"the shared name, has a different theology and in some cases accepts male participants. McFarland largely bases their tradition on the work of Robert Graves and his book ""The White Goddess"". While some McFarland covens will initiate men, the leadership is limited to female priestesses. Like other Dianic traditions, ""McFarland Dianic covens espouse feminism as an all-important concept."" They consider the decision whether to include or exclude males as ""solely the choice of [a member coven's] individual High Priestess."" Dianic Wicca Dianic Wicca, also known as Dianic Witchcraft, is a neopagan religion of female-centered goddess ritual and tradition. While some"
"Wicca Wicca (), also termed Pagan Witchcraft, is a contemporary Pagan new religious movement. It was developed in England during the first half of the 20th century and was introduced to the public in 1954 by Gerald Gardner, a retired British civil servant. Wicca draws upon a diverse set of ancient pagan and 20th-century hermetic motifs for its theological structure and ritual practices. Wicca has no central authority figure. Its traditional core beliefs, principles and practices were originally outlined in the 1940s and 1950s by Gardner and Doreen Valiente, both in published books as well as in secret written and"
"have referred to it as a ""magico-religion"". Wicca is also a form of Western esotericism, and more specifically a part of the esoteric current known as occultism. Although recognised as a religion by academics, some evangelical Christians have attempted to deny it legal recognition as such, while some Wiccan practitioners themselves eschew the term ""religion"" – associating the latter purely with organised religion – instead favouring ""spirituality"" or ""way of life"". Although Wicca as a religion is distinct from other forms of contemporary Paganism, there has been much ""cross-fertilization"" between these different Pagan faiths; accordingly, Wicca has both influenced and"
"practice of magic, though it is not always necessary. Scholars of religious studies classify Wicca as a new religious movement, and more specifically as a form of modern Paganism. Cited as the largest, best known, most influential, and most extensively academically studied form of Paganism, within the movement it has been identified as sitting on the former end of the eclectic to reconstructionist spectrum. Several academics have also categorised Wicca as a form of nature religion, a term that is also embraced by many of the faith's practitioners. However, given that Wicca also incorporates the practice of magic, several scholars"
"is an umbrella term used to identify a wide variety of modern religious movements, particularly those influenced by or claiming to be derived from the various pagan beliefs of pre-modern Europe. The religion of Pagan Witchcraft, or Wicca, was developed in England during the first half of the 20th century and is one of several Pagan religions. The figure at the forefront of Wicca's early development was the English occultist Gerald Gardner (1884–1964), the author of ""Witchcraft Today"" (1954) and ""The Meaning of Witchcraft"" (1959) and the founder of a tradition known as Gardnerian Wicca. Gardnerian Wicca revolved around the"
"Wicca, established in 1999. Since then, Christian Wicca has become the umbrella term for a variety of magickal Christian sects that began evolving in the Christopagan movement. Trinitarian Wicca is based on the merging of Alexandrian and Dianic traditions, forming their pantheon from the Kabballah, Gnosticism, and Ancient Christianity. Working within traditional Wiccan ritual structure, they observe the 8 sabbats, 13 esbats, and the Wiccan Rede without any concern for the dogmatic trappings of patriarchal Christianity. They have a devout reclaiming approach to a Goddess-inclusive Trinity, best described as Tritheist or ""Social Trinitarians"". The term ""Christian"" merely reflects the pantheon"
"spiritual teacher Meher Baba stated that reincarnation occurs due to desires and once those desires are extinguished the ego-mind ceases to reincarnate. Wicca is a neo-pagan religion focused on nature, guided by the philosophy of Wiccan Rede that advocates the tenets ""Harm None, Do As Ye Will"". Wiccans believe in a form of karmic return where one's deeds are returned, either in the current life or in another life, threefold or multiple times in order to teach one lessons (The Threefold Law). Reincarnation is therefore an accepted part of the Wiccan faith. Wiccans also believe that death and afterlife are"
"it. Wicca is now practised as a religion of an initiatory secret society nature with positive ethical principles, organised into autonomous covens and led by a High Priesthood. There is also a large ""Eclectic Wiccan"" movement of individuals and groups who share key Wiccan beliefs but have no initiatory connection or affiliation with traditional Wicca. Wiccan writings and ritual show borrowings from a number of sources including 19th and 20th-century ceremonial magic, the medieval grimoire known as the Key of Solomon, Aleister Crowley's Ordo Templi Orientis and pre-Christian religions. Both men and women are equally termed ""witches."" They practice a"
