Wicca is one of the new religions that was founded in the middle of the 20th century in England. According to their spiritual orientation, they are ranked by followers and religious scholars as neo-paganism of the Western European model. What Wicca religion is , how its adherents differ and how it is practiced will be discussed in this article.
The origin of Wicca
This young religion gained popularity in 1954, thanks to its apostle, occultist and magician Gerald Gardner. According to a legend that he told the world, he was consecrated into the secrets of ancient pagan teaching by members of the witchcraft cult that was underground preserved in Europe. This tradition, according to Gardner, is a direct descendant of pre-Christian European beliefs, based on the veneration of the forces of nature, personified in the image of the Mother Goddess and God the Father. From the point of view of history, archeology and anthropology, these statements are rather doubtful, therefore, it is officially believed that the Wicca religion was founded no earlier than the 20s of the XX century. It actually reflects some features of archaic matriarchal beliefs, but by its nature it is, rather, an attempt to carry out their partial reconstruction with subsequent synthesis based on the concepts of modern neopaganism. Thus, the theory of direct heredity is not supported by serious scientific arguments.
A correction must immediately be made regarding the question of who created the Wicca religion. Initially, this word denoted the tradition of the enemy Gardner by the name of Charles Cardell, while the Gardnerian teaching was simply called "witchcraft." However, since the 60s, the name "Wiccan" began to be attributed to the followers of Gardner, and subsequently to all other traditions similar and derived from it. Thus, it can be argued that today under the name religion "Wicca" is meant immediately several more or less similar religious and magical movements. Below we will not touch on the originality and features of each of them, since there are a lot of them, and ever new forms of Wiccan theory and practice are constantly being created. In addition, a good half of Wiccan adherents are eclecticists, according to their own statements, successfully combining not only elements of various intra-Wiccan divisions, but also combining them with other religions, due to which there are so-called Christian, Jewish and even Muslim Wicca in the world. Instead, we’ll talk about common religious tenets, worldviews, and intersection points in practice for proponents of various Wiccan denominations.
Theology
The fundamental basis of Wiccan spirituality is the postulation of two divine principles - male and female, which are represented in the image of God and the Goddess. Different traditions have different views on which of these hypostases takes precedence over the other. Some worship only the Goddess, while others, adhering to the above childish position, worship the Goddess somewhat higher than God. Still others respect equality, while still others prefer male incarnation. The latter, however, are an extremely rare type of Wiccan. This is probably due to the fact that there are a lot of religions of the patriarchal depot with hypertrophied veneration of the male principle, both in paganism and in monotheistic traditions. Wicca, on the other hand, offers an alternative path characterized by a special attention to femininity, which attracts and consolidates among itself admirers of matriarchal cults and specific spirituality in line with the veneration of Mother Goddess.
Therefore, Wiccans are especially sensitive to everything that concerns archaic cultures in which the divine mother was worshiped, be it the Great Mother, Mother Earth, etc. The later developed pantheons of pagan gods are considered by Wicca followers as aspects, particular manifestations of the original dual divinity. According to this theory, all pagan goddesses are hypostases of a single Goddess, and all gods are hypostases of God.
It is also characteristic that, resuscitating prehistoric and historical pagan cults, Wiccans endow their Goddess with the property of the trinity, which is most often interpreted in the context of the link “virgin, mother, old woman”. Obviously, this concept reflects the relationship of the figure of the divine mother with the moon cycles. We see a similar picture in Greco-Roman, some Eastern, Celtic beliefs.
As for God, it is correlated with the horned deity of the Europeans, the hunter-god of the Celtic and other tribes that inhabited Europe in pre-Christian times. Wiccans (at least not among the adherents of Christianity and, generally, let's say, Abrahamic Wicca) insist that it is unacceptable to identify the God of monotheists and the Wiccan God, since the neopagan religion of Wicca does not recognize any transcendent almighty deity and creator of the world. The extreme immanence of the Goddess and God is an integral part of Wiccan theology. Thus, theological mainstream in Wicca is pantheism, which postulates two divine principles, sometimes viewed in a dualistic manner.
