WICCA: THE NEW
RELIGIOUS MOVEMENT
By John McNair
INTRODUCTION
Wicca (here described as Modern Witchcraft and/or Neo-
Paganism) is a syncretic New Religious Movement (NRM) which
is constantly changing in form and gaining in popularity in
Western society. Whereas once it would have been unwise for an
individual to publicly admit to being a member of a Wiccan-type
organization, due to the negative reaction which such an
admission would most likely have provoked from society, the
New Age Movement (NAM) has created an atmosphere in which
Wicca and indeed many other religions or movements (which
were previously regarded as unorthodox by society) can enjoy a
greater degree of societal tolerance than has been the case
historically. This growing tolerance is shown by the appearance of
publications such as the glossy magazine "Witchcraft", available
from most news agents, which deals with Wiccan practices. It is
similarly indicated by the growth of official religious institutions
such as "The Church of All Worlds". Society's acceptance of
Wiccan beliefs and practices has been slow, however, and this is
most probably due to a long-standing divide which exists between
that which is seen as being "occult" (a term which has been used
to describe such diverse practices as Witchcraft, Voodoo and tarot
card reading) and the values of orthodox Christianity. Modern
Witchcraft, which has only in recent years become a subject of
serious sociological study (and has subsequently been categorized
as an NRM) still has its enemies. The most vocal and ardent
amongst them appear to be members of religious bodies which
maybe broadly described as representing the Judaeo-Christian
values of traditional Western society and having a Fundamentalist
perspective; but they are not the only opponents of Wicca.
Practitioners of orthodox religions such as Islam, Judaism or
Buddhism may also oppose its ethics and practices on the grounds
that they are deviant. Currently, Wicca is a global NRM with
many of its adherents in North America, Europe, Australia and
South Africa (Hinnells, 1985).
I have chosen Wicca as the subject of this report as I am
personally involved in the field of "esoteric arts/sciences", both as
practitioner and teacher and have therefore had extensive
experience with Wiccan practices, belief systems, rituals and
dogma. Consequently I am part of a network of individuals and
groups who collectively represent Wicca globally. In some
instances these individuals and/or groups have allowed me to
disclose their identities, in other cases I have been forbidden to do
this. In reporting on the significance of Wicca in society my task
has been to select conversations, events, incidents and views
which reflect both pro and anti-Wiccan sentiments and which best
exemplify the current Wiccan paradigm. Due to my participatory
role in Wicca the approach employed in the construction of this
report is therefore more anthropological than sociological in
nature. The definition of "Wicca" as used in this paper is
synonymous with Hinnells' definition of Modern Witchcraft
(1985, p. 464): "...a form of polytheistic nature religion based
upon the worship of the Mother Goddess...more properly called
Neo-Paganism...". This report examines the history and
development of Wicca, its beliefs, rituals, ethics and
organizational structure and evaluates its significance for
contemporary global society.
DESCRIPTION
Historical Development
Parker (1993) cites the Saxon word "witega" as the source of the
word "wicca". Eliade (1987, p. 415) describes the word "witch"as
a derivative of the Old English noun "wicca" (sorcerer) and the
verb "wiccian" (to cast a spell). He further states that three
different phenomena have been called Witchcraft and that
connections between them are tenuous and few. They are: (a)
sorcery (world-wide in almost every period and culture), (b)
alleged diabolical Witchcraft of late medieval and early modern
Europe and (c) the pagan revival of the 20th century. Wicca is
part of the pagan revival of this century. The majority of its
adherents claim that its roots are in the old religions of pre-
Christian times and that its traditions have been handed down
within families (Parker, 1993). There is much evidence, however,
which refutes these claims. Wicca, as practiced in most covens
today, was created by a retired British civil servant called Gerald
Gardner (1884-1964) (Hinnells, 1985) and figures such as the
notorious Victorian magician Aleister Crowley, anthropologist Dr.
