Wicca, a predominantly Western movement rooted in 1940s England, is a modern-day, nature-based pagan religion with its roots in the Old Religion, which was known as witchcraft in the Middle Ages. The modern Western witchcraft movement, which began in the U.K. in the 1940s, is part of the larger contemporary pagan movement, which includes druids and heathens among others.
Wiccans, who identify as witches, practice magic and draw inspiration from the Old Religion. Governor Michael Dukakis declared her the “Official Witch of Salem” in 1977 and founded the Witches League of Public Awareness (WICCA) in 1986. The word “Wicca” is an Old English word for “witch”, and the idea of a witch who flies in the night and draws power from dark cosmic forces is popularized by Gerald B. Gardner, who declared himself a witch in public after the repeal of anti-Witchcraft laws in Britain in 1951.
The history of Wicca and modern witchcraft is complex, with some practitioners considering it the religion of pre-Christian Europe, forced underground by the Christian church. However, Wicca and Witchcraft are part of the larger contemporary pagan movement, which includes druids and heathens.
In conclusion, Wicca is a unique and diverse religious belief system that has its roots in the 1940s England, with its followers practicing witchcraft and nature worship. The modern Western witchcraft movement, which includes druids and heathens, is part of the larger contemporary pagan movement.
📹 What is Wicca?
References: Ethan Doyle White, Wicca: History, Belief, and Community inModern Pagan Witchcraft, (Sussex Academic Press, …
Who is the first witch?
The first known witch was the ancient Greek goddess Hecate, who was the patron goddess of magic and witchcraft. Despite her power, witches were often viewed with fear and suspicion during her time. As witchcraft spread across Europe, popular mythology about witches’ abilities spread, such as the power to raise storms and blight crops. This led to widespread witch hunts in the Middle Ages. Today, Hecate and other famous witches are honored with celebrations around Samhain, the witching hour, where many believe the veil between worlds is thinned, allowing those with magical powers to contact their ancestors and receive knowledge from beyond.
Is witchcraft a religion?
Wicca, an alternative minority religion founded in the UK in the 1940s, is part of the contemporary pagan movement, which includes druids and heathens. Since its arrival in the US in the 1960s, Wicca has been growing, with an estimated 1. 5 million witches in the US. However, not all witches consider themselves Wiccans, with approximately 800, 000 Americans being Wiccans according to recent survey data. The increasing numbers in surveys and the growth of groups on platforms like TikTok suggest that the religion is continuing to grow.
Do Wiccans pray?
Wiccan rituals encompass a variety of practices, including meditation, invocations, movement, music, and prayer. These rituals honor the elements of nature (earth, air, fire, water, spirit) and their respective directions (north, east, south, west, center).
When did witchcraft first start?
Witch hunts were a local phenomenon that began in the early 15th century and lasted for approximately 300 years. They were more prevalent in France than in other European countries or kingdoms, with the Holy Roman Empire including areas of present-day France and Germany being more affected. The American colonies also had a dark history, with a noticeable pause from about 1520-1560 but a sharp increase in the persecution of witches in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Before the Scientific Revolution, people looked to the Church to explain the mysteries of the earthly world. Frightening occurrences such as paralysis, sudden seizures, or a baby born ill or disfigured left people looking for an explanation and preferably someone to blame. The Church believed in the Devil and considered witches to be their willing disciples. In France, approximately 2, 000 witch trials occurred between 1550 and 1700. While some women admitted to their alleged powers, most women vehemently denied the accusations. The Church often resorted to torture to elicit confessions.
In 1486, German churchman and inquisitor Heinreich Kramer published The Witch Hammer ( Malleus Maleficarum), which became the standard medieval text on witchcraft. Other important works on the topic included Johann Weyer’s De praestigiis daemonum, which was intended as a defense of witches, and Jean Bodin’s Démonomanie des sorciers, which formed an unofficial trilogy discussing witchcraft and magic. The Library of Congress holds many editions and translations of these texts, most of them in the Law Library of Congress and the Rare Book and Special Collections Reading Room.
How old is Wicca?
Wicca is a pagan belief system that originated in the mid-20th century. It worships nature, often personified as Mother Earth and Father Sky, and employs a variety of titles for its deities.
How old is the pagan religion?
Christians did not set a time limit on the age of other religions they denounced as pagan, except that they could only exist within Old Testament chronology, which takes us back to around 4, 000 BC. Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. Members of an institution can access content through IP-based access, which is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses, and through signing in through their institution, which uses Shibboleth/Open Athens technology to provide single sign-on between their institution’s website and Oxford Academic.
What is the origin of witchcraft?
Witchcraft in Europe dates back to classical antiquity, with accused witches often women who were believed to have used black magic or maleficium against their community. These accusations were often made by neighbors and social tensions, and were believed to be thwarted by protective magic or counter-magic. Suspected witches were often intimidated, banished, attacked, or killed, and were often formally prosecuted and punished. European witch-hunts and witch trials led to tens of thousands of executions.
Although magical healers and midwives were sometimes accused of witchcraft themselves, they made up a minority of those accused. European belief in witchcraft gradually dwindled during and after the Age of Enlightenment.
Indigenous belief systems also define witches as malevolent and seek healers and medicine people for protection against witchcraft. Some African and Melanesian peoples believe witches are driven by an evil spirit or substance. Modern witch-hunting takes place in parts of Africa and Asia. Today, followers of certain types of modern paganism self-identify as witches and use the term witchcraft for their beliefs and practices.
Who was the first witch in the Bible?
The Witch of Endor, a Hebrew figure from around 1020 B. C. E., was known for her unusual power, possessing a talisman to summon the dead. At King Saul’s request, she summoned the ghost of the deceased prophet Samuel, despite the king’s prohibition of necromancy and magic. The prophet’s spirit predicted Saul’s ruination, and her taboo power has been depicted in art, literature, and popular culture, making her a potent figure in biblical history.
Who is the founder of the witchcraft?
Gerald Gardner, the founder of Wicca, was born in England in 1884. In the 1930s, he became involved with a coven in Highcliffe, England, and was initiated into the group in 1939. Additionally, Gardner was a world traveler and an avid student of the occult.
How did Wicca begin?
Wicca, also known as “The Craft”, is a modern pagan, syncretic, earth-centered religion that emerged from Western esotericism in England during the first half of the 20th century. Introduced in 1954 by Gerald Gardner, it draws upon ancient pagan and 20th-century hermetic motifs for theological and ritual purposes. Doreen Valiente joined Gardner in the 1950s, further building Wicca’s liturgical tradition of beliefs, principles, and practices.
