Is Wiccan law lost or destroyed and if so what books do Wiccans base their belief in?

Question

Christians will have done their best to erase everything to do with the Pagan Wiccan ways, something must have survived however.

Answer 1

Wicca is 60 odd years old. Garald Gardner did write down some 160 laws in his BOS.

Answer 2

Wiccan law lost? Since when?

Wicca was started in the late 30's by Gerald Gardner and several others. It is based upon the older pagan religions and other elements that Gardner and the others felt meshed nicely with Wicca, for example Karma.

Witchcraft and Druidism, along with other pagan faiths, on the other hand suffered greatly at the hands of the Christians. Some material still survives from the old ways but no one can know just how much has been lost.

Most of us Wiccans base our belief in what Gardner and others that follow have written since the anti-witchcraft laws were repealed. Personally I am fond of the works of Scott Cunningham, but there is also Raymond Buckland, D J Conway, Raven Grimassi, Silver Ravenwolf, Vivianne Crowley, Starhawk, Janet & Steward Farrar, Laurie Cabot, and Richard Webster, just to name a few of the more well known authors. There is so much material available now that it is getting hard to know where to look sometimes but the important thing to remember is that our traditions are not carved in stone, they are written in the sky. There is no "one" way to believe in Wicca, it is a matter of what works for the individual.

Blessed Be )O(

Answer 3

Traditional Wicca (i.e. Gardnerian, and you could include Alexandrian and Seax-Wicca in here as well) is based on the writings of Gerald Gardner, which is basically a reconstruction of pagan beliefs, with the incorporation of other influences (such as Crowley and others). There is the belief that he was initiatied into a "long-standing" coven of witches who survived various persecutions, but that claim is disputed by several sources.

Regardless, modern Wicca (i.e. not necessarily strictly Gardnerian) is also based on Gardner's writings, however as the religion has grown, it has developed (as most religions do) into various branches / denominations / traditions, each following the same core beliefs, but practicing them slightly differently.

"Wiccan law" is a hard concept to explain, because it's not a revealed religion. There is no "The Gods told me to write this - this is The Word Of God That All Must Follow" in Wicca. There are several books that I consider to be *inspired* by the Divine, but none that I think would be considered *the word of the Gods*.

Wiccans in general follow the Wiccan Rede, which is a lengthy stanza poem giving an outline of what Wiccans should do ("Rede" means "advice" or "counsel", not "law"), and it is where "An it harms none, do as ye will" comes from. (Which to my mind is more than enough proof of the influence of Crowley on Gardner, but that's another story).

Wiccans also may study historic texts, archaeology and mythology, and folklore. There are also many modern Wiccan authors who have come to be highly recommended in the community. (Of course, there are also authors who have come to be highly UNrecommended in the community!!)

I don't know if any of that answers your question or not.

Answer 4

Wicca is a modern religion.

While it draws from a variety of sources, from ancient folk religions and Anglo-Saxon paganism, to Crowley, Freemasonry, and the OTO, it was largely the invention of Gerald Gardner, who published his creation in the 1950's.

There are *similarities* but there is no unbroken line of descent from ancient pagan practices to modern Wicca. There weren't *really* any "Burning Times," either.

Doesn't mean a lot of wonderful people don't derive great spiritual growth and fulfilment from practicing it, but let's stop the hype, and the self-aggrandizing myths some of the Llewellyn hacks have put out there. :-/

Answer 5

Do what?
Wiccan law isn't written down anywhere. Wiccans blend of the Old Ways.
Now if you mean Paganism which includes Wicca then there are lots of things written down. Sure Christians tried to wipe it all out, but they didn't. Makes you wonder, if thier god does exist, why couldn't he beat ours? Ha! Our Gods can beat up thier God!

Answer 6

Wicca was created in the 1950's by Gerald Gardner. It was loosely based on pre-Abrahamic religions. There are various accounts of what the indigenous religions of Europe were like before Christianity, and Wicca emulates them to some degree. (Sabbats, full-moon rituals, hand-fasting.)

They don't have one book with all the answers. They look more to themselves for answers.

Answer 7

If one was Wiccan in other lifetimes, it is still in your collective subconcious should you choose to go into the pool and look at it. If you shine the light on it, you will get to recalim the good and the shadow.

An interesting tidbit I read, is that the Wiccan belief was big on revenge killing. That probably kept the culture from growing any. Too busy killing each other, much like the middle east revenge killings of today.

Answer 8

Wicca has not had a holy text since it began in the 1950's.

Few ancient religions had a single holy text either (witness Hinduism and the numerous Gita).

Answer 9

originally there was no wiccan law, the rede and rule of three came along later

Answer 10

Wiccan is not of God.