Understanding our Past Helps Us Reach Our Future

Getting a Firm Foundation

In understanding the history of your chosen path, you get a firm foundation to your belief structure. The reason this is important is because with out a good foundation your entire system of beliefs is shaky. It is important that you clearly can define what it is you believe in and why you believe in it, but also how and when this system came about. In understanding these things you can achieve a better respect for your system of beliefs and others will be able to respect your choice of path as well.

Many times I get people asking what Witchcraft and Wicca is all about. People are curious as to what it is that we do, why we do it and the ways that were perform rituals. The why, where, who, when, and what to our system of beliefs give us a clear understanding and makes it easier for us to explain things to others who are interested. When we can discuss the facts, not only do we come across as intelligent, but credible.

When we research the history of Wicca, Witchcraft and Paganism, I have noticed that many times these terms are swapped for each other. A point I try to make very clear is that even though these three ideas are similar and the histories do cross from time to time, these are three very independent ideas and each have its own rich history. Picking through all of the misinformation and confusions can be difficult work, but once you have a clear understanding of differences and similarities of these three ideas, you will be able to understand clearly what it is that you believe in.

The History Of Paganism

Paganism is a generalized term that tends to connote a very broad spectrum of spiritual and cultural practices or beliefs stemming from Folk Religions or Polytheistic Religions in particular. Most times it is defines all faith traditions out side the known Abrahamic monotheistic religious groupings of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Religious practices that fall under Paganism include Hinduism, Jainism, Native American, Shinto, as well as non-Abrahamic ethnic religions such as Druidism, Voodoo and Hoodoo and most recently Wicca. The main characteristic of Pagan traditions is the absence of proselytism and the presence of a living mythology which explains the religious practice.

In understanding the term of "Pagan", we look to the Latin paganus which is an adjective that meant "rural", "rustic", or "of the country". As a noun it means "country dweller" or "villager". As the people who tended to follow the Pagan religions tended to be seen as the "uneducated country folk" when Christianity became the popular religion of choice, however the semantic development of it meaning "non-Christian" or "heathanistic" is unclear, but many believe that this terms came about around the 4th century. It is understood that those who lived in the country became synonymous with the idea that they were non-Christian as the early Christian churches were entirely urban. Which makes sense as the Christian churches would have been built in largely populated cities opposed to the hard to get to country areas. This would make Christianity more accessible to the city dwellers as the early Christian missionaries tended to focus their efforts in the heavily populated cities.

According to the Oxford Dictionary, the term heathen arose from another interpretation of paganus which denoted a person who was not of the city or not in a particular class of people. However, the term of Pagan to describe a particular type of religion was not used before the 17th century.

So, as we understand that Paganism represents a large group of religions outside the monotheistic religions, it is also used to describe those who had no specific religious beliefs and therefore can also mean atheism. So we understand that a Pagan believes in many deities or no deities at all. We also understand that the Pagans were farmers and hunters and followed the patterns of when to harvest, when to plant, what would grow when and what game to hunt. They took their cues from nature and celebrated the changing of the seasons, as well as the moon's changes. They saw that there were times when both day and night were equal, where one night was longer than all the others and one night was shorter than all the others. They considered these sacred times.

Paganism is an ancient form of religion, which we can date back to a very early time period, between 35,000 – 10,000 b.c. As there have been artifacts found all over Europe that have been dated as such. Mainly the artifacts depict motherly figures, the most famous being The Venus of Willendorf, which has many anthropologists drawing the conclusion that the main focus was a female deity. Unfortunately with the lack of historical texts being found intact and translatable, we can only reconstruct these ideas to the best of our ability.

During the Paleolithic period, we find the appearance of burials. Where we cannot say that this was due to a form of religious view, we can consider this a form of ceremony and it can be viewed as a belief in an afterlife. Also, showing a form of ritual was the finding of red ocher and ornaments that were found in conjunction to the burials.

As time progressed we see many cultures showing more spiritual and religious practices. Many of these religious practices included many different Gods and Goddesses. The oldest recorded would be the Celts who records over 400 deities. We understand that many of them are not mentioned more than once, but they did serve a purpose, and possibly were transformed into other more widely used deities.

From the Celts we get the Druids. The druids focused mainly on nature. Unfortunately there is not much known facts on the Druids, only assumptions on what the system of beliefs are, as most of the documentation on this sect was falsified or destroyed.

The Greeks and Roman cultures also had a form of spirituality which falls under what we now term Classical Religions. The belief of the Romans, however did not have a known form of religion until after they conquered Greece and they took over the Greek religious system and renamed the deities in the Greek pantheon. This is why many of the Greek and Roman deities are similar to each other. It is because they are the same, only the name has changed. This is a pattern we find throughout history. The only differences between the two pantheons is Romans had the Creation God Janus, where the Greeks did not have a Creation God, and the Greeks used the myths of the Gods to give examples of human behavior and what was acceptable and what was not, Romans glorified the deities heroism, bravery and duty.

Having hundreds of thousands of deities, the Egyptians are probably the most polytheistic Pagans known. Where they had a focus of Isis, Osiris and Horus, they had a multitude of others for every part of life. They also show the duality that most Pagan traditions are known for. As they have Ra, the God of the Sun, they have the opposite of Neith who was a Goddess of the Night.. This is a very important understanding, as in Pagan and polytheistic religions the focus is on the duality and balance. That with out the one we cannot have the other. This is one factor in all Pagan religions that we find a common thread.

In the Middle Ages when Christianity became the religion of choice for many, Pagan religions tended to go underground. Many temples of Pagan worship were destroyed by those who used Christianity as a form of control. Christianity started out as a wonderful religion. Unfortunately many people used Christianity and turned it into something else. Changing the meanings of the literature and the belief system into a different interpretation that they used to their advantage. Because of this, many people who still practiced the polytheistic religions were called evil and many times were jailed or tortured and killed because they continued to practice. The fear that they had no control over the Pagan population and the greed that fed the struggle of the Christian faith had turned what had started out as a loving and good and positive religion into one that still today carry out many barbaric and negative fueled ideas. Because of the greed and the fear, today many people who follow the Christian faith have been misinformed about the Pagan traditions and due to this have a negative view of these religions.

In the 1324 is the start of what was known as The Burning Times. The Burning Times were the years in which anyone who did not conform to the Christian rule were tortured and killed. Many times the people who were accused of these "crimes against the church" were innocent and were actually Christian. They however were different, possibly handicapped, have an illness, or had property that someone else wanted, or you were a strong willed woman. During this time all one had to do was accuse someone of what they termed "witchcraft" and the person accused was immediately taken into custody.

The most well known instructions on the prosecution of what they termed as witches, the Mallleus Maleficarum, also known as The Witch Hammer, was published in 1486 by two German monks, Heinrich Institois Cramer and Jacob Sperenger. However, many theologians found the text to be too gruesome and refused to have anything to do with it. Unfortunately the two monks went ahead with their hunt and got the tome out to many other people who, under the stress of fear and ignorance, put the instructions to use. This was not discovered until 1898.

There was so much fear caused by the authority of the church that many people were killed. In fact it was found in 1585 that there were two villages in the Bishopric of Trier in Germany where there were only one female inhabitant each after the Witch Trials. In 1601 King James passed his Witchcraft Act, which caused many Pagans to flee to the New World, where they found the Native Americans to have very similar views and traditions. In 1736, King Jame's Witchcraft Act was replaced with a new act that stated there was no such thing as Witchcraft and anyone calming to have supernatural or occult powers was a fraud. This lasted until 1951 when finally all laws against what was now known as Witchcraft were repealed.

Now, let me stop here for a moment. During the history of Paganism, we sort of transitioned into what was commonly called "witchcraft". This is where a lot of confusion comes in. What was considered witchcraft during these times, what was called witchcraft, was actually not witchcraft at all. It was simply Pagan religious practices. In Dr. Margret Murry's papers "The Witch Cult in Western Europe" and "The God of Witches", she was describing not Witchcraft but Paganism. Where Gerald Gardner continued on with his discussions of Witchcraft and creating Wicca, he too was mainly discussing Paganism. Witchcraft is a whole other kettle of fish.

The History of Witchcraft

When we discuss witchcraft's history, we first need to define what witchcraft actually is. Now if we look at the Oxford University Press' they describe it as the power to do harm or influence nature through occult means. Where this is somewhat true, the part concerning occult means is misleading, as is the term of "witchcraft". I find that the simple term of The Craft is much more accurate mainly because the term "witch" has so many negative connotations to it.

