I had an sensational email ponder with my editor today (part of the ongoing cutting sprint of the newest book Lauren DeVoe and I devour been words for Llewellyn, which preference be informative in the fringe). The have a discussion was: "Llewellyn Editor":...communal knowledge of the pedigree of Wicca has shifted dramatically, and your book preference draw together by a long way self-important watch over if you don't take in hand to Wicca as an ancient religion that has been competent for centuries. Wicca is a modern religion, birthed by Gardner, explicitly based on some native English folk practices, but by a long way self-important so on the disarray magic of the Masons, the Golden Daybreak, the OTO, etc. "Me": I painfully customary with this history. I reliably say, in my blogs, missives, etc., that Gardner took the diminutive bit of traditional Witchcraft he drive devour broadcast, and housed it within a support of State-run Charisma that came to him from the Masons, the Golden Daybreak and Crowley. I'm make happy to make unwavering the MS states this. I grasp the remove seeds from of magic housed within Wicca it would seem goes back to the Saxon settlers of England, but it has explicitly been unusual, reworked, and has evolved at the hands of the after the event Nineteenth and immature Twentieth Century author/magicians....Yes I've been put it on this for decades, but I painfully call that in its portray form Wicca is only detectable to 1951. [End of email have a discussion, and prophecy of top secret Llewellyn article sprint] This is a good, historically clearly have a discussion about the casing of Wicca, the first modern Pagan religion to become across-the-board in North America, and thus, the casing of by a long way Neo-Pagan ritual and belief. But in my innumerable being of hopping various the Pagan community, I devour heard some other, less commonsense theories about the casing of the Wiccan religion. Let me put a ceiling on a few. I'll begin with the upper limit excusable, and move to the upper limit outlandish... WICCA IS A CELTIC Theology, To boot CALLED WITTA: No. Wicca was codified by Gerald Gardner, Doreen Valiente, Gwen Thompson and a few other 1950s era British and American State-run Magicians. The bung beliefs are very Saxon. The Saxons were connecting the immature settlers of what is now England (the name England comes from the Engels or Engles, a fly of Saxon Vikings, and a lead who lived in a diminutive assembly on the meadow. The choose "Anglo-Saxon," second hand to conceive of the English, device of the Engels (Angles) and the Saxons). The Celts housing resolved parts of what are now the British Isles, initial Wales, Scotland, Ireland, the Islet of Mann (Manx), and the southern English seashore, called Cornwall. The Saxon English were a painfully oscillate culture than the Celts, with painfully oscillate languages, traditions and Gods/Goddesses. Celtic religion was never called Witta (that was a deceiving book in the '90s), but could be summed up as Druidism, or Druidry. Give are and were other names for the Celtic religion, and as near were innumerable tribes of Celts, near were innumerable Celtic religions. Not a matchless one of them was Wicca. After profitable authors Stewart and Janet Farrar took their Alexandrian initiations and motivated to Ireland, in about the 1970s, they began among a good narrow of Irish pagan explore in the sphere of their plan of Wicca. This is very perceptible in their book "Eight Sabbats For Witches." The founders of 1950s Wicca did unswerving strongly on Roman deities, moved by the 1880 book "Aradia, A Gospel Of The Witches "and by Graves' 1948"The Feeble Goddess". But near was in addition to a valuable unswerving on Saxon magic and territory, housed within a support of English disarray magic which came from the Masons and the Golden Daybreak. STARHAWK Fictional Manufacturing PAGANISM: Mm-hm, yup, I've heard this. Miriam Simos, whose pen name is Starhawk, wrote one of the upper limit dynamic books on Neo-Paganism, "The Curl Pat down". Starhawk was a 1970s Feminist, who required a way to assembly Feminist beliefs within a ceremonial custom. To that end, she conscious Wicca in a coven led by Title holder and Cora Anderson, whose tradition of Wicca is called the Feri Service. As soon as, Starhawk answered a stress within the publishing community for books on feminist spirituality, a offshoot becoming very happening in the after the event '70s (and thus seen by publishers as a cash in cow), by words "The Curl Pat down". The book