Wicca has evolved over time, with various lineages, sects, and denominations, each with its own organizational structure and level of centralization. Disagreements arise over the boundaries that define Wicca, with some traditions, collectively referred to as British Traditional Wicca (BTW), strictly following Gardner’s initiatory lineage and excluding newer, eclectic traditions.
Wicca is typically duotheistic, venerating both a Goddess and a God, traditionally conceived as the Triple Goddess and the Horned God. These deities may be viewed in a henotheistic way, having many different divine aspects that can be identified with various pagan deities from different historical pantheons. Some Wiccans refer to the goddess as “Lady” and the god as “Lord” to invoke their divinity. Other traditions of Wicca embrace polytheism, pantheism, monism, and Goddess monotheism.
Is pagan older than Islam?
The majority of pagan religions in Europe and the Mediterranean are older than Christianity, Islam, and even Judaism. Consequently, monotheistic adherents are likely to consider these religions to be pagan.
📹 Witchcraft, Wicca + Paganism║The Differences
See More ☾ Today I wanted to talk about the general differences between Witchcraft, Wicca and Paganism. In this, I do try to …
As an eclectic witch I find my strongest connection to my faith by working with and taking care of the earth, even if it’s just my garden. I do celebrate the Oak King and Holly King as well as the Maiden, Mother, and Crone. To me, humans are not above nature, we are equal to the great whales and smallest mice. We are equal to all the plants, oceans, and stars. We are chaos and peace. It makes me feel full and inspired to be connected to nature and I often worry that humanity is getting further and further away from nature. This article was wonderful and thank you for making it. I am always researching my faith and trying to learn more so I appreciate you helping with that. Blessed be!
As a former* practitioner of Wicca, I liked this article a lot, and appreciate you spending time on one of the smaller & newer religious movements. Something I’d add to the covens vs. solitary discussion is that for a lot of Wiccans and pagans, they may have an individual practice and don’t belong to a coven, but in many communities there are open/public rituals for the eight major Sabbats that have attendance figures ranging from a large potluck to hundreds or even thousands of people. These are typically largest for Beltane and Samhain (so much so that some pagans joke about “B&S pagans” in a similar way to how some Christians complain about “C&E Christians”), one of the larger ongoing examples being the annual Spiral Dance led by Starhawk in San Francisco every Samhain. Also, something that may relate to difficulties estimating numbers of people in the US or UK is that while many use “Pagan” as an umbrella term, not all do. I’m thinking of Heathens and others who derive their spirituality from Norse and Germanic sources, who dislike “Pagan” for historical and other reasons. I’d love for you to do a article on their beliefs and practices. Thanks for putting this out there! * While I stopped practicing, it wasn’t because of any rejection of or conversion away from Wicca so much as personal reasons and my own agnostic and skeptical outlook about a lot of spiritualist and magic(k)al practices. I still find a great affinity in many varieties of pagan/heathen/nature-based spirituality, even if I struggle to find a good label for my own.
I never knew the correct way to pronounce Samhain. I love your website. Every October I watch your dia de Los muertos, voodoo vudu, wicca, etc articles. They’re so interesting! I wish I had a teacher like you when I was in school! I dont know if it’s got anything to do with being a Scorpio, but when autumn hits, my interest in spirituality really peaks!
I really appreciate your website. It’s where we can just learn about different religions or ways of thought without bias. (I have taken college courses where professors taught with bias and hatred for ideas that were against their own.) It’s a breath of fresh air to know you will inform without pushing an agenda. (: Thank you for your hard work.
I dont practice Wicca anymore, however the eclectic approach to Wicca that I practiced in my adolescence was a pivotal part of me learning about myself and developing my understanding of the world. It was the self-directed form of spirituality that drew me to it, because to self-direct your own religious practices means that you have to understand yourself to the best of your ability, which is a journey within itself. Sometimes I feel as though I moved on from it with too many unanswered questions. Maybe I’ll rejoin my spiritual journey into Wicca in the future, although I worry that I’ve become to cynical.
I’m not Wiccan but I am pagan and do practice witchcraft so this was an interesting article. I would love to hear your thoughts on some of the folk magic traditions in the US and abroad. As they are often intertwined with the major religion in the area I find the combination super interesting especially when the major religion is often opposed in theory to the practice. An example that illustrates what I mean would be something like Appalachian folk magic traditions. Anyway again great work!
Im a guy witch (not a wiccan tho) and this article is really really cool ad informational. Ive red a few books on wicca but chose a path of a solo witch tgat mostly practices sea/water witchcraft. Tge practice itself is very personal so thats why all wiccans/witches have a different opinion on something. Thats important cuz your magick works the best whe youre comftorable and confident in what youre doing. It can get confusing sometimes but thats why i chose to be solo even tho i have friends who are in the practice too
I was raised Wiccan, which is not common based on my life experience. My mom privately practiced wiccan and concealed her beliefs between herself and I alone. This was to keep both herself and little me from judgement. It was some of the most pleasant experiences I’ve had in my life. My mom had told me to choose to believe or not believe in anything I wanted, and that it was acceptable for me to practice any religion I wanted. And I did, I went to different churches quite a few times and unfortunately I had a scary experiences. I was not religious for most of my life but did feel spiritual at times. I now enjoy reading texts / perusal articles about daoism. I do still appreciate wicca and occasionally I practice. I have since met peers who practice wicca who are also very pleasant. I decorate very “witchy” according to my friends/peers, which encourages me to hide this side of me more. As this is not a compliment and anything that is not one of the six major religions is seen as psuedoscience that weird girls like. This is all to say that wicca is not that weird! A lot of people secretly practice this religion. Thank you for making a respectful and educational article on this religion.
I was part of a coven when I was younger but left after getting fed up with the petty in fighting of middle aged women. especially over leadership. It stared to feel too much like a Christian church and not enough like the earth based spirituality that I practise today. Side note: do you have it in your to tackle the freemasons and their likely tie to the knights Templar? I’ve was a religious studies major who had a professor that truly believed they were one and the same and struggled for years to find the link between them.
one thing i like a lot about wicca is the lack of a defined god or central text. when you don’t have a god with specific demands that must be met, it becomes a lot more about personal spirituality and just doing what feels right instead of having to emulate a specific standard. it’s a principle that carries throughout even guiding books on wicca and/or witchcraft (for example, “spells” are often described as simply a way to website thoughts, like the ingredients themselves don’t really matter so much as what they represent to the person using them). it’s nice, not many modern religions are like that.
