What is Wicca?

Answer 1

Wicca is a new age mystery religion that was created by Gerald Gardner in the late 1940's. It is a hodge-podge of Masonic / golden dawn ritual structure, and British-Welsh folklore. Raymond Buckland brought it to the United States in the 1960’s. Before Gerald Gardner called his religious followers "the Wicca" it simply meant male witch, where "wicce" meant female witch... There id some debate that the original etymology of wicca means "to bend."

The wiccan rede & the book of shadows came later. The wiccan rede is often attributed to Gardner- who had associations with Aliester Crowley, and it was believed to be a re-write by Doreen Valiente of the Thelemic law (Do as thou will shall be the whole of the law. Love is the law love under will). However this is hotly debated... Lady Gwen Thompson of the The New England Covens of Traditionalist Witches credits the poem of the rede to her paternal grandmother Adriana Porter.

Modern Wicca has little in common with what Gerald Gardner began more than half a century ago... That is unless you look only at BTW (British traditional witchcraft) In order to have been considered a Wiccan one must be declared a proper person, and undergo supervised training for a year & a day these are called dedicants... a seeker must undergo an initiation in a coven setting... it seems today that is no longer the case... so anyone who has read a book by Raven Gramassi, or Edain McCoy feels they have a right to call themselves a Wiccan.

Wicca was originally considered a priesthood, initiates are called priests & priestesses, those who are not initiated are called "cowan" or "seeker" and were not considered Wiccan
(up until around the mid 1980's when eclectic wicca started to take hold)

Wiccans believe in a God & Goddess (or in the case of the Dianics just a goddess). Most wiccans have their own opinion about deity, some a polytheist, meaning that they believe in many gods & goddess and all are individual entities... some are Panantheists, meaning that "all gods are one"... some are duo-theists meaning that they believe in god & goddess and all names are just aspects of the god & goddess... some are animists (nature is god) They perform Sabbats(rituals) at the 8 markings of the year (Samhain, Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Midsummer, Lughnasadh, & Mabon) They gather to work magic on the full & new moons (esbats) They record these spells & rituals in a "Book Of Shadows"

Wiccans are a diverse group so to try to put all of them in one box is a difficult (if not impossible) challenge at best… Although after looking at your previous questions Wicca is a religion, witchcraft is a practice...
Wicca is NOT ancient however some of the folklore that it is based on is pretty old...
Wicca is NOT devil worship or "satanism lite"
There is a divergance between Traditional Wicca and Neo-wicca aka ecclectic wicca.
The term Wiccan & witch are not necesarily interchangable.

Answer 2

"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." - Taken from Wikipedia. (it explained it better than me!)

Eclectic Wiccan

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Answer 3

BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS OF WICCA
Not every Wiccan will subscribe to all of these points, but
generally they are representative.

1. The divine Spirit is present in all creatures and things: people, animals, plants, stones...
2. The ultimate creative force manifests in both feminine and masculine modes; therefore it is often symbolized as the Goddess and The God.
3. In some covens, both are celebrated equally. In others, The Goddess is given precedence or even celebrated without reference to the God.
4. All Goddesses and Gods are aspects of The Goddess and The God. The aspects most popular in Wicca are the Triple Goddess of the Moon (Maiden, Mother and Crone) and the Horned God of death and rebirth.
5. Reincarnation and karma are valid concepts. Upon death one goes to a state of rest and reflection, and eventually chooses where and when s/he will be reborn.
6. Magick is practiced for positive (helping) purposes: spiritual development, healing, guidance, safety, etc.
7. Rituals are generally performed outdoors when possible, at the
New and Full Moons, and at eight Sabbat festivals which mark the
progression of the seasons.
8. Magick and celebration are performed in small groups, usually
3 to 13, called covens. These are basically autonomous -- there
is no central church authority or hierarchy.
9. There is no holy book, or prophet, no equivalent of the Bible
or Jesus or Mohammed. Individuals have access to the divine, and
do not require an intermediary. Every initiate is regarded as a
priest/ess.
10. The central ethic is "And ye harm none, do as ye will."
Whatever energy you send out returns threefold, so it is wise to
be kind to others.
11. We should live in harmony with the Earth and Nature, and not
exploit them.
12. Though Wicca is a valid spiritual path, it is not the only
one. There is no recruiting, and people should be free to choose
the path that best fits their needs.
13. The concepts of original sin, sacrifice, redemption,
confession, the divinity of Jesus, sinfulness of sex, Judgment,
Heaven and Hell, denigration of women, bodily resurrection, and
the Bible as divine revelation are not part of Wicca. Neither are
Satanism, the Black Mass, desecration of cemeteries, the sacrifice
of animals, etc.
Copyright (c) 1983 Amber K., Our Lady of the Woods. Used by
Permission

Answer 4

Wicca (or Wicce) is not devil worship; it does not practice the "black arts"; it is not evil. It is a very old religion which has been around much longer than Christianity. As a matter of fact, christmas day was "borrowed" from the pagan holiday of Yule. Wicca is tolerant and has one immutable law: An' harm it none, do what you will.

How do I know this? I have been a practicing Wiccan for over 10 years.

Blessed be.

Answer 5

Wicca is a neo-pagan religion based on the pre-Christian traditions of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Its origins can be traced even further back to Paleolithic peoples who worshiped a Hunter God and a Fertility Goddess.

Its very interesting stuff...especially if you look at all the history.

and it has nothing to do with Satan....Wiccans and Pagans, don't believe in Satan..Just to let you know.

Answer 6

* 8 Holidays centered around the Solstices and Equinoxes and their cross quarter days.
* Belief in God AND Goddess
* Yes we cast spells, just like other religions Pray.
* No, it isn't the movie "The Craft" or like Charmed.
*We DON"T believe in the Devil.
*First rule is HARM NONE.
*No, we're not sacrificing anything to anyone.
*No orgies (Contrary to popular belief.)
*Yes, men can be Witches, too.
*we don't try to convert people

Answer 7

I know it's my own website, but I got permission from Carl McColman to post a portion of his book "When Someone You Love is Wiccan?" Check it out here:
http://www.nightbirdsjourney.com/Wicca.html

Answer 8

This is 2st and formost NOT a religion it is a belief and has a god and goddess which is known is 3 aspects . This belief has been around LONG before christianity and in fact christians based many of there beliefs off of pagan and wiccan beliefs only making them evil or in an example christmas ...
Wiccans in short are believers of all things seen rather than the unseen there is no promise of doom for bad choices or the gloom of christianity .....
We also do NOT recruit people to wicca they are to come to it of there own free will ...

Answer 9

here is a good website to see.
(a practicing witch for 15 years.)

Answer 10

I suggest going to wikipedia.com The name simularities are just coincidence but this site is a "know all" web site. I do however suggest you be carefull when dealing with black magic. Its not from the "One True God" and anything thats other worldly thats not God, is not anything you want to mess with! Trust me! There is but One God and His One Son. That's not an opinion, its a fact. I have undeniable evidence.