Margaret Murray and the authors Robert Graves and Charles
Godfrey Leland have also been cited as co-originators of the
movement (Parker, 1993). Academic research which has been
undertaken in order to establish the validity of Dr. Murray's
findings (which supported the belief in a link between Wicca and
pre-Christian paganism) has disproved them and other research
has similarly disproved the Wiccan's widespread claim to a Celtic
heritage (Hutton, 1991). Wicca as practiced today has developed
mainly from two schools: Gardnerian (Traditional) and
Alexandrian. The former developed from the efforts of Gerald
Gardner, the latter from Alex Sanders. Gardner popularized
Witchcraft and was responsible for creating the concept of the
witch's "Bible", "The Book of Shadows"(a book of Wiccan rituals
written in a witch's own handwriting), purportedly devised with
the help of Brighton witch Doreen Valiente and Aleister Crowley
(Parker, 1993). With the death of Wicca's "founding father"
Gardner in 1964, the movement no longer had a "King of the
Witches", but this mantle was to be later claimed by the self-
styled "King" Alex Sanders who, with wife Maxine, was the
creator of the controversial and very public profile of British
Wicca in the 1960s and 1970s, In 1987 Sanders died and there
was to be no replacement "King". With the birth of the NAM
around 1976 Wicca had already started to assimilate some of its
Aquarian Age philosophies, thereby making the movement even
more syncretic than it was previously, with the consequence that,
today Wiccans may freely accept and use the practices and
philosophies of Siberian Shamanism, Greek paganism, Egyptian
magic or Hinduism. Beliefs, Rituals and Ethics. Wicca is a
religion based on the worship of the Mother Goddess in any of her
manifestations. At the beginning of the pagan revival the Goddess
was mainly represented by various Celtic goddesses such as
Brigid or Morrigan (Farrar and Farrar, 1984) or Roman figures
such as Diana (Parker, 1993), but today she maybe equally
represented by the Egyptian Isis or the Hindu Kali or indeed any
female image with divine status. She is both Earth Mother and
Moon Goddess. In her former role she is seen as the embodiment
of fecundity and the sovereign of nature. In her latter
manifestation she is the Triple Goddess (Maid, Mother and
Crone) who governs natural cycles of human and universal
existence, the tides of the ocean and human tides of emotion and
it is due to her association with these cycles and tides that she is
identified with the moon. The God, consort of the Goddess, is
often represented by the Celtic God Cernunnos and is also
worshipped in Wicca, but his role is always subordinate to that of
the Goddess.
Rituals
Wiccans, whether they are solitary or coven (group) practitioners,
celebrate 8 Sabbats (seasonal festivals) in the year four Greater
and four Lesser. The Greater Sabbats include Imbolc, Beltane,
Lughnasa and Samhain while the Lesser Sabbats comprise the
Summer and Winter Solstices and the Spring and Autumn
Equinoxes. Imbolc signifies "the first stirrings in the womb of
Mother Earth"(Farrar and Farrar, 1984), Beltane celebrates
fertility, Lughnasa the harvest and Samhain (Halloween) the time
when, according to Celtic belief, it was most auspicious for
contacting the dead (Parker, 1993). In addition 13 Esbats are
convened each lunar month (every 28 days),usually around the
time of the full moon, for the purpose of conducting coven ritual/s
and business. Additional rituals include the conferring of the three
degrees of Wicca, Wiccanings (the blessing of a new-born child),
Handfastings (the marrying of a couple for 1 year and 1 day) and
Requiems (celebrations for the dead) (Farrar and Farrar, 1984).
Wiccan rituals may also include the performance of simple
candle-burning (usually but not always practiced by an individual
witch) and workings such as the "Drawing Down of the Moon"
during which the coven High Priest/ess invokes the Goddess. Cord
magic rituals may also be performed and along with candle-
burning may be classed as spell-casting proper. New rituals and
new ways of performing old rituals are continually being devised.
The number of rituals and their nature is limited only by the
imagination of the Wiccan.
Ethics
The Wiccan Rede perhaps best describes the Wiccan ethic in one
sentence: "An it harm none (if it harms no one),do what you will"
(Farrar and Farrar, 1984). The theme of "harmlessness" towards
others is echoed in the belief in the Hindu concept of karma or the
law of cause and effect which is accepted by the majority of
Wiccans. A Wiccan therefore generally makes sure her/his
reasons for performing certain magical works are valid. The form
of karma they believe in, however, varies from the Hindu concept
as the Wiccan version mainly accepts that the consequences of a
deed return to its performer threefold and herein lies the incentive
for doing positive works/rituals. Sometimes, however, witches
appear to flout convention by performing obviously"black"
workings on certain groups or individuals. Two famous British
Wiccans, Janet and Stewart Farrar, for example, (Farrar and
Farrar, 1984, p. 141), justify such action with the comment that
"...if somebody is known to be evil acting and harming others,
witches are fully justified in stopping him". Generally, however,
there is a common reverence for the Earth and its beings and a
desire to avoid excess but to enjoy life and seek a balance
between physical and spiritual fulfillment. One recent addition to
the movement is a strong feminist ethic which has given it
political overtones as well illustrated in the newspaper article
which states: "...women want to be active in their spirituality, not
simply the receivers of someone else's-usually a man's-expression
of spirituality..." (Rowe and Cavender, 1991, p. 266).
Present Situation
Modern Witchcraft is a non-hierarchical (outside of the coven)
organization consisting of solitary and group members.