Respectfully informative and well researched. I’m glad I wandered into this article. I’ve been into paganism for a few years now and over the last couple I’ve been leaning toward learning Wiccan traditions. Never skeptical but always curious I know for a fact now that I will delve a bit deeper into the practice. Thanks for doing the leg work for the curious
I’d love a follow up on this involving non-wiccan witchcraft. I’ve been a witch for almost 20 years, starting as a wiccan but then moving on to explore other beliefs, and I can say that there are A LOT of interesting beliefs, systems, and traditions out there that I think would makes really interesting articles.
My experience has been that six is the more likely size of a Coven, with women outnumbering men. A Coven is often called “An argument of Witches”, us being strong willed and opinionated. We seldom spend a lot of time together other that at Ritual or at a Gathering for the same reason. The years I spent learning the Craft were the best, most rewarding and fulfilling of my life and for that, I thank The Goddess and the People who worked and taught and learned with me.
Eclectic Wiccan here. For a non-Wiccan summarizing our faith in such a short article, especially since, like you said, there are so many variables to it depending on who you ask, this was very well done. Personally, I work with the Goddess and God (and several specific deities who fall under those larger categories) and I think that, if people are going to join covens, they should include both men and women. While feminism in Wicca absolutely has its place, as it should, I think that Dianic Wiccans’ focusing ONLY on the Goddess and having female-only covens is no better than the patriarchal religious and social systems many of us sought sanctuary from through Paganism/Wicca in the first place. If, as many Wiccans do, we want Western society to move away from being so heavily patriarchal, swapping patriarchy for matriarchy is impractical and hypocritical. Only societal and spiritual egalitarianism will bring true balance. But that’s just me. Blessed be.
As a partially broom closeted Wiccan (it’s a safety thing in these parts) I had a realization. Wicca as a religion, in all its incarnations, is all about change and accepting that it is inevitable. All things change. Day & night, the changing of the seasons, even the water cycle. To live is to change, and Wicca helps us see the beauty of that.
Great high-level overview of Wicca. Your assessment that Wicca is highly eclectic is spot on. I have been a wicked for 25 years and I can easily say that I’ve met a wide variety of perspectives on the craft during that time. I’ve met thousands of fellow Wiccans and I have found very few commonalities amongst us. This is because as you noted there is no central authority that governs the entire religion of Wicca. There was a sort of Congress of witches in the 60s or 70s that created a series of laws or should I say principals that apply to the practice of witchcraft and Wicca. However, this group is not really recognized in most modern practices. I would say most Wiccans generally tend to have three core elements associated with them, two varying degrees. The first would be a reverence for nature now that is not to say the worship of nature as a deity but instead a high degree of respect for nature itself. The second attribute would be an adherence to polytheism in one way shape or form. That generally takes the form of duo theism as you pointed out in your article. There are monotheists and even atheists within the Wiccan community but I would argue they are a minority. The third and final attribute that I find is pretty common is the practice of magic. You will probably notice that when a witch refers to magick it tends to have a K on the end of the word which is to differentiate it from the practice of stagecraft magic which is generally for entertainment purposes. Wicca is also split into two distinct factions which also are subdivided into many many other classifications.
The majority of Wiccans dont actually meet in covens. They meet in “public rituals.” It is difficult to find covens and you have to be approved to join. But anyone can go to a “public ritual.” I have been a Pagan for 8 years and have been trying to get into a coven but haven’t been able to, but I have gone to dozens and dozens of Pagan public rituals in several different groups.
The Satanic Temple isn’t the only Satanic religion that views Satan as a symbol. The Church of Satan (Laveyan Satanism) also believes Satan is symbol, as well. Also, The Church of Satan came first and created the religion. Let’s not group them with other Satanists who actually worship a real Satan. Love this chanel, btw. Feels refreshing to see a website talk about all religions.
Great article! I like your respect for the faiths you discuss. I’ve noticed this aso from many Pagans and Wiccans. My MIL is a witch and also pretty tolerant of other faiths and spiritual paths. I do understand why some Pagans and Wiccans have hostility towards Christianity (not without justification), but the respect of many has allowed me to look more deeply into Wicca and Paganism.
One method I’ve seen used by esoteric practitioners and others that allows traditionalism and eclecticism is that the traditional practices are taught first, with the more eclectic or modified versions taught after. Then the student can choose what they want to practice while teaching what their teacher taught them.
Some Wiccan symbology and rituals as described by Wiccan authors are borrowed from Victorian occultism, with which Gardner was familiar. Occult groups of the period tended to be the province of intellectuals who developed elaborate magical systems, rather than that of primitive rural folk. That suggests Gardner wasn’t initiated by a pagan coven, but rather drew on materials from the Victorian occult revival to develop his system.
Wow thank you so much for covering this fascinating New Age (of that umbrella denotes anything) grouping! I have some affiliation with Wicca but moreso their intersection with feminism and women-centred theology. Matter of fact, I’ll be doing a paper on Wicca and activism soon. Much kindness from Belgium!
As a wiccan, I love this article I appreciate the emphasis on how varied the religion can be, and this presents a lot about the religion in clear, concise ways although this does kind of miss the point of wicca, which is that it is more a religion about the self, rather than explaining the outer universe
This was a pretty helpful overview for me. I’m an atheist and I don’t believe in the supernatural, but I think that incorporating spiritual practices in my life and connecting with nature would be beneficial to my mental health, so I’m exploring my options. I feel an especially desire for spirituality when seasons change, as a way of reflecting on the passage of time and the cycle of the earth and nature.
Psychic practice can in itself be a form of prayer. It all depends on which energies and spirits you’re working with. I’d even go so far as to say that working in accordance with the natural flow of energy is a more effective way to manipulate the world around you, and is certainly a sort of communion.
The Norwegian word for Christmas is “Jul”, the Norwegian word for wheel is “Hjul”. They are both pronounced the same, the “H” is silent. The true meaning of the word or where it originated is not known, but that it means something in the lines of “coming full circle” seems plausible. The English word “Wheel” probably comes from the same word. It is definately known longer than since the 50s.