"folk beliefs. If they adhered to mainstream faiths, hippies were likely to embrace Buddhism, Daoism, Hinduism, Unitarian Universalism and the restorationist Christianity of the Jesus Movement. Some hippies embraced neo-paganism, especially Wicca. Wicca is a witchcraft religion which became more prominent beginning in 1951, with the repeal of the Witchcraft Act of 1735, after which Gerald Gardner and then others such as Charles Cardell and Cecil Williamson began publicising their own versions of the Craft. Gardner and others never used the term ""Wicca"" as a religious identifier, simply referring to the ""witch cult"", ""witchcraft"", and the ""Old Religion"". However, Gardner"
"The religion of Pagan Witchcraft, or Wicca, was developed in England during the first half of the 20th century and is one of several Pagan religions. The figure at the forefront of Wicca's early development was the English occultist Gerald Gardner (1884–1964), the author of ""Witchcraft Today"" (1954) and ""The Meaning of Witchcraft"" (1959) and the founder of a tradition known as Gardnerian Wicca. Gardnerian Wicca revolved around the veneration of both a Horned God and a Mother Goddess, the celebration of eight seasonally-based festivals in a Wheel of the Year and the practice of magical rituals in groups known"
"Church and School of Wicca The Church and School of Wicca was founded by Gavin Frost and Yvonne Frost in 1968. It was the first federally recognized Church of the religion known as Wicca in the United States. It is well known for its correspondence courses on the Frosts' unique interpretation of Wicca. The Church and School are located in Hinton, West Virginia. The Church of Wicca was founded in 1968. Gavin Frost was a British-born aerospace engineer. While working for an aerospace company in southern England's Salisbury Plain—an area replete with prehistoric monuments—he became interested in the druids. His"
"praised by Theodore Roszak, Susan Brownmiller, ""The New York Times Book Review"" and the ""Journal of the American Academy of Religion"". Contemporary Paganism, which is also referred to as Neo-Paganism, is an umbrella term used to identify a wide variety of modern religious movements, particularly those influenced by or claiming to be derived from the various pagan beliefs of pre-modern Europe. The religion of Pagan Witchcraft, or Wicca, is one of a number of different Pagan religions, and developed in England during the first half of the 20th century. The figure at the forefront of Wicca's early development was the"
"of Dushyanta and Shakuntala. Most Neopagan religions have the theme of fertility (both physical and creative/spiritual) as central to their practices, and as such encourage what they view as a healthy sex life, consensual sex between adults, regardless of gender. Wicca, like other religions, has adherents with a broad spectrum of views ranging from conservative to liberal. It is a largely nondogmatic religion and has no prohibitions against sexual intercourse outside of marriage or relationships between members of the same sex. The religion's ethics are largely summed up by the Wiccan Rede: ""An it harm none, do as thou wilt"","
"also a significant feature of Wicca, a Neo-Pagan religion which is thought to be the continuation of ancient British paganism. It is claimed by Gerald Gardner in 'The Meaning of Witchcraft' that Wicca adopted ceremonial magic first in the Anglo-Saxon period and again in the 19th century. This history has been disputed but, due to the fact that the religion has been passed down strictly as an oral tradition because witchcraft was illegal in the United Kingdom, it is impossible to prove otherwise. The term originates in 16th-century Renaissance magic, referring to practices described in various Medieval and Renaissance grimoires"
"religion that the human being has three souls. Although not accepted by all Wiccans, a belief in reincarnation is the dominant afterlife belief within Wicca, having been originally espoused by Gardner. Understandings of how the cycle of reincarnation operates differ among practitioners; the prominent Wiccan Raymond Buckland for instance insisted that the souls of humans would only ever incarnate into human bodies, whereas other Wiccans believe that the soul of a human can incarnate into any other life form. There is also a common Wiccan belief that any Witches will come to be reincarnated as future Witches, an idea originally"
"rituals from ancient sources is contested by most recent researchers, who suggest that Wicca is a 20th-century creation which combines elements of freemasonry and 19th-century occultism. Historians such as Ronald Hutton have noted that Wicca predates the modern New Age movement and also differs markedly in its general philosophy. In his 1999 book ""The Triumph of the Moon"", Bristol University history professor Ronald Hutton researched the Wiccan claim that ancient pagan customs have survived into modern times after being Christianised in medieval times as folk practices. Hutton found that most of the folk customs which are claimed to have pagan"
