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As we all know, Wicca really came into its own religious form around the 1950's Thanks to Gardner. However anything in regards to witchcraft before that is shrouded in mystery. Im going to attempt to compile bits and pieces from around the net to give a *hopefully* unbiased topic about Wicca, its origins and the witchcraft before it. this will be an ongoing thread and expect to see this post edited in the future.
Wicca,in its modern form as a religion started back in the 1950s. Here is an entry from wikipedia
"In the 1920s and 30s, the Egyptologist Dr Margaret Murray published several books detailing her theories that those persecuted as witches during the Early Modern period in Europe were not, as the persecutors had claimed, followers of Satanism, but adherents of a surviving pre-Christian pagan religion - the Witch-Cult. Despite now being discredited by further historical research.
It was during the 1930s that the first evidence appears for the practise of a pagan Witchcraft religion[92] (what would be recognisable now as Wicca) in England. It seems that several groups around the country, in such places as Norfolk,[93] Cheshire[94] and the New Forest had set themselves up as continuing in the tradition of Murray's Witch-Cult, albeit with influences coming from disparate sources such as ceremonial magic, folk magic, Freemasonry, Theosophy, Romanticism, Druidry, classical mythology and Asian religions.
The Witchcraft religion became more prominent beginning in 1951, with the repeal of the Witchcraft Act of 1735, after which several figures, such as Charles Cardell, Cecil Williamson and most notably Gerald Gardner, began propagating their own versions of the Craft. Gardner had been initiated into the New Forest coven in 1939, before forming his own tradition, later termed Gardnerianism, which he spread through the formation of groups like the Bricket Wood coven. His tradition, aided by the help of his High Priestess Doreen Valiente and the publication of his books Witchcraft Today (1954) and The Meaning of Witchcraft (1959), soon became the dominant form in the country, and spread to other parts of the British Isles.
[edit]Adaptation and spread, 1960–present
Following Gardner's death in 1964, the Craft continued to grow unabated despite sensationalism and negative portrayals in British tabloids, with new traditions being propagated by figures like Robert Cochrane, Sybil Leek and most importantly Alex Sanders, whose Alexandrian Wicca, which was predominantly based upon Gardnerian Wicca, albeit with an emphasis placed on ceremonial magic, spread quickly and gained much media attention. Around this time, the term "Wicca" began to be commonly adopted over "Witchcraft" and the faith was exported to countries like Australia and the United States.
It was in the United States and in Australia that new, home-grown traditions, sometimes based upon earlier, regional folk-magical traditions and often mixed with the basic structure of Gardnerian Wicca, began to develop, including Victor Anderson's Feri, Joseph Wilson's 1734 tradition, Aidan Kelly's New Reformed Orthodox Order of the Golden Dawn and eventually Zsuzsanna Budapest's Dianic Wicca, each of which emphasised different aspects of the faith.[95] It was also around this time that books teaching people how to become Witches themselves without formal initiation or training began to emerge, among them Paul Huson's Mastering Witchcraft (1970) and Lady Sheba's Book of Shadows (1971). Similar books continued to be published throughout the 1980s and 1990s, fuelled by the writing of such authors as Doreen Valiente, Janet Farrar, Stewart Farrar and Scott Cunningham, who popularised the idea of self-initiation into the Craft.
In the 1990s, amid ever-rising numbers of self-initiates, the popular media began to explore "witchcraft" in fictional films like The Craft and television series like Charmed, introducing numbers of young people to the idea of religious witchcraft. This growing demographic was soon catered to through the Internet and by authors like Silver Ravenwolf, much to the criticism of traditional Wiccan groups and individuals. In response to the way that Wicca was increasingly portrayed as trendy, eclectic, and influenced by the New Age movement, many Witches turned to the pre-Gardnerian origins of the Craft, and to the traditions of his rivals like Cardell and Cochrane, describing themselves as following "Traditional Witchcraft". Prominent groups within this Traditional Witchcraft revival included Andrew Chumbley's Cultus Sabbati and the Cornish Ros an Bucca cove"
So to put it simply Wicca is a modern interpretation of the ancient form of Witchcraft. Witchcraft as we know is and was the most ancient form of religion or ritualistic worship. It took on many shapes and forms around the world.
And now onto ancient witchcraft:
History of Witchcraft - Ancient Period
Prehistoric art from Lascaux caves, France, showing an animal-headed shaman (from http://www.socialfiction.org/
?tag=rockart)
Witchcraft of some sort has probably existed since humans first banded together in groups. Simple sorcery (or the use of magic accessible to ordinary people), such as setting out offerings to helpful spirits or using charms, can be found in almost all traditional societies. Prehistoric art depicts magical rites to ensure successful hunting, and also seems to depict religious rituals involving people dancing in animal costumes. Shamanism, the practice of contacting spirits through dream work and meditative trances, is probably the oldest religion, and early shamans collected much knowledge about magic and magical tools.