You want the truth? Wicca is one of the most interesting religions that I’ve ever heard of but it’s a little unorthodox to me but it’s VERY interesting because of it’s beautiful creation myth. I’m a voodooist and I want to show respect to whoever is following because I want the same respect and wicca’s not only very interesting but it’s very cool. And honestly I can relate to wicca because of my friends/love interests named Brooke and I’ve always had a crush on her and she’s the nicest,coolest and prettiest girl in my hometown that I’ve encountered after 2014. And to those that actually follow wicca – good luck and may your gods bless you every second of the day
14:43 The modern use of the wheel to symbolise the changing seasons might be a modern thing, but I wonder if it took inspiration from real pre-Christian Celtic religions. Taranis, the thunder god of the Gauls, analogue in many aspects to the Greek Zeus and the Nordic Thor, and worshipped alongside Cernunnos (the horned god), was depicted as a bearded man wielding an 8-axes wheel and tiny metal wheel-shaped amulets have been found in ancient ritual sites all over France. I wonder if there’s some inspiration there.
I am impressed. When I saw the title of the article I cringed. As a heritage witch, Crone High Priestess, and a Pagan, I am frustrated by what is often willful ignorance. However, you have done your research. You have a good understanding of the diversity, history, and foundation of my religion. Just a few things to add. First, some Pagans take the many is one view. The many deities of paganism are just aspects of the one divine, so not all see themselves as polytheistic. There is also a whole new genre of modern deities, for example, the goddess Miss Anthropocene ( goddess of climate change). Next, Gardner, at least in my coven, was seen as the founding father of the revival of witchcraft in its current modern form. Wicca, the name at least, is seen by some witches to be a problem. It renames what we are to soften things in a Christian-dominated country. Instead of allowing us to reclaim our heritage. You are correct you do NOT have to be pagan to practice witchcraft. I have known Christian witches, chaos witches, Satanic witches, and atheistic witches. To me, witches practice a craft of prayer, ritual, and sometimes magick (spells). I also know witches who don’t cast spells, ever. Witches are a diverse group! Also, in every coven I have ever been in we teach and spend time honoring those who were killed during the witch trials. I appreciate the work you did to get a clear understanding of modern witchcraft. Thanks for the good work.
Something else I learned about when I moved back from Spain, and could even see bumper stickers of proud Wiccan females around here. Then I met a man who had the same year and day birthday as me, and he talked about being a warlock, and something about The Circle of The Golden Apple, or something like that. He is a builder from Atlanta. He wasn’t very bright, but sent me a few of his men to help me before a hurricane. That was good of him. He has a disabled daughter, and a complicated love life in his life, but he didn’t help it very much, because had just had another baby with a girlfriend that didn’t work out as a relationship, and it hadnt lasted very long between them. The paternity payments sure will last much longer.
I was wiccan for 25 years. These days I consider myself a atheist. It all began with my disastrous end to my Christian faith at the tender age of 13. While I was simply not willing to give up on theology at such a young age, Wicca served as a port in the storm during my early days to carry on with life. While I no longer consider a belief in a higher power or magic of any kind to be necessary, I will still nod my head to the religion and any who practice it.
Interesting to see how you deal with a subject I’m more familiar with. Well done, you get my subs. I have to pull you up on the linguistics of the seasonal 8-fold wheel. The four cross-quarters, Imbolc, Beltaine, Lughnasadh and Samhain are all derived from Irish. Yule is Norse, Ostara and Litha are also Germanic and Mabon is a character from the Welsh Mabinogion. I think Lammas is the Old English equivalent of Lughnasadh
Interesting hearing this in an educational only perspective, I’ve done a lot of reading on the subject but asking known followers has always started a sales pitch for why I should become and buy a bunch of crap from their store. I’ve encouraged my kids to learn about other religions, even had the opportunity to bring them to a private event hosted by a local coven, it was interesting. I’ve always had a belief that somehow all religions in their beginnings tie together. I just wish I could find more info on truly ancient practices from lesser known ones such as syamaan (my best guess on spelling) .
From a former eclectic Wiccan I give you kudos for putting into light the BELIEF of historical accuracy transmitted by Wicca AND the fact that MANY other pagan faiths do follow (albeit sometimes under other denominations) the wiccan wheel of the year with its 8 celebrations. These two points specifically are why I left.
I was looking in your description for the H.B. Urban quote about Wicca being a “bricolage,” which is personally interesting to me, as I have been part of a philosophy which is/was a mish-mash from a lot of very different eclectic sources. Can you edit your description above and add in a more fuller bibliographic citation for the H.B. Urban quote?
Yeah, but the problem with incorporating Celtic elements such as Beltane and Samhain is that they come from a completely different (and at times historically inimical) culture than Wicca’s purported Anglo-Saxon source culture. As an analogy, Wicca celebrating traditional Irish pagan holidays would be akin to England making St. Patrick’s day a major national holiday. I understand that such eclecticism is par for the course not just in neopaganism but religion in general (looking at you, Christianity), but with Wicca I think it’s important to highlight its Anglo-Celtic syncretism.
I have met way too many Wiccans for it to be that low. I personally know 3 wiccans. Considering the hatred that is displayed toward Wicca, I would guess there are many more than what is polled. As a non religious Buddhist ie and atheist who meditates I know all too well how the polls are tilted. We almost never get properly represented. I have a feeling this is likely the same for Wiccans.
my mom keeps two little red notebooks of spells which she hand-copied under candle-light from my uncle’s book of spells. There are gaps in the notebooks and my uncle said that those are spells that only appear when needed. It has three languages in it… latin, an ancient filipino language and english
It was through the Rosicrucian Order Crotona Fellowship that Woodford-Grimes likely met members of another local esoteric group, the New Forest coven, which was one of the earliest recorded Wiccan covens to exist. Its members considered themselves the continuation of the historical Witch-Cult, an ancient religion that the anthropologist Margaret Murray had described in several books published in the 1920s and 1930s. Nonetheless, subsequent investigation and research by historians has disputed that the Witch-Cult had ever existed, and as such it appears that the New Forest coven were in fact a group who had been founded in the early 1930s. Following this marriage, Rosanne and her new husband moved into Woodford-Grimes’ bungalow, Theano, whilst she herself relocated once more to Avenue Cottage in Walkford, the village adjacent to Highcliffe, where Gardner and his wife Donna lived. Gardner, discussing the publication of his two books on witchcraft, mentions that he felt obliged to have the permission of the witches he knew to do so. It is now widely assumed that this was a reference to ‘Dafo’, who appears to have been a great deal more publicity-shy than Gardner was. In the late 1940s, Gerald Gardner founded the Bricket Wood coven, and was joined by Dafo. However, she left the coven in 1952, fearing Gardner’s growing publicity would expose her. In winter 1952 Gardner invited Doreen Valiente, a prospective witch, to meet him and Dafo at her house. They met here on several occasions, and on Midsummer 1953 Gardner initiated Valiente into the craft at Dafo’s home.
