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The history of Wicca documents the rise of the Neopagan religion of Wicca and related witchcraft-based Neopagan religions. [a] Wicca originated in the early 20th century, when it developed amongst secretive covens in England who were basing their religious beliefs and practices upon what they read of the historical witch-cult in the works of such writers as Margaret Murray.
In Brazil, witchcraft traditions blend African religions like Candomble and Umbanda with Indigenous and European practices. Brazilians brujos often invoke Orixas, or spirits of nature, in healing ceremonies and magic work.
In Brazil the ideas that gave rise to Spiritism date back to the early experiences with the so-called "vital fluid" (animal magnetism, mesmerism) by practitioners of homeopathy, namely the physicians Benoît Jules Mure, a native of France, and João Vicente Martins, from Portugal, who arrived in the country in 1840 and applied it to their patients. [2]
Wicca (English: / ˈ w ɪ k ə /), also known as "The Craft", [1] is a modern pagan, syncretic, earth-centered religion.Considered a new religious movement by scholars of religion, the path evolved from Western esotericism, developed in England during the first half of the 20th century, and was introduced to the public in 1954 by Gerald Gardner, a retired British civil servant.
Raymond Buckland (31 August 1934 – 27 September 2017), whose craft name was Robat, was an English writer on the subject of Wicca and the occult, and a significant figure in the history of Wicca, of which he was a high priest in both the Gardnerian and Seax-Wica traditions.
Witchcraft in the colonies was the alleged power one had to use supernatural abilities to influence people or events. [17] In these early times, witchcraft was used to explain events that otherwise could not be understood. [18] People were killed over these accusations when in reality they held no real merit at all.
There are two separate definitions of the term Wicca that have been used in Paganism and Pagan studies since circa 1980. [1] The first developed in England during the 1960s. Broad and inclusive, it covers most, if not all, forms of modern Pagan Witchcraft, especially if they share sufficient theological beliefs and ritual practices to be considered denominations within a common religious movement.
The influential American Wiccan and author Starhawk for instance stated that "Magic is another word that makes people uneasy, so I use it deliberately, because the words we are comfortable with, the words that sound acceptable, rational, scientific, and intellectually correct, are comfortable precisely because they are the language of ...