Witches of ancient Sumeria and Babylonia invented an elaborate Demonology. They had a belief that the world was full of spirits and that most of these spirits were hostile. Each person was supposed to have their own spirit which would protect them from demons and enemies, which could can only be fought by the use of magic (including amulets, incantations and exorcisms).
Western beliefs about witchcraft grew largely out of the mythologies and folklore of ancient peoples, especially the Egyptians, Hebrews, Greeks and Romans. Witches in ancient Egypt purportedly used their wisdom and knowledge of amulets, spells, formulas and figures to bend the cosmic powers to their purpose or that of their clients.
The Greeks had their own form of magic, which was close to a religion, known as Theurgy (the practice of rituals, often seen as magical in nature, performed with the intention of invoking the action of the gods, especially with the goal of uniting with the divine and perfecting oneself). Another lower form of magic was “mageia”, which was closer to sorcery, and was practised by individuals who claimed to have knowledge and powers to help their clients, or to harm their clients’ enemies, by performing rites or supplying certain formulas.
"Arch-Druid in his full Judicial Costume" etching from Charles Knight's "Old England: A Pictorial Museum" (1845) (from http://www.innerlight.org.uk/
journals/Vol24No3/druidrel.htm)
Some argue, however, that the real roots of witchcraft and magic as we known it come from the Celts, a diverse group of Iron Age tribal societies which flourished between about 700 BC and 100 AD in northern Europe (especially the British Isles). Believed to be descendants of Indo-Europeans, the Celts were a brilliant and dynamic people, gifted artists, musicians, storytellers, and metalworkers, as well as expert farmers and fierce warriors much feared by their adversaries, the Romans.
They were also a deeply spiritual people, who worshipped both a god and goddess. Their religion was pantheistic, meaning they worshipped many aspects of the "One Creative Life Source" and honoured the presence of the "Divine Creator" in all of nature. They believed in reincarnation and that after death they went to the Summerland for rest and renewal while awaiting rebirth. By about 350 BC, a priestly class known as the Druids had developed, who became the priests of the Celtic religion as well as teachers, judges, astrologers, healers, midwives and bards.
The religious beliefs and practices of the Celts, their love for the land, and their veneration of trees (the oak in particular) grew into what later became known as Paganism, although this label is also used for the polytheistic beliefs of the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. Blended over several centuries with the beliefs and rituals of other Indo-European groups, this spawned such practices as concocting potions and ointments, casting spells and performing works of magic, all of which (along with many of the nature-based beliefs held by the Celts and other groups) became collectively known as witchcraft in the Medieval Period."
Source:http://www.witchcraftandwitches.com/history_ancient.html
There was however, a ancient group of people, pre christian known as "the wicce". they were not an organised religion though, more cunning men and women.There is more information in this post here
"Wicce defines a specific set of British magical practices stemming from the folk culture of people who worked close to nature, people who were farmers, peasants, blacksmiths and shamans. The roots of Pagan witchcraft are not found via Gerald Gardner, but in the cunning men, wise women and working class societies like the Horsemen and Bonemen.
If we try to look for evidence of Pagan survival in the last thousand years, we can find only fragmentary evidence of a belief in classical deities. However, we can see a consistent concern with in the multiplicity of spirits associated with place, with vegetation, and so on, and practices designed to encourage or placate them. This was unlike the intellectual approach of ritual magicians, whose work was based on the predominant religion, Judeo-Christianity, and who sought their mysticism in the Cabala, tales of the watchers and so on, rather than in the much despised working-class beliefs of Britain.
The concepts and rituals of grass-roots Pagan practice has rarely been part of the state religion, whether Christian or Classical Pagan. People who work closely with Nature have an instinctive knowledge that there is a consciousness within it, that there are spirits of vegetation that can be influenced, powers of blight and bane that can be appeased, and powers of fertility and growth that can be appealed to. Very little is known of the magical practices and rituals of ordinary people in the ancient world, though we have examples of festivals centred around the natural cycles of the year, and spells for fertility, curses and so on. These are remarkably similar to ones found as far apart as modern Africa, Victorian England, and Ancient Asia.
In Britain, witches were said to consort with fairies, spirits that the church condemned as demonic. Many, such as Isabel Gowdie, freely admitted this, and claimed that their powers were obtained from commerce with the fairies in their mounds. Such tales are found throughout Britain in the pages of the witch trial reports, and suggest that a belief in fairies was prevalent among the general population. These spirits had different names and characteristics in different parts of the country, suggesting that they were spiritual emanations of the local landscape.
Unlike Druids, who were the priests and magistrates, witches have always existed outside the establishment, separate, and not even as acceptable as the tribal shaman. They have always been considered dangerous and unacceptable.
