What is Wicca?

[Moraden]

I am in inntrafaith believer who practices multiple beliefes, I am curious as to what Wicca is, where it originates, if there is any level of benevolent power I may hone through it. From what I read I have a baisic understanding, but tell me the history and what one has to gain.

[Time]

Broadly speaking, wicca is a revival of old european pagan traditions made in the 50s or 60s. ITs branched a bit from there, but thats the long and short of it..

[nailspiritseeker]

Actually, Wicca was being practiced way before than but it was most likely referred to as magic. You can always google more on Wicca. I'd post a link, but I'm a newbie '_'

Any spiritual path one takes should be their own. Therefore, lets say I practice Wicca and you do as well, we both may encounter different beneficial powers from it. It really depends on how you receive and how opened you are to those powers. If that makes any sense.

Really to me, Wicca is about acknowledging the powers that our mother nature has. Its about acknowledging our earth, the ground, the animals, the plants, the trees, etc. all as one. As well as thanking the gods and goddesses before us. What is neat about Wicca is there really is no wrong way to practice it. Yes, there are basics to a ritual, but really its about making your own ritual, walking your own path.

[Sungirl]

I will step in here and say that the there is some disagreement on the meaning of the word Wicca. The 2 posts above mine basically outline the differences.

This is one of those discussions that will go on forever and there will never be an agreement one way or the other.... so bear this in mind when you read the responses.

I'm with Time in saying that Gerald Gardner created wicca in UK back in the 1950's by drawing together a lot of much older stuff. The roots of wicca go back a long way, but in my opinion what goes on now is very different to what went on before christianity arrived.

[norseman]

THis is what Gardner created in the 1950's.
He took a core of Old Craft suitably adapted. He added the trappings of a religion from existing Nature worship, dressed it all up with rituals from various mystic orders such as the Templars, Masonic Orders, Golden Dawn, and pieces from other closed orders. His aim was almost to create a formal religion, almost using the Catholic church as his model. He based his model on the closed orders e.g. the coven system, and made it an Initiatory religion. Now I know people are going to start shouting at me but you either want the truth or you don't.
So, where did his ideas come from. He did all this in collaboration with his good friend, Ross Nichol, who founded the largest order of British Neo-Druids, and both of them were ORDAINED CHRISTIAN PRIESTS IN AN OBSCURE BRANCH OF THE CELTIC CHURCH. This church was unique in that it had pagan overtones - animistic worship - using natural features in Nature as holy places. Now to square the circle for you.
Back to Roman times, they coralled the druids into the isle of Mona [Anglesey] and attempted to kill them all but some escaped to Ireland via the Isle of Man. There the Druids were subsumed by the Celtic Church and had an effect on that church i.e. the animistic overtones. Several centuries later monks from this Celtic Church were invited to bring christianity to pagan England, NOT the Catholic Church. This explains why paganism has never died in Britain.

Gardner's ultimate aim was to rid the Old Religion of the taint of witchcraft and attract new followers but he did that perhaps too well in that many new wiccans concentrate on the ritual and faith side and ignore the Craft elements.
Wicca was picked up enthusiasticly in America but less so in Britain. His original wicca soon splintered into a whole host of varieties.
Thats it !

[norseman]

"what goes on now is very different to what went on before christianity arrived."
Sungirl - some paths are very close to the original and can trace back a very long way.

[Moraden]

Thank you I am certainly interested.

[norseman]

Thank you I am certainly interested.
Good for you, Moraden. I'm afraid that views on Wicca are very polarised and it does not help that there is a major gulf between UK and US.
Personally, I dropped wicca and went back to the primitive form because of all the ritual and ceremonial involved. :smile: