Wicca

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Wicca
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History of Wicca History of Wicca Etymology of Wicca Bricket Wood coven New Forest coven Dettmer v. Landon Witch-cult hypothesis
Notable figures Gerald Gardner Doreen Valiente Alex Sanders Maxine Sanders Sybil Leek Dafo Margot Adler Victor Anderson Artemis Gavin Bone Lois Bourne Jack Bracelin Raymond Buckland Eddie Buczynski Zsuzsanna Budapest Charles Cardell Ipsita Roy Chakraverti Patricia Crowther Vivianne Crowley Robert Cochrane Scott Cunningham Phyllis Curott Cerridwen Fallingstar Janet Farrar Stewart Farrar Raven Grimassi Gavin Frost Yvonne Frost Philip Heselton Frederic Lamond Silver RavenWolf Starhawk Joseph Wilson
Rites and rituals Drawing down the Moon Great rite Handfasting Wiccaning Fivefold kiss Magic circle Cone of power Herbal medicine Scrying Spellwork / Incantation Banishing Divination Invocation Initiation Rite of passage Eko Eko Azarak Solitary practitioner Spiral dance
Deities Triple Goddess Horned God Green Man Holly King / Oak King Mother goddess
Traditions Alexandrian Wicca Algard Wicca Blue Star Wicca Central Valley Wicca Chthonioi Alexandrian Wicca Gardnerian Wicca 1734 Tradition Celtic Wicca Church and School of Wicca Cochrane's Craft Coven of Atho Dianic Wicca Faery Wicca Georgian Wicca Odyssean Wicca Reclaiming Seax-Wica Stregheria Universal Eclectic Wicca
Wiccan organisations Aquarian Tabernacle Church Coven Celeste Children of Artemis Church and School of Wicca Circle Sanctuary Covenant of the Goddess New Reformed Orthodox Order of the Golden Dawn Panthean Temple The Rowan Tree Church SpiralScouts International Universal Eclectic Wicca Wiccan Church of Canada Witchcraft Research Association
Holidays Wheel of the Year Solstice Equinox Imbolc Ostara Beltane Midsummer Lughnasadh Mabon Samhain Yule Esbat Wild Hunt
Key concepts Wiccan morality Wiccan Rede Rule of Three Wiccan views of divinity Coven Craft name Magic Witchcraft White magic Otherworld The Summerland Reincarnation Karma Skyclad Summoner Watchtower Familiar Animism
Paraphernalia Magical tools in Wicca Altar Amulet Athame Bell Besom Boline Book of Shadows Candles Cauldron Censer Chalice/Goblet Horn Incense Parchment Pentacle Runes Scourge Statue Talisman Tarot deck Theban alphabet Wand Witch's ladder
Literature Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches The Meaning of Witchcraft The Spiral Dance What Witches Do Witchcraft Today Charge of the Goddess Enchanted Feminism
Other Cunning folk Cunning folk in Britain Enochian European witchcraft Fluffy Bunny Flying ointment Goetia Granny woman LGBT and Wicca Malleus Maleficarum Museum of Witchcraft and Magic Runes Theban Thelema Witch hunt Witchcraft Research Association Witches' Sabbath Witching hour
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Wicca (English: /ˈwɪkə/), also known as "The Craft",^[1] is a modern pagan, syncretic, earth-centered religion. Considered a new religious movement by scholars of religion, the path evolved from Western esotericism, 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 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, disseminated through published books.

Many variations of the religion have grown and evolved over time, associated with a number of diverse lineages, sects, and denominations, referred to as traditions, each with its own organisational structure and level of centralisation. Given its broadly decentralised nature, disagreements arise over the boundaries that define Wicca. Some traditions, collectively referred to as British Traditional Wicca (BTW), strictly follow the initiatory lineage of Gardner and consider Wicca specific to similar traditions, excluding newer, eclectic traditions. Other traditions, as well as scholars of religion, apply Wicca as a broad term for a religion with denominations that differ on some key points but share core beliefs and practices.

Wicca is typically duotheistic, venerating both a Goddess and a God, traditionally conceived as the Triple Goddess and the Horned God, respectively. These deities may be regarded in a henotheistic way, as having many different divine aspects which can be identified with various pagan deities from different historical pantheons. For this reason, they are sometimes referred to as the "Great Goddess" and the "Great Horned God", with the honorific "great" connoting a personification containing many other deities within their own nature. Some Wiccans refer to the goddess as "Lady" and the god as "Lord" to invoke their divinity. These two deities are sometimes viewed as facets of a universal pantheistic divinity, regarded as an impersonal force rather than a personal deity. Other traditions of Wicca embrace polytheism, pantheism, monism, and Goddess monotheism.

Wiccan celebrations encompass both the cycles of the Moon, known as Esbats and commonly associated with the Triple Goddess, alongside the cycles of the Sun, seasonally based festivals known as Sabbats and commonly associated with the Horned God. The Wiccan Rede is a popular expression of Wiccan morality, often with respect to the ritual practice of magic.