| History of Wicca by Keshava |
 |
| It's hard to sit down and just write something’s history. Were to start? Some believe our history starts before recorded history. Some 800,000 years ago in the early Paleolithic era, (Early Stone Age) with the very birth of man and the clan shamans and fertility goddesses as we began to become what we now see as human. We became aware of our spirit and ourselves. But the question is were they Wiccan or even Pagan as we see it today? Most religions could look back at those people and see a footprint or two of their religion in the beliefs of those early humans. They would be right to think it too. Modern religions believe in much the same things, a divine creator, a spirit, and life after death. Why fertility religions? Fertility goddesses were a natural step in religion as women could have children. The concept of intercourse leading to children was beyond their grasp of how things worked. Women could do something men could not, giving them magic over the mean. The next big step for the human race was in the Neolithic period (6500-2900 B.C.E.) and the domestication of plants and animals. People would have started to develop gods/goddesses that would reflect there new lives, like the Celtic clans of Europe. We have more in common with those groups, but are they Wiccan or pagan as we see it today? Then, we as a people had to change in history and our next great step would be the development of great cultures, such as the Egyptians, Greek, and Romans. Almost all modern religions came from theses great cultures. Their many god’s and goddesses still hold great power with in the pagan community. But we still have to ask ourselves are they Wiccan or Pagan as we see it today? So were to start? How about the word Wicca? What does it mean today? First and foremost Wicca is the name of a modern religion. First coming to be known as Wicca in 1953 when a man named Gerald Gardner and a woman by the name of Doreen Valiente began to rewrite Gardner’s book of shadows (BOS). Gardner had takin from many different sources to build his personal faith. From such people as Margaret Alice Murray’s books on witchcraft and people like Cecil Hugh Williamson who owned the “museum of witchcraft” were Gardner was the director and resident witch in 1951. He even had a chance to talk to Aleister Crowley toward the end of Crowley’s life comparing notes on witchcraft and the occult. All this, plus more was brought to the table in 1953 when Doreen Valiente formed what we now know as Gardnerian tradition of witchcraft. A little about Gerald Gardner a. Gerald Gardner was born on the 13th of June 1884 in a small northern town called “Blundellsands” near Liverpool, England. b. From 1923 until he retired in 1936, Gardner worked as a civil servant for the British government, first as a rubber plantation inspector, then as a customs official and inspector of opium establishments. c. Gardner wrote his first book “Keris and other Malay Weapons” in 1936 when he was 55 years old. d. In 1939 he wrote and had published his second book, “A Goddess Arrives.” e. Settled in the New Forrest area of Hampshire f. Gardner clamed to be initiation in September of 1939 g. Met Crowley in 1947 just before he died. Gardner was 63 and Crowley was 72. h. Crowley gave Gardner an honorary member of the Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO), a Tantric sex magic order at one time under his leadership, and granted him a charter to operate his own lodge. (Think bdsm) I. Published his next book “High Magic’s Aid” in 1949 (The book contained the basic ideas for what was later to become “Gardnerian Wicca”.) j. In 1953 Gardner met “Doreen Valiente” he was 69 and she was 31. k. In 1954 Gardner wrote and had published his first non-fiction book on witchcraft, “Witchcraft Today”. l. In 1957, Doreen Valiente and others members left and went there separate ways. m. Published his last book “The Meaning of Witchcraft” in 1959. n. Left this world on the 12th of February 1964 at the age of 80. We know were Wicca comes from and who were the key people in its formation but what is Wicca today? Many feel that the only true Wiccan would have to have a direct link to Gardner and his tradition, but today that is known as traditional Wicca. Others feel that the spirit of the religion out weighs the need for direct ties to Gardner. Learning from many deferent places to form their personal beliefs. As I see it, Gardner was very much a free thinker and open to many ideas where he formed his own idea of how he seen the world around him. So in the end, which way is right is left up to a better man or woman then me. All rivers lead to the sea, yet no one knows what lies at the bottom. All faith lead to the divine, can you truly claim to know the only why? - Some informtion from Controversial.com - http://library.thinkquest.org/10805/index.html - http://www.yourcyprus.com/history/ Keshavas's Group Keshava's Site |