Wicca, The Religion

5 Pages 1281 Words

According to (Larson), an estimated 9 million women and girls met death by fire between the years of 1300 and 1700 for practicing witchcraft. In the eighteenth century, 19 suspected witches were killed in Salem, Massachusetts. Despite such extreme countermeasures, the occult rituals of witchcraft are widely practiced today around the world (p. 464).
Wicca is a religion that has been around for a long time. There are many different types of Wicca, but the background in all off them is the same. The more established and well-known Wiccans sects include; Gardnerian, Alexandrian, Faerie, Blue Star, Georgian and the American Welsh. Those who practice Wicca are called Wiccans. Wiccans are believed to be a cult that worships the Devil. The word Wicca can be defined as twisted, bent, or warped. Wicca is known for its back to nature religion that worships the sky and Earth. As noted on (Fortunecity), Wicca is a pagan religion containing traditions of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. (Pagan religion family includes Druidism, Asatru, Egyptian, Greek, and Roman). The roots of Wicca can be traced even further back to Paleolithic peoples who worshipped a Hunter God and a Fertility Goddess. Cave paintings found in France (and dated at 30,000 years old) depict a man with the head of a stag, and a woman with a swollen, pregnant belly. They stand in a circle with eleven mortals. These archetypes of the divine are worshipped by Wiccans to this very day.
The laws against Witchcraft were repealed in England, in 1951. Gerald Gardner was the first to come into the public eye with a description of what modern witches were practicing. In the writings of (Heart), Gerald Gardner took the helm and lead Witchcraft, or Wicca back from the shadow and into the light. His information came from the traditions of a coven called the New Forest Witches, and from Ceremonial Magick and the Cabballah. He began what is now called the Gardnerian Tradition ...