Throughout history, the term witch was given such an ugly definition. Again, mainly to put fear into Pagans. The term witch is actually derived from the Saxon word wic which translates to "wise". In the time before physicians and hospitals and modern medicine townsfolk would rely on the wisdom of the town healer. Usually a woman who had an understanding of healing with herbs. The "wise woman" or in Saxon wicca was later translated to the term witch.

Witchcraft, as her healing art was called later on, had nothing to do with religion. Witchcraft is not a religious practice, however many people who were practicing Pagans also had an understanding of the healing arts. This is because, as we mentioned in the history of Paganism, that these were people who lived in the country, they didn't have the same resources as those who lived in the town, and so they would rely on what they had around them that they could use. Mainly this included herbs, foods, and handcrafted items. And in understanding of the Pagan celebrations, they could use the information to understand different causes of illnesses and the proper cures.

The Craft is easily defined as performing magick. What is magick? The simplest way I can explain magick is this: The understanding of how certain scents, colors, herbs, symbols, thoughts and so on can affect a person physically, mentally, and spiritually. Today there are many different alternative homeopathic medical practitioners. The term witchcraft has now been changed to "aromatherapy", "reflexology", "acupressure", "herbalism", "chromotherapy", "feng shui", and many other terms. These would be considered forms of witchcraft. They do not use science to heal, but are a talent.

Other than healing you can use your knowledge of these things to bring good fortune, prosperity, peace, love, creativity, and an abundance of other things. Also it can be used to bring bad luck, negativity, and keep people away. There is no such thing as white magick or black magick. It is just magick. It is the person who uses the knowledge to decide if they are using it for a positive or negative reason. In Witchcraft there is no rule of three or rule saying you cannot use your knowledge to harm others. As I have mentioned, it is not a religion. You simply have to choose how you use your knowledge and understand that there is one rule, that like begets like. So if you put out negative feelings, thoughts and behavior it will simply attract more negative feelings, thoughts, or behavior.

So, if this is what witchcraft actually is, then why so much bad press on it? It is simple. When the misinformation and fear of anything that was different from the church's view came to light, the local wise woman, because she had this knowledge and ability, was the easiest scapegoat. She offered a different view than the church. Most likely she was a country dweller and also practiced the Pagan religions. So, those who would go to her for advice or help were the first ones to point the finger. Paranoia was a huge factor in this. The fear that if this person knows how to heal with these things, then obviously she can harm. And that must be why my cow died. Or where did she gain this knowledge? In Europe the God figure was seen as a horned God. This was later taken as an image of the devil in the Christian church. If the healer practiced the Pagan religions, it is possible that she had an image of the horned God in her home, which was taken for the evil devil. So this is where she got this unholy power and gained this knowledge.

The stories that people came up with through the paranoia and fear and superstitions that were fed by the church caused a lot of bigotry and hate for people who had different views. The sad truth is that a lot of that is still around today.

So we now understand that Paganism is a religion, and Witchcraft is a way of life and understanding of of things, where does Wicca fall into this?

The History of Wicca

In 1954 Gerald Gardner published a book called Witchcraft Today, in which he reintroduced the ideas of Witchcraft and Paganism, combining the two and creating what he termed Wicca. Gardner and a group of others began a religious group drawing the inspiration from Classic Pagan religions and folklore. Gardener called it Wica, using the Saxon term for Wise People and held rituals which contained no Christian symbols, such as crucifixes. No sermons, absolution, hosts. They did not praise the Christian form of evil, known as the devil. No mockery of the Christian church at all.

Gardner denied any reality of The Burning Times view on witchcraft. He explained Murry's view of the devil in her writings as The Stag God and that the focus was on the Mother Earth. The religion he set forth was one of love, pleasure, and nature.

An adaptation of the seasonal celebrations that the early Pagans honored was created which he termed The Wheel of the Yea. It consisted of eight sacred days that fell on the solstices and equinoxes and the four cross-quarter days between them. Gardner also incorporated the idea of being skyclad or nude, as it is considered to help bring you closer to nature and erases social distinctions. Where there are still those who practice this way, more often the use of ritual robes for worship.

Other common practices that Gardner brought about included the creation of sacred space buy using herbs, salt and water that had been specially blessed. The creation of a circle that may or may not be physical, to represent the never ending cycle. The use of ritual tools such as a ritual knife, known as an athame, which represents the phallic God and a chalice or goblet which represents the womb of the Mother Goddess.

