Who are the Wicca?

Patricia Crowther and Gerald Gardner

In 2010, Ethan Doyle White noted the existence of two separate definitions of the term "Wicca" that had been used in neopaganism since circa 1980. Commenting on the first definition, which developed in England during the 1960s, Doyle White remarked that it "uses the term in a broad, inclusive manner that covers most, if not all, forms of modern Pagan Witchcraft, particularly if they share sufficiently similar theological beliefs, dates of commemoration and magical praxes" to be recognised as denominations within the same religious movement. In contrast, he described the second definition, which developed in the United States during the late 1970s, as referring "specifically to the tradition of Gardnerian Witchcraft, along with those that are heavily based upon it with little variation, namely Alexandrian and Algard Witchcraft." So who has it right, the Americans or the British? Is Wicca a loose word for the neopagan witchcraft movement, or is it more specifically tied to the Gardnerian tradition?

Gerald Gardner defined Wicca or "the Wica" in his book Witchcraft Today: "They are the people who call themselves the Wica, the "wise people", who practise the age‑old rites and who have, along with much superstition and herbal knowledge, preserved an occult teaching and working processes which they themselves think to be magic or witchcraft." Note that he used the spelling "Wica" and not "Wicca".

Charles Cardell was the founder of a neopagan witchcraft tradition that rivalled that of Gerald Gardner's in southern England during the 1950s. Cardell used the term "Wiccen" to refer not just to members of his own tradition, but to all neopagan witches, placing an advert in Light magazine, the journal of the College of Psychic Science, entitled "The Craft of the Wiccens" in 1958.

Janet and Stewart Farrar

So if Gardnerian witches were "the Wica" and Cardellian witches were "Wiccens" who were the Wiccans? The earliest known published reference for the word "Wicca" was in a 1962 issue of Fate magazine; in which a Cardiff-based group of neopagan witches advertised a tradition as "Wicca – Dianic and Aradian". Then in 1965, the December issue of Pentagram made reference to "the Craft of the Wiccan" apparently referring to the entire Neopagan Witchcraft community. In July 1968, a group of British Gardnerians began publishing a magazine titled The Wiccan, while Welshman Gavin Frost founded the Church of Wicca in the United States that same year. Justine Glass and June John’s book, King of the Witches, also used "Wicca", with Glass stating that "Wiccan" was the correct plural form of "Wicce". In 1971 Stewart Farrar described "Wicca" as "the witches' name for their Craft" in his book What Witches Do.

However, during the 1970s the term "Wicca" was rejected by feminist Neopagan Witchcraft groups in the United States, in particular the Dianic tradition. The term does not appear in the early works of Zsuzsanna Budapest and Starhawk, although the latter would adopt it by the 21st century.

In the 1990s there was another shift in the way the word Wicca was used, due to the availability of accurate information about the historical origins of the religion. Regarding Wicca as a modern invention rather than an ancient religion, some witches sought out pre-20th century sources of information to inspire their practices. Viewing their practices as more authentic, they began referring to themselves as "Traditional Witches" rather than Wiccan. Historian Ronald Hutton stated that he knew of three "Wiccan" covens founded in the 1980s who began to describe themselves as "Traditional Witches" in the 1990s.

I went through a period of identifying myself as a "Traditional Witch" because I felt like I wanted to find something more "authentic" and historically accurate. This lead me to study Anglo-Saxon polytheism and other Germanic religions in further detail. Of course this takes us back to the origin of the word "wicca" which is Anglo-Saxon for "a male witch". So when we refer to Wicca today, it is simply a clumsy mispronunciation of Old English. As we learn that the correct pronunciation of "cc" is "ch" not "ck" it becomes more reasonable to say "wicha" than "wicka".  And as the word "wicca" did not refer to a religion but a practitioner, it becomes more reasonable to refer to the practice as "witchcraft". If "wicca" is just the Old English for "witch" then what is witchcraft (or "the Witch-Cult") exactly?

In 1828, Karl Ernst Jarcke, was the first to claim that the witchcraft persecuted in the 15th to 18th centuries was not Satanic, but was in fact a survival of pre-Christian religion. Jarcke's theories were taken up and adapted by Franz-Josef Mone in 1839. Mone believed that the Witch-Cult must have been Hellenic in origin, based upon the mystery cults that had been brought to Germany by Greek slaves. In 1862, French historian Jules Michelet published La Sorcière, in which he adapted the theory further. He claimed that the witches had been mostly women who worshipped the god Pan.  In 1899 Charles Leland published Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches, in which he claimed that the witches of Italy belonged to a secret cult to Diana and her prophetess daughter Aradia. In the 1920s and 1930s, Margaret Murray claimed that the deity of the Witch-Cult could appear in both male or female form, as the Roman deities Diana and Dianus. For this reason she called it the Dianic cult. However, Murray noted that over the centuries, Diana's role in the faith had diminished, and Dianus, who was depicted as a horned god, became the main deity.

Is it necessary to agree with the Witch-Cult hypothesis in order to be a modern witch? Does calling onself a witch denote acceptance of the hypothesis? Personally, I do not find it necessary, and instead I consider it a fantasy upon which a new religion has been built, called Wicca. We really do belong to the world of fantasy.