Witches in the Wicce tradition have far more in common with the tribal shaman or the village cunning man than the ritual magician."
will add more and hopefully sort this topic out a bit more at a later date!
Wicca,in its modern form as a religion started back in the 1950s. Here is an entry from wikipedia
"In the 1920s and 30s, the Egyptologist Dr Margaret Murray published several books detailing her theories that those persecuted as witches during the Early Modern period in Europe were not, as the persecutors had claimed, followers of Satanism, but adherents of a surviving pre-Christian pagan religion - the Witch-Cult. Despite now being discredited by further historical research.
It was during the 1930s that the first evidence appears for the practise of a pagan Witchcraft religion[92] (what would be recognisable now as Wicca) in England. It seems that several groups around the country, in such places as Norfolk,[93] Cheshire[94] and the New Forest had set themselves up as continuing in the tradition of Murray's Witch-Cult, albeit with influences coming from disparate sources such as ceremonial magic, folk magic, Freemasonry, Theosophy, Romanticism, Druidry, classical mythology and Asian religions.
The Witchcraft religion became more prominent beginning in 1951, with the repeal of the Witchcraft Act of 1735, after which several figures, such as Charles Cardell, Cecil Williamson and most notably Gerald Gardner, began propagating their own versions of the Craft. Gardner had been initiated into the New Forest coven in 1939, before forming his own tradition, later termed Gardnerianism, which he spread through the formation of groups like the Bricket Wood coven. His tradition, aided by the help of his High Priestess Doreen Valiente and the publication of his books Witchcraft Today (1954) and The Meaning of Witchcraft (1959), soon became the dominant form in the country, and spread to other parts of the British Isles.
[edit]Adaptation and spread, 1960–present
Following Gardner's death in 1964, the Craft continued to grow unabated despite sensationalism and negative portrayals in British tabloids, with new traditions being propagated by figures like Robert Cochrane, Sybil Leek and most importantly Alex Sanders, whose Alexandrian Wicca, which was predominantly based upon Gardnerian Wicca, albeit with an emphasis placed on ceremonial magic, spread quickly and gained much media attention. Around this time, the term "Wicca" began to be commonly adopted over "Witchcraft" and the faith was exported to countries like Australia and the United States.
It was in the United States and in Australia that new, home-grown traditions, sometimes based upon earlier, regional folk-magical traditions and often mixed with the basic structure of Gardnerian Wicca, began to develop, including Victor Anderson's Feri, Joseph Wilson's 1734 tradition, Aidan Kelly's New Reformed Orthodox Order of the Golden Dawn and eventually Zsuzsanna Budapest's Dianic Wicca, each of which emphasised different aspects of the faith.[95] It was also around this time that books teaching people how to become Witches themselves without formal initiation or training began to emerge, among them Paul Huson's Mastering Witchcraft (1970) and Lady Sheba's Book of Shadows (1971). Similar books continued to be published throughout the 1980s and 1990s, fuelled by the writing of such authors as Doreen Valiente, Janet Farrar, Stewart Farrar and Scott Cunningham, who popularised the idea of self-initiation into the Craft.
In the 1990s, amid ever-rising numbers of self-initiates, the popular media began to explore "witchcraft" in fictional films like The Craft and television series like Charmed, introducing numbers of young people to the idea of religious witchcraft. This growing demographic was soon catered to through the Internet and by authors like Silver Ravenwolf, much to the criticism of traditional Wiccan groups and individuals. In response to the way that Wicca was increasingly portrayed as trendy, eclectic, and influenced by the New Age movement, many Witches turned to the pre-Gardnerian origins of the Craft, and to the traditions of his rivals like Cardell and Cochrane, describing themselves as following "Traditional Witchcraft". Prominent groups within this Traditional Witchcraft revival included Andrew Chumbley's Cultus Sabbati and the Cornish Ros an Bucca cove"
So to put it simply Wicca is a modern interpretation of the ancient form of Witchcraft. Witchcraft as we know is and was the most ancient form of religion or ritualistic worship. It took on many shapes and forms around the world.
And now onto ancient witchcraft:
History of Witchcraft - Ancient Period
Prehistoric art from Lascaux caves, France, showing an animal-headed shaman (from http://www.socialfiction.org/
?tag=rockart)
Witchcraft of some sort has probably existed since humans first banded together in groups. Simple sorcery (or the use of magic accessible to ordinary people), such as setting out offerings to helpful spirits or using charms, can be found in almost all traditional societies. Prehistoric art depicts magical rites to ensure successful hunting, and also seems to depict religious rituals involving people dancing in animal costumes. Shamanism, the practice of contacting spirits through dream work and meditative trances, is probably the oldest religion, and early shamans collected much knowledge about magic and magical tools.
