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Part of a series on
Wicca
Pentacle
History of Wicca History of Wicca Etymology of Wicca Bricket Wood coven New Forest coven Dettmer v. Landon Witch-cult hypothesis
Notable figures Gerald Gardner Doreen Valiente Alex Sanders Maxine Sanders Sybil Leek Dafo Margot Adler Victor Anderson Artemis Gavin Bone Lois Bourne Jack Bracelin Raymond Buckland Eddie Buczynski Zsuzsanna Budapest Charles Cardell Ipsita Roy Chakraverti Patricia Crowther Vivianne Crowley Robert Cochrane Scott Cunningham Phyllis Curott Cerridwen Fallingstar Janet Farrar Stewart Farrar Raven Grimassi Gavin Frost Yvonne Frost Philip Heselton Frederic Lamond Silver RavenWolf Starhawk Joseph Wilson
Rites and rituals Drawing down the Moon Great rite Handfasting Wiccaning Fivefold kiss Magic circle Cone of power Herbal medicine Scrying Spellwork / Incantation Banishing Divination Invocation Initiation Rite of passage Eko Eko Azarak Solitary practitioner Spiral dance
Deities Triple Goddess Horned God Green Man Holly King / Oak King Mother goddess
Traditions Alexandrian Wicca Algard Wicca Blue Star Wicca Central Valley Wicca Chthonioi Alexandrian Wicca Gardnerian Wicca 1734 Tradition Celtic Wicca Church and School of Wicca Cochrane's Craft Coven of Atho Dianic Wicca Faery Wicca Georgian Wicca Odyssean Wicca Reclaiming Seax-Wica Stregheria Universal Eclectic Wicca
Wiccan organisations Aquarian Tabernacle Church Coven Celeste Children of Artemis Church and School of Wicca Circle Sanctuary Covenant of the Goddess New Reformed Orthodox Order of the Golden Dawn Panthean Temple The Rowan Tree Church SpiralScouts International Universal Eclectic Wicca Wiccan Church of Canada Witchcraft Research Association
Holidays Wheel of the Year Solstice Equinox Imbolc Ostara Beltane Midsummer Lughnasadh Mabon Samhain Yule Esbat Wild Hunt
Key concepts Wiccan morality Wiccan Rede Rule of Three Wiccan views of divinity Coven Craft name Magic Witchcraft White magic Otherworld The Summerland Reincarnation Karma Skyclad Summoner Watchtower Familiar Animism
Paraphernalia Magical tools in Wicca Altar Amulet Athame Bell Besom Boline Book of Shadows Candles Cauldron Censer Chalice/Goblet Horn Incense Parchment Pentacle Runes Scourge Statue Talisman Tarot deck Theban alphabet Wand Witch's ladder
Literature Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches The Meaning of Witchcraft The Spiral Dance What Witches Do Witchcraft Today Charge of the Goddess Enchanted Feminism
Other Cunning folk Cunning folk in Britain Enochian European witchcraft Fluffy Bunny Flying ointment Goetia Granny woman LGBT and Wicca Malleus Maleficarum Museum of Witchcraft and Magic Runes Theban Thelema Witch hunt Witchcraft Research Association Witches' Sabbath Witching hour
v t e

Neopagan witchcraft is an umbrella term for some neo-pagan traditions that include the practice of magic. These traditions began in the mid-20th century and were influenced by the witch-cult hypothesis; a now-rejected theory that persecuted witches had actually been followers of a surviving pagan religion.

In contemporary Western culture, adherents of some neo-pagan religions, most notably Wicca, as well as some followers of New Age belief systems, may self-identify as "witches", and use the term "witchcraft" for their self-help, healing, or divination rituals. Other neo-pagans avoid the term due to its negative connotations.

Religious studies scholars class these various neopagan witchcraft traditions under the broad category of 'Wicca', many within British Traditional Wicca do not believe that all Witches should be called Wiccan.

Origins

In the 1920s, the witch-cult hypothesis gained increasing attention in occult circles when it was popularized by Margaret Murray. The witch-cult hypothesis was the idea that those persecuted as witches were followers of a pagan religion that had survived the Christianization of Europe. This has been proven untrue by further historical research. Though the theory of a universal, organized pre-Christian religion was discredited in academia, it spurred renewed interest in witchcraft.

From the 1930s, occult neopagan groups began to emerge who called their religion a kind of 'witchcraft'. They were initiatory secret societies inspired by Murray's 'witch cult' theory, ceremonial magic, Aleister Crowley's Thelema, and historical paganism. They did not use the term "witchcraft" in the traditional way, but instead define their practices as a kind of "positive magic". The earliest group was the Bricket Wood coven of English occultist Gerald Gardner. Gardner claimed to have been initiated by a group of 'pagan witches', the New Forest coven, whom he said were one of the few remnants of this 'pagan witch cult'. His story is disputed by academics. The 'witchcraft' that Gardner taught, later known as Wicca, had a lot in common with Margaret Murray's hypothetical witch cult. Indeed, Murray wrote an introduction to Gardner's Witchcraft Today (1954).