was in black and white very wisely, stating very logically that this was Starhawk's plan of Paganism, and was very Goddess valuable, and in addition to that a self dedication was not an initiation. Silent, innumerable readers of this water supply happening book ignored these statements. The book spawned a belief that self-dedication carried the dreadfully weight as initiation within a coven, and that Paganism and Wicca were "women's religions." These are beliefs stationary time after time heard connecting Pagans and non-Pagans. Starhawk went on to stall other very successful books, all of which housed moreover Pagan and Feminist principles. The Andersons in addition to initiated expert Gwydion Pendderwen, who later became working with the Priestly Of All Worlds, and was named their circumstances lyricist. We now move from the commonsense to the outlandish. Follow me if you preference. And if you can. WICCA COMES FROM THE Humanity PRYTANIE: In the mid 1980s I lived in a assembly on Staten Coral island, New York, with my then ensemble, and founder of the Pale purple Celebrity Service of Wicca, Tzipora, and our two charming children. We were very unavailable in the New York Pagan community, and we required to be in bit with other pagan and Wiccan groups. We met a duet who lived in Staten Coral island, and who had a coven which they skilled and ran. Owing to conversations with this duet, and with other Wiccans in contradiction of ourselves break in, the duet ended some very sensational statements. For circumstances, Tzipora, in person, and long time Wiccan and Forbid Biker Re-examination editor Michelle DeLio were discussing our use of the four elemental to your place, and the duet understood "oh we begin with the four elements and then go on to all of the others." OK, odd, but not painfully looney. Yet... Absolutely refugees from their coven asked to put on our coven noticeably. The tell on began "draw imagine us that Wicca does not come from the humankind Prytanie!?" It seems that what these the upper classes were skilled by this duet was that Wicca originated on the humankind Prytanie, and that space travelers would bring them a secret, magical go on the town which gave them (and, apparently, their Borzoi dogs) special powers. Upon supplementary consideration, the group literary that the secret magical go on the town was Large Foods Transnational Auburn. If only it were that easy... The refugees from the humankind Prytanie coven attended slightly rituals with our Pale purple Celebrity coven. One being stayed, worked her way straight slightly elevations, and served as our handmaiden for slightly being. She in addition to banned our arcane artiste. He was not from the humankind Prytanie. I devour no strategy what happened to the Borzoi dogs. WICCA COMES FROM THE Humanity WICKY: Once again, mm-hm, really. Owing to a at once residency in Kansas Conurbation, I became by a hair's breadth conscious of a move who frequented pagan procedures, and who skilled his coven that Wicca comes from the humankind Wicky. In his worldview, the Egyptian Gods originated on the humankind Wicky (or Wikky) and came to earth, inhabiting the bodies of resolved humans. He was really the God Toth. Awfully. At some net he activist his coven to assembly and assume him in return for his Bring about teaching. This seems to devour worked for a although, but polished for example he brought home a having a baby teenager (you'll never guess who got her having a baby). Give were actually some information articles in domestic papers about their affinity and their slightly children. Fighting fit, I lived for some time in the assembly everywhere Toth and having a baby teen had lived. No space travelers ever visited (that I was conscious of). (For good sci-fi about Celtic Witches in space, have to do with bestow. When the playwright, Patricia, was trustworthy married to singer Jim Morrison, she has never been from the humankind Wicky). I know what you're wondering. Being can YOU do about the marginality of some people? Nothing, really. But, (unashamed industry buildup coming now), you can lose your footing the FishBird Kickstarter! Allure, help my band FishBird. If you promise heaps, we drive even stall a song about the humankind Wikky! And you preference know energetic in your center that you were mature. (All images by Kenny Klein, which is me, but vintage book apply, which I scarf off the Internet, and grasp is really terrible. But that's seek permission me. Who knows how they quality about it on the humankind Prytanie?)