At the same time, in Wiccan sources one can also find a reference to a higher deity standing above the God-Goddess differentiation. In practice, of course, little attention is paid to him. But theoretically, it is still recognized by the religion of Wicca. Its creator, Gerald Gardner, himself spoke about this creature, claiming that his name remains unknown, and he stands above all other gods. Others called him Dreiten ("god" from the Old English) or the One. However, the radically matriarchal movements of Wiccans (Dianic and some others) deny the existence of this higher principle, claiming that the absolute of everything is contained in the figure of the Mother Goddess.
Afterlife
What is true about Wicca religion with respect to all its movements is that they all profess metempsychosis, that is, the transmigration of souls. In particular, Wiccans, of course, may differ in their views, but in general, reincarnation is an integral part of their creed. According to the most common theory, the human soul after death resides in the so-called country of eternal summer, preparing for the next incarnation. Unlike Abrahamic religions, Wiccans do not seek any other heavenly kingdom or paradise. And unlike dharmic teachings, they do not try to free themselves from samsara and do not want to interrupt the chain of rebirths in order to merge with a certain Absolute. In this sense, the Wicca religion is a very life-affirming natural religion, concentrated entirely on this world and finding the ultimate meaning in it. Therefore, in practice, the adherents of this creed do not show any particular interest in the other world. Of course, many Wiccans are engaged in spiritualism, but, firstly, not all Wiccan authorities approve of this, and secondly, this is done exclusively in a magical and not soteriological context.
Wicca Magic
The religion we are talking about is not just a spiritual teaching. It involves intense magical work, because it considers witchcraft as a sacred action, a kind of service to God and the Goddess. Therefore, it will be fair to say that this is a religion of witches. Wicca, in fact, means from the Old English dialect roughly what today is meant by the word "witchcraft."
Of course, it is not necessary to do magic in order to be considered Wiccan. It is enough to simply share the fundamental doctrinal concepts of this religion and express one's own reverence for God and the Goddess in prayers and personal rituals. But, on the other hand, units go this way, since the substantial part of this religion without magical content is very scarce: there are no general services, no sacred places, no scripture, no clergy, no sacraments. Of course, there are holidays that all Wiccans celebrate, but again this alone is not enough to lead a full spiritual life. In addition, most of the holiday rituals are seen as magical activities, and the coven (community) by default is a community of practicing witches. Therefore, the Wicca religion is almost always associated with magical practice, and its adherents sincerely consider themselves to be witches and sorcerers.
Rituals
There are no universally accepted Wiccan rituals - each Wiccan or Wiccan coven creates his own rites based on personal tastes, views and preferences. The only thing that can be said is what some Wiccan ceremonies are dedicated to. Firstly, these are sabbats and esbats, which will be discussed below. Secondly, these are practices of consecration or self-consecration into tradition. The most conservative covens adhere to a three-part system of initiation. Thirdly, there are rituals of Wiccaning and handfasting. The first of these is a ceremony in which the newborn is introduced to God and the Goddess in order to provide the baby with their protection. Wiccaning is not an initiation into religion, and therefore is not analogous to baptism in Christianity. Handfasting is a Wiccan marriage ritual. This is all that can be said about this, because each Wiccan keeps secret descriptions of the rituals, trusting them only in his personal book of shadows - a collection of spells, ceremonies and the like.
The main witchcraft traditions of Wicca are rooted in the ancient rituals of the agricultural cycle. In more private matters, magic is based on the ideas of European witchcraft: four elements, manipulated by which a witch or sorcerer makes the desired changes in the physical world. This distinguishes western and northern magic from eastern, where the magician only caused the spirit he needed, which did all the necessary work. However, as already mentioned, the Wicca religion often becomes eclectic in the face of its followers, who are actively experimenting with various traditions, including African, Australian, Native American, Tibetan and shamanistic practices. The root of all magical work in this system is the postulate of the four elements known from the writings of the classics (fire, earth, water, air) and the spirit. Elements can be controlled by willpower, causing the desired changes on both the physical and mental levels. This is magic. Wicca is ambiguous in the differentiation of magic into black and white, although many movement authorities adhered to this division before. At the same time, the attribution itself is black to evil. But about what evil is, Wiccans have not yet developed a more or less intelligible concept. However, they have their own moral values, which will be discussed below.
