FORMALITY
Wicca has a very formal structure, based on the "three degrees" model
of initiation, a loan from Masonry. The Wiccan religion is very
hierarchical, with specific "High Priest/Priestess" titles, and the
like, and normally oriented to the Female. There are only two
actual "traditions" of Wicca�Gardnerian (the original) and
Alexandrian�but since the explosion of occult interest on both sides
of the Atlantic, many non-aligned "Eclectic" traditions have sprung
up overnight, representing almost every culture or metaphysical bent
you can think of. (Celtic Wicca, Faery Wicca, Saxon Wicca, Dianic
Wicca, etc. etc.)
In Traditional Witchcraft, normally, there is no clearly defined
group "structure". If there is, it is only locally, and usually not
as rigid as Wicca. Titles are not used nearly as much, and when they
are, they are still informal when compared to the Wiccan emphasis on
titles. Traditional Craft groups may have leadership, but they are as
likely to be male as female, and their power as "head" of a group is
not the power wielded by the average eclectic Wiccan "High
Priest/ess". Knowledge, experience, and willingness to serve is the
deciding factor for most leaders of Traditional groups, not the ego-
stroking, title collecting, or power-hunger that you find in so many
modern new-age groups.
The rituals and rites of Wicca also tend to be very formal and
written out beforehand, while in Traditional Witchcraft, most rituals
are spontaneous, and much less structured than in Wicca. There are
ritual forms, yes, some very old forms, but they are very partial,
very open, and simple. The "inner level" of the ritual has more
emphasis than the outer, in Traditional working. The idea is, it's
not how you do something, but why you do something.
In the Traditional Craft, a person's progress is MUCH slower than in
most forms of modern Wicca, in which a person can be a "third degree
High Priest" in the space of a few months to a year or two, or even
faster if they get their hands on an "instant witch" book published
by Lewellyn. Living life, learning, and experience are crucial for
genuine "progress" and actual "initiations" are generally experiences
that happen on a personal level, given by otherworldly powers, over
time. The Traditional craft accepts this.
NEW AGE THEOLOGY
Eclectic Wicca has many "new age" concepts within its canon that
simply have no place in the historical or cultural context of
European Old Craft. Some of these are listed below:
KARMA: this hindu/buddhist concept was carried into Wicca by Gardner,
probably from a theosophical source. In traditional Craft, "Fate" is
an important concept�but "karma" is unheard of. There is no belief in
Traditional Craft of "karmic debt" or of "karmic weight" to actions.
The actual Traditional Craft belief on these matters was and is very
different than the eastern concept of "karma".
THREE-FOLD LAW: This strange notion has no basis in history, nor does
it hold up to sober reality well. While many peoples in many times
and places have poetically threatened people with ideas of their
actions returning to visit them "many times over", Wicca accepts this
as an immutable, physical law. The truth is, while most wiccans have
given up the belief in "hellfire and damnation" as a deterrent to
their negative actions, they have replaced it with this "three fold
law", which threatens three-times retribution for negativity. No
belief such as this exists in historical Traditional Craft, or in any
surviving native European metaphysical system.
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