⊛ Wicca Religion – What is it? Updated【2023】

For those who don’t know what it is WICCA, here we will talk about many of the important aspects of this religion, its roots in the land, divinity and other very important characteristics. Learn the language of the elements and how to apply them, understand the meaning of the sun, the rain, among many others. Continue with us and learn more about Wicca.

What is Wicca?

It is considered a neopagan religion, which would originate in England at the beginning of the 20th century. when we look at her name, we see that it is related to the term Witch; which is originally from modern English, also with a derivative of wcche or wicce, meaning Witch or Wise.

It is the British Gerald Gardner, he introduces it for the year 1954 and this is continued by Dreen Valiente, after being part of a coven that was created by Gardner, later becoming a priestess of this religion.

It is a religion that allows the acceptance that there are two gods; one is the “horned” god who is male and the female goddess who is called “Moon Goddess” or “Triple Goddess”

The horned god that brings together some of the mythological figures of antiquity, such as the Greek demigod Pan, the Roman Faun, the Egyptian god Osiris, among others. These gods have horns and are related to nature.

The goddess of the moon or the triple goddess, is personified by a mother, an old woman or a maiden and additionally symbolizes; the phases of the moon and the ruler of heaven, earth and the underworld.

Something that could not be left out at this point would be the basic principles of the Wiccan religion, because religion revolves around them:

Nature as an object of worship. For those people who are Wiccans, everything that is related to nature is an object of worship, very different from religions that are monotheistic with worship of a creator. They do not handle the possibility of a separation of the divine and natural aspects, considering that each of the individuals have divinity within each one of them. The belief in the Triple Law; They have the conviction that everything that each individual does is returned, but triple, this leads them not to do rituals to harm others. This leads them to think that “everything that does not harm the other is lawful and allowed” Truth and morality; this indicates that each action carried out by each person who participates should be given value. They have a firm belief in magic, which they call “magick”; they put a “K” on it to make a difference with respect to illusionism. Every Wiccan is convinced that he can influence the natural order itself, through rituals and all esoteric practices. Distinguishing equality between women and men; have a complete belief in duality and balance. There are no organizational hierarchies; for which the rituals they perform are performed in circles. The main exaltation; is known by the name of coven, sabbat or coven, They are very generic denominations that denote the meeting of sorcerers.

Wiccan Rise

The origin of Wicca has been debated on many occasions, but it is not publicly known or heard for the first time in England, by occultist and retired civil servant Gerald Gardner.

Gardner found a group of witches that were known as the New Forest coven in the Hampshire region of England, he identified himself as a survivor of the ancient witch cult and was a neophyte to it. The rites that he would obtain from this group were not complete, so he rewrote them to make them achievable to the point of practice.

There are many who have contested for many years, such as the author Aidan Kelly, who argued that all these rites were Gardner’s inventions, as an advance of what was ceremonial magic and also the occult order, such as the Hermetic Order of the Aurora Dorada (Golden Dawn).

In addition, Gardner maintained a friendship with the occultist Aleister Crowley, shortly before he died, so it was speculated that occultists would help develop certain rituals in the following decades.

According to what Ronald Hutton said, Gardner could have taken other works by authors such as Margaret Murray, Charles Leland and Sir James Frazer as a reference, they asserted that in prehistoric times, there had been a matriarchal religion and that for some reason it was preserved for so long, until today in a very secret and closed group of witches.

In the case of the authors Phillip Heselton, Doreen Valiente or Isaac Bonewits, they said that they were a reconstructionist group; early 20th century of an ancient religion that was pagan and fully intact.

But it is Bonewits who says that between 1920 and 1925 in England, some of the Rosicrucians of the Golden Dawn, some folklorists and additionally some traditional witches came together to generate the first modern coven in England and that is where the form of eclectic of the various strengths, in order to reconstruct the pagan past.

Instead, Doreen Valiente, a young woman from Gardner’s temple who was a former high priestess, worked with him to revise the ritual text, but due to differences she distanced herself from the author and from there, she studied ancient magic and plays from a modern direction. different.

According to Valiente, in the structure they appear; three specific bases that do not belong to Golden Dawn, Margaret Murray, or the sources cited. This may indicate the existence of an ancient circle found at the site.

In turn it could indicate that there was the existence of old New Forest circles with an anthology of different sources of traditional witchcraft by Gardner.

Progress

As for the progress he had first; We must say that Gardnerian Wicca is a mysterious initiation religion, to be part of it, it is not essential to take the first steps in the coven (circle or coven), which is where the oaths are submitted and the teachings of the tradition.

Then it looks like another branch; emanated from the Gardnerian Wiccan culture in the year 1960. And it is introduced in the United States by the author Raymond Buckland, who is a Gardnerian initiate.

After publishing his book, interest in religion spread throughout the country. Many were the initiators, but other practitioners began to modify and/or create their own rituals, from Buckland and other sources, and make them available to the public.

Something about Wiccan symbology

Another remarkable development in growth; was the founding of the Dianic Wiccan movement, also known as the “Dianic Feminist Witchcraft”, by American feminists in the late 1960s and early 1960s to 1970s. They are based primarily on various texts published by Charles Leland, such like the special “Aradia or the Gospel of the Witch”, which summarizes allegorical descriptions of traditional Italian witches.

They emphasize creativity and spontaneity. Also, whoever wants to be part of the Wiccan religion can be, since it is intended for all kinds of people without prejudice.

Gardner-style hierarchies and lineages have different characteristics.

Along with this, an eclectic flow is produced, involving the different currents within Wicca and magic itself, without pursuing a specific line.

In this way, rituals of individual initiative are encouraged, to help interested religions to participate, even if they do not have the opportunity to join the Union. This is at variance with Gardner’s dogma that “only one wizard can create another.”

All this said, Wicca, both in its traditional and eclectic forms, exists in many countries around the world and is recognized as a religion. In Spanish-speaking countries, the number of students has increased, in recent decades thanks to access to information via the Internet and the publication of important, mostly eclectic published works, all translated into Spanish.

Wiccan Characteristics

Regarding the characteristics that the Wiccan religion has, the most outstanding are:

The Wiccan religion combines secrecy and syncretism, with a strong but pagan syncretism. These same words lead us to the concept of witchcraft and the occult practice carried out by its followers.

It is mainly oriented towards the elements of nature (earth, sea, fire, air), their relationship and understanding. As it is also governed by the position of the stars at all times, the period of nature, among many other aspects.

Wicca does not have a direct leader. That said, it is known that Wicca has a variety of divergents, a situation that is more noticeable today. In these divisions they stand out; Two main ones, as we already pointed out previously, these are the traditional Wicca and the eclectic one that differs by its rituals.

These two have the following very marked characteristics and stand out:

But among the most common aspects are: