Wicca
Sign in to savealt=|thumb|Wiccan jewellery, showing a pentacle necklace, a pentacle ring, and a [[torc. A pentacle is used by many adherents of Wicca. The pentacle is generally placed on a Wiccan altar to honour the elements and directions.]]
AI overview
Wicca is a modern pagan religion whose practitioners use symbols like the pentacle in their spiritual practices and rituals. It matters to its adherents as a form of spiritual expression that honors elements and directions through altar-based ceremonies.
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Article
42 sectionsContents
- Terminology
- Definition
- Names
- Beliefs
- Theology
- Duotheism
- Monotheism and polytheism
- Afterlife
- Magic and spellcraft
- Witchcraft
- Morality
- Five elements
- Practices
- Ritual practices
- Sex magic
- Wheel of the Year
- Rites of passage
- Book of Shadows
- Symbolism
- Structure
- Traditions
- Covens
- Eclectic Wicca
- History
- Origins, 1921–1935
- Early development, 1936–1959
- Adaptation and spread, 1960–present
- Demographics
- Europe
- North America
- Acceptance
- References
- Notes
- Footnotes
- Works cited
- Wiccan literature
- Further reading
- Significant historical works
- Practices and beliefs
- History of Wicca
- Wicca in different countries
- General
alt=|thumb|Wiccan jewellery, showing a pentacle necklace, a pentacle ring, and a [[torc. A pentacle is used by many adherents of Wicca. The pentacle is generally placed on a Wiccan altar to honour the elements and directions.]]
Wicca (), is a modern pagan, syncretic, Earth-focused type of 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. Wicca draws upon ancient pagan and 20th-century hermetic motifs for theological and ritual purposes. Doreen Valiente joined Gardner in the 1950s, further building Wicca's liturgical tradition of beliefs, principles, and practices, disseminated through published books as well as secret written and oral teachings passed along to initiates.