Yes, Cochrane did coin the term "Gardnerian" as an insult to Gardner and his coven. But the term stuck and that's what we Gardnerians call ourselves now when talking to others about what Tradition we follow.
And you're correct, Gardnerian Wicca is the oldest form of Wicca we have. The group that Gardner was initiated into (And I have no doubts about his initiation.) neither referred to itself as Wiccan nor did they practice anything similar to what we would know as Wicca today. Gardner even said on numerous occasions that the group forbade him to use their materians when Gardner decided to go public. So the material that was handed down and continues to be handed down to every Gardnerian Initiate was created by Gardner and several of his High Prietesses.
No disrespect to anyone, but I do not think it is plagiarism. As I have stated, this information is as per Crimsonwolf. This is information that was obtained. As so, I wrote this post as stated, as a way for like minded individuals to have some sort of foundation for their own research and study as I did. I'm not teaching, I'm just giving a little information to research. I never take what I read first as fact. I always research more about it, so I was hoping that new individuals would do the same.
if you copy/pasted information its plagiarism. though you mentioned the author therefore i don't think it counts, but its frowned upon to copy/paste information in the site.
I did not copy/paste or plagiarize, and thing. I was just sharing some information that I obtained some time ago. It was something I read and researched when I was studying, learning. This is why I said, Do your own research and studying for your own path. This post was simply suppose to be a foundation of study. I was just trying to help, there is nothing worst (I think) then blind study. But, I will not post again. I was under the impression we were able to post information.
please don't be upset. i was trying to explain why one could consider it plagiarism because you didn't understand how it could be. that was all. as i also said it's a good starting point. not all the information is there, and you are missing many branches [while not all imo are 'wicca' since they don't worship a god and goddess, or are contradictory terms] but still a good start. but people could go 'celtic wicca, sounds interesting' and research it further.
hopefully you're not leaving the site for good, but try accepting and moving forward. its sad when someone says mean things or picks apart something you were proud of, but majority of people want to help. they might be more direct than others [and therefore come across as mean] but they just want to help. blessed be with whatever you do Phoenix.
Thanks for posting and for all the discourse that followed, polite discourse is refreshing to see on the internet.
Phoenix, I'm certain your intents were positive and meant to be helpful, and I do not think you are being accused of any nefarious deed.
It's important though to give as much credit as possible if you are posting something written by another - which by your response, I'm slightly confused as to whether you modified the information written by Crimsonwolf or copied it from a page or post written by Crimsonwolf.
For it to not be copying a certain percent of the information has to be re-worded by yourself. Obviously the information itself is not 'new' per se, but but it is curious that you mentioned "by Crimsonwolf" and I think that is why it is assumed you copied the info w/out re-wording it.
I can't speak for the rules of this site (ie whether you should post your own info always or if it's ok to copy from sources with permission) - but in general if you are copying information from others you should link the source and credit the author - and it's also important to have the author's permission (some sites will say on the site if information can be posted elsewhere or not, so you may not actually ask them).
This information isn't meant to make any accusations - simply to help, you don't want to get in deep trouble good intentions or not!
There are people who will defend copyright and sue over it (whether you profited from using the information or not) and so you want to make sure you have adequate permissions to use information - and if you do not - and it is common knowledge - ie: all this info is fairly common knowledge (meaning the public is aware of it, anything historical would be considered common knowledge as an example) - then re-writing in your own words is great!
I hope this helps you and please stay with us! I believe the other posts in regard to how you obtained the info were meant in a positive you so that you could amend the original post if necessary :)
The website wicca.com is a horrible source of information on Wicca. It is full of inaccurate and incomplete information.
Strega is not Wiccan by any means. It is a traditional form of Italian Witchcraft which we know about largely from the writings of Charles Leland's book "Aradia: Queen of the Witches" There is evidence that Strega was practiced as long ago as the 15th century. Traditional Strega is passed down within families, but only to the female line. There is some other modern practice that calls itself Strega based on books by Raven Grimassi which are a blend of Italian folk magic and Wiccan practices. But it isn't itself Wicca.
Hedge Craft is not Wiccan either. It is entirely based on traditional witchcraft and folk magic practices and is totally unrelated to any religious beliefs or practices.
Fairie Wicca, those who work not only with the Gods but also with the Fae is an actual practice, but it is largely based on the writings of Kisma Stepanich who was later found to have plagiarized all of her written material.
Saxon Witchcraft, better known as "Seax Wicca" after the writings of Ray Buckland is a form of Wicca that has been around for quite awhile and I think could legitimately be called Wicca. Ray came up with the idea in order to create a Wiccan Tradition that did not require initiation nor covens in order to be come Wiccan.
There are so many branches of Wicca it would be hard to list them all, however there's only a handful which should be called Wicca. Believe what you want but if you don't follow the few very basic facts of Wicca, don't call yourself Wiccan. Like Lark said, Draconic Witchcraft is a more apt title than Draconic Wicca since you worship dragons as gods as you say, instead of the Horned God and Triple Goddess. Not a bad thing, just not Wiccan.
