Wicca

Wicca is a neo-pagan religion that was created by the New Forest Coven, Gerald Gardner, and to a lesser extent Doreen Valiente.

In its original form in the New Forest Coven, the word "wica" was a plural term that applied to the members of the coven, and was not a term used to denote the religion or practices. It wasn't until 1959, with the publication of Gerald Gardner's book The Meaning of Witchcraft, that the term "wicca" became popularized, and shortly thereafter it started to be used as the name of the religion, rather than its practitioners. Practitioners of Wicca are now called "wiccans".

Initiations

As a mystery tradition practice, initiation is a key value of Wicca. Someone becomes wiccan through experiencing an initiation, and later elevations promote a practitioner within the priesthood.

The fertility-cult nature of wiccan practice is evident in many aspects of their rituals, and combines with the mystery tradition aspect of their practice in initiation being performed upon men by women and upon women by men. An exception to this rule is that a man may initiate his son and a woman may initiate her daughter, which clearly reflects fertility in a different way (by reflecting that fact of procreation rather, in initiating their own offspring, rather than reflecting the means of procreation in being cross-gender).

Most wiccan groups claim an initiatory lineage to the New Forest Coven in southern England.

Beliefs

Goddess and God

Wiccans believe in a moon goddess and a horned male god. In the original Gardnerian Wicca, the goddess is Aradia (a character from the 1899 book Aradia) and the horned male god is Cernunnos (a celtic pagan deity). In Alexandrian Wicca, Aradia is replaced with Cerridwen (a mythological witch, who was never considered a deity prior to Wicca). The Gardnerian and Alexandrian books of shadows (the original books that describe the religion of Wicca) state that wiccans should worship the gods. However, some wiccans do not worship the gods, but rather describe their relationship with the gods as "working with" him/her.

Reincarnation

Wiccans believe in reincarnation. The recitations in various wiccan rituals state that after death, people become reborn into new bodies.

Rules

The Wiccan Laws

The wiccan laws are various rules (they are not actual laws, as they are not enforced by a government)
that are written in the Gardnerian and Alexandrian books of shadows, and in Ye Bok of ye Art Magical which preceded them.
Wiccans are expected to follow these rules to some extent, but some of the rules are anachronistic, applying to the time when
witches were hunted, interrogated, tortured, and killed, or at least considered criminal, so some of such rules are disregarded by most wiccans.

For more information, see the article wiccan laws.

The Wiccan Rede

The central ethical principle of Wicca is the wiccan rede. The wiccan rede is: "if it harms none, do what you will".
For more information, see the article wiccan rede.

Diet

Wicca does not have any explicit dietary restrictions, but many wiccans are vegetarians as a result of applying the wiccan rede to animals.

The Rule of Threefold Return

The rule of threefold return states that a witch should return three times the good that another person does to them,
and return three times the bad that another person does to them. In other words, it is three times reward and three times revenge.
That rule blatantly contradicts the wiccan rede, as well as the statement 'harm none' that repeatedly appears in Gerald Gardner's wiccan laws.
It especially contradicts sentences from the Gardnerian wiccan laws that state:
"So it is ordained that none shall use the art in any way to harm any, however much they have injured us.", and
"No one, however great an injury or injustice they receive, may use the art in any way to do ill or harm any.".
Those statements are also present in the Alexandrian wiccan laws 108 and 109.
It is likely that the rule of threefold return was invented by the New Forest Coven rather than Gerald Gardner,
which would explain why it contradicts Gardner's wiccan laws and wiccan rede.

The rule of threefold return was first mentioned in chapter 17 of Gerald Gardner's 1949 book High Magic's Aid,
and in the second-degree initiation ritual which is described in Gardner's book of shadows.
The wording of the rule in High Magic's Aid and in Gardner's book of shadows is identical, and in both cases it applies to scourgings.
That wording is: "Learn, in witchcraft, thou must ever return triple. As I scourged thee, so thou must scourge me, but triple.
... But mark well, when thou receivest good, so equally art bound to return good threefold."

In 1986, Raymond Buckland published the book Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft,
in which he falsely portrayed the rule of threefold return as being a karmic law of the universe rather than a rule of conduct.
That false threefold rule states that whatever good or bad a person does to others will karmicly return to them threefold.
Due to the popularity of Buckland's book, his lie about the threefold rule became widely believed.

Practices

Rituals

Rituals play a very important role in the beliefs of wiccans, as it is closely tied to the mystery aspects of the religion.
The wiccan rituals include the initiation and elevation rituals, the sabbat rituals, and the esbat rituals.

Ritual Tools

Ritual tools are a major aspect of wiccan rituals.
Information on this subject is at the article ritual tools.

Magic

Although some self-identified wiccans claim not to practice magic, those of a more traditional background and training will argue against this as it has traditionally been seen as a fundamental aspect of practice and necessary for development.

Sabbats

Wiccans celebrate 8 holy festivals, called sabbats, throughout the year. Different sects may emphasize certain aspects of these celebrations depending upon which pantheon of gods and goddesses they work with.

Esbats

In addition to the sabbats, there are group rituals called esbats, which may be done on any day, but are preferentially done during a full moon, in which case they are called 'full moon esbats'.

Dress

Wiccans are permitted to wear any form of clothing, but for ritual practice it is important to have robes worn only for this occasion as part of the shift into a magical state. It is also more traditional for rituals to be performed without clothing, known as being skyclad, which has an important symbolic meaning and other spiritual benefits when working within a coven.

Sects

There are several different sects of Wicca.
The original and oldest sect of Wicca is Gardnerian Wicca, which was created by Gerald Gardner in or around 1946,
and underwent modifications during the 1950s, in large part due to Doreen Valiente.
The second-oldest sect of Wicca is Alexandrian Wicca, which was created by Alex Sanders starting in the mid 1960s,
and does not deviate much from the original Gardnerian Wicca.
Various new wiccan sects were created during the 1970s, including Dianic Wicca in 1971, Algard Wicca in 1972,
Seax-Wica in 1973, Blue Star Wicca in 1975, and Odyssean Wicca in 1979.

Elements taken from other sources

Wicca is a highly syncretic religion that combines elements from several different sources.
Those sources are: the two witch-related books by Margaret Murray (The Witch Cult in Western Europe and The God of the Witches),
the book Aradia by Charles Leland, The Druid Order, a poem by Rudyard Kipling, the fiction books of H.P. Lovecraft, the Key of Solomon,
Freemasonry, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Aleister Crowley, and BDSM practices.

The many specific elements of Wicca that were taken from those sources are listed at:
Elements of Wicca that were taken from other sources