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History of the Wiccan Religion, as written by BlackHawk, Circle of the Dragon's Weave, 1996
The actual origins of the Wiccan religion are shrouded, but whether by time or by secrecy, none can definitively say.
There are theories afoot as to our origins that claim the religion is well over 10,000 years old, perhaps as many as 35,000.
There are also theories that place the beginning of Wicca in the hands of Gerald Brosseau Gardner in England during the late
1930's and early 1940's, giving Wicca an age of no more than 60 years. Unfortunately the secrecy
that has surrounded the Craft has contributed to a lack of solid documentation in our history. Conversely, that secrecy has
also allowed practitioners of our religion to survive, so the heart of Wicca could forward to the modern day. Regardless of
your point of view, the lack of documentation has hampered, if not crippled, efforts to reconstruct our past.
Most, if not all, American Wiccan lineages can be traced to Gerald B. Gardner, an Englishman who was primarily responsible
for bringing Wicca to the public eye during the 1950's. It is believed by some that Gardner was initiated into the New Forest
Coven circa September, 1939. Believing that Wicca was in the last stages of decline into extinction, he requested permission
from the coven Elders to "go public" with Craft. He was denied. As a compromise, however, he wrote a fictional piece, High
Magic's Aid, which was published in 1949. In it, many of the practices of his coven were allegedly
revealed.
In 1951, the Witchcraft Acts were repealed, largely due to the very popular Spiritualist movement.
Under the Acts, mediums and spiritualists could be prosecuted as frauds, and several prominent members of Parliament and other
officials were strong believers in mediums. The repeal of the Acts, however, also set the stage for the resurrgence of the
Craft. In 1954, Gardner's Witchcraft Today was published. The Craft grew steadily during the 1950's, and The Meaning of Witchcraft,
Gardner's second non-fiction book on the Craft, was published in 1959. All was not peaceful within the then-fledgling Wiccan
community, however. Disagreements about the publicity Wicca was getting caused a schism within
the movement in the summer of 1957. Gardner was at the nominal head of the pro-publicity faction, while the more secretive
opposition was nominally headed by Doreen Valiente, who had been Gardner's High Priestess.
Doreen Valiente was initiated in 1953 by Gardner. From almost the time of her initiation, she operated
as the High Priestess of the "main coven". Very early in their relationship, she demonstrated to Gardner that she recognized
the sources of much of his ritual material, a fact that did not please him at first. Valiente remarked
to Gardner that she would like to see some changes to the Book. Gardner dimissively agreed, perhaps thinking that she couldn't
produce better work than he had already shown her. He was wrong. Valiente created poetic versions
of some of Wicca's most moving pieces, including the Charge of the Goddess. Much of what modern American Gardnerian Wiccans
use in ritual owes at least something to Doreen Valiente. Valiente has written several works including The Rebirth of
Witchcraft in 1989. This book forms the core of many Wiccan covens' historical data, as it is written in a no-nonsense manner
by a person who was actually there.
Gardner remained influential in the Craft throughout the 1950's and early 1960's, though his health,
which had always been somewhat frail, deteriorated. During the winter of 1963-64, Gardner wintered in Lebanon, which was more
peaceful in those days. He boarded the SS Scottish Prince in February of 1964 for his trip home, but died of heart failure
while in the Mediterranean. His body was offloaded and buried at the next port of call, Tunis. The original burial site was
redeveloped into a park, but before this happened, a High Priestess named Eleanor Bone learned of the plan while she was vacationing
in North Africa. She collected funds from other British Witches and had Gardner's remains moved to another nearby cemetary,
where they rest to this day.
This history would not be complete without a short recounting of the controversy that still rages
within the Wiccan community over whether Gerald Gardner actually received this religion from those who came before him, or
whether he made it all up out of whole cloth. The truth may never be known, but research continues.
Most Wiccans, if asked, will answer that it doesn't matter. Wicca is a genuine, fulfilling
religion, whether it is 10,000 years old, or was invented last Tuesday.
History of Wicca, as written by Vicki
Wicca is a neo - pagan religion
based on the pre - Christian traditions of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. in 1951, the laws against Witchcraft
were repelled in Britain, and a man named Gerald Gardner was the first to come into the public eye with a description of what
modern Witches were practising. His information came from the traditions of a coven called the New Forest Witches, and
from his past dealings with ceremonial magick and the Cabbalah. He began what is now called the Gardnerian Tradition
of Wicca. From Gardnerian came the Alexandrian Tradition, and a host of other off shoots that today number in their
hundreds.