Ethics
Wicca, as mentioned above, does not have any sacred, inspired scriptures. However, there are texts more or less authoritative for her followers, among which there is a simple but capacious rule: "If your actions do no harm to anyone, then do what you want." This slogan serves as a guide in the life that every witch uses. Wicca, however, is deprived of an unambiguous teaching about who and what is included in the circle of these "to nobody." Does it include only people or animals, including insects? And the plants? Or how to cope with this installation Wiccan, drafted for war? Is this restriction removed if self-defense is necessary? And is revenge permissible? There is no single answer to these questions. But there is another quite popular text called the Testament of the Goddess. It was written by Dorin Valienti and it refers to eight qualities that a witch should strive for: joy, reverence, respect, humanity, strength, beauty, power and compassion.
The third very popular moral principle of Wiccans is the so-called law of threefold retribution, according to which all that a person does, he will return in triple size. Thus, the actions of Wiccans are not determined by the commandments of the deities, but by what is called the golden rule in Christianity: “Do not do to others what you do not want for yourself.”
Sexual moral principles
With regard to sexuality, Wiccans do not adhere to Puritan views, postulating complete freedom (associated, however, with responsibility) of a person in this matter. Among other things, some Wiccans practice sexual magic, which often involves group rituals. Wicca is controversial about the issue of homosexuality. Conservatives, following the founder Gerald Gardner, have a negative attitude towards this, arguing that such a connection causes the goddess to be angry. On the other hand, most Wiccans are quite tolerant of gay people and do not impose any sexual restrictions on Wiccans from among them. In some feminist movements of Wicca, for example, the percentage of lesbians is traditionally high.
Symbolism
Wiccans have adopted many ancient symbols from a wide variety of cultures. However, there are the most characteristic and, so to speak, official signs, which differ, for example, Wiccan tombstones. The first is a direct pentagram, meaning the harmony of the elements under the leadership of the spirit. The second is the moon symbol, which designates the Goddess. Wicca uses the ancient Greek standard in this capacity. Thus, for example, depicted Greek moon goddesses. It also represents the Great Mother and Wicca. A photo of this sign is given below.
Holidays
Wicca is inconceivable without its traditional eight holidays. All of them have an ancient pre-Christian origin and are focused on changing the seasons in their connection with agricultural work. The calendar of these dates is called the wheel of the year in Wicca.
Of the eight holidays, four are considered great. They are identical to the ancient Celtic celebrations and mean a change of seasons. Four more are the days of the spring and autumn equinox, as well as the winter and summer solstices. All eight are called Sabbaths. Here they are: Samhain, Yule, Imbolk, Ostara, Beltayn, Lita, Lammas and Mabon.
In addition to them, there is also the concept of "esbat." The latter are the full moon and sometimes the new moon, which are also considered special holiday times.
Religion Wicca in Russia
As you know, everything comes to our country belatedly. And if in the USA the Wiccan symbol was added to the official list of emblems of religions back in 1985, then in Russia the Wicca is just beginning to develop. So, the first coven appeared only in 2011 in Udmurtia. However, this was the first official registration of the Wiccan community. Adherents of it, of course, existed before, but in very limited numbers. Today, thanks to the Internet and cultural trends, Wicca in Russia is developing quite rapidly, mainly due to youth. At the moment, there is the Wiccan Union of Russia, several other organized Moscow and St. Petersburg groups operate. The number of covens is growing rapidly, and even more - the number of single practitioners. Among other things, between them there are already splits and confrontations on various issues, which in itself speaks of the significant influence and relative abundance of Wicca representatives in Russia.