Can someone please explain to me in detail what exactly Wiccan is?

Question

I am not really sure what exactly those who are Wiccan believe or practice. I have always been told that Wiccans are witches and practice witchcraft, like doing spells and curses, but I am sure that is not really accurate. Can someone who is Wiccan, tell me what exactly it is? Thanks

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. Although people commonly refer to Wicca as 'nature-based' generally as a polytheist religion it distances itself from this term, more commonly used for polytheist religions such as Gaia worship.

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 behaviour based on Wicca doctrine.

The rede plays a large part in the morality and ethics of Wicca, however not all Wicca follow the rede instead it is more commonly seen within Neo-wicca, and although often taken as meaning to 'harm none' the rede is more commonly understood as an expression of cause and effect. 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.newwiccanchurch.net - New Wiccan Church International

Answer 2

According to Wikipedia.com:

Wicca is a Neopagan religion and a religious movement found in various countries throughout the world. It was first popularised in 1954 by a British civil servant named Gerald Gardner after the British Witchcraft Act was repealed. He claimed that the religion, of which he was an initiate, was a modern survival of an old witchcraft religion, which had existed in secret for hundreds of years, originating in the pre-Christian Paganism of Europe. Wicca is thus sometimes referred to as the Old Religion. The veracity of Gardner's claims cannot be independently proven, and it is thought that written Wiccan theology began to be compiled no earlier than the 1920s. Various related Wiccan traditions have since evolved, or been adapted from, the form established by Gardner, which came to be called Gardnerian Wicca. These other traditions of Wicca each have distinctive beliefs, rituals, and practices. Many traditions of Wicca remain secretive and require that members be initiated. There is also a movement of Eclectic or Solitary Wiccans who do not believe that any doctrine or traditional initiation is necessary in order to practice Wicca. The 2001 American Religious Identification Survey estimated that at least 134,000 adults identified themselves as Wiccans in the US.

Answer 3

Wicca is basically a recreation of the pre-Christian religions of Europe. Little is known about them, so Wiccans have filled in the gaps by making stuff up in parts, as all religions do (it's just more obvious with Wicca, partly because it's so recent). Also an important point is that Europe was filled with pre-Christian religions, and rather than focus on one, Wicca has tried to do a single synthesis. So it's sort of mashed together the various religions, blurring some beliefs or making them less specific (e.g. there isn't usually a name given to "the Goddess"). Learning about other, more obscure religions is a really good idea. You can find out lots of good stuff by looking up other religions on Wikipedia; I've been pretty happy about the things I've found there on Sikhism etc.

Answer 4

Some Wiccans call themselves witches.

A Wiccan is a person who is in touch with and uses the energies of nature for themselves and others. Often these energies are focused in potions and talismans.

Wiccans do not believe in the supernatural, but that everything -- even if it feels magical -- is natural. Wiccans do not believe in a "hell" or a "devil."

Wiccans do believe in a higher power usually in the forms of a goddess and a god, a type of "heaven" (called Summerland or Springtimeland), and reincarnation.

Wiccans believe in tolerance, understanding and compassion.

The Wiccan Rede states "An it harm none, do what Thou Wilt."

Another belief is the Law of Three (sometimes seven or ten) which states "Whatever you do shall return to you threefold." This means good or bad.

Answer 5

The term witchcraft evokes different images for different people. Many Westerners would be surprised to know that more and more of their contemporaries are embracing witchcraft as a viable expression of their own spirituality. However marginal or far out it may have seemed in the past, it is clear that witchcraft is becoming progressively more mainstream throughout the world.

Witches are people who revere both the God and the Goddess. They seek a more friendly relationship with their natural environment, endeavoring to recognize the sacredness of all of nature. Witches, further, seek to utilize cosmic or psychic forces to do their bidding. To this end, the practice of witchcraft involves knowledge and skill in appropriating the rituals that are believed to harness and focus these energies. Seeing themselves in stark contrast to other occult religions such as Satanism, witches seek to work these forces in order to enhance their own experience of life and to promote healing and community.

Do these rituals work? Is this even the important question to ask? What could possibly be wrong with such a seemingly benevolent religion? Witchcraft has something to say about who we are as humans, about what our relationship to our fellow humans and to the rest of the universe ought to be, and about how we should relate to the divine. Some Christians may be surprised to learn of the comparisons and contrasts that can be drawn from witchcraft with their own Christianity.

This is just a teaser from an online magazine, the entire article, which should answer any questions is at http://www.equip.org/free/JAW188.htm and if you have a PDF reader can be viewed in a much easier format also.

Answer 6

You are bound to get a variety of answers. Wiccans don't have a central belief system like Christians do. Some Wiccans practice Christianity in all but name and others have more pagan beliefs. Witch as you probably understand the term, was a complete fiction made up by the Church in the 13 and 14 hundreds. People that refer to themselves as Witches are definitely not speaking of that. I'm sure you will get a better answer shortly.

Answer 7

Wicca is an Earth based religion, as others have mentioned, as opposed to an Abrahamic faith (Christianity, Jewish, Muslim). Meaning we do not follow the Bible but instead listen to Nature and honor all of Nature and life.

With regards to being witches that is a little bit of a blurry point, a lot of Wiccans call themselves witches and some do not, personally I do not care for the term because it caries a lot of "baggage" with it. We do use spells but they are not as Hollywood or fantasy books would have you believe. They are akin to pray except instead of asking for help from an external Divine entity we believe the power of change resides within each individual. Probably the most important point to Wicca is our Wiccan Rede (law) which states "An in it harm none, do as thou wilst" which gives us free will but also the responsibility to not bring harm to others or ourselves. We believe that in Karma and the Threefold Law which tells us that whatever energy we put forth in the Universe is returned to us threefold, both good and bad.

We do not put anyone above another. We are all equals. We do believe in the Divine and for the most part no two of us have exactly the same image of what/who the Divine is but basically all life is a part of the Divine and we separate it into masculine and feminine. We refer to them, in general terms, as the Lady and the Lord. One major difference with Wicca is that we don't "worship" the Divine but instead believe we "work with" the Divine to make ourselves and the Earth a better place.

Blessed Be )O(

Answer 8

Wicca
Wicca is a nature religion based upon beliefs and rites believed to be rooted in ancient practices. Wicca claims a direct connection to the ancient Celtic tradition, which is thought to be more in tune with natural forces than Christianity and other modern religions of the West. However, rather than see Wiccans as members of a religion, it might be more accurate to see them as sharing a spiritual basis in nature and natural phenomena. For Wiccans have no written creed which the orthodox must adhere to. Nor do they build stone temples or churches to worship in. They practice their rituals in the great outdoors: in parks, gardens, forests, yards or hillsides.

http://skepdic.com/wicca.html

Answer 9

It is a religion one of the oldest by the Gov. didn't recognize it until 1972.
Witchcraft -Wicca
The great trust of the craft is that it encourages spiritual development in all people in any way they intuitively feel is right for them. On it's social side the craft teaches connection with nature and the idea that one should progress through harming no one. This then leads to us a very simlpe definition: A religion that encourages its members to progress in their own way and in their own time to greater spiritual understanding.
A religion of salvation through wisdom and exploration.

Answer 10

I was going to answer this but it looks like Sprout has it covered quite well! Yeah, what she said.

Answer 11

Wicca is an earth-based religon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicca
That's a fine explanation, free of christian bias.