Want to know about Wicca

I have practiced only little magic and talking to some of my friends and they mention Wiccans so I thought I would want to know a little about the practice of Wicca

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Wicca is a religion. They worship the Goddess and the God (In most denomination the Goddess is considered more powerful or significant that the God). It is a religion that revolves around the five elements: Air, Water, Fire, Earth, and the Spirit (Sometimes known as Akasha or Aether). It is mostly a nature and science based religion. Afterlife and creation views vary from witch to witch. Wicca is typically viewed as a very broad religion, and I mean no offense to Wiccans, but as the religion is very recent and new age so it is expected to be disorganized. Most Wiccans also follow Sabbaths on appropriate holidays and watch the Lunar phases and follow Esbats. Wicca follows the Wiccan Rede which states "An ye harm none, do as thou will". Another common belief in Wiccans is the Law of Threefold which states that everything you do will come back to you in three forms. I hope I'm helping :)

As a simplistic way of explaining it, Wicca is a modern religion which is based on the pre-Christian religions of northern Europe and particularly the British Isles. While Wiccans do include magic in their practices, magic is not the center of Wiccan beliefs or practices. There's an excellent website at http://wicca.cnbeyer.com/history_real.shtml where you can find a ton of information about the history of Wicca and about its beliefs.

If you have any specific questions about Wicca, I'll be happy to try to answer them. I've been a practicing Wiccan for nearly 30 years now.

Wicca started out as a mystery religion, one that would only allow acceptance if one was initiated into an existing coven. However, it has developed and branched out since then, and there are now two main forms of Wicca: eclectic and traditional. Traditional Wicca is just what it sounds like -- it is lineaged, with traditional covens and initiations. Eclectic Wicca is much different. It is not exclusive to initiates, and in fact, many eclectic Wiccans work on their own (referred to as solitary practice). Eclectic Wicca draws on many sources of inspiration, and often each individual eclectic will develop his or her personal practice and belief system. Instead of adhering to a specific tradition, eclectics will follow their own paths. It's much more open to interpretation. Hope that gives you some helpful information :)

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.