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admin sinfulldude · Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 11:04 pm Post subject: FORMS OF WITCHCRAFT TODAY

Voodoo

Marie Laveau, The Voodoo Queen, far from being persecuted as a witch, more or less dominated the city of New Orleans in the 19th century with her Voodoo magic.

Voodoo is a spirit and nature-based religion which originates in Africa and was brought to the new world by african slaves who mixed their beliefs with christian saints. This cult would eventually work its way to modern America to the Old New Orleans of Marie Laveau. To this day she is a celebrated legend in New Orleans. This is in sharp contrast to the way witches and suspected witches were treated in most places in early America. Voodoo is still very present in the Caraibes, Louisiana and South America (where it can have other names).

Pagan
One of the leading, though controversial, advocates of the connection between the European witchcraft of more modern times and the prehistoric pagan past was the Egyptologist Margaret Murray who authored "The Witch Cult in Western Europe" and "The God of the Witches." These books promoted the concept that some of the Witches who were exterminated by the Christian Churches during the "Burning Times" (1450-1792) were remnants of an earlier, organized, and dominant pre-Christian religion in Europe. Some of the old practices were lost when indigenous religions encountered militant Christianity and were forced to go underground for survival. Parents transmitted their traditions to their children, with parts being lost and new parts created in succeeding generations. These survivals, along with research into the old ways, provide a rich foundation for modern practice. Other factors contributing to the revival of the Craft are archaeological and anthropological studies of the religious practices of non-Christian cultures, the works of the Golden Dawn and other metaphysical orders, and the liberalization of anti-Witchcraft laws. These people today view themselves as followers of cults they see in a tradition they associate with alleged practices of the European witches, but that is more or less wishful thinking.

The evidence proves that underlying the Christian religion was a cult practiced by many classes of the community, chiefly however by the more ignorant or those in the less thickly inhabited parts of the country. It can be traced back to pre-christian times and appears to be the ancient religion of western Europe. The god, anthropomorphic or theriomorphic, was worshiped in well-defined rites; the organization was highly developed; and the ritual is analogous to many other ancient rituals. The dates of the chief festivals suggest that the religion belonged to a race which had not reached the agricultural stage. ... It was a definite religion with beliefs, ritual, and organization as highly developed as that of any other cult in the world. From Miss Murray

Neo Pagan
As a religion, Wicca or the Craft is a revival and/or reconstruction of the pre-Christian religions of Europe, especially Northern Europe (Celtic or Norse traditions) but also Graeco-Roman, Egyptian, or Levantine traditions. Some have turned for inspiration to the still-living indigenous traditions of other lands, such as Australia, Asia, India, and the Americas and have introduced peculair pratices to the Craft. As Margot Adler, a Witchcraft authority, has written, "The real tradition of the Craft is creativity."

Wicca's rituals are based on the four seasons (solstices and equinoxes). Wiccans believe in reincarnation and worship death as a natural part of the Cycle of the Year. They offer incense, cake, and wine/fruit juices to members during services. There is no good or evil and members are free to review different belief systems (Celtic, Norse, Essene, Gnosis, Shamanism) and blend together points right for their personal path. Their belief system is based on living in harmony with all things that exist (Earth, trees, rivers, lakes, oceans, air, people). In the New Age philosophy this relates to the concept of "Gaia" or Mother Earth which views planet earth as essentially a living being. Wicca is a highly individualistic religion and members do not proselytize. Wicca promotes sex and race equality. Witchcraft teaches that one should follow their heart and take responsibility for their actions. Modern Witches hold rituals according to the turning of the seasons, the tides of the moon, and personal needs. Most rituals are performed in a ritual space marked by a circle.

Witchcraft came to mean a collection of beliefs and practices including spellcasting, ("fortune telling"), meditation, herbalism, ritual and ritual drama, creative mythology, singing and dancing to raise energy, healing through spells, mixing unguents (ointments or concoctions), dabbling in the supernatural (doing magic), divining or forecasting the future, and engaging in clairvoyance. The modern witch functioned more like a priestess than an evil sorceress.

There are several Wicca schools:

Gardnerian Wicca

Alexandrian Wicca

Celtic Wicca/Church-School of Wicca.

Dianic Wicca

Radical Faery Wicca

Saxon/Seax Wicca

Traditionalist (Welsh, Scots, Greeks...)

Gardnerian Wicca
Gerald B. Gardner, a retired British civil servant, is known as the "Grandfather" of almost all Neo-Wicca. In 1939, in England, he was initiated into a coven and persuaded it to let him write a book in 1949 about Wicca in the form of a novel, High Magic's Aid. He then wroteWitchcraft Today in 1954 in which he described additional details about the faith. Largely promulgated and popularized in the 1950s, these books are considered the most influential of the Traditions among the Neo-Pagan community. Gardnerian Wicca is both traditional and family with principles of love and trust. It is a structured religion with definite hierarchy within each coven (a matriarchy exists with the High Priestess being the leader). The typical Gardnerian view of the Goddess is that of a dominant Three-Faced Goddess (Maid, Mother, Crone) with a Male Consort (has two sides: Young Summer King and Old Winter fgtbcontroversial. Gardnerian Wicca requires ritual nudity and Norse Wicca is based out of it. Gerald Gardner was a member of the Ancient Druid Order and, along with Ross Nichols, founded the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids.

Alexandrian Wicca
Alexandrian refers to ancient Alexandria, but is credited to Alex Sanders who was initiated in 1933 by his grandmother. Alexandrian Wicca is very close to Gardnerian, but is more eclectic and liberal with a little more emphasis on ceremonial magick. It has numerous covens in the United States and Europe.

Celtic Wicca/Church-School of Wicca
Founded by Gavin and Yvonne Frost. Celtic Wicca uses three circles (one within the others) made of salt, sulphur, and herbs with runes and symbols between them instead of just one circle. They insist on white-handled athame instead of the black-handled. It is also called "Baptist Wicca". The School of Wicca is the largest correspondence school of Witchcraft in the United States. It is somewhat unconventional and they consider themselves monotheistic, not Pagan.

Dianic Wicca
This is more of a sub-class (there are several feminist traditions that are considered Dianic). Dianic tends to emphasize the female aspect of the Goddess (sometimes excluding the God). These covens tend to be more politically active. There are two branches of Dianic Wicca :

Founded in Texas by Morgan McFarland and Mark Roberts, "Old Dianic” gives primacy to the Goddess and covens are mixed.
"Feminist Dianic Witchcraft" focuses exclusively on the Goddess and consists of women-only covens and groups

Radical Faery Wicca
Gay men's tradition

Saxon/Seax Wicca
Started by Raymond Buckland (originally a leader in promoting Gardnerian Tradition), it has provisions for lone witches/solitaires. Saxon is set apart because of its non-reliance upon being properly initiated into the Wiccan community. It allows for self-initiation and an Auto setup of a coven.

Traditionalist (Welsh, Scots, Greeks, Irish)
A sub-class based upon the traditions, literature, mythology, and folktales of that particular geographic/demographic area.