History of Magick, as written by www.magickmeltingpot.com
The
roots of magic come from the Celts, a people living between 700 BC and 100 AD. Believed to be descendants of Indo-Europeans,
the Celts were a brilliant and dynamic people & gifted artists, musicians, storytellers, metalworkers, expert farmers
and fierce warriors. The Celts were a deeply spiritual people, who worshiped both a god and goddess. They honoured the presence
of the "Divine Creator" in all of nature. Like many tribes the world over, they believed in reincarnation. After death, they
went to the Summerland for rest and renewal while awaiting rebirth.
The
months of the Celtic year were named after trees. The Celtic new year began at Samhain, which means "summers end," and was
the final harvest of the year.
This
was also their "Festival of the Dead," where they honoured their ancestors and deceased loved ones. Next on the wheel of the
Celtic year was the Winter Solstice, celebrating the annual rebirth of the Sun. Around the beginning of February came
Imbolg,
a time when domesticate animals began to give birth. The Spring Equinox and Bealtaine, sometimes called "May Day," were fertility
festivals. The Summer Solstice, known as Lughnassa, celebrated the glory of the Sun and the powers of nature. Lughnassa, the
Fall Equinox, and Samhain, were considered as Celtic harvest festivals.
The
"Druids" were the priests of the Celtic religion. The Druids were priests, teachers, judges, astrologers, healers and bards.
They became indispensable to the political leaders, giving them considerable power and influence. They were peacemakers, and
were able to pass from one warring tribe to another unharmed. It took twenty years of intense study to become a Druid.
Translated,
the word Druid means "knowing the oak tree." Trees, the oak in particular, were held sacred by the Celts. Mistletoe, which
grows as a parasite on oak trees, was a powerful herb used in their ceremonies and for healing. Mistletoe was ritually harvested
at the Summer Solstice by cutting it with a golden sickle and catching it with a white cloth while never letting it fall to
the ground. The religious beliefs and practices of the Celts grew into what later became known as Paganism. The word Pagan
is derived from the Latin word Paganus, meaning "country dweller." This outgrowth was consistent with the Celts' love for
the land and their holding such things as the oak tree and mistletoe sacred. Paganistic beliefs and rituals blended with those
of other Indo-European descended groups, and over several centuries became collectively known as witchcraft.
Prior
to the 14th century, witchcraft came to mean a collection of beliefs and practices including healing through spells, mixing
ointments or concoctions, dabbling in the supernatural, divining or forecasting the future, and engaging in clairvoyance.
After
North America
was discovered and Europeans began migrating to the new land, witchcraft came into practice by some of the early, colonial
settlers. Since it had previously been branded as "demon-worship," witchcraft was forbidden throughout the North American
colonies. Despite this decree by the powers of the day, some colonists secretly practiced witchcraft knowing they would be
hanged or burned if caught. It has been said that certain rituals performed by early-American witches helped shield their
settlements from attacks by Native Americans.
Recent History of Magick, as written by Gustar Woomax
There
is general agreement that Wicca first became a mass movement in recent times in England during the 1950's with the publishing
of books by Gerald Gardner. It has expanded at a furious rate in North America and Europe.
Wicca
is one of the largest of the minority religions in the United States.
There are no reliable estimates of the number of Wiccans in this country. Our best estimate
is on the order of 750,000. That would make Wicca about the 5th largest organized religion in the United States, behind Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Hinduism. However it is
virtually unknown by the general public. This is because almost all Wiccans hide their religious beliefs and practices. Those
who allow their faith to be known publicly are very heavily persecuted in North America;
on a per-capita basis, they are believed to be victimized more often than members of any other religious group. Many assaults,
arson, economic attacks are reported yearly. There have even been shootings, one public mass stoning and one lynching in recent
years! Reports circulate frequently of misinformed child protection officers seizing children from the homes of Wiccans because
they feared that they would be killed or abused in some Satanic ritual. The perpetrators of this religious hatred are usually
very devout, very concerned but terribly misinformed people. They believe the misinformation that has been spread about Witches
continuously since the Middle Ages. It is only in Eastern Massachusetts, Southern California and in a few cities elsewhere
in North America that most Wiccans feel secure enough to
come out of the (broom) closet in large numbers. In other areas, they tend to avoid persecution by keeping their religious
faith secret. Unfortunately, this policy can have negative results; some people speculate that because Wiccans remain underground,
they must have something to hide. This is a "no-win" situation with no obvious solution.
The above
paragraph was written in the mid 1990s. Since then, the situation has improved greatly. Many Wiccans have come out of the
closet and revealed their faith openly. The public has become much more aware of Wicca and other Neopagan religions. The frequency
of violence has decreased greatly, although there are still occasional accounts of vandalism and economic attacks.
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