Wicca first begins in the 1930's and 1940's as the spiritual child of a British civil servant by the name of Gerald Brousseau Gardner. Gardner drew from various sources in creating Wicca, including folk magic, ceremonial magic, Masonic rituals, etc. Here's an excellent link to a number of essays covering the history and evolution of modern Wicca.
I thought Gardner popularized it, not created it? The history I've heard says he joined a coven, wrote down their rituals, beliefs, etc. And then started sharing the religion outside of the covens, bringing it into the public eye.
Re: The Origins of Wicca By: Lark Moderator / Adept
Post # 3 Nov 17, 2021
No, he did join a coven but it was not Wiccan. He even says that their rituals were incomplete and most of the work of creating what is now known as Wicca was done by himself and by Doreen Valiente. The coven that he did join at first was an off-shoot of a ceremonial magic lodge and more a group of Witches than being Wiccan.
Re: The Origins of Wicca By: kts Moderator / Adept
Post # 4 Nov 18, 2021
I agree with Lark as this is my understanding of the origins of Wicca. Many years ago I started the Wiccan aspect of my spiritual journey by studying with a Gardnerian coven. The coven has lineage running back through a coven in Salem that's lineage is from a coven in England that again could trace it's lineage back to Gardner. I did learn some things while studying with this coven,as Wicca is a modern religion that stems from teachings of older practices and faiths. A lot of what was taught to me I had already been exposed to but there were differences too.Wicca is not for everyone and even though I always enjoy learning about all types of paths and aspects of the Occult and craft, Wicca is just not the path for me. Though I do support those that are and I hope they find many blessing on their paths.
Katie
Below are some links you may find helpful;
This one is a great book about solitary Wicca by Cunningham.This book is not about British traditional Wicca which is coven oriented and has lineage back to Alexandrian or Gardnerian covens.
Re: The Origins of Wicca By: Lark Moderator / Adept
Post # 5 Nov 19, 2021
My one issue with Scott Cunningham is that he says that "Wicca is anything you want it to be." That's simply not accurate at all. There are certain core beliefs that make up the religion of Wicca. There's a lot of room in their to add to your practices or to modify them to your particular needs, but if you drop those core beliefs then it is no longer Wicca but something else.
That doesn't make what one is doing invalid or not a meaningful path, but it is no longer Wicca. At that point it might be better to call it a form of religous Witchcraft or simply one's own personal, spiritual journey.
Re: The Origins of Wicca By: kts Moderator / Adept
Post # 6 Dec 07, 2021
I understand where you are coming from Lark, As this was also expressed to me as I studied with a Gardnerian coven in my early twenties. Prior to that I was relying on books I found at my local occult shop called the Herb Merchant. Cunnngham was the first author I picked up. His Wicca books are more about witchcraft in general as I was told by the owner of the shop. He was the first elder to inform me that Scott was influenced by publishers to use the word Wicca which sounded friendlier than witchcraft in his books. Wicca currently is very different than it once was. Today many will claim to be Wiccan with never having been a part of a coven that has lineage to Gardner and it's now why we refer to those covens with lineage to Gardner as British Traditional Wicca. Our history as practitioners is vast and Wicca as evolved and branched just as most organized religions seem to do, as ideas and people change.
