Wicca

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Wicca

Wicca is a contemporary nature-based religion that most practitioners believe is a reconstruction of the practices of pre-Christian tribal Europe. Its public appearance coincides with the repeal of the anti-Witchcraft law in Britain in the early 1950s and the publication there of Gerald Gardner's Witchcraft Today. Whether Gardner simply passed on what he had been taught in secret, as he claimed, creatively contributed to the development of an existing practice, or invented the religion has been and continues to be a matter of debate. However, most Wiccans today are more interested in the efficacy of the spiritual practice than in its origins.

In 1962 Raymond and Rosemary Buckland immigrated to the United States and began teaching about Wicca. The religion's appeal to members of the anti-authoritarian counterculture was strong, and Wiccan covens, groups usually numbering from three to thirteen, began spreading across the country. The first Wiccan church to be granted federal tax-exempt status as a religious entity was in Missouri in 1965. Within a fairly short time, different Wiccan sects or traditions appeared, and, as the religion continued to grow, it began to gain adherents in mainstream society. By 1978 the U.S. Army's handbook for chaplains contained a section on Wicca, and by 1993 Wicca had been institutionalized to the extent that several Wiccan groups were among the sponsors of and participants at the World Parliament of Religions.

Many Wiccans prefer the label of witch and refer to their religion as Witchcraft or simply the Craft, in part to honor those people persecuted during the witch-hunts of history. Practitioners believe that these people were their spiritual ancestors. Others find the words "witch" and "Witchcraft" too confrontational, and there is a growing trend to embrace instead the word "Wicca," the Old English term for a male who practices Witchcraft. It is important to note that, despite misconceptions, Wicca has nothing to do with Satanism, which Wiccans argue borrows from and is a reversal of Jewish and Christian beliefs. Wiccans do not believe in the existence of the Devil or any similar entity.

Wiccans hold divinity to be immanent in nature, and they celebrate, honor, and/or worship the Divine as the Goddess in her triple aspects of Maiden, Mother, and Crone, also represented by the phases of the moon. Many traditions also honor her male consort, often referred to as the Horned God of the Forest or Lord of the Dance. Goddesses and gods from different cultures and religions may be invoked as well and used as a focus for personal or group "work."

This work is usually done within "sacred space," which is created by "casting a circle," invoking the energies of the four cardinal points of the compass and the elements of air, fire, water, and earth that these represent, and then envisioning a surrounding circle of energy. Magical work or "spellcasting" is based on the belief in immanence and loosely corresponds with the argument in quantum physics that, on a subatomic level, everything is interconnected. Wiccans believe that if energy is drawn up from the earth into their bodies and manipulated correctly, it can be sent out into the world and affect matter for a desired goal. This is achieved through the focus of attention or "will" during altered states of consciousness that are achieved through the use of ritual tools, meditation, dance, chant, drumming, and other means. Magic, sometimes spelled "magick" to distinguish it from sleight of hand, can be done for something mundane and tangible, such as a pay raise, or for something less concrete, such as healing the earth.

There is no sacred, authoritative text that is accepted by all Wiccan traditions, although several have a Book of Shadows, which originated with Gardner and which has been added to in various ways. The Wiccan Rede is the closest thing to a universal religious law. Its wording varies slightly in different traditions but says basically, "As long as it harms none, do what you will." As everything is interconnected, magic done for negative purposes is believed to come back to the one who performed it and to be three times stronger than it was when sent out.

Wiccans can be solitary practitioners or members of an autonomous coven, usually led by a high priestess, with or without a high priest. Some traditions, however, are egalitarian and have shared leadership. Eight major religious holidays or sabbats are celebrated as a way of attuning to the seasonal changes in nature. Their dates coincide with the spring and fall equinoxes; summer and winter solstices; and "crossquarter days," the midpoint between solstice and equinox. Wiccans in the United States tend to be white, educated, and largely middle class, with females outnumbering males. Because of the tremendous cross-fertilization that occurs at festivals and the influence of the women's movement on mainstream society, American Wicca is generally more feminist than its foreign counterparts.

Bibliography

Adler, Margot. Drawing Down the Moon, 2nd ed. 1979, 1986.

Berger, Helen. A Community of Witches. 1998.

Lozano, Wendy G., and Tanice G. Foltz. "Into the Darkness: An Ethnographic Study of Witchcraft and Death." QualitativeSociology 13, no. 3 (1990): 211–235.

Starhawk. The SpiralDance. 1979.

Wendy Griffin

Contemporary American Religion