WICCA as a religion.

Wicca is a religion, founded in the middle of last century, round about the 1940s, but Gerald Brosseau Gardner. it came to wider public attention in the 1950s, following the repeal of the Witchcraft act in 1951. it's a formal, initiatory tradition, that operates a system of initiation in degrees, each member being able to trace their own line of initiation back to Gardners original Coven. the rituals draw inspiration from Classical Paganism, folk Magic, Witchcraft, and from other ritual magic groups, such as The Golden Dawn, The Freemasons etc. a lot of the other ritual magic groups influences were introduced by Aleister Crowley. the original form of Wicca is known as Gardnerian Wicca. there is also Alexandrian Wicca (not accepted as Wicca by some Gardnerians) which was an offshoot founded by Alex Sanders. today a lot of modern Pagans describe themselves as Wiccans, without having been initiated into the tradition. it's fair to say their path has Wiccan influences, but it's like calling yourself a doctor after having read medical textbooks. no matter how much you know, you can't give yourself the title. it has to be formally passed on to you, by someone in a position to do so. excellent books to find out more about Wicca, are "The Triumph of the Moon" by Professor Ronald Hutton (focuses on the history and development of Wicca, among other traditions) and "The Witches Bible" by the Farrars, which basically details Alexandrian Wiccan ritual, giving a very clear idea of what happens in a Wiccan (albeit Alexandrian) Coven.

Wicca is a pretty controversial thing. As Galena mentioned, technically it's an initiatory religion. However, I'd guess that 90% of the people I know who call themselves Wiccan haven't been initiated, and therefore technically shouldn't be using that name. So many of the books that are written about Wicca aren't even written by people who were initiated by someone with the status to do so, and many of the popular "Wiccan" authors advocate or teach self-initiation. So it's a complicated issue, trying to sort out who really is or isn't Wiccan, and who has the right to use that name. I'm not a Wiccan myself, but I am pagan. Many of my beliefs line up with those of Wiccans, and I find myself practicing with them quite often, simply because people calling themselves Wiccan (rightfully so or otherwise) comprise most of the pagan community. I think it's because it's the easiest of the various pagan traditions to get information about, as well as seeming friendly and harmless because of the well-known Wiccan Rede. A lot of the pagans of other traditions I know started out learning about Wicca and then went on to learn about other pagan traditions later, usually searching for the roots of various Wiccan practices. Since Wicca was created largely by combining practices of older paths, in a way it does make a nice jumping-off point even for people who choose not to be initiated into that particular tradition.

Wicca is a Goddess Religion..When one defines oneself as Pagan, it means she or he follows an earth or nature religion, one that sees the divine manifest in all creation. The cycles of nature are our holy days, the earth is our temple, its plants and creatures our partners and teachers. We worship a deity that is both male and female, a mother Goddess and father God, who together created all that is, was, or will be. We respect life, cherish the free will of sentient beings, and accept the sacredness of all creation. There are lots of books associated with Wicca and lots of internet articles you can read about. I am a solitary witch here in the Philippines. I have been into wicca ever since I was young. I am a white witch so you are safe with me. I have checked your profile and seen we live in the same country and I would be glad to discuss it with you. Leave me a message if you want so I can give you my ym. Blessed be..

i know that wicca came from the pagan religion which is one of the oldest religions. im only reply to this discussion becuase i too am trying to learn about wicca! so would love some imformation and how to go about practicing wicca and paganism.