Prospective members may be drawn from the public or from the
friends and/or acquaintances of Wiccans if they are deemed
suitable. As the basic functional unit is a coven (except in the case
of a solitary) Wiccans pool their financial resources in order to
purchase that which is necessary for the running of the coven such
as robes, cakes, wine for example. The number of Wiccans in
Britain has been estimated to be around 250,000 (Parker, 1993)
and an Australian Wiccan has reported a total of 500 in Western
Australia including 200 "solitaries" and 300 coven members.
Globally the figure is difficult to accurately gauge as Wiccans do
not have one main representative body (such as the Roman
Catholic Church has). The problem is compounded by the number
of "fringe" Wiccans, people who call themselves Wiccans and yet
are simultaneously Christian and yet others who are more
influenced by New Age philosophies than Wiccan lore. However,
organizations like Pagan Link and Pagan Federation have been set
up in order to present some form of united front for the movement
(Parker, 1993). The answer to the question "How many Wiccans
are there?" becomes more and more difficult to provide as each
day the movement becomes increasingly syncretic. This
syncretistic trend is exemplified by the international pagan
organization "The Church of All Worlds" and the Perth based
"Church of Wicca". The former is, however, regarded by some
Perth Wiccans as non-pagan and as a source of an annoyance to
them. The founder of the latter, Tamara von Forslun, welcomes
change and informed me that her church runs meditation classes
on Tuesday nights which are taken by an Ananda Marga teacher.
She also emphasized her personal desire for the church to have
community acceptance, own a place of public worship and to
absorb many religious influences. Now, with the advent of the
Internet, immediate global communication between Wiccans is an
everyday reality with news groups such as "alt.pagan" and IRC
chat channels such as "#asatru" carrying news of the latest
developments in the movement. ANALYSIS Religious,
Sociological and Psychological Factors Orthodox religions of a
mainly Christian persuasion have been the most vocal critics of
revivalist Witchcraft. If the Wiccan claim to pre-Christian and
medieval links is to be believed, the vilification and persecution
of witches has existed as long as Christianity and is nowhere
better exemplified than during the "Burning Times" or Inquisition.
Today, most of its critics are generally found in the ranks of the
New Christian Right and other Fundamentalist bodies whose
members do not accept any religious teachings outside of those in
The Bible. The fact that it can mobilize an attack against what it
considers as an agent for dark forces is shown in the case of how
the Evangelical Alliance in Britain mounted a campaign against
occult store owner and supplier of Wiccan and Satanic
paraphernalia Chris Bray and accused him of promoting ritual
abuse of children (Parker, 1993). In general, however, religious
orthodoxy has been forced to soften its previously "hardline"
attitude toward Wicca as society becomes more tolerant of
Wiccan practices or any other movements or philosophies
associated with the NAM. Society's view of Witchcraft is perhaps
best mirrored in the Media's representation of Wicca. Rowe and
Cavender (1991), in a study of newspaper articles on Witchcraft
and Satanism, describe it as a disseminator of traditional social
values and a tool for defining what is "acceptable" deviance and
what constitutes a threat to society. They conclude their study by
saying"...although Witchcraft was deviant, it was tolerably so..."
and"...witches might seem a bit offbeat, but, for the most part,
they 'fit in' ..." (p. 273). Since the 1960s , mostly because of the
publicity-seeking exploits of Alex Sanders, witches have acquired
an image as being amusing or even humorous. Today the
boundaries which define "what is a Wiccan" have become more
nebulous due to Wicca's absorption into the NAM but Wicca's
enemies remain the Fundamentalist movements in society. The
psychological profile of a Satanist is likely to be more damning
than that of a witch. Wicca is increasingly represented by middle-
class (Parker, 1993) and high-status members and, as part of the
NAM, is becoming an accepted movement in society whilst
Satanism still has an extremely negative image and is far more
likely to be associated with subjects such as child sacrifice than
Wicca. Psychological studies are perhaps more important when
conducted in an effort to understand the generalized human
tendency to persecute that which it finds "abnormal". Ernest
Becker (1975) argues that ideas of evil are peoples' reaction
against their own mortality; when they become aware of their own
fragility they start "scape-goating". He continues by saying that the
Devil is the ultimate symbol for the finality of a mortal's condition
and therefore to fight him or his earthly representatives is the
ultimate act of heroism. Significantly, it is the Christian
Fundamentalists who tend to identify themselves with the image
of Christian crusaders fighting against the works of the Devil.
