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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.
Have a Yule Feast Feasting has always been a winter solstice tradition, with people gathering together to celebrate life in the darkness, connect with others, and feel safe.
In 1953, Doreen Valiente joined Gardner's Bricket Wood coven, and soon rose to become its High Priestess.She noticed how much of the material in his Book of Shadows was taken not from ancient sources as Gardner had initially claimed, but from the works of the occultist Aleister Crowley, from Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches, from the Key of Solomon and also from the rituals of Freemasonry. [8]
Along with increased scholarly attention, Aradia came to play a special role in the history of Gardnerian Wicca and its offshoots, being used as evidence that pagan witchcraft survivals existed in Europe, and because a passage from the book's first chapter was used as a part of the religion's liturgy. After the increase in interest in the text ...
The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (retitled The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion in its second edition) is a wide-ranging, comparative study of mythology and religion, written by the Scottish anthropologist Sir James George Frazer.
When you think of a yule log, you probably picture a roaring, wood-burning fire casting a warm light on an ornament-adorned Christmas tree.Or perhaps you have a sweet tooth and the first thing ...
The watchtowers were among the Golden Dawn concepts introduced into Wicca by its founder Gerald Gardner. The complicated tablets and Enochian names were largely abandoned, but Wicca retained the watchtowers as "the four cardinal points, regarded as guardians of the Magic Circle." [6] They are usually mentioned during the casting of the circle.
[2] [4] Stewart and Janet Farrar characterize the Oak King ruling the waxing year and the Holly King ruling the waning year, and apply the interpretation to Wiccan seasonal rituals. [ 6 ] According to Joanne Pearson, the Holly King is represented by holly and other evergreens , and personifies the dark half of the Wheel of the Year . [ 7 ]