I raised my Wiccan in the early 2000s. Not for rebellion, my parents didn’t care and actually encouraged me because my spirituality made me happy. In fact for my highschool graduation I got an athame and a statue of Diana. I’m still somewhat Wiccan to this day, 20 years later, but I’ve kinda gone more than Druid/Dianic route. In the end I always do rituals like a Wiccan, it’s just what I’m used to.
I was a Wiccan for many years, and decided to disassociate with it when I realized people were virtually always espousing trendy opinions or otherwise doing whatever they feel like and slapping a Wiccan label on it rather than having any sort of religious rationale, nor could answer something like “What do you believe (that lead you to practicing in this way)?”. Not that I didn’t know the info here, but this article mostly answers that question of what is “Wiccan” for me, and I appreciate it most in that its from an anthropological perspective, which I find more legitimate than one person’s opinion on the inside. It makes me consider rejoining now that I know some better keywords to find people matching my approach.
I was recommended this article (likely because I’m Wiccan myself), and not having seen your website before I wasn’t sure what to expect. I really appreciate this article. Other than glossing over a few minor details, your article covers the basics extremely well. You’ve earned a subscriber for sure. Thank you for being willing to teach religious study in a fair and positive way 🙂
the true mystery of wicca: the practitioners only come in 2 forms. strangely hot 20-35 year old women, and considerably less attractive 45+ societal outcasts with awesome smelling living rooms (incense soaks into the curtains and walls, and after a decade or so that atmospheric scent is as enthralling as the goth chick enticing you into the dimly lit room whence the aroma originates). no in between, purely 1 or the other 🙂
There really is an exception to literally everything. One prominent Wiccan I know works heavily with the Semitic deities, including Yahweh. And a vanishingly small number would even recognize Satan as a deity. These are definitely hard to the exception side of things. Most Wiccans I met in my 25 years as an active practitioner resented and resisted any connection with Christianity or Abrahamic religions, positive or negative. Much of that, in my experience, comes from it being such a new religion. By far most Wiccans came to the faith later in life, and the bulk of them came from Christianity, as Wicca is largely, but by no means entirely, centered in Christian countries. Because of that, there is a sense of rebellion against Christianity in some cases, and a need to actively distance oneself from the faith of our youth to truly embrace our new beliefs. It has been discussed at length by the YouTubers Aliakai and Ocean Keltoi, who talk about it as Latent Christianity. In short a tendency to bring a lot of one’s former Christian faith into Wicca, Germanic Paganism, etc. And if ever there was a sign of how eclectic Paganism is, neither Ocean nor Aliakai are Wiccan. They’re Germanic and Greek Reconstructionists, respectively. But they are nonetheless under the Pagan umbrella, and many of the topics they discuss apply just as much to Wicca. The issue is a serious one in Pagan circles as many Pagans left their prior faith because of many disagreements with some of the modern actions and stances of Christianity and some of the baggage they feel comes along with it.
As a Rodnovery (Slavic Pagan) I have a big problem with Wicca and Wiccans. Mainly because they claim to be this ancient universal religion of Europe and mix all the traditions of the continent (and even of the whole world sometimes) which completely disregards the inherent diversity of pagan religions in my honest opinion
Comparing the US and UK censuses on religious affiliation, the US one was, according to the page you show, actually an open-ended telephone survey where people called at random were asked to state their religion. It does not say what the follow up was if the interviewee said, “What do you mean?” but at least at first the respondent was not given a checklist. Whereas, if I remember rightly, the UK census DID start with a checklist. There must have been a write-in option (the census was not computerised until 2021) for Jedi Knights to figure at all. The figure for American atheists is surprisingly low: something like one million out of 200 million (adults?) from scaling up the sample to the whole population. That makes me think the respondents must have been afraid the survey was a front for some evangelical missionary outfit. In which case wiccans and pagans would have been equally, if not more, circumspect in their responses.
Celtic Reconstructionist here and for me, Wicca is disappointing in a lot of ways, it feels like they’re just kind of grabbing whatever feels cool from every culture on the planet, regardless of contextual and inherent contradictions in some of that material, rather than trying to reconstruct an internally coherent faith.
When one of us was sick, my Grandmother cut an apple in half, put ” something ” in side of it and buried it in the backyard. She also made a special soup. The last times she gave me the soup, was when I was in High School, after I had my wisdom teeth removed and had Mono. I love ❤️ my Grandma so much. She learned these things from her Cousins in Transylvania, who she visited from Hungary. She was the only one of her Brothers and Sisters who they trusted to teach the ” old ways”. Her family called her the ” White Witch” and bought her a witch on a broomstick made out of white gold for her birthday. During the 1918 flue, everyone on the street in Brooklyn got sick and many died, but no one got sick at her house. Neighbors were getting suspicious. Grandma was born in 1887. She also read the cards, but they were traditional playing cards not made up Tarot cards. She also told me, after the Doctor told her if she had one more miscarriage she could die, she used a herbal mixture as birth control. If Grandma was born in a much earlier time, she would have been burned at the stake. What she was doing was NOT her religion.
A fair brush up of Wicca, seeming to be free of bias, even of the types of internal bias within Wicca itself! For those who think that’s all they need to know…like anything else, it’s a complex topic. It’s like trying to talk about BDSM or the devil: Push it, and you’ll be coming off as a hysteric. The human mind is more complex than the human mind can conceive. But you’ve done as fair a job as one can expect, in a short article. Thank you!
I attempted to read Murray’s Witch-cult in Western Europe, but ground to a halt at her documentation, ie. witch trial documents written in Middle English and medieval French. As an Egyptologist, she would be aware of the importance of written, or carved, records in learning about past societies. I theorize that this may have convinced her that the confessions obtained by the Inquisition were factual.
My birthmother was a Wiccan. Even though I am a Christian, I have a great interest in the world of witchcraft. It is interesting to me. I would have to say that although I don’t encourage witchcraft (as it can lead to demonic possession and other similar things) I do respect everyone and their beliefs.
8:04 Oftentimes the triple goddess is not the same as the Goddess who pairs with the God. Essentially the God and Goddess are the representations of duality, like yin and yang. The triple goddess on the other hand is usually based on Greek gods, though this varies. A common one is that it’s Artemis, Selene, and Hecate. But a seemingly equally common one is that all three phases actually represent Hecate, as Hecate was originally viewed as a beautiful maiden but perceptions changed and she became believed to be a protective motherly figure, before the eventual decline of her reputation into an evil old crone who conjured demons. Since Hecate is also the goddess of witchcraft, she holds a very special place in wicca.
