Are there different branches of the Wiccan religion?

Question

How many different branches of the Wiccan faith are there? I met a few Wiccans that seemed to follow different 'traditions'. How many different traditions are there? Are there some that don't get along with each other?

Oh, to bigoted Christian who lable any faith that is not Christianity to be satanism, please don't waste my time by responding, I'm not interested in hearing your bigotry....

Answer 1

There are about 10 or 20 different branches or "Traditions" in Wicca. The MAIN ones are Gardnerarian (founded by Gerald Gardner), Alexandrian (founded by Alexander Sanders), Dianic, Celtic, Seax (Founded by Raymond Buckland), Strega, Brujeria, Green, Asatru, and a bunch more. There are Wiccans who practice alone,, called solitarys, without being a part of a group or coven (the VAST majority of witches consider themselves to be solitarys). There are others who belong to several groups and borrow from other groups as well, these are Eclectic Witches.

It would be interesting to note that not ALL Wiccans are Witches and not ALL Witches are Wiccan. Witches practice Magic, divination, and other paranormal acts. Wicca is the Religion, and many Wiccans are ALSO Witches. Wicca is the worship of a dual God/Goddess pair. Those Witches who are NOT Wicca may be members of other, mainstream religions. There ARE Christian Witches, Jewish Witches and even Islamic Witches as well.

The MOST interesting part of ALL the Traditions of Wicca is that they all DO get along very well. The nature of Wicca is that each individual must find and explore the path that "works" for him or her. By "works" I mean whatever helps a person attain a meaningful, lasting dialogue with Deity. As such, Every Wiccan recognizes that we EACH must do our worship in our OWN ways and on our OWN terms. Goddess and God establish a repartee' with each Witch on an individual basis. That essentially makes every witch or Wiccan a priest or priestess.. In a group ritual, a HIGH Priestess or Priest is chosen to perfomr the MAIN part of the ritual but each member of the group also has a function in the ritual. That is to say, ONE may cast the circle, another may greet the quarters, another may bless the salt and water, and so forth.

Additionally not ALL Wiccans know the Goddess and the God by the SAME name. We have a pantheon of names to choose from and sometimes Goddess or God will GIVE us a name to addres him/her by that is NOT a part of ANY pantheon. For example MY Goddess wishes ME to call her Shandara but; MY God wants me to address him as Lugh ( a Celtic God). Wiccans choose the names for their God and Goddess based on MANY things. Some just choose because they LIKE the History of a particular Deity from Classical times. Others have Goddess or God TELL them their names through deep meditation (That was HOW I discovered MY names for Goddess and God). Others base the names from their OWN ancestry and nationality. Others use the names that they have because they were raised in a faith that has that name for God or Goddess already. Others use the NAME chosen by their Coven (a sort of voted on name). WE ALL, for the most part, accept each others' practices and names for Deity as being JUST as valid as our own and FEW witches makes the "claim" that ONLY our way is the TRUE way and all others are false. This is WHY you will see very few Wiccans Telling Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists or any other Faith that they are wrong either. Witches seem to be free of the condemnation and intolerance that the Abrahamic Religions seem to have against each other.

I hope this gives you a little insight into OUR Faith. I believe that if we can teach you about ourselves then you are LESS likely to be afraid of us and less likely to end up hating us as well.

Brightest Blessings,
Raji the Green Wtich

Answer 2

Witchvox.com can explain it much better than I.

Go here:http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usfl&c=basics&id=4575

There are many, many different traditions of Wicca, and Witchvox only has a few listed. http://www.witchvox.com/_x.html?c=trads
Usually they form because an individual will want to focus one a particular aspect of Wicca more than the rest, or because a group of people go about doing their rituals slightly different than other groups. Some people will start their own Covens, and practice how they want. Some people will go off by themselves, or begin learning by themselves, and these people are Solitaries.

For the most part, Wiccans get along VERY well with other Wiccans, but that doesn't mean that they don't argue over things that differ, in which they consider important. They argue, but in the end, they still shake hands with each other, because we're all brothers and sisters in the craft.

Good luck! and Blessed Be!

Answer 3

There are many branches of the wiccan religion. I personally have a thing against calling yourself something when you change it so much it is something else, but yes there are alot of branches out there that do this. Wicca was actually a religion started by Gerald Gardner back in the early 1950s or late 1940s (the exact date is unknown) that took aspects of many other religions and combined them into one that had a male and feminine deity. The original Wicca is a secretive relgion, which means that most who claim wicca are really a form of new or "neo-wicca" though most won't say that.

Answer 4

If you want to get into a lil bit more indepth study go to www.amazon.com & get
Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America by Margot Adler (Paperback - Oct 3, 2006) (less than $13)
very nice covering many Wiccan traditions... but there are new ones formed everyday (many mostly eclectic) so check the www.witchvox.com website too.

:)

Answer 5

it is almost impossible to count. each coven will have it's own rituals and traditions.

the biggest traditional forms would probably be

British traditional witchcraft.

Alexandrian Wicca.

Dianic Wicca.

but with the new age solitary movement there are hundreds of covens that are all founded on new traditions. almost all of them however simply claim Wicca as their religion. and most see the different traditions simply as personnel interpretations of the same thing.

Answer 6

Merry Meet Tranland, Wicca is many stuff to many human beings. you could ask one hundred Wiccans what they suspect and you extra then probably gets one hundred and one solutions. the undemanding answer on your question is gratifying. We settle for that via our strikes the effects of them. we don't stay in concern of damnation, yet fairly stay interior the gentle of affection and fellowship. We understand and have confidence that the extra valuable and stable we do in existence, the extra we will acquire. Likewise, the extra undesirable and detrimental we will we additionally shall acquire return. We have confidence that the Goddess and God embody us in love no rely how stable or undesirable we are as their little ones, and for this reason supply them returned the comparable in return. we don't blame an all ideally suited evil entity for our strikes, yet fairly take self duty for what we do in this existence as properly as previous ones. We embody the Goddess and God in all rituals, even however all Esbats are based on the Goddess and Sabbats are based on the suitable deity based upon the sabbat. while we dinner occasion in fellowship and in community, we assemble as sisters and brothers in spirit and in physique. on the grounds that the two factors of human beings come from the Goddess and God. We abide by utilizing the Wiccan Rede because of the fact we experience it’s top and inspirational, not because of the fact we'd desire to consistently or would be punished if we don’t. finally, Wicca is an awakening of the techniques, physique and spirit mixed bringing us fulfillment and exhilaration. i'm hoping my rambling replied your question, if not i be attentive to somebody elses will. consistently in gentle and Love Nyjh

Answer 7

Yes there are different traditions of Wicca:
Alexandrian, British traditional, Celtic, Circle, COG, Dianic, Eclectic, Gardnerian, Georgian, Sacred Wheel, Seax, etc..

Yes, there are some that don't get along with one another.. They ARE human after all.

Answer 8

There are not any 'branches' so much as 'flavours'. Various general precepts seem to be concorded though. People will tend to flock together with those who believe similarly and they tend to call themselves by the same name. Generally. So folks find a tradition that suits them and call it what the others like them call it.

Answer 9

Yes there is, that is a very good question. And do you know who and what is the root? The root is Satan and his Demons and some of them don't even know that he exists know that is ironic is'nt it?