In a coven, Gardner explained, there would be leaders for the worship. Usually it was a male and female who worked together. They would represent the God and Goddess and were termed as a High Priest and High Priestess, however the High Priestess typically held the most responsibility to the coven. In the tradition that Gardner had created there were three levels of understanding. In many traditions this remains the same. Each level takes a certain amount of study and responsibility. During the time they would learn from the High Priest and High Priestess until they reached the second level, then they would be in charge of helping educate any new members, while they continued to learn. At this second level mark, they held a special celebration where they were initiated into the new status. Once they reached the station of High Priest or High Priestess, again marked by a celebration and initiation ceremony, they were welcome to continue on with the coven or move on to create a coven of their own. When this is done, many times changes are made and a new version or "path" is created.

In the 1960's Raymond Buckland and his wife Rosemary, who were part of Gardner's coven and initiated by Gardner, moved from England to New York. He had adapted Gardner's views and added his own creating what is known Seax-Wica. Another path very similar to Gardnerian Wicca is Alexandrian which was the creation of Alex and Maxine Sanders. The name was not in honor of Mr. Sanders but in reference to Ancient Alexandria. Alexandrian tends to be a little more liberal. It was also adopted by Janet and Stewart Fararr who have written many books on this tradition's practices.

American initiate to both the Gardnerian and Alexandrian traditions, Mary Nesnick combined the two paths to create a new tradition known as the Algard Path. Since both Alexandrian and Gardnerian Wicca are very closely related it wasn't much of a stretch to combine the two.

Where most forms of Wicca have adopted the Pagan belief of duality and focus on a male and female deity equally, Dianic Tradition focuses mainly on the Goddess Aspect. Morgan McFarland and Mark Roberts founded the Dianic tradition with the focus on the Goddess, however they did mention the God as consort and in a lesser capacity than the female focus of the Goddess. However, Zsuzsanna Budapest took the Dianic tradition and made it even more female focused. Known as Feminist Dianic, she restricts her coven members to all female gatherings. The tend to be loosely structured and rarely mention any male counterpart. Feminist Dianics tend to be very liberal women who have had very negative experiences with the male population, and they are very emotionally supportive and tend to be radical in views and theories. Where some Feminist Dianics have started to include gay males into their practices, many choose not to include any men into their worshiping circles. Many Feminist Dianics do not consider themselves to be Wiccan, meaning that they do not follow the Wiccan Rede. Many feel it is fine to use negative energy if it is for the greater good.

These are simply a few of the many different traditions. Each new tradition that comes out takes its roots from Gardner's original vision. By learning about other traditions, the structure or lack there of, and how they perform rituals and celebrations, you can adapt these ideas into your own personalized form of spiritualism. By choosing your own path and defining it, you have the freedom to find what suits your situation and personality as well as your needs and vision of your spiritual self to create your own fulfilling spiritual experience. As each person is very different in regards to ideas, thoughts, needs, and expectations, each path can be personalized and defined by these things. And more importantly, once you have a clear understanding on how it all came about, you will be able to clarify your own views of your spiritual self.

The history of Wicca is still being created. Wicca has made some very positive strides in the past few years. Many books have been written on the subject, movies and television shows have shown positive as well as negative views of Wicca, Paganism and Witchcraft. People are starting to become more educated on the reality of the religious beliefs and many myths and falsehoods are starting to come to light and explained.

Groups such as CUUPs and sites such as A Witch's Voice have helped in getting people who are practicing Wicca and other forms of Paganism together. Many on line schools and groups have opened helping people who are interested in learning what this form of spirituality is and the truth behind it.

The history is still in the making. In only the past few years the Military has acknowledged the religious rights of Wiccans and Pagans in erecting a tombstone with the pentagram on it in honor of a fallen solder's religion. And though there are still those out there who still are ignorant to what Wicca and Paganism is, and hold on to the old superstition and belief that anything different is evil, we are slowly starting to chip away at those negative connotations and myths that Wicca and Paganism is something that is destructive or evil. People don't change over night and our world tends to take very slow strides when accepting changes of attitudes. However, we can do our part in letting people know the truth by not hiding and by sharing what it is we know.

author: Colleen M Criswell