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Simply put, Wicca is a Neo-pagan religion. A religion that is centered around the Earth, and more broadly, and possibly more correctly, the Universe. It is a religion of personal freedom and reverence for nature; of learning from everything around us; of personal power, personal responsibility and accountability, and respect for all things. Now, you see the term "Neo-pagan" used here. Some beginners become confused by this word. www.ReligiousTolerance.org correctly defines it as: A Neopagan religion is a modern faith which has been recently reconstructed from beliefs, deities, symbols, practices and other elements of an ancient religion. And goes further to explain why Wicca is a Neo-pagan religion by stating: Wiccans also trace their roots back to the pre-Celtic era in Europe. In general, I agree with these definitions, although much debate is always done over the exact origin of Wicca and whether it is the oldest or one of the newest religions in the world. I personally think it is both silly and ignorant to say Wicca is the oldest religion in the world. That is simply not true. Although Goddess worship traces back to prehistoric, caveman times, Wicca itself does not. Wicca came about by an English man named Gerald B. Gardner. I, however, am not up to giving a full run down of the man�s life. If you want to know more about Gerald Gardner and develop your own opinion about him, do some research. Simply put, Gerald was initiated into Doreen Valiente�s coven. After working with her for some time and learning much, he wrote a book in 1954 which would change everything. It sprung up the Gardnerian tradition, which many other Wiccan traditions now stem from. Gardenerian Wicca is the usually noted as the most structured and traditional form of Wicca, along with Alexandrian and Georgian. Because of this book and it's popularity, Gerald Gardner is generally credited with the revival of modern Witchcraft and the Wiccan religion. Now that you�ve been briefed with a small bit of history, on to some core Wiccan beliefs. 1. Belief in both a Goddess and a God 2. The Wiccan Rede 3. The Law of Return 4. A belief in magic/Witchcraft These are the basic foundation of Wicca. Although many Wiccans revel in the fact that we have a certain amount of freedom in the religion to practice as we wish and have no one above us dictating how to worship and believe, the fact is, you can only change so much about any religion before you have completely exited the arena. It is my belief that in order to be able to rightly be labeled a Wiccan, one must believe in and comply with these three things. However you see them from your individual perspective is up to you, but the main idea must be present. And lastly, I hate to be repetitive as this is often stressed enough, but I will briefly state that Wicca and Satanism are in fact NOT the same thing. It is disrespectful to both religions to be labeled as one in the same. |
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