Dianic Wicca always irked me. Let’s get rid of sexism by having a female only religion! How does that not defeat the purpose? It’s just as ridiculous as male only traditions. I have always agreed with their argument of heteronormitivity in traditionalist circles, but there is such as a thing as too far the other way. Always made no sense to me.
I understand when was chosen by goddess 23 years ago not because of magic but by kinds with in my old spirit im 61 now an I feel so free from a angry God we all have the right to what ever we believe in as long we don’t do harm as we do our spells an charmsi believe the three times that hurt u as karma live ur life in peace an love keep in tune to mother nature for she is real im so proud of my faith into wicca I have lurn to help people with out charge I make dreamcatchers and give away to those who are of need as my charm of protion of of eveal that deals around us im not talking about bad spirits which are there but it some people who don’t really care about who they hurt to get were they want to go I can help everyone but I can those around me but most of all mother nature im a healer of this planet who is dieing because of poison that was put out by man hatred inslaved death by another handsome pain an hurt we must heal our self then heal our fallow man it can be done I only help those who comes u can’t help those who don’t understand wicca because they think we are eveal its sad to watch this happen ur live but at the same time u can grow strath of earth to share an give freely an everything will fall into order as once wasbut never say never for anything is possible if u believe in ur self people don’t see but in time they shell see in there heart as a Wiccan see in there heart if u glow soon people will see it too
Wicca, a modern pagan religion, has experienced fluctuations in popularity over the years. While it’s difficult to determine whether Wicca is “dying out,” there are some indicators that its popularity may have peaked in the 1990s and early 2000s. Some reasons that might contribute to a decline in Wicca’s popularity include: 1. Saturation: The market for Wiccan books, tools, and resources became saturated in the 1990s and early 2000s, leading to a decrease in interest. 2. Mainstreaming: As Wicca became more mainstream, some of its appeal as a countercultural movement may have diminished. 3. Fragmentation: The Wiccan community has fragmented into various traditions and eclecticism, potentially leading to a sense of disconnection. 4. Lack of structure: Wicca’s decentralized nature can make it difficult for newcomers to find guidance and community. 5. Rise of other pagan paths: Other pagan religions, like Heathenry and Druidry, have gained popularity in recent years. However, it’s essential to note that: 1. Wicca remains a vibrant and diverse community. 2. Online resources and social media have made it easier for Wiccans to connect and share information. 3. Eclecticism and personalization continue to attract new practitioners. 4. Wicca’s emphasis on environmentalism, feminism, and personal growth remains relevant. While Wicca’s popularity may have waxed and waned, it is unlikely to “die out” completely. Instead, it may evolve and adapt to changing times and interests.
When I was a baby witch, I found an 80s workbook on Wicca and Witchcraft, and… it was horrible. It recommended “meditation” techniques that were used for torture in the Spanish Inquisition, as well as ritual initiation where you tie up your initiate and wield a knife at them (I know it’s an athame, but let’s be real here, a newbie would not see that).
Those fingers in my hair That sly come-hither stare That strips my conscience bare It’s witchcraft And I’ve got no defense for it The heat is too intense for it What good would common sense for it do? ‘Cause it’s witchcraft, wicked witchcraft And although I know it’s strictly taboo When you arouse the need in me My heart says “Yes, indeed” in me “Proceed with what you’re leadin’ me to” It’s such an ancient pitch But one I wouldn’t switch ‘Cause there’s no nicer witch than you ‘Cause it’s witchcraft, that crazy witchcraft And although I know it’s strictly taboo When you arouse the need in me My heart says “Yes, indeed” in me “Proceed with what you’re leadin’ me to”
Not all Wiccans consider themselves Witches. In any way. Some Wiccans (including all the ones I know) function in congregations, and while anyone can go through the steps of initiation for priesthood/priestesshood, there also are clergy, who perform standard clerical functions (visiting the sick, directing charity work, even lecturing/sermonizing). Both are important for a growing movement. Many of the Wiccans I know never cast a spell (which is really a method of praying) and simply worship a goddess and a god (lord and lady), and count on clergy to do the important work. This is very well done, but it misses a lot of things. A group we attended for quite a number of years before moving, the pastor would use different god and goddess figures each week. Sometimes he would ask the congregates. He asked me once, and I suggested using the Sumerian pantheon. He didn’t even have to think. “Inanna, we…” Now of course he was well educated in theology. That particular group leads me to think however that in fact there are FAR more “casual” Wiccans (Pew sitters if you would, which is what I consider myself) than is commonly admitted to. Tim’s group – in a small previously industrial city, drew over 150 people, including many teenagers. The community we live in now, which is a small town, has at least dozens of Wiccans and neoPagans. This was truly a good faith effort, but I really do think it missed a lot. (and no, I have NEVER been or interested in a coven, but I’ve been in 3 congregations, ranging from a dozen to – as I said – well over a hundred).
I’m not Wiccan, I am a practicing Thelemite though and have been around many Wiccans of various kinds overs the years. And with that said, I do believe that you were very fair in your analysis, summarization and explanation of Wicca as a whole. Magick and Witchcraft is such a diverse and often fractioning series of communities often at odds with one another and well, I just really appreciate your views expressed on Wicca. Especially that you are a scholar and historian, and many have been unoind or unfair to Pagans, Witches and Magicians in their talks or writings about such topics, due mostly to societal pressures. So thank you for giving a good talk! I definitely appreciate your views here!
🧙♂️This is an accurate cursory overview of the current state of the Wiccan branch of neopaganism popular, at least in the states. It is fair, balanced, clearly presented, and while it is in several ways extremely thin content, that is only because the concept of trying to relate and describe a philosophy, practice, or religion in 18 minutes is bound to be superficial at best. That said, I highly endorse this quick overview and I appreciate its inclusion into the public sphere.