"and Jacqueline Simpson being particularly praiseworthy, although some reviewers opined that Magliocco's openly Pagan beliefs had some negative repercussions for the study. Contemporary Paganism, or Neo-Paganism, is a wide variety of modern religious movements influenced by the various pagan beliefs of pre-modern Europe. The religion of Pagan Witchcraft, or Wicca, was developed in England during the first half of the 20th century and is one of several Pagan religions. The figure at the forefront of Wicca's early development was the English occultist Gerald Gardner (1884–1964), the author of ""Witchcraft Today"" (1954) and ""The Meaning of Witchcraft"" (1959) and the founder"
"the preservation and revival of historical practices and beliefs of Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Ancient Egypt, the Celts, the Germanic peoples, the Guanche people, the Balts and the Slavs, respectively. Wicca is the largest form of modern Paganism, as well as the best known form, and the most extensively studied by academics. The scholar of religious studies Graham Harvey noted that a poem known as the Charge of the Goddess remains central to the liturgy of most Wiccan groups. Originally written by Wiccan High Priestess Doreen Valiente in the mid-1950s, Harvey noted that the recitation of the Charge in the"
"Family issued a warning that ""Spain is at risk from the spread of neo-paganism"": On December 23, 2011, the Spanish Government officially acknowledged Wicca to be a religion, in the Register of religious bodies with the reference 2560-SG / A, being the first country for Europe and the second in the world after U.S.A., to recognize it. Celtiberian tradition of Wicca, consisting of Fernando Gonzalez in the 1980s from the Hispanic Traditional Witchcraft to which he belongs, is a structured religion through the symbiosis between ""traditionalism wizard"" (inciatic and mystery), the historical reconstructionist (cultural and archaeological) and ""adaptationism"" liturgical (conditioning"
"Wicca. The pentagram is the most common symbol of religious identity. Most followers celebrate a series of eight festivals equivalent to the Wiccan Wheel of the Year, though others follow the ancient Roman festivals. An emphasis is placed on ancestor worship. Traditional witchcraft is a term used to refer to a variety of contemporary forms of witchcraft. Pagan studies scholar Ethan Doyle White described it as ""a broad movement of aligned magico-religious groups who reject any relation to Gardnerianism and the wider Wiccan movement, claiming older, more ""traditional"" roots. Although typically united by a shared aesthetic rooted in European folklore,"
"interpreted from a postmodern perspective. Postmodern religion can be non-dogmatic, syncretic, eclectic, and draw from various faiths and traditions and challenges the notion of absolute truths. Wicca, the largest tradition of Neopaganism, can be interpreted using postmodern philosophies. Postmodern interpretations of Wicca often lead to the practitioner adopting a more eclectic approach, because the very nature of postmodern theory involves the acceptance of many versions of truth and reality. Eclectic Wicca is the most widely adapted form of Wicca in America today and the core philosophies of postmodern thinking are often used in order to form an interpretation of Wicca"
"in the participants, thereby altering their consciousness. She noted that many Wiccans remain sceptical about the existence of the gods, afterlife etc but remain involved in the Craft because of its ritual experiences, with one, Glenna Turner, saying that ""I love myth, dream, visionary art. The Craft is a place where all of these things fit together – beauty, pageantry, music, dance, song, dream."" The High Priest and Craft historian Aidan Kelly claimed that the practices and experiences within Wicca were actually far more important than the beliefs, stating that ""it's a religion of ritual rather than theology. The ritual"
"claimed in 1985 that Wicca had ""reacted to secularisation by a headlong plunge back into magic"" and that it was a reactionary religion which would soon die out. This view was heavily criticised in 1999 by the historian Ronald Hutton who claimed that the evidence displayed the very opposite: that ""a large number [of Wiccans] were in jobs at the cutting edge [of scientific culture], such as computer technology."" There exists no dogmatic moral or ethical code followed universally by Wiccans of all traditions, however a majority follow a code known as the Wiccan Rede, which states ""an it harm"
"Koox. Neopaganism, also known as modern paganism and contemporary paganism, is a group of contemporary religious movements influenced by or claiming to be derived from the various historical pagan beliefs of pre-modern Europe. Although they do share commonalities, contemporary Pagan religious movements are diverse and no single set of beliefs, practices, or texts are shared by them all. English occultist Dion Fortune was a major populiser of ""soft polytheism"". In her novel, ""The Sea Priestess"", she wrote, ""All gods are one god, and all goddesses are one goddess, and there is one initiator."" Wicca is a duotheistic faith created by"
"Seax-Wica Seax-Wica is a tradition, or denomination, of the neopagan religion of Wicca which is largely inspired by the iconography of the historical Anglo-Saxon paganism, though, unlike Theodism, it is not a reconstruction of the early mediaeval religion itself. The tradition was founded in 1973 by Raymond Buckland, an English-born high priest of Gardnerian Wicca who moved to the United States in the 1970s. His book, ""The Tree"", was written with the intent for it to be a definitive guide to Seax-Wica, and was published in 1974 by Samuel Weiser, and subsequently republished in 2005 as ""Buckland's Book of Saxon"
