Wicca is perhaps the most popular Neo-Pagan religion today. In the 20th century, it arose from a small practice in England to a nearly worldwide phenomenon. What exactly is Wicca once you separate it from misconceptions, Hollywood fluff, rumors and witch wars?

Gerald Gardner, a former plantation manager with a keen interest in folklore, is believed to be the founder of this modern religion based on pre-Christian beliefs, tribal practices and ceremonial magic. He claimed to be initiated into a coven practicing a surviving strand of ancient witchcraft by Dorothy Clutterbuck near Christchurch in England, a claim still shrouded in mystery. This group later came to be known as the New Forest Coven.

He used the term Wica which became Wicca, the modern word for witch and wise. However, the etymology has been debated. It is believed most likely derived from an Old English word of various meanings, one being diviner.

He formed a coven and initiated others into a three-degree system now known as Gardnerian Wicca. British Traditional Wicca refers to initiatory covens with a degree system tracing their roots back to Britain to differentiate them from the more eclectic and solitary forms of the religion.

In his 1949 novel, High Magic's Aid, Gardner set forth many of his beliefs and rituals. After the repeal of the Witchcraft and Vagrancy acts in England in 1951, he published Witchcraft Today in which he describes what he believed to be the remnants of an ancient witch cult. He possibly borrowed this term from anthropologist Margaret Murray, mainly her book The Witch Cult in Western Europe. Her theory of one Pagan "Old Religion" encompassing much of ancient Europe has been debated and discredited throughout academia and Paganism.

The fact that Wicca is not an ancient religion does not negate its validity. Gardner fused ancient and modern concepts of mystery religions into a beautiful system that celebrates pre-Christian deities, the sacredness of nature, human potential, and communion with divinity.

The gods of Wicca are most notably embodied in the Lord and Lady. The Lord is the Horned God of nature. The Lady is "first among equals" and experienced as the Triple Goddess - the Maiden, Mother, and Crone. Some believe the Lord and Lady are aspects of one creator while others see them as separate but still part of the greater whole.

The religion is celebrated around a wheel of the year comprised of eight holidays or Sabbats which include:

• Samhain (Halloween)
• Yule (Winter Solstice)
• Imbolc
• Ostara (Spring Equinox)
• Beltane (May Day)
• Litha (Summer Solstice)
• Lughnasadh (or Lammas)
• Mabon (Autumn Equinox)
  

This wheel revolves around the yearly agricultural cycle so important to our ancestors. Themes of death and rebirth are enacted through the dying vegetation god myth. The Lord is the sacrificial king who gives himself to the Lady for the good of the people and the earth. He is reborn through the Lady to grow and become her lover continuing the cycle of death and regeneration.

The moon cycles are also celebrated as a time to honor the Goddess and practice magic. In Wicca, this time is associated with women, mystery, and the feminine principle of creation.

Rituals include creating sacred space by casting a circle to commune with the gods and do magic from. Wicca is first and foremost a religion. However, magic is a common practice among its adherents, hence the term - the Craft. For many, Wicca as religion and Wicca as Craft are inseparable while others rarely include magic as part of their practice. Participants gather to form covens or practice solitary.

While Wiccans are not "people of the book" such as those who follow religions based on texts like the Christian Bible, there is still a strong set of ethics at its very core.

These ethics stem from the Wiccan Rede which states An it harm none, Do what ye will and the Threefold Law which warns that what you do for good or ill comes back to you threefold.

There is debate as to how the Rede is interpreted. Some have adopted the Charge of the Goddess as their main creed to live by which includes the statement - Keep pure your highest ideal; strive ever towards it; let naught stop you or turn you aside.

This explanation is only a generalization of Wicca. Not every Wiccan practices in the same way or honors the same deities. Many strands of Wicca have emerged since Gerald Gardner's day. It would be a mistake to try to fit them all neatly under one umbrella.

One central theme is to set its followers on the journey to the mystery, the Divine, the universal source of love and creation. The process of the journey is believed to be as sacred as the destination itself and a path not to be undertaken lightly.

Sources consulted:

• Farrar, Janet and Stewart Farrar. A Witches' Bible: The Complete Witches' Handbook. Phoenix Publishing Inc., 1981.

• Hutton, Ronald. The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft. OxfordUniversity Press, 1999.