Wicca can be considered a Pagan religion. Wicca worships both - a Goddess and a God. The polarity between the feminine and masculine aspect is respected. According to Wiccan view, the deity is essential inside nature, therefore Wiccans perfom celebrations of the seasons and Cross Quarter days. That is their way to honour the planet and its forces. For their magical work they use spiritual and natural energies and they always work in harmony with nature.
Especially at the beginning of the development of Wicca all participants were organized in covens, nowadays, many practice Wicca alone. The power of the Moon is very important for Witches and covens consider the moon phases by organizing monthly gatherings – they usually schedule it when the …show more content…
According to her belief these witches were the remainder of an ancient pre-Christian religion, that was organized and present across the whole of Europe. According to her opinion, this religion has survived into the twentieth century. Members were organized into covens of thirteen worshippers, and they were honoring a male god. This idea had the biggest influence on development of neo-paganism and Wicca today, but anthropologists and other academicians do not agree with it. They confirm, that magic was practiced in Europe in the past, but according to their point of view this was not an organized religion.
- Gerald Gardner (1884-1964) – he was owner and manager of tea and rubber plantations in the Far East, and later an inspector in the Malay customs service. He had interests in Spiritualism and Freemansonry and a wide knowledge of Buddhism and tribal magic. He claimed to have been initiated in 1939 in Witchcraft, into a tradition that was a survival of European Paganism. …show more content…
It might have been members of the Rosicrucian Fellowship of Crotona, a woman Dafo, writings of Margaret Murray, and some ideas and ceremonies from the Golden Dawn. There is also a possibility of the influence of Aleister Crowley, the infamous magician. According to some beliefs, Gardner has been his magical student.
These three persons - Leland, Murray and Gardner – are today considered as the main "creators" or "founders" of Wicca. Actually, it is generally accepted, that Gerald Brousseau Gardner is the founding father of Wicca. From this point of view, Wicca is one of the newest world's religions.
However, these founders themselves see Wicca as a religion with many hundreds or even thousands of years long tradition. Especially Gardnerian Wicca claims, that the beginnings of this religion go back to prehistory and then continued to develop through ancient matriarchal societies, and later into ancient Druid, Celtic and religions worshipping sun and moon. It had to go underground when the Christian persecutions started, what was the reason that practitioners lost contact with each other and much of the knowledge lost. Gardner and some other priests and priestesses ten revived this idea and gathered back the scattered
Especially at the beginning of the development of Wicca all participants were organized in covens, nowadays, many practice Wicca alone. The power of the Moon is very important for Witches and covens consider the moon phases by organizing monthly gatherings – they usually schedule it when the …show more content…
According to her belief these witches were the remainder of an ancient pre-Christian religion, that was organized and present across the whole of Europe. According to her opinion, this religion has survived into the twentieth century. Members were organized into covens of thirteen worshippers, and they were honoring a male god. This idea had the biggest influence on development of neo-paganism and Wicca today, but anthropologists and other academicians do not agree with it. They confirm, that magic was practiced in Europe in the past, but according to their point of view this was not an organized religion.
- Gerald Gardner (1884-1964) – he was owner and manager of tea and rubber plantations in the Far East, and later an inspector in the Malay customs service. He had interests in Spiritualism and Freemansonry and a wide knowledge of Buddhism and tribal magic. He claimed to have been initiated in 1939 in Witchcraft, into a tradition that was a survival of European Paganism. …show more content…
It might have been members of the Rosicrucian Fellowship of Crotona, a woman Dafo, writings of Margaret Murray, and some ideas and ceremonies from the Golden Dawn. There is also a possibility of the influence of Aleister Crowley, the infamous magician. According to some beliefs, Gardner has been his magical student.
These three persons - Leland, Murray and Gardner – are today considered as the main "creators" or "founders" of Wicca. Actually, it is generally accepted, that Gerald Brousseau Gardner is the founding father of Wicca. From this point of view, Wicca is one of the newest world's religions.
However, these founders themselves see Wicca as a religion with many hundreds or even thousands of years long tradition. Especially Gardnerian Wicca claims, that the beginnings of this religion go back to prehistory and then continued to develop through ancient matriarchal societies, and later into ancient Druid, Celtic and religions worshipping sun and moon. It had to go underground when the Christian persecutions started, what was the reason that practitioners lost contact with each other and much of the knowledge lost. Gardner and some other priests and priestesses ten revived this idea and gathered back the scattered