"of Wicca, with groups such as the Minoan Brotherhood openly basing their philosophy upon it, and various important figures in the Craft, such as Alex Sanders and Eddie Buczynski, being openly homosexual or bisexual. Many traditions hold a belief in the five classical elements, although they are seen as symbolic as representations of the phases of matter. These five elements are invoked during many magical rituals, notably when consecrating a magic circle. The five elements are air, fire, water, earth, and aether (or spirit). Aether unites the other four. Various analogies have been devised to explain the concept of the"
"impersonal force or process rather than a personal deity. While duotheism or bitheism is traditional in Wicca, broader Wiccan beliefs range from polytheism to pantheism or monism, even to Goddess monotheism. Wiccan celebrations encompass both the cycles of the Moon, known as Esbats and commonly associated with the Goddess (female deity), and the cycles of the Sun, seasonally based festivals known as Sabbats and commonly associated with the Horned God (male deity). An unattributed statement known as the Wiccan Rede is a popular expression of Wiccan morality, although it is not universally accepted by Wiccans. Wicca often involves the ritual"
"of the 20th century and is one of several Pagan religions. The figure at the forefront of Wicca's early development was the English occultist Gerald Gardner (1884–1964), the author of ""Witchcraft Today"" (1954) and ""The Meaning of Witchcraft"" (1959) and the founder of a tradition known as Gardnerian Wicca. Gardnerian Wicca revolved around the veneration of both a Horned God and a Mother Goddess, the celebration of eight seasonally-based festivals in a Wheel of the Year and the practice of magical rituals in groups known as covens. Gardnerianism was subsequently brought to the U.S. in the early 1960s by an"
"in truth ""is"" all things. For some Wiccans, this idea also involves elements of animism, and plants, rivers, rocks (and, importantly, ritual tools) are seen as spiritual beings, facets of a single life. A key belief in Wicca is that the gods are able to manifest in personal form, either through dreams, as physical manifestations, or through the bodies of Priestesses and Priests. The latter kind of manifestation is the purpose of the ritual of Drawing down the Moon (or Drawing down the Sun), whereby the Goddess is called to descend into the body of the Priestess (or the God"
"""powers of Nature"" and the two ""mystical pillars"" of the religion. One way to characterize the central male-female divine dyad in Wicca is to say that it's a duotheistic religion with a theology based on the divine gender polarity of male and female. The existence of witchcraft as the remnants of an old pagan religion as late as the early Modern Age was first suggested to a wide readership by Margaret Murray's books, ""The Witch Cult in Western Europe"", ""The God of the Witches"" (1933) and ""The Divine King in England"". Her works have since been largely discredited by other"
"the exclusion from the all-male prayer group or ""minyan"", the exemption from positive time-bound ""mitzvot"", and women's inability to function as witnesses and to initiate divorce. The Dianic Wicca or Wiccan feminism is a female-focused and Goddess-centered Wiccan faith that is also known as a feminist religion that teaches witchcraft as every woman's right. It is also one faith of the many practiced in Wicca. Atheist feminism advocates the equality of men and women within atheism. Atheist feminists also oppose religion, being a major source of female oppression and inequality, believing that all religions are sexist and oppressive to women."
"Wiccan Rede The Wiccan Rede is a statement that provides the key moral system in the Neopagan religion of Wicca and certain other related Witchcraft-based faiths. A common form of the Rede is ""An’ ye harm none, do what ye will"". The word ""Rede"" derives from Middle English, meaning ""advice"" or ""counsel"" and being closely related to the German or Scandinavian . ""An"" is an archaic Middle English conjunction, meaning ""if."" ""Ye"" is an archaic or dialectal form of ""you"" (nominative plural). Other variants of the Rede include: In its best known form as the ""eight words"" couplet, the Rede"
"that is highly individual and characterized by the subjective questioning of reality and truth. This version of Wicca may draw eclectically from, adapt, challenge and adopt a wider range of religious beliefs and perspectives, such as Buddhism, Shintoism, Druidism and Hinduism and Wicca and Goddess movements such as Dianic Wicca, Celtic Wicca and Semitic Neopaganism. Postmodern interpretations of Wicca tend to be context driven, egalitarian, immanent and experiential. Academic texts often represent Wicca in literature and research as a specific tradition that is underpinned by discourses of modernism. Postmodern spirituality refers to new forms of spirituality in the contexts of"