting Witches
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicca - Wicca
http://janus.spawnfar.net/ - The Janus Gate
http://www.hiddenmuse.com/ - Hidden Muse
http://www.geraldgardner.com/ - Gerald Gardner
http://beaufort.bravepages.com/index.html - Beaufort House`s TradList
http://www.tradwicca.org/beginnings.html - A Traditional Alexandrian Coven
http://www.waningmoon.com/ethics/rede.shtml - The Wiccan Rede
http://www.glasstemple.com/home/ - Glass Temple
http://www.witchipedia.org – Witchipedia


BOOKS ON WICCA:

The Witches' Bible: The Complete Witches' Handbook - Janet & Stewart Farrar.
The Witches' God - Janet and Stewart Farrar
The Witches' Goddess - Janet and Stewart Farrar
The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft - Ronald Hutton.
Witchcraft Today - Gerald B. Gardner.
Witchdom of the True - Edred Thorsson
Wicca: the Old Religion in the New Milennium - Vivianne Crowley
Advanced Wiccan Spirituality - Kevin Saunders
The Elements of Ritual: Air, Fire, Water & Earth in the Wiccan Circle - Deborah Lipp
What Witches Do - Stewart Farrar


BOOKS ON NEO-WICCA:

Witch Crafting: A Spiritual Guide to Making Magic - by Phyllis W. Curott
Positive Magic - Marion Weinstein
Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner - Scott Cunningham
The Circle Within: Creating a Wiccan Spiritual Tradition - Dianne Sylvan
Book of Shadows - Phyllis Curott
The Second Circle - Venecia Rauls
The Heart of Wicca: Wise Words from a Crone on the Path - Ellen Cannon Reed
Evolutionary Witchcraft - T. Thorn Coyle
The Wiccan Path: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner - Rae Beth
21st Century Wicca - Jennifer Hunter
Witchcraft: A Concise Guide - Isaac Bonewits
Way of Four - Deborah Lipp

Answer 2

http://owlstorm.tripod.com/pagan/origins.htm
There is a lot of confusion as to how Wicca originated. Some people say that it has been around for thousands of years. But this is not true. The widely accepted origin of at least today's Wicca is that it was created in the mid-20th century by Gerald Gardner, a mishmash of ancient religion and new thought.


Definition: Wicca is a peaceful, Earth-honouring, polytheistic religion that has no connection whatsoever to Satanism. It was founded by Gerald Gardner in the 1950s and is a mixture of reconstructed Pagan beliefs and more modern ceremonial magick practices.
http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/whatiswicca/g/wicca.htm

Wicca came about near the sixties thanks to Gerald Gardner. Oddly enough, this was also a time of free love and drugs.
-Personal Studies

Answer 3

Christian Wicca is a secret to maximum of. C.W. is an eclectic form of Christianity. people who can not evaluate the different teachings different than the Bible are very uncomfortable with this faith. Christian Wicca believes in the trinity of God the father, God the mummy (Goddess), and the Son God Jesus. We additionally learn and prepare the techniques of the Bible, Kabbalah, Gnostic Gospels and Wiccan teachings. probable the main needed concept of C.W. is their inclusion of the Divine female. truthfully, there can't be a delivery and not using a father AND a mom. We worship the mummy Goddess as having equivalent capability in introduction. the mummy is present day in each and every component of religious teachings, even the Bible. (even with the undeniable fact so which you are able to look problematic to locate it there.) additionally, there's a distinction between being Christo-pagan and being Christian Wiccan. previously you go on the air with your checklist, lookup the two and shop in mind the main significant variations. I won't do it right here because of the fact this is going to easily get too long. only comprehend that they are distinctive. i'm frequently criticized by ability of Christians and Wiccans alike. (greater so Christians. Wiccans tend to be greater open-minded.) i'm hoping I truthfully have responded a number of your questions. solid success with your radio checklist....advantages!

Answer 4

http://wicca.timerift.net/

This is one of the best sites I have found concerning Wicca. It disspells (excuse the pun) a lot of misconceptions about our religion and gives some books you could look into, if you are interested. As for finding answers on here, obviously you will end up confused..... thanks to Watchman here who went off on a rant about Spiritism (funny, that sort of thing about conjuring up the dead was more popular in Christianity in the 20's and 30's than it is in Wicca today) and on Witchcraft (which not all Wiccans do anyway, so even that rant of his only causes more confusion).

It's things like that which really annoy me... people outside of our religion trying to define Wicca to others. I'm sure they wouldn't want me trying to define Christianity to other people. It's a real shame they have to go to such great lengths to make another group look bad, so they can make theirs look good.

Answer 5

A good article on the history of Wicca:
http://www.geraldgardner.com/History_of_Wicca_Revised.pdf

A short bio on the founder of Wicca, Gerald B. Gardner:
http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/g/gardner_gerald_b.html

An excerpt on Wicca in the US Army Chaplain's handbook:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/wic_usbk.htm

I'm not a Wiccan, but these are interesting and good things to include in your report.

Answer 6

Some wonderful websites for you:

http://paganwiccan.about.com/cs/whatiswicca/a/aawhatiswicca.htm

http://www.wicca.com/celtic/wicca/wicca.htm

http://www.starkindler.org/wicca.html

http://www.magicwicca.com/wicca/definition.html

http://crypt.eldritchs.com/wicca/whatiswicca.html

And probably the least biased of all:

http://www.religioustolerance.org/witchcra.htm

If anyone - ANYONE - tells you it involves Satanism or sends you to a site that mentions Satan, they are lying. Also, if they mention blood sacrifices, orgies, and that we are manipulative and evil, they are also lying.

Good luck in your research, and bright blessings!

)O(

P.S. - everything Watchman said, ignore it.

P.P.S. - didn't you ask about Tarot cards and divination a couple days ago? Hope you found the answers you needed!

Answer 7

Plenty of good sources listed, just do NOT believe the claims that Wicca is a continuation of the ancient and original religion of europeans. That is based on bogus archaology. Make sure you examine their (hilarious) claims for yourself. Truth be told it was a deliberately created religion made by Lodge Magicians in the Kabbalistic tradition for people who didn't like Ceremonial magic. Google and do some digging for the connections between Gerald Gardner, Kenneth Grant of the O.T.O. and A.O. Spare. This is a fairly balanced place to start:

http://www.angelfire.com/nt/dragon9/ORIGINS.html

But in any case, do NOT believe Wiccan claims that their religion is a continuation of ancient paganism!!!!!

Answer 8

dont they use the pentacle to symbolise the 5 spirits or elements of wicca?

Answer 9

Check out http://www.witchvox.com which is a site just LOADED with information. Also, the other sites that were mentioned are definitely worth your time.

)O(

Answer 10

I'm NeoPagan; I can probably help.

So can this site:

http://paganwiccan.about.com

(There's a message board, too.)

Answer 11

start from here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicca