Throughout the ages, gods and goddesses controlled a pantheon of natural variables, which animists and traditional spiritualists tried to appease and control. Whether the Fates or the triumvirate of Diana, Hecate and Selene in Classical myth, the Morrigan in Ireland, or the mystic catholic tradition of Lillith, Mary and Sophia, the triune Maiden, Mother and Crone has a firm grasp on many cultures. Wicca claims to take all goddesses of all existing European mythologies as aspects of the true Great Goddess, and priestess rites depending upon which goddess aspects the individual Wicca chooses as Patron.

Goddess worship continued in the traditions of women shamans, Druids, and other Pagan religious systems such as Norse mysticism and Grecian Gaia worship, and the study of witchcraft#.

The Burning Times# of the Medieval and Renaissance Ages are as bitter as the crusades to the Islamic for Wicca followers, as much of the knowledge of pagan worship was destroyed, with many innocent herbal healers and wise women. After the Burning Times, occultist movements went underground until the late Victorian age, with authors who became disenchanted with patterns of Victorian normalcy, and enchanted with secret societies such as the Masons.

One of the main contributions to the new movement of goddess worship came with Margaret Murray’s Witch Cult in Western Europe and God of Witches in 1921, mostly by influencing Gerald Gardner. Gerald Gardner is the main source in modern Wicca, even coining the name, without Gardner, Wicca would not be a modern religious movement.

Gardner’s public involvement began in 1954 with the publishing of Witchcraft Today, the first non-fiction book to practice modern Wicca. Following books included High Magic’s Aide and The Meaning of Witchcraft. Beyond writing Pagan literature, Gardner began Wicca colonies in which skyclad# people, mostly women, would perform kinky sexual rituals such as the Great Rite#, and often included male bondage and fetishism of Gardner‘s design. He and his mentor Aleister Crowley, invented much of the rituals such as the Great Rite before Crowley‘s death in 1947. Modern Wicca claims Gardner as the father of its resurgence, while legends and tales of events throughout European history colour and form the post-modern views and beliefs of the Old Ways.

The next push in the recurrence of the Wicca, was the feminist movements, where entire generations turned to alternative social and religious beliefs to answer life’s questions and deviate from the status quo. Feminism and Wicca run on similar timelines, and both movements carried each other along, until radical feminist ideals began to mesh with radical Wicca until the creation of the extreme Dianic Movement. It is no surprise that the majority of Wiccans are feminists, with only 1/3 are male. By 1975, covens in America created the Covenant of the Goddess (COG) to gain recognition of Wicca as a religion.

Wicca believes in one Great Goddess, a trinity of Maiden, Mother and Crone. The Goddess cares for all her Children, and women are her sacred ones, because of fertility and the role of women as life givers. Together, the three aspects complete the lunar, womanly, and life cycles. First off, the Maiden is the embodiment of innocence, enchantment, youth and the first phase of the Lunar Cycle. The Mother symbolises the nurturing nature of a woman, her mothering instincts, which can be provoked into horrendous battles to protect all who belong to Her. Lastly, the Crone or Hag is the aspect which deals with Death, and is very wise, due to the retaining of wise blood#, and acts as the teacher of hidden knowledge and truth. Where the Maiden and the Mother were tainted and changed through the onslaught of Christianity, the Crone is universally immortalized as the vision of Witchcraft throughout the ages.

“Long ago, the world slept in the arms of the dark void. From this place of nothingness, Spirit drew together and created the Lady. The Lady danced among the heavens, her feet beating out the rhythm of creation. Sparks of light catapulted from her hair, giving birth to the stars and planets. As she twirled, these heavenly bodies began to move with her in the divine symphony of the universe. From the pure, white light of her breath came the colours of the universe, turning all things to vibrant beauty. Her tears of joy became the rains of our survival.

When her dancing slowed, and the Lady sought a companion to share the wonders of the world, Spirit created the God as her life mate and companion, so that together the Lord and Lady could populate our planet”#. This version of the Origin Myth shows the importance of dance and companionship in a beautiful world.

Energy is all around us, and we can learn in time to manipulate and control certain types and forms of energy to our wishes. This is called magick#, and is a key practice and belief in Wicca. Everyone has a capacity to learn magick, just as everyone can learn to dance, some are predisposed to it, others must work harder. Magick consists of four elements and directions: west = water, south = fire, east = air, north = earth (Lipp). Spells use different elements and directions depending on what the strengths and energies of the spell should be.

To Wiccans, Death is not an evil. The circumstances of life and death are ordered by fate, and there is little to be done in changing fate. Death is said to be a lover of the Goddess, who knew him not and hated him, until after he scourged her and she loved him. Funerals in Wicca vary as much as individual spells and movements, as Wicca is an experiential religion. The Five-Fold Blessing (no kissing, but use of incense), casting of a directional circle and dancing before the casket are part of one funeral for a Coven of Dianic Wiccans in California (Foltz & Lozano).

Wiccas keep a Book of Shadows (Cunningham), which documents all the rituals and spells the individuals perform. A Book of Shadows is meant to be a secretive, and personal entity, because in Wicca, each experience is different than another’s. Aside from the Book of Shadows, a ritual sword called an Asthame is to be blessed in a purification ritual and used as a tool in spells. This sword usually has a black blade, and is joined by another sword with a white blade. Since the only formal law in Wicca is “As an ye harm non, do as thou wilt”, prayers to the Goddess are spells, incantations, scrying and ritual dances done either spontaneously or at certain times of the year. Beyond spells and physical rituals, meditation is used as well as Astral Travel, an out of body experience, where one can traverse the cosmos in the past and present, where an initiate is tied to her physical body via a silver cord. A Wicca does not necessarily do all of the above practices, the choice is left to the individual practitioner.

The Great Rite is one of the most symbolically significant of the rites in the Wicca Calendar. Most often it is performed at the Sabbat of Beltane#, and can be performed literally or symbolically. During the Great Rite, the High Priestess and High Priest engage in ceremonial sex within a casting circle. The Rite begins with all the members of a coven present, the casting of the circle is performed with an Asthame and a chalice of wine. Once the circle is complete, the Five-Fold Kiss# is administered, with full blessing between the Priest and Priestess, as the chalice, blessed with a dipping of the Asthame, is passed through the Coven until all have sipped from it. Afterwards, the circle is broken, the Coven leaves as the Priest and Priestess consummate the ritual. This ritual signifies the consummation and life force between the Great Goddess and her son/consort, the “Horned God”.

Since Wicca runs on a lunar calendar, the year is divided in eight major festivals, known as Sabbats. Magickal correspondences in Sabbats are herbs used in purification, casting and symbolic spells used during the assigned holiday. Most festivals are left to be performed by the Coven, or individually, as Wicca is a very individualistic religion, festivities vary greatly.

The beginning of the Calendar year is Yule, a celebration of the rebirth of the Sun God, and signifies the coming sun after the longest night of the year. Rituals during Yule are the lighting of the Yule log, the making of wreaths, and giving of gifts. Magickal correspondences for Yule are pine, holly, myrrh and cinnamon. Yule comes usually on December 21st, or the day on which the Winter Solstice falls.

Second on the list of Sabbats is Imbolc, celebrated on the 2nd of February and dedicated to the Celtic Goddess Brigid. The rituals performed on Imbolc include cleaning, burning of fires and candles and the making of a bed for Brigid. Correspondences for Imbolc include carnations, rosemary, chamomile and milk. During Imbolc, the Goddess is said to return to her maiden form.

After Imbolc, falls the Spring Equinox and the festival of Ostara, celebrated around the 21st of March. Coinciding with our Easter, festivities during Ostara include painting eggs and the arrangement of new spring flowers. Rabbits and eggs symbolize the new life and birth indicative of the spring festival, whose correspondences include jasmine, daffodil and lotus.

The Festival of Beltane, which falls on May 1st, is also called May Day. During Beltane, the Great Rite is performed, dancing is done around the Maypole, and bonfires are lit. Beltane symbolises the growth of the fully grown Horn God, and the consummation of the Sacred Marriage between the Goddess and the god. Passion, joy and fertility are celebrated, as rose, lilac and vanilla act as the correspondences in magick.

To begin the waning of the year, the Summer Solstice falls around June 21st, and heralds the Sabbat of Midsummer. The Goddess has grown into her Mother aspect as of Midsummer, and the sabbat is celebrated by fairy magick, and the gathering of herbs. Orange, lemon, honeysuckle and vervain are used in ceremonies as the correspondences.

First of the three harvest festivals is Lammas, held on August 1st and grains and breads figure greatly in it. Ages ago, Lammas was marked by sacrifice, but today symbolism is used, along with the making of bread, corn dolls, and correspondences of corn, sandalwood and heather.

Mabon, celebrated on the Autumnal Equinox approximately September 21st, has the emergence of the Crone, and is another of the harvest festivals. A time of thanksgiving is shared, as the days grow colder, it is a time of sharing with the less fortunate and the production and consumption of wine. Some traditions hold to the belief that Thanksgiving was spawned from Mabon, which has patchouli, grapes, blackberries and cedar as its correspondences.

The last of the yearly festivals is Samhain, which falls on the 31st of October each year. It is a time of mourning, for the god has died, and the Goddess mourns his death until the time of rebirth at Yule. A time for divinations and honouring the dead, Wiccans also carve Jack O’ Lanterns. Pumpkins, apples, sage and mugwort are used as resources for the Sabbat’s rituals.

Given the radically anti-Judeo Christian worldview and beliefs of Wicca, not much hope is given for shared perspective. Although we share the festivals of Ostara (Easter), Yule (Christmas) and in some cases Samhain (All Hallows Eve), our customs are different, and the mindset from which they originate are polar opposite. Much of the problem lies in the feminist nature of the Goddess compared to God, and the negative connotation Wicca has in the Christian community. A dialogue might be started on the trinity of God and the Goddess, and the sharing of festivals, but any theological conversation is bound to end in conflict and argumentation, if not hatred. The only way to truly affect Witches, is to show a Christ-like example, and not bring up the Medieval Ages. A shared love and respect for nature is a good starting point, but even that can end in more enemies than friends, as nature to a Wicca is sacred, while to a Christian, it is something the Lord gave us ownership of.

Conflicts arise in the feminist aspects of Wicca, the use of ritual sexuality, their vision of the divine, the casting of spells and divinations, the customs of the festivals and basically the entire religion in general. The Bible clearly states in several passages that Witchcraft is to be severely avoided, on the grounds of its corruptive qualities and sense of evil. Magick, however is not a grand evil against God and the universe. The major point to be made is this: unless one is very strong in his or her faith, debating religion with a Wicca is risky business, because of its leaning towards extremes, and deviation from societal masculine norms.