Witches of ancient Sumeria and Babylonia invented an elaborate Demonology. They had a belief that the world was full of spirits and that most of these spirits were hostile. Each person was supposed to have their own spirit which would protect them from demons and enemies, which could can only be fought by the use of magic (including amulets, incantations and exorcisms).
Western beliefs about witchcraft grew largely out of the mythologies and folklore of ancient peoples, especially the Egyptians, Hebrews, Greeks and Romans. Witches in ancient Egypt purportedly used their wisdom and knowledge of amulets, spells, formulas and figures to bend the cosmic powers to their purpose or that of their clients.
The Greeks had their own form of magic, which was close to a religion, known as Theurgy (the practice of rituals, often seen as magical in nature, performed with the intention of invoking the action of the gods, especially with the goal of uniting with the divine and perfecting oneself). Another lower form of magic was “mageia”, which was closer to sorcery, and was practised by individuals who claimed to have knowledge and powers to help their clients, or to harm their clients’ enemies, by performing rites or supplying certain formulas.
"Arch-Druid in his full Judicial Costume" etching from Charles Knight's "Old England: A Pictorial Museum" (1845) (from http://www.innerlight.org.uk/
journals/Vol24No3/druidrel.htm)
Some argue, however, that the real roots of witchcraft and magic as we known it come from the Celts, a diverse group of Iron Age tribal societies which flourished between about 700 BC and 100 AD in northern Europe (especially the British Isles). Believed to be descendants of Indo-Europeans, the Celts were a brilliant and dynamic people, gifted artists, musicians, storytellers, and metalworkers, as well as expert farmers and fierce warriors much feared by their adversaries, the Romans.
They were also a deeply spiritual people, who worshipped both a god and goddess. Their religion was pantheistic, meaning they worshipped many aspects of the "One Creative Life Source" and honoured the presence of the "Divine Creator" in all of nature. They believed in reincarnation and that after death they went to the Summerland for rest and renewal while awaiting rebirth. By about 350 BC, a priestly class known as the Druids had developed, who became the priests of the Celtic religion as well as teachers, judges, astrologers, healers, midwives and bards.
The religious beliefs and practices of the Celts, their love for the land, and their veneration of trees (the oak in particular) grew into what later became known as Paganism, although this label is also used for the polytheistic beliefs of the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. Blended over several centuries with the beliefs and rituals of other Indo-European groups, this spawned such practices as concocting potions and ointments, casting spells and performing works of magic, all of which (along with many of the nature-based beliefs held by the Celts and other groups) became collectively known as witchcraft in the Medieval Period."
Source:http://www.witchcraftandwitches.com/history_ancient.html
There was however, a ancient group of people, pre christian known as "the wicce". they were not an organised religion though, more cunning men and women.There is more information in this post here
"Wicce defines a specific set of British magical practices stemming from the folk culture of people who worked close to nature, people who were farmers, peasants, blacksmiths and shamans. The roots of Pagan witchcraft are not found via Gerald Gardner, but in the cunning men, wise women and working class societies like the Horsemen and Bonemen.
If we try to look for evidence of Pagan survival in the last thousand years, we can find only fragmentary evidence of a belief in classical deities. However, we can see a consistent concern with in the multiplicity of spirits associated with place, with vegetation, and so on, and practices designed to encourage or placate them. This was unlike the intellectual approach of ritual magicians, whose work was based on the predominant religion, Judeo-Christianity, and who sought their mysticism in the Cabala, tales of the watchers and so on, rather than in the much despised working-class beliefs of Britain.
The concepts and rituals of grass-roots Pagan practice has rarely been part of the state religion, whether Christian or Classical Pagan. People who work closely with Nature have an instinctive knowledge that there is a consciousness within it, that there are spirits of vegetation that can be influenced, powers of blight and bane that can be appeased, and powers of fertility and growth that can be appealed to. Very little is known of the magical practices and rituals of ordinary people in the ancient world, though we have examples of festivals centred around the natural cycles of the year, and spells for fertility, curses and so on. These are remarkably similar to ones found as far apart as modern Africa, Victorian England, and Ancient Asia.
In Britain, witches were said to consort with fairies, spirits that the church condemned as demonic. Many, such as Isabel Gowdie, freely admitted this, and claimed that their powers were obtained from commerce with the fairies in their mounds. Such tales are found throughout Britain in the pages of the witch trial reports, and suggest that a belief in fairies was prevalent among the general population. These spirits had different names and characteristics in different parts of the country, suggesting that they were spiritual emanations of the local landscape.
Unlike Druids, who were the priests and magistrates, witches have always existed outside the establishment, separate, and not even as acceptable as the tribal shaman. They have always been considered dangerous and unacceptable.
Witches in the Wicce tradition have far more in common with the tribal shaman or the village cunning man than the ritual magician."
will add more and hopefully sort this topic out a bit more at a later date!