Wicca (English pronunciation: /ˈwɪkə/) is a modern pagan, witchcraft religion. It was developed in England during the first half of the 20th century and it was introduced to the public in 1954 by Gerald Gardner, a retired British civil servant. It draws upon a diverse set of ancient pagan and 20th century hermetic motifs for its theological structure and ritual practice.
Wicca is a diverse religion with no central authority or figure defining it. It is divided into various lineages and denominations, referred to as "traditions", each with its own organisational structure and level of centralisation. Due to its decentralized nature, there is some disagreement over what actually constitutes Wicca. Some traditions, collectively referred to as British Traditional Wicca, strictly follow the initiatory lineage of Gardner and consider the term "Wicca" to apply only to such lineaged traditions, while other eclectic traditions do not.
Wicca is typically duotheistic, worshipping a god and goddess traditionally viewed as a mother goddess and horned god. These two deities are often viewed as facets of a greater pantheistic godhead. However, beliefs range from "hard" polytheism to even monotheism. Wiccan celebration follows approximately eight seasonally based festivals known as Sabbats. An unattributed statement known as the Wiccan Rede is the traditional basis of Wiccan morality. Wicca involves the ritual practice of magic.
The term "Wicca" first achieved widespread acceptance when referring to the religion in the 1960s and 70s. Prior to that, the term "Witchcraft" had been more widely used. Whilst being based upon the Old English word wicca, a masculine term for sorcerers, the actual individual who coined the capitalised term "Wicca" is unknown, though it has been speculated that it was Charles Cardell, who certainly used the term "Wiccen" during the 1950s.
Application of the word Wicca has given rise to "a great deal of disagreement and infighting". Gardnerian and Alexandrian Wicca are often collectively termed British Traditional Wicca, and many of their practitioners consider the term Wicca to apply only to these lineaged traditions. Others do not use the word "Wicca" at all, instead preferring to be referred to only as "Witchcraft," while others believe that all modern witchcraft traditions can be considered "Wiccan."
Popular culture, as seen in TV programmes like Buffy the Vampire Slayer tends to use the terms “Wiccan” and "Wicca" as completely synonymous with the terms “Witch” and “Witchcraft” respectively
Beliefs vary markedly between different traditions and individual practitioners. However, various commonalities exist between these disparate groups, which usually include views on theology, the afterlife, magic and morality.
Wiccan views on theology are numerous and varied and there is no universally agreed-upon religious canon, but Wicca is traditionally a duotheistic religion that venerates both a "Triple Goddess" associated with the Moon and stars and fate, and a Horned God associated with forests and animals and the realm beyond death. These two deities are variously understood through the frameworks of pantheism (as being dual aspects of a single godhead), duotheism (as being two polar opposites), hard polytheism (being two distinct deities in a larger pantheon which includes other pagan gods) or soft polytheism (being composed of many lesser deities). In some pantheistic and duotheistic conceptions, deities from diverse cultures may be seen as aspects of the Goddess or God. However, there are also other theological viewpoints to be found within the Craft, including monotheism, the concept that there is just one deity, which is seen by some, such as Dianic Wiccans, as being the Goddess, whilst by others, like the Church and School of Wicca, as instead being genderless. There are other Wiccans who are atheists or agnostics, not believing in any actual deity, but instead viewing the gods as psychological archetypes of the human mind which can be evoked and interacted with.[citation needed]
According to the Witches Janet and Stewart Farrar, who held a pantheistic, duotheistic and animistic view of theology, Wiccans "regard the whole cosmos as alive, both as a whole and in all of its parts", but that "such an organic view of the cosmos cannot be fully expressed, and lived, without the concept of the God and Goddess. There is no manifestation without polarisation; so at the highest creative level, that of Divinity, the polarisation must be the clearest and most powerful of all, reflecting and spreading itself through all the microcosmic levels as well"