Gerald Gardner was not the only person who believed they were a member of a surviving remnant of a pagan witch-cult. Others such as Sybil Leek, Charles Cardell, Raymond Howard, Rolla Nordic, Robert Cochrane and Paul Huson also claimed to have been initiated by surviving witch covens and to be following "hereditary" or "traditional" forms of pagan witchcraft.

English historian Ronald Hutton notes that modern pagan witchcraft is "the only full-formed religion which England can be said to have given the world."

Following its establishment abroad, Gardnerian Wicca was brought to the U.S. in the early 1960s by English initiate Raymond Buckland and his then-wife Rosemary, who together founded a coven in Long Island. In the U.S., numerous new variants of Wicca then developed.

Wicca

Wicca is a modern pagan religion that draws on a diverse set of ancient pagan religious motifs for its theological structure and ritual practice. The religion usually incorporates the practice of witchcraft. Developed in England in the first half of the 20th century, Wicca was later popularised in the 1950s and early 1960s by Gerald Gardner. Gardner was a retired British civil servant, and an amateur anthropologist and historian who had a broad familiarity with pagan religions, esoteric societies and occultism in general. At the time Gardner called it the "witch cult" and "witchcraft", and referred to its adherents as "the Wica". From the 1960s onward, the name of the religion was normalised to "Wicca".

Various forms of Wicca are now practised as a religion with positive ethical principles, organised into autonomous covens and led by a High Priesthood. A survey published in 2000 cited just over 200,000 people who reported practicing Wicca in the United States. There is also an "Eclectic Wiccan" movement of individuals and groups who share key Wiccan beliefs but have no formal link with traditional Wiccan covens. Some Wiccan-inspired neopagans call their beliefs and practices "traditional witchcraft" or the "traditional craft" rather than Wicca. Pagan studies scholar Ethan Doyle White described it as "a broad movement of aligned magico-religious groups who reject any relation to Gardnerianism and the wider Wiccan movement, asserting older, more traditional roots. Although typically united by a shared aesthetic rooted in European folklore, the Traditional Craft contains within its ranks a rich and varied array of occult groups, from those who follow a contemporary Pagan path that is suspiciously similar to Wicca, to those who adhere to Luciferianism". It includes the Feri Tradition, Cochrane's Craft and the Sabbatic Craft While some Wiccans call themselves witches, others avoid the term due to its negative connotations.

Gardnerian Wicca

Gardnerian Wicca, or Gardnerian witchcraft, is the oldest tradition of Wicca. The tradition is itself named after Gerald Gardner (1884–1964). Gardner formed the Bricket Wood coven and in turn initiated many Witches who founded further covens, continuing the initiation of more Wiccans in the tradition. The term "Gardnerian" was probably coined by the founder of Cochranian Witchcraft, Robert Cochrane in the 1950s or 60s, who himself left that tradition to found his own.

Alexandrian Wicca

Alexandrian Wicca is the tradition founded by Alex Sanders (also known as "King of the Witches") who, with his wife Maxine Sanders, established it in Britain in the 1960s. Alexandrian Wicca is similar in many ways to and largely based upon Gardnerian Wicca, in which Sanders was trained to the first degree of initiation. It also contains elements of ceremonial magic and Qabalah, which Sanders studied independently. It is considered one of Wicca's most widely recognized traditions.

Eclectic Wicca

While the origins of modern Wiccan practice lie in coven activity and the careful handing on of practices to a small number of initiates, since the 1970s a widening public appetite made this unsustainable. From about that time, larger, more informal, often publicly advertised camps and workshops began to take place and it has been argued that this more informal but more accessible method of passing on the tradition is responsible for the rise of eclectic Wicca. Eclectic Wiccans are more often than not solitary practitioners. Some of these solitaries do, however, attend gatherings and other community events, but reserve their spiritual practices (Sabbats, Esbats, spell-casting, worship, magical work, etc.) for when they are alone. Eclectic Wicca is the most popular variety of Wicca in America and eclectic Wiccans now significantly outnumber lineaged Wiccans; their beliefs and practices tend to be much more varied.

Reclaiming

Reclaiming is a tradition of modern, feminist witchcraft. It is made of an international community of women and men working to combine witchcraft, the Goddess movement, earth-based spirituality, and political activism. The tradition developed in the classes and rituals of its predecessor, the Reclaiming Collective (1978–1997). It was founded in 1979, amidst the peace and anti-nuclear movements, by two Neopagan women of Jewish descent, Starhawk (Miriam Simos) and Diane Baker, in order to explore and develop feminist Neopagan emancipatory rituals. Today, the organization focuses on progressive social, political, environmental and economic activism.

