Wicca In American Culture

In Native American witchcraft, amulets and charms play the central role. Practitioners of one region dress similarly as well as use same kind of totems to have a sense of unity with each other. For them land is considered as deity that provides them with objects necessary for witchcraft and magic. These objects come in many shapes and forms. These may include herbs, stones, feathers, bones etc (world of Wicca, 2014).

One can be very confused with the modern ideas present today. In fact, a lot of individuals are so involved in their own lives that they do not even bother to think where these modern popular beliefs came from. Modern constructs, such as religion, politics, warfare and even the internet all originated somewhere, and it is important that people know at least a little about the history of something before completely use it as a part of their everyday life. Take the case of Witchcraft and Wicca: while most people would probably combine these two in the same area of interest such as witchcraft and spells with the occasional magical tool such as the voodoo doll, one might be surprised that Wicca is actually a religion and witchcraft actually originated from the Wiccan movement.

How do Wiccans practice their faith today? There is no central authority or doctrine. And most individual covens vary a great deal. But most meet to celebrate on nights of the Full Moon, and at the eight great festivals or Sabbats throughout the year.

In Chapter 10 of Religion and Popular Culture in America, Joseph L. Price attempts to show sports as an example of popular culture as religion, because of its ability to shape the engagement of their fans and the fan’s environments. Although the majority of fans do not see sports as coming close to being a religion, Price gives several compelling reasons as to why sports are religion.

When people hear about the Wiccan religion they think of potions, magic spells, and pointy hats. Wiccans have suffered through many tortures of non-pagan religions for thousands of years. Yet they never gave up on their rituals and beliefs. Wiccans are often depicted as atrocious beings who only wish to harm people. It is important for people with such prejudice beliefs to know about all of the common misconceptions, the origin, and the beliefs of Wiccans.

Wicca is a positive, harmonious, nature-based religion, and the largest within Neopaganism (Neopaganism refers to all Eastern religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism and so on). Wicca, is also known as Pagan Witchcraft and as the name says, it is the practice of white Witchcraft and the worship of nature and it’s seen as a religion that’s based on pre-Christian traditions. It is relatively modern, it has been around for only about 50 years and was developed in England by Briton Gerald Gardner, a retired British civil servant, in the 1940’s and 50’s.

Wicca and witchcraft are dotted across every corner of the web. As you browse for Wicca, you will always stumble upon spells and magic. This is because magic spells and spell casting are a big part of Wiccans' ritual practices.

One of the greatest myths precipitated about Wicca is that it is an ancient religion. Wicca is not an ancient religion. It has no ties to medieval or even pre--‐Christian religious beliefs. Wicca was inspired by a theory of Margaret Murray, who proposed that there was one organized Cult of Diana. This idea is largely dismissed as inaccurate and Murray’s work is considered by scholars to be full of factual errors.

That's Raymond Buckland. Born in London, and later in 1962 along with his first wife and two sons he emigrated to the United States and settled in Long Island. It was at this time that he became familiar with Margaret Murray's works, and Gerald Gardner's Witchcraft Today. After correspondences with Gardner him and his wife eventually fly back and get initiated into a coven in Scotland by Monique Wilson, with Gardner as a witness. When they returned to the United States, they wasted no time in creating a coven, though trying to do so carefully so that press would not get a hold of it. Alas, it leaked and it got out. The press of course was all over it, and it was not pretty but it was well handled. In 1973 the marriage to Rosemary was whittling to an end, and they handed their coven over to “Theos” and “Pheonix.” It was during this time that Buckland decides that he doesn't like the way that people seem to act when it comes to the Gardnerian tradition, and creates his own call Seax-Wica which is much more open and democratic. Writing the book The Tree: Complete Book of Saxon Witchcraft (1974) to explain it's rituals and what not. Some of the other books that Buckland wrote were Practical Candle Burning Rituals (1970) Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft (1989) and Advanced Candle

Witchcraft has been around since the B.C. era, but erupted in the late 1600s. It began in Europe and eventually made its way to the New World. Witchcraft is believing in and the use of practical magic, such as casting spells, calling on spirits, or predicting the future. Witchcraft is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word, “wicce,” meaning wise. Therefore, it translates into “craft of the wise.” Wise people were those who were familiar with natures’ forces and were educated when it came to the herbs and plants. Witches relied greatly on the four elements: air, fire, water, and earth. They were known to have supernatural powers and used them for the good of society, unlike the negative stereotype the modern day witches hold, mainly because of the Christian churches. (witchcraft.com)

As with altars having comparable traits to a shrine, there are other comparisons of the Wiccan religion to the more traditional religions of the United States and the rest of the world. For instance, praying is comparable to meditation in Wiccan society. Even with this comparison of prayer and meditation, Wiccans pray to their God and Goddess. This will be elaborate later on. Another comparison is initiation. Most, if not all Wiccan, go through initiations which is a ceremony that initiates them fully into the dedication of Wicca. One can do this alone, but it is recommended to be initiated with a Wiccan group, instead of solidarity.

The development of Wicca in the modern times is associated with a gentleman named Gerald Gardner (1884-1964). He was a British civil servant and amateur archaeologist, who spent most of his working years in Southern Asia. Upon his return to England, he authored the book Witchcraft Today, which outlined many of the rituals and doctrines of the religion that is now called Wicca. Although Gardner claimed his book was inspired from Celtic traditions, it is actually a combination of Western faith, Asian magic, god and goddess worship, and Masonic rituals (Melton). The religion Gardner outlined in his book is a nature-oriented faith where a low emphasis on magic predominates. While there is a tendency to see Wicca and Witchcraft as one and the same and some Wiccans may identify themselves as witches, it is a personal choice and many modern Wiccans do not see themselves as witches. Witchcraft describes a magically-oriented practice but lacks the spiritual foundation that Wicca as a religion embodies. Today=s modern Wiccan religion is not the religion that Christians tried to

“Anthropologists have long been aware that the social production and meaning of witchcraft is an evasive issue that defies easy analysis” (Teppo, 2006). Many anthropologists such as Wilson, Gluckman, and Douglas are a few of the most known theories and they all have come to a similar conclusion and explained witchcraft as a “downside of social relations, or a product of social tension, which is constantly able to renew itself within global modernity” (Ashforth, 2000). Ashforth believes this theory as well and continues to base his research on the social aspects of witchcraft and how it affects the people of the community.

The most widely-recognized type of Paganism, Wicca, draws inspiration from Pre-Christian European rituals and beliefs. In the 1950s, Gerald Gardner, a British civil servant, drew attention to Wicca. He claimed to have been initiated into a coven of hereditary witches that had survived through the centuries. Wicca emphasizes living in harmony with one’s environment and community. Though, many Wiccans recognize an ultimate deity as both female and male (some hold the deity is female, yet fully containing male and female aspects). But ultimately Wicca has no high authority, no single leader, no prophet and no bible to dictate its laws and beliefs. With this, Wicca is also unrelated to Satanism. It is a group of religious traditions. Some are highly structured, while most are eclectic. Many, perhaps most, Wiccans are

Witchcraft still does exist today, just in different forms. The most popular type of witchcraft is called Wicca. Wicca is the older name for Witchcraft. Most people think that witches will harm a human with their “supernatural powers”, which most people know as black magic. In modern day the Wiccans distance themselves from Christianity because it is a mostly male- dominated religion.The Wiccans are matriarchal and stand up for women’s rights. They have fought to eliminate Christianity in schools and government and have even sought to have pagan holidays, such as Halloween and winter solstice, observed as Wiccan holidays.