What is Wicca?

What is Wicca?

Wicca, Witchcraft, Paganism, Religion, Spirituality....there are many different definitions for these terms.  With that in mind, what follows are the definitions which we use, presented here so that we may speak from a place of common understanding.

Wicca is an orthopraxic system of witchcraft, defined more by its structures, associated rituals and practices, than by its beliefs.  For many of its members, Wicca occupies the socio-spiritual place of a religion.  For others, it is more akin to an esoteric organizing philosophical approach to life.   Historically speaking, Wicca came into existence in the middle of the 20th century as a synthesis of several magical orders and folk magical practices.  This original strain of Wicca was practiced by groups organized into covens, devoted to the development of the person, the exercise of magical ability, and the seemingly contradictory goal of both spreading the religion while at the same time not proselytizing and keeping details of worship secret (oathbound).  In the more than half century which has passed since its inception, Wicca has evolved into hundreds of different traditions, though there are some common threads which remain with which one can normally identify a practice as Wiccan.

• 1. The use of a liturgical ritual structure with antecedents based in the western hermetic magical tradition.  This includes the use of the classical four elements, a ritually cast circle, and the use of a distinctive yet varied set of tools to which are ascribed magical, cosmological, and psychological attributes with which to help facilitate ritual.

  2. Magic as a force of change in the world.  This change can be said to be external or internal in efficacy, either acting as a real force in an objective sense, or as a psychological construct which acts upon the psyche of the practitioner.

  3. An acknowledgment of gods, goddesses, spirits, and other entities as motive beings for the purposes of worship and magic.  Sometimes these are the subject of worship and reverence, other times they are acknowledged as partners in magical endeavors, and sometimes they are perceived as nothing more than powerful psychological constructs which can be drawn upon to bolster the magical workings of the practitioner.

As stated above, Wicca is orthopraxic, not orthodoxic.  Wicca as it is most commonly practiced does not have a litmus test of belief nor statement of faith which describes who is and who is not a Witch.  Still, there are some beliefs which have found widespread acceptance by many who profess themselves to be Wiccan. Please note that none of these should be considered to be universally applicable within Wicca.

• 1. A belief in either a specific Goddess and God of Witchcraft, or in an archetypal Goddess and God from which all other goddesses and gods emanate.

  2. A belief in some type of reincarnation.  

  3. A belief that there is a divine component to the natural world, with special emphasis given to the Earth, the Sun, and the Moon, either in themselves or through the lens of specific deities.

  4. The idea that actions have consequences within the lifetime of the Witch, and an ethic to minimize the harm that one perpetrates within the world.  These ideas are sometimes codified in a “Threefold Law” and “The Wiccan Rede”. 

Traditional Wicca

Traditional Wicca (sometimes called "British Traditional Wicca," "BTW") refers to those traditions which trace their practice back to the early groups which founded and first developed the practice of Wicca.  These traditions tend to share the following characteristics:

1. They are Oathbound and initiatory.  Those seeking to join these traditions undergo an initiation, part of which is taking an oath to only reveal or discuss certain details of the tradition to those who have also undergone the same initiation.

2. They are organized around the training of Priests and Priestesses as well as the working of witchcraft (magic).  Within traditional Wicca members are initiated as a Priest/Priestess and Witch. Part of the training is in how to function as a ritual leader, a solo magical worker, someone who is comfortable with trance states, and how to work with the gods and spirits associated with witches.

Members of Traditional Wicca will sometimes be referred to (by themselves or others) as being "of the Wica" or members of "the Priesthood of the Wica."

Eclectic Wicca

Sometimes called non-traditional Wicca, Eclectic Wicca includes any group or practice which identifies itself as Wiccan, but is not part of the social or magical structure of traditional Wicca.  This type of Wicca traces its origin to the late 1970’s when the number of people seeking to learn Wicca began to greatly exceed the number of covens available to take in. Around this same time, a number of books began to be published which contained material often used by covens as introductory training for those seeking memberships.  This material was adapted over time and, by the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, there was an explosion in the development of Wicca intended for the solitary practitioner. Overtime many of those who learned in isolation began to come together into covens, developing their own practices and, ultimately, their own traditions. As many of these traditions had traditional Wiccan training material as the foundation upon which their guidebooks began, this Eclectic Wicca still bore a strong resemblance to the traditional Wicca which came before it and which continues to exist alongside it. 

Perceptions and Misconceptions

Generally speaking, there is an idea that Traditional Wicca is less dynamic than Eclectic Wicca, with practitioners confined in what they can and cannot practice.  The reality of the situation is slightly different. While Traditional Wicca does have...traditions that its members adhere to, the argument can and should be made that all Wicca is eclectic in nature.  The traditions, rites, liturgies, and other practices which provide continuity to Traditional Wicca stand alongside a strong spirit of individual growth and spiritual development. Covens are magical workshops within which practitioners research and try out new techniques, constantly refining what works for them as individuals and what can be adopted as group practice.

On the other side of things, Eclectic groups tend to be slightly more dogmatic in their insistence that Wiccans adhere to one or more of the above stated common beliefs.  It is not uncommon to find someone decrying someone else as “not a real Wiccan” because they do not profess confidence or belief in the “Threefold Law” or in a particular Goddess or God.

While Wicca is a type of Witchcraft, it is in no way the totality, or even the majority of it.  Witchcraft has existed throughout human history, in hundreds of forms across every culture. Traditional Witchcraft continues to exist today, with both theistic and nontheistic types, organized into covens and as a solitary endeavor.  When describing Witchcraft, it is best to avoid absolute generalizations (i.e. all Witches do X, or a Witch would never do Y); the sheer variety of Witchcraft practiced in the world means that such statements will almost always miss the mark. 

Summation

Wicca is a religious practice which works to empower its practitioners, both as individuals and as working covens, to develop themselves as complete magical and spiritual beings.  It is a modern religion which draws upon centuries of esoteric thought and practice, seeks out the folk wisdom of the ages, and makes up a toolkit with which the Witch may develop working relationships with other Witches, spirits, and the gods.