Want to know about Wicca

Lark
What direction are you practicing Wicca?

Hey bright i think you should list where you got that from and not playgerize because i remember reading the exact same thing you put about wicca

Hi Marfa,

For many years I worked in an eclectic Wiccan Tradition. That Trad did have both lineage and formal initiations. I eventually formed my own coven which I ran for 12 years. I retired from coven leadership in 2008, but I am now the High Priestess of that Trad.

I am also a 2nd Degree Gardnerian working hard on achieving my 3rd Degree in that Tradition.

U guys helped lots thanks.

wicca's very open, so you'll get MANY different views on it. if i can remember back, it's nature based, with a God or Goddess. some people focus more on one over the other, but they are equal so you should not. i have a friend who feels you cannot be wiccan and not believe and pray to both. but again, this is a very personal path. the reason there is a god and goddess [lord and lady] is because there's male and female in nature, so it must also ring true in the divine.

Many say it's a new religion founded in 1951 by Gerald Gardner, when it's really a very old religion, dating back to Celtic and pagan times. in 1951 in England, they repealed the law stating witchcraft was illegal, and Gardner stepped forward, to teach people what his coven had passed down for years. there are other paths, and everyone believes something different, but the main path most people start learning about is the Gardner.

you can practice solitary, or in a coven. when in a coven, while you can have more strength for spells, each person should, typically, believe the same thing. in my coven, there's 5 people, i follow dragon magick, another follows a strict Gardner path, a third Faerie and natural magic, forth has a Celtic herbalist path, and the final person has added so many beliefs to his own, i'm not too sure what he follows lol. we can practice together, but it's little differences, like casting the circle, or holiday celebrations that are different.

there's many books and sites on wicca, look into Raymond Buckland and Scott Cunningham. people like Silver Ravenwolf and D.J. Conway are divided, some love them, some hate them, so i'd recommend avoiding books by them, at least for the year and a day ceremony [the year and a day is the time from when you choose to join wicca where you study and practice. after the year, on the final day, you then dedicate yourself if you think this is the right path for you] blessed be.

"Many say it's a new religion founded in 1951 by Gerald Gardner, when it's really a very old religion, dating back to Celtic and pagan times. in 1951 in England, they repealed the law stating witchcraft was illegal, and Gardner stepped forward, to teach people what his coven had passed down for years."

No, Wicca really is a new religion and not an old one. And it bears no resemblance to the religion practiced by the pre-Christian Celts. Gardner was initiated into a coven who based their practices on the works of Margaret Murray, a modern English folklorist, who claimed that witchcraft was an ancient religion. There is absolutely no evidence that Murray's claims were true.

What Gardner was given by his coven were a few rather poorly constructed rituals. Almost everything that makes up modern Wicca was drawn from either Gardner or from his first HPS, Doreen Valiente. And Gardner borrowed from such sources as ceremonal magic and the Free Masons.

Many years ago I spoke about this with a man who was initiated into Gardner's coven while Gardner was still the HP in 1956. According to him, the coven into which Gardner was initiated went back no further than around 1900. And before that there was no form of religious Witchcraft that bore any resemblance to Wicca.

For anyone interested in the real history of Wicca I would suggest the book "Triumph of the Moon" by Ronald Hutton.

Lark

I don't mean to offend you but you're kinda wrong ("Wrong" doesn't really work but I wanted to avoid using the other words because I don't feel like insulting anyone) because it dates back very far and for someone semi new to like (Around two years) even I learned the "Real" history of it and most books and people say it dates back very far

Not saying that you aren't right but there is more evidence to disagree

There is evidence of old religions and practices Wicca pulls from, but Wicca itself is a modern religion as Lark stated.

Most books and people believe that Wicca is old because for a while no one knew better. We've since realized that Murray's witch-cult theory holds water about as well as a sieve.

http://wicca.cnbeyer.com/murray.shtml

what i meant was, yes "Wicca" as it is known today is new, the roots in which Wicca is founded date back a long ways. i'll look into that book though.

"I don't mean to offend you but you're kinda wrong ("Wrong" doesn't really work but I wanted to avoid using the other words because I don't feel like insulting anyone) because it dates back very far and for someone semi new to like (Around two years) even I learned the "Real" history of it and most books and people say it dates back very far

Not saying that you aren't right but there is more evidence to disagree "

Actually no, there isn't evidence to show that Wicca is an ancient religion. I've been practicing Wicca for nearly 30 years now and when I first started out the theory was that Wicca was ancient. But research since then by both Pagan and non-Pagan scholars has shown that that was simply not the case.

Certainly Wicca draws upon ancient roots, but Wicca is no older than the 1930's at most. I think that you will find that more recent books, particularly those by any credible author, no longer try to claim that Wicca is ancient.

Of course it really doesn't matter whether it is new or it is ancient. What matters is that it works as a spiritual path for many, many people. All religions were new once upon a time. Whether they are viable or not only time will tell.