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Wicca: Modern Wicca
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Wicca is not "the Old Religion", though it does draw inspiration from various old religions. Wicca as we now know it is derived from 19th-century occult philosophy -- including literary Satanic philosophy, among others -- projected onto a non-Christian Goddess and God, plus some de-Christianized Golden Dawn style ceremonial magick, plus assorted turn-of-the-century British folklore, more recently re-shaped by neo-Pagan scholarship and by modern feminist and ecological concerns. At least several different sides of Wicca's convoluted family tree can be traced to 19th-century literary Satanism, some forms of which had more in common with present-day Wicca than with present-day Satanism.
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Wicca is a nature-based religion found in various countries throughout the world. It was first popularised in 1954 by Gerald Gardner, a retired British civil servant.[1] He claimed that the religion, of which he was an initiate, was a modern survival of an old witchcraft religion, which had existed in secret for hundreds of years, originating in the pre-Christian Paganism of Europe.[1] The veracity of Gardner's claims cannot be independently proven, and it is thought that Wiccan theology began to be compiled no earlier than the 1920s.[2]
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Like Christianity, modern Wicca is comprised of several schools of thought, each with its own idea of what is true Wicca. all different. It is neither good nor bad that it is so.
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As it will be shown there exists a debate as to whether modern Wicca shares a linkage with the past. Even though some deny any association with the past others truly believe in such a linkage and gain a spiritual strength from it. Although some currently may try to separate Wicca from Witchcraft, this appears to be a hard feat to accomplish especially Wicca embodies the veneration of Nature and the Goddess as a supreme Deity. Archeology has discovered paintings on wall depicting female figures giving birth to children. Ancient female figurines with enormous breasts were elsewhere found; both the paintings and figurines give evidence that even the primitive people knew the birth, or generative, process resided within the female. It was the feminine energy that was first acknowledged before the recognition of the male energy appeared. Coinciding with the recognition of this feminine generative process was the natural recognition and acknowledgement of the agricultural surroundings.
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[I]t should be noted that Wicca is not related to Satan worship. That practice is related to the persecution of "witches" by Christians, especially during the medieval and Spanish Inquisitions, though not necessarily by the Inquisitors themselves. (See the Malleus Maleficarum, 1486, which describes "the three necessary concomitants of witchcraft," namely, "the Devil, a witch, and the permission of Almighty God.") The spirit of the witch hunters... lives on in the hearts of many devout Christians who continue to persecute Wiccans, among others, as devil worshippers. The modern witch hunters do not demand purgations. Rather, they try to abolish Halloween, school mascots, books which mention witches, and any sign, symbol or number the Christians associate with Satan. (One local pizza house was even hounded for some markings it had on its delivery boxes.
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The elements ... contain dark aspects which go unacknowledged much of the time in the modern forms of Wicca and Wiccan writings. For instance, earthquakes and degenerative diseases of the body may be attributed to Earth, tornadoes and mental instability to Air, volcanoes and destructive passions to Fire, and floods and emotional pain to Water. The four elements are often personified as the Elementals, or beings of Earth (knomes), Air (zephyrs), Fire (salamanders or firedrakes), and Water (undines or mermaids). The idea of four Elementals or Guardians stems from ceremonial magick. Some sources say that the ancient Celts believed in only three elements (the number three being sacred to their people), Land, Sea, and Sky, with Fire representing the element of Spirit (which is the fifth element, or Akasha, to Wiccans). Wiccans correspond the elements to certain directions that the particular element is believed to rule in. The element of Earth is placed in the North, Air in the East, Fire in the South, and Water in the West.
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Modern Wicca