Wit, Wisdom, Witch, Wizard, and Wic all come from the same old English root word meaning “to know”. It would appear that Witch and Wizard are really the feminine and masculine form of a title of people “who know things” – Wicca is just a hippie fad religion. It’s barely based on actual witchcraft. Witches were mostly midwives and herbalists and Wizards were mostly astrologers. They mixed real knowledge with sympathetic magic rituals, but they were also “People who know things” – so any Modern Doctor ( of any profession) is more like a real witch or wizard than modern Pagans and their crystal rituals or sexual rituals and their lively imaginations and supernatural stories. Also, real ancient pagans were polytheistic and revered a pantheon of deities similar to the Greek Gods or the Norse gods. They worshiped a sun god, a sea god, and a storm god too, not a horned god. I really dislike the Wiccan that is pushed in publications. “Do as though wilt” is not from the ancient temple of the Goddess. In Greek myth the first law-giver was a Goddess named Dicte and she wrote a set of laws similar to the ten commandments or Hammurabi’s code
Wicca is based on othropraxic (right practice) which is why there is diversity of beliefs. I believe the system is more set up for pantheism/monism than duotheism, when you dig deeper such as the dryghten. Also, want to make mention that Z.Budapest may have not invented Dianic Wicca and MacFarland has claimed it as well. Some Dianic Wiccans do not even exclude males or other genders. (Z.Budapest is a TERF and misandrist.) The rule of three is not actually in Wicca and comes from non-initiates taking Gardner’s work of fiction out of context. “Rede” is an archaic word for advice, and is not a rule or anything. In fact, Doreen Valiente, had specifically stated that it is not a call for pacifism and was against that, in her book ABCs of Witchcraft. Good article though. This is pretty accurate.
I’m not a “Wiccan” per se but once upon a time I was. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this article but I just want to say I was very impressed by the respectful well rounded way it was covered by someone who admitted right up front he was on the outside looking in. That rarely bodes well on any subject and Wicca in particular, but he handled it with real grace respect and thoughtfullness. Thanks for this.
Hello! I like your website because talk about all the religions. I would like to know the «structure» of the religions. Who is the principal figure, who are his assistants, who are the officials of the church etc. In the catholic religion the leader is de pope, the cardinals, the bishops etc. Thank you so much.
could you do a article about the formation of mormonism? and talk a bit about how joseph smith may have been influenced by folk magic and freemasonry? it’ll probably be controversial with regular mormons but ive always been fascinated by the historical context of the second great awakening and american restorationist christianity
Your articles are so beautifully clearly communicated, well researched and most refreshingly of all even handed. Whether you are examining an extinct religion, one of the dominant Abrahamic religions, or Wicca, you manage to steer a perfect line between detachment and insight. Sound but not dry 😊 You don’t pull your punches when reporting the facts but you don’t cast judgement either. I forget about your website awhile and its always a nice surprise when I come back.
I have to say, learning about various religions really is something that should be taught in school. It’s a super important subject, and so diverse and interesting that you could form years’ worth of curricula around it. Kids could do book reports on religious texts, or be assigned to write a paper about a religion that is not their own.
lol i think of prayer as literal spell casting by a different name. i’m not wiccan but in myt studies of religion i see no real difference.the Christian wouldn’t dare call his prayers “casting spells” but there isn’t much difference, especially considering that in many traditions around the world they have formalised prayers that are effectively the same as a book of spells lol.
Problem I have with Wiccanism is that it’s very much an evolution on Christian mysticism. There is nothing here that predates Christianity. World view and terms are all the same or similar. Gods that can be called upon like parents vs the gods of old feared and given offerings for the hope of something in return. Also terms like “so mote it be” again Christian. Him being a free mason makes sense. As a reconstructionist I can’t give it much credit. Don’t hate the people but I hate the movement. It takes a lot of homework for paganism so I get it but at least try.
For anyone to think that different forms of Pagonism didn’t survive the Cathlic (Persecution) or destruction of the pagan systems is a fool. There is Always a remnant of one faith/religion or another that survives hate. For many like me a person raided christain and yes a christ follower we are drawn to out ancestoral heritage. Paganism as a whole is making a comeback because people are tired of the controllers of Religion. I personally place my faith in Jesus but I would deff be burnt as a witch as I a deeply connected to the Earth and its healing power.
Gardner was a member of the Golden Dawn and fabricate the religion which amounted to a watered down version of ceremonial magic with some Druid elements added. He fabricated the back story with mythical tails and claims, claimed he was initialized (back dating) but also neglected to say it was a self initialization and not from some hidden witch from a long lost tradition he was privy to. When some of this came to light and with some changes he made (he was always adjusting and tinkering) his first coven basically abandoned him and he had started a new one
The lord and the lady sounds really simaler to frayr and frayja who are Norse gods refured to that. Of course they are so much more complex then that but I wonder if that’s were the idea came from. The horned god and the triple moon Goddess seem to not really be old gods but more like a bunch of old gods kinda put into one being. It’s really intesting how some wiccans are more pilytgiestic and some are more duelistic.
I am not wiccan but my family has managed to somehow survive and hold onto our pre christianization traditions (We are Germanic & Scandinavian “heathens” or “pagans”) so a lot of my practices allign with wicca which I consider to be part of a resurrection of our culture they tried to wipe off the face of the earth same as they still try to do with others today. They could never win, worst they can do is trigger Ragnarok, which is supposed to happen anyways, and they are already doing it (*cough, cough* global warming). New continents will form and another wild ride awaits…
Divide the world’s Circumference by six and get 6,666. Divide the number of seconds in a day by 400 and get 216, 2160 is the length of an astrological age. The Moon is 400 times smaller than the sun, which is 864,000 miles wide, just like there are 86,400 seconds in a day. The planet orbits the Sun at 108,000 km/hr or 66,600 miles an hour. If we divide the angled side of the Pyramid (186.6 x 100 = 18,660) by 21.6 we get 863.8, plus .2 is 864. The base of the Pyramid minus the height is also Pi times 100, and Al Nitak follows Sirius past the King’s Chamber in 100 minutes. If we divide the height by Euler’s number we get the square root of Pi, times 2 is 354, the number of days in 12 lunar months. If we divide the diameter of the Sun by 6 we get 144,000 The hands of our 24 hr clock go around 60 times 60 times 10, which is 36,000, the number of Arc degrees in one second times 10, which means each second is one 360th of a circle, times 100. This shows that the Star of David was used as a kind of calculator to devise time and do complex equations using a hexadecimal system. The Egyptian number of perfection is 100, we divide 400 by 100 to get 4, we divide 600 by 100 we get 6. 4/6 is equal to 2/3 and 3/9, all of which have a ratio of 66.666666666, by which they can divide the Horizon down to seconds, and thus navigate the globe knowing both its dimensions and be able to make accurate maps. 86,400 ÷ 400 is 216 216 x 2 is 432 432 + 216 is 684 432 x 2 is 864 So rather than divide 864,000 by 2160, they divide 86,400 by 216, which is 400, rather than 40,000.
