[WickedTemptress]

Originally Posted by MorganGrayson

I'll take a small try at this one.

(Just a small one. All the answers would take up...everything.)

"Wicca" is a religion. Oddly, one of the first groups to recognize it as such was the US Military. All military chaplains have a section on Wicca in their "handbooks," to tell them the right things to say in what circustances, just as they would for all the other religions.

Wicca is different from what is called "the Craft." (OK, if you've seen the movie...forget it.) Some Wiccans practice the Craft, some do not. I personally am not there yet.

No true Wiccan would *ever* "cast a spell" on someone. The Wiccan Rede says "an it harm none, do what ye will." Not too surprisingly, "putting a curse on someone" is harming them. "Repelling negative energy" is what a Wiccan would do.

The arguments of the "history" of the "Wiccan Religion" are still going on. Some say it dates to the...help me out here, WT. 1940's?

Now...there have *always* been women who knew more about herbs, healing, the powers of nature, etc. This goes back through time. They were called "witches" because of ignorant people who were afraid of them.

There is no Satan in either Wicca or the Craft.

When Christianity began its campaign for dominance, it "borrowed" a lot from the pagans. The Pagans celebrated "the wheel of the year," the natural cycles. It's not surprising that all Christian holidays fall near or on pagan ones. The Christians did that on purpose.

The "face" assigned to Satan is borrowed from "The Green Man," a phase of the God where he had horns...like a stag. He's a totally nice guy, really, and absolutely nothing to be afraid of.

Just like the Christians, the Satanists have borrowed a few things. The most often seen is the "pentacle," the five pointed star in a circle. (If it's a five pointed star alone, it's a pentagram.) In Wicca, the top point, pointing UP, stands for The Spirit, The Ether...called different things by different people. It symbolizes The Spirit *over* the four elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water - making it more important. Satanists turned it upside down, to indicate that this corporeal existant was what mattered. They turned the Christian cross upside down, too. Their use of it doesn't make it evil, neither does their use of the pentacle. Frequently in movies with bad researchers, you will see an upright pentacle used and someone calling it a "Satanic symbol." (You may also here my scream like banshee if we're both watching the same movie.)

There are plenty of evil people out there calling themselves Wiccans, just as there are plenty of evil people out there calling themselves Christians.

Various Wiccan off the top of my head facts:

Wiccans do NOT proselitize. We answer questions, but we don't try and drum up members.

There's no such thing as a "Wiccan Bible."

All Wiccans are "witches" but not all "witches" are Wiccan. Some practice the Craft without having Wicca as their religion. (It's like "all poodles are dogs, but not all dogs are poodles.")

All Wiccans/Pagans don't agree on everything any more than all Christians do. (I've known Methodists who wouldn't speak to Baptists and for the life of me...I couldn't figure out what the difference was.) The fights amonst the Pagans get just as ugly as any other group of people.

In Wicca, it is perfectly permissable to "wing it." Take a little piece here, a little piece there, and figure out what best fits you personally.

This is probably going to be a bit lengthy...

Ok, first of all, you have to understand that Wicca is a branch of Paganism...

So, on the one hand, you have to consider that Paganism dates back to forms of Animism. For example, it has been documented by paintings found in caves that before going on a hunt, ancient man would hold a sort of ritual where they would make a model of the animal they intended to hunt, then dance around a fire with their energy focused on their intentions(thus raising energy) and then they would attack the model of the animal.

Then, they would go out to hunt the real animal, with confidence of success.

So, on the one hand, and definitely in the ritual aspects of Wicca, you see it has ancient roots.

Before Wicca became Wicca though, there were other forms of Paganism which have been practiced for thousands and thousands of years...

And, before the time when Christianity was trying to make Paganism look unfavorable, there were actually many kings that consulted witches or practitioners of magic in decisions they made both for their kingdoms and in their own lives. This is where "Wicca" or "wise one" comes from.

Modern Wiccan magic practice largely owes its origins to practices of High Ritual Magic groups formed in the early 20th century like the Golden Dawn, Gerald Gardner, and Raymond Buckland.

You see, Gerald Gardner claimed to have been initiated into the Wiccan tradition in the 1930's by one of his female relatives from the The Fellowship of Crotona.

He then published a book called "High Magick's Aid." Then, after the repeal of the British anti-witchcraft laws in the early 1950's, he wrote two non-fiction pieces: "Witchcraft Today" and "The Meaning of Witchcraft."

He met a High Priestess who claimed to be the descendant of witches that had practiced real magic for centuries and became interested. And, days before the outbreak of World War II, he was initiated into the coven.

In the summer of 1940, he attended a large ritual gathering to stop the invasion of England by Germany and met some very influential magicians, including Aleister Crowley, who made an impression on him.

While he was still a member of The Fellowship of Crotona, Aleister Crowley gave him an honorable membership to the Ordo Temli Orientis.

Until 1946, he was also a member of the Ancient Druid Order or ADO.

He soon left The Fellowship of Crotona and formed his own coven, which included all of his own ideas based on his archeological research, the knowledge he gained from Aleister Crowley, and his many years of study and experience. This, as we know it, was the first "organized" coven of Wicca.

In 1960 Gerald was invited to a garden party at Buckingham Palace in recognition of his distinguished civil service work in the Far East. It was also on one of these trips to the Far East to relieve his asthma condition Gerald meet an Englishman, known as Raymond Buckland. It was because of Raymond Buckland that made Garderian Witchcraft to popularity in North America. (However, Raymond soon formed his own brand of Wicca known as Seax-Wicca.)

OK, still with me so far?

Now, also bare in mind that though Gerald Gardener and Raymond Buckland were reasonable for bring Wicca out into the open, so to speak, there WERE already practicing covens. So, they didn't just up and invent it. There were many covens that went into hiding because of what we Pagans refer to as "The Burning Times"...

So, getting back on track here... The argument is whether Wicca is an ancient religion dating back thousands and thousands of years or a new religion from the 30's... And, as you can see... The answer is really much more complex than that.

Yes, as a modern form of magic, it is relatively new in some respects, but it's roots are deep and very ancient.

I tend to think of it more as just a different transformation of ancient magic and rituals passed down through the ages...

But, there is more history here.

It was Gavin and Yvonne Frost who got the federal government to recognize witchcraft as a religion equal to any other in 1972.

They also had formed the first church and school of Wicca in 1968.

And, that should pretty basically cover the history of Wicca as we know it today.

Now, on to the other points of the post...

Yes, Morgan is right... Witches don't cast spells on people without their consent to do so. That INCLUDES protection spells or any spell to reflect or deflect any negative energy. Doing this creates bad Karma, and all things, whether good or bad, come back three-fold. So, witches are always careful of what they send out.

Hey... You know... I'm actually writing a sort of tutorial on the myths about Wicca. I'm not finished it, but, I'll post the ones I have finished so far.

I better make that another post though. :bighlaugh:

One more thing to add here though about your last sentence Morgan... We call that being an Eclectic Wiccan, which is what I am. There are branches of Wiccan/Pagan traditions that have their own set of rules to go by... An eclectic witch doesn't go by any set forms/rules of traditions, but rather(as you said) uses the bits and pieces that fit with their own beliefs.

And, yes, the one common thing you'll find in each tradition is the Wiccan Rede: "Harm none, do what thou will."