Wicca is a religion based, in part, on ancient, northern European Pagan beliefs
in a fertility Goddess and her consort, a horned God. Although the religion is a
modern creation, some of its
sources pre-date the Christian era by many centuries. Most Wiccans do not believe that their religion is a
direct, continuous descendent of this earlier religion. They see it as a modern
reconstruction.
Joanna Hautin-Mayer has written:
"We know tragically little about the actual religious expressions of
the ancient Celts. We have a few myths and legends, but very little
archeological evidence to support our theories. We have no written records of
their actual forms of worship, and the accounts of their culture and beliefs
written by their contemporaries are often highly biased and of questionable
historical worth."
Ms. Hautin-Mayer is particularly critical of recent Neopagan books which she
demonstrates to be largely fictional accounts of the history of Witta
(presented as an Irish Pagan tradition), Faery
Wicca (presented as an ancient tradition), and 21
Lessons of Merlyn (a somewhat racist and sexist account of
Druidism).
Silver RavenWolf wrote in 1998:
"Wicca, as you practice the religion today, is a new religion, barely fifty
years old. The techniques you use at present are not entirely what your elders practiced
even thirty years ago. Of course, threads of 'what was' weave through the tapestry of
'what is now.' ...in no way can we replicate to perfection the precise circumstances of
environment, society, culture, religion and magick a hundred years ago, or a thousand.
Why would we want to ? The idea is to go forward with the knowledge of the past,
tempered by the tools of our own age."
Writings that formed the basis of Wicca:
Much of modern-day Wicca can be directly traced back to the writings of:
Charles Leland (1824-1903) published a book in 1899: Aradia:
Gospel of the Witches. Leland was the founder
of the Gypsy Lore Society, editor of the Philadelphia Bulletin,
and a prolific author and folklorist. Aradia deals mainly with
the Goddess Diana. It is presented as an ancient document which
recorded the doctrines of La Vecchia Religione (The Old Religion) --
Italian witchcraft. Leland claims to have received the information
from an Italian strega (sorceress) named Maddalena. How much of this
is a valid account of La Vecchia Religione is anyone's guess. However,
the book played a significant role in the later development of
modern-day Neopaganism.
Margaret Murray (1863 - 1963) authored The Witch Cult in Western Europe and The
God of the Witches. These books promoted the concept that some of the Witches who were
exterminated by Roman Catholics and Protestants during the "Burning Times" (circa
1450-1792) were remnants of an earlier, organized, and dominant pre-Christian religion in
Europe. Her writings have not been well received by anthropologists.
However, they were very influential in providing background material
for the Neopagan traditions.
Gerald Gardner (1884 - 1964), a British civil servant, who:
has written that he joined an existing Wiccan Coven in 1939, taking the (then) usual
vows of secrecy
persuaded the coven to let him write a book in 1949 about Wicca in the form of a novel, High
Magic's Aid. He carefully revealed a few of the Old Religion's beliefs and the
historical persecutions that they endured.
added many rituals, symbols, concepts and elements from ceremonial magick, Freemasonry
and other sources to "flesh out" the coven's beliefs and practices, most of
which had been long forgotten.
wrote Witchcraft Today in 1954 in which he described additional details about the
faith.
wrote The Meaning of Witchcraft which described in detail the history of Wicca in
Northern Europe.