I ask my ex girlfriend when I ended the relationship I found a notebook with curses in it in a pentacle and red and I don’t know if it was blood or not but it kind of reminded me of the book of shadows and I feel that magick is God’s domain so I got on Facebook and lid it on fire the book of shadows and threw it in the fire pit with a bunch of gasoline in it blew up in flames on Facebook live and then not a week later all of the people that were involved with writing in that book we’re in jail
Married a Mountain Wiccan in 2003…great community experience. Sadly we divorced, but learned a LOT during our time together. Wicca has NOTHING to do with Satan or our pagan beliefs. Spent enough time in the mountains and the field to know that: “ALL THAT DIES, SHALL RISE AGAIN”. Never discount the soil. Never discount the Earth. She’ll WIN the DAY. We are just guests.
I am so glad you did this. You were upfront and honest, without being condescending or short-sighted (nothing new for you, that’s why we love you..🤗). I was raised Roman Catholic, but my family is Cuban (non-santero), so we have been exposed to that version of pagan worship (Afro-Euro-Christian mix). . Having been raised religious, but extremely aware of ‘other’ practices, I understood Wicca was not some continuous, unbroken system of worship. But, rather an amalgamation of ‘this & that’. Not invalid, just not what was being talked about publicly. . Thank you for shining light on the ‘movement’. . There are plenty of lone witches who carry on a form of ancestor worship, mixed with 19th century spiritualism/mysticism, mixed with whatever else they ‘acquired’ along the way. . Trying to ‘commercialize’ Wicca is a sure fire way to ruin it; thank you for keeping the “community” honest…👍🏼
One of the biggest things with wicca is that they take and copy from other traditions. Most of what is practiced is mimicked from traditions that survived or where reconstructed/reinvented through story and poems of other traditions like Celtic (broad term for a language group of Europe), Indigenous, Jewish, and anything else they can get ahold of. This makes it very hard for folks wanting to research wicca to find any definitive or origin of type sources. Some examples are use of tarot, white sage smudging, wheel of the year, casting in circles, alter and ritual tools as well use of phrases and words or even deity/god/goddess names. What I find interesting is that so many cannot even define words like magic or witchcraft but use the term regularly.
Well, to argue here, the word Wicca..which existed in many different forms (Wicche (OE)/Wikke(Old German) Wica (Scots-Gaelic),etc.. existed in the early middle-ages…and if the word itself existed at THAT time, then we know that the subject the word describes existed. Wicche (OE-middle-ages) is “wit-cha”..(our phonetic spelling is witch) .
I can see how religions got start in ancient antiquity. The population was mostly uneducated, they saw phenomena they didn’t understand and they grasped at the first obvious (if heavily flawed) explanations they could offer. Combine that with poor historical record keeping, myth making and charismatic leaders, and I can see how religions got started. I can also somewhat understand how the older religions persist to this day -mostly through veneration of age old practices. I’m puzzled as to how Wicca got started. It’s new – its adherents have, presumably, mostly been through some form of formal education. It’s clearly a cultural movement started by a bunch of humans who liked to dress up and pretend they have supernatural powers. It’s so obviously artificial. Surely its followers must know this? We live in a strange world in which ostensibly educated people can just decide they want to believe in Magic. They have no reason to, other than it feels self-empowering and it gives them a hobby. Surely none of them actually think its real. I’m sure 99% of its followers know it’s just elaborate costume fantasy or a play-pretend group for spiritually inclined people.
Damn, this is the first time one of your articles has made me want to get into a full on argument with you. Not because I disagree with anything you said, bit because of how much more there is to be said!!!! Check out Tanya Luhrmann’s “Persuasions of the Witch’s Craft: Ritual Magic in Contemporary England” Harvard University Press 1989
If you are looking for topics, Christian sacramental theology might be an interesting dive. As I recall, it is rooted in the Roman natural philosophy of form and substance, i.e. the dichotomy between visible, objectively measurable characteristics (forma) and invisible, subjectively immeasurable characteristics (substantia.) This is why the Church speaks of transubstantiation (change of substance) rather than transformation (change of form.) It would be a good exploration into how Roman philosophy was changed into and preserved as Christian dogma, as well as a look at how the Greek churches have a different understanding of the sacraments than Latin (and consequentially Protestant) churches do.
As an ex Wiccan HPs this is a popular misconception about the law of three. It originally meant: If another witch does something for you they should be repaid three times over (energetically). That’s it, now it’s misrepresented as being akin to Karma or going somewhere bad in the afterlife (latent Christianity, much!)
I appreciate your attempt to describe what is essentially a personal quest. I like Margo Adler’s treatment of the subject even though I’ve also read Valiente to become familiar with the traditions. I consider myself to be Solitary Eclectic with strong Dianic leanings. My wife learned from her grandmother who came over from Ireland and says she learned from her mother in the old country. From what I’ve seen it’s largely whatever you want it to be, though broadly Nature centered and open to a wider than usual number of possibilities. My view is that Magic is real, though it’s usually similar to ‘theater magic’ where the whole can often be so much more than the sum of the parts. It’s amazing what a change of perspective can do. Ritual can help you change your perspective.
The Horned God is Cernunnos .. or in Wales {Cymry}, Cernunnos’ Resurrection, Lugh, who was Resurrected once again in 1966 as Brad Hartliep, the Father of Creation, the Creator of The Universe, the destroyer of the pagan christian cult, and the protector of the The Universe and the Living Beings of Nature, returned to earth to restore balance to Nature through chaos within the human greed ..
Britain is pretty unique in that bears, wolves and large predators have been extinct for thousands of years. People can ‘safely’ spend the majority of their time in the woods, forests, marshes. I spend the majority of my time when outside in nature, about 3+ hours aday the sheer amount of deer is staggering, the large Roe and the small Muntjac Deer are extremely common. There’s near zero chance covens of nature worshippers haven’t always existed in the UK for thousands of years, Robin Hood and his crew would be a political example of nature people, encamped in the temperate forests of England, absolute bliss.
I can’t stand those that try to act like some kind of voodoo witch where any number would deliver them. But regular wiccans, pagans, when they’re kind, considerate, and good things, how could anyone have anything against such? When there’s others who are culturally accepted but are evil spirited? Which it’d be nice to have friendly wiccans visit and help me work spells on these around me, 😂. I belief in the Abrahamic faith, but, if wiccans that simply know no other way, but they’re good???
Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips. Psalm 16:4 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Exodus 20:3-6