DISCUSSION
In spite of society's recent acceptance of Wicca as part of the
NAM it would appear that this is a cautious acceptance. The
powerful image of the Goddess has not lost its numinosity. Wicca
does now appear to be in some ways a vapid shell of its pre-NAM
self and this has been lamented by some Wiccans who feel its
magical side is being diluted (Parker, 1993) and its focus directed
toward anthropology and mythology. From observation, however,
it seems there is a definite line of demarcation between "real
witches" and NAM witches. There is a point of contact between
them and this is shown by the participation of both camps during
more or less public celebrations of Wiccan festivals undertaken in
Perth, for example, such as the Summer Solstice (around the 22nd
December in the Southern Hemisphere) in which the God
symbolically dies and is given a farewell. The cult of the Goddess
is healthier now than it has been at any period in the history of the
pagan revival. But the "inner sanctum" of Wicca still exists and its
existence is proven by the stipulation (generally accepted) that
prospective members of covens must undergo a probationary
period for approximately 1 year in "Outer Court" before becoming
eligible to join a coven. Wicca has thereby retained its aura of
secrecy.
Observations
Wiccans may often appear as deluded and over-imaginative.
Judging from observations I have made, on the surface this view is
sometimes fully justified as in the case of the Wiccan who
claimed to be able to control weather by psychic means or the
person who feared drowning in bed through concentrating too
heavily on the Western quadrant during magical work (the West is
represented by the "element" of water). One individual even
offered to kill for a fee by acting as a "psychic hit-man".
Imagination, however, is extremely important in Wicca for,
according to Wiccans, it is through this gateway that events can be
made to materialize in the mundane world. The four traditional
essential requirements for a witch have been cited as Faith, Will,
Imagination and Secrecy and these therefore constitute the
foundation of Wicca.
As Wicca is initiatory and therefore secretive in nature it regards
with suspicion the motives of those who wish to investigate it and
may not be forgiving of those who earn a measure of its trust and
then vilify it publicly as is supposed to have occurred in the case
of anthropologist Tanya Luhrmann. Two British Wiccans
responsible for the publication of a famous international Wiccan
quarterly told me Ms Luhrmann (author of "Persuasions of the
witch's craft: ritual magic and Witchcraft in England") was not
liked in Britain. They felt that Luhrmann, who in the process of
investigating her subject was initiated into a few Wiccan groups
(Luhrmann, 1989) had betrayed Witchcraft by portraying it in a
negative fashion. In a sense Wiccans are on safe ground when
challenged for proof of the effects of their rituals for many of
them justify a ritual's failure to produce the desired aim as the
result of the karma of the individual/s performing the work or
blame it on a lack of power or sense of purpose. When proof is
forthcoming, as evinced by the testimonials of some people who
have been the subjects of ritual workings, it is apparently never
mistaken for anything other than the validation of the efficacy of
ritual. This proof is nearly always of a subjective nature and
would not stand up to scientific scrutiny. This would not perturb
the average Wiccan who normally does not care about proving the
reality or otherwise of ritual to a scientist. In fact, some of them
see the "show me" attitude of science as narrow, fragmented and
childish. They may justify this view by citing the fact that modern
science developed out of the Hermetic sciences (as shown in the
examples of the birth of chemistry from alchemy and astronomy
from astrology) which have in common scientifically unproved
premises but which are nevertheless the repositories of eternal
truths.
The Future of Wicca
Where is Wicca heading? Current indications are that it is going
to continue its syncretistic trend by incorporating the influences of
philosophies and cultures from all parts of the globe. It also
appears it will retain its insistence on initiation and secrecy
although the increasing number of "pagan types" seems to ensure
that worship of the Goddess and reverence for the Earth and its
life forms will not be just the preserve of Wiccans. There are
strong indications that the feminine has made a return to Western
consciousness. Cars can now be seen driving by with bumper
stickers which read: "The Goddess Is Dancing" and feminists are a
firm part of the Wiccan movement. Eastern consciousness has
never really lost its reverence for the feminine principle in
creation and even though Buddhism has at times suppressed
women's participation in that religion Hinduism has always
revered its female deities, especially in the case of the Shakti cult
(Stutley, 1985). The Goddess appears to have been returned to her
divine pre-Christian status over a long period of time and her
followers, in any culture, have refused to abandon her.
CONCLUSION
>From its controversial and negative Gardnerian beginnings to its
present status as a movement concerned with physical and
spiritual well-being and feminism, Wicca is, mainly through its
association with the NAM, helping to restore the sexual
imbalance inherent in traditional male-dominated Western society
with its Judaeo-Christian ethic and herein lies its contemporary
significance as a NRM. From a feminist perspective it may
represent the culmination of the fight against the male domination
which began with the early Church's suppression of females as
demonstrated for example by the Church's refusal to ordain
women as priests. From a NAM point of view it may be a natural
consequence of the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. It would
seem that no matter what is done to the "feminine principle" by
Church or State, no matter how many people championing its
cause are put to death (as occurred during the Burning Times), the
human religious impulse to realize the feminine will not be denied
and will find a way, as it were, to constantly reassert itself.
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Stutley
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