Traditional Witchcraft

Some strands of neopagan witchcraft refer to themselves as "Traditional Witchcraft", "Traditional Pagan Witchcraft"', or "Traditional Craft". Their beliefs and practices are similar to Wicca, but they use these terms to differentiate themselves from mainstream Wicca, asserting older or more traditional roots. Their definition of "traditional" in this case is the modern redefinition – based in the now-debunked Witch-cult hypothesis of Witches as persecuted healers – not the traditional meaning of witchcraft held by most cultures worldwide. They may wish to practice neopagan witchcraft differently from mainstream Wicca and outside national Wiccan networks. Religious studies scholars consider it to fall under the umbrella or broad category of Wicca. Religious studies scholar Ethan Doyle White described Traditional Witchcraft as:

a broad movement of aligned magico-religious groups who reject any relation to Gardnerianism and the wider Wiccan movement, claiming older, more "traditional" roots. Although typically united by a shared aesthetic rooted in European folklore, the Traditional Craft contains within its ranks a rich and varied array of occult groups, from those who follow a contemporary Pagan path that is suspiciously similar to Wicca, to those who adhere to Luciferianism.

Cochrane's Craft

I am a witch descended from a family of witches. Genuine witchcraft is not paganism, though it retains the memory of ancient faiths.

It is a religion mystical in approach and puritanical in attitudes. It is the last real mystery cult to survive, with a very complex and evolved philosophy that has strong affinities with many Christian beliefs. The concept of a sacrificial god was not new to the ancient world; it is not new to a witch.

Roy Bowers, a.k.a. Robert Cochrane (1931–1966), founded "Cochrane's Craft", a form of traditional witchcraft, in opposition to Gardnerian Wicca. Cochrane's Clan of Tubal Cain worshipped a Horned God and a Triple Goddess, much akin to Gerald Gardner's Bricket Wood Coven. Cochrane himself disliked Gardner and his take on Wicca, and often ridiculed him and his Craft. While the Cochran Tradition uses ritual tools, they differ somewhat from those used by Gardnerians, some being the ritual knife (known as an athamé), a staff (known as a stang), a cup (or commonly a chalice), a stone (used as a whetstone to sharpen the athame), and a ritual cord worn by coven members.

At a gathering at Glastonbury Tor held by the Brotherhood of the Essenes in 1964, Cochrane met Doreen Valiente, who had formerly been a High Priestess of Gardner's Bricket Wood Coven. The two became friends, and Valiente joined the Clan of Tubal Cain. Cochrane often insulted and mocked Gardnerian witches, which annoyed Valiente. This reached an extreme in that even at one point in 1966 he called for "a Night of the Long Knives of the Gardnerians", at which point Doreen "rose up and challenged him in the presence of the rest of the coven".

Feri Tradition

The Feri Tradition (not to be confused with Faery, Fairy, Faerie, or Vicia, which are different traditions) is an ecstatic (rather than fertility) tradition stemming from the experience of Cora and Victor Anderson. Scholars of Paganism like Joanne Pearson and Ethan Doyle White have characterised Feri as a Wiccan tradition. The latter noted however that some modern Pagans restrict the term Wicca to British Traditional Wicca, in which case Feri would not be classified as Wicca; he deemed this exclusionary definition of the term to be "unsuitable for academic purposes". Instead, he characterised Feri as one form of Wicca which is nevertheless distinct from others, such as British Traditional Wicca, Dianic Wicca, and Stregheria.

Sabbatic craft

Sabbatic craft, a term coined by Andrew D. Chumbley, is described as "an initiatory line of spirit-power that can inform all who are receptive to its impetus, and which – when engaged with beyond names – may be understood as a Key unto the Hidden Design of Arte." Chumbley sometimes referred to the Nameless Faith, Crooked Path, and Via Tortuosa. He reserved "Sabbatic Craft" as a unifying term to refer to the "convergent lineages" of the "Cultus Sabbati," a body of traditional witchcraft initiates. The Sabbatic craft is a path of traditional witchcraft.

Chumbley's works and those of Daniel Schulke on the Cultus Sabbati's "ongoing tradition of sorcerous wisdom" continue to serve as the prototypical reference works. The craft is not an ancient, pre-Christian tradition surviving into the modern age. It is a tradition rooted in "cunning-craft," a patchwork of older magical practice and later Christian mythology.

'Sabbatic Craft' describes a corpus of magical practices which self-consciously utilize the imagery and mythos of the "Witches' Sabbath" as a cipher of ritual, teaching and gnosis. This is not the same as saying that one practises the self-same rituals in the self-same manner as the purported early modern "witches" or historically attested cunning folk, rather it points toward the fact that the very mythos which had been generated about both "witches" and their "ritual gatherings" has been appropriated and re-orientated by contemporary successors of cunning-craft observance, and then knowingly applied for their own purposes.

— Andrew Chumbley defining Sabbatic Craft

In his grimoire Azoëtia, Chumbley incorporated diverse iconography from ancient Sumerian, Egyptian, Yezidi, and Aztec cultures. He spoke of a patchwork of ancestral and tutelary spirit folklore which he perceived amidst diverse "Old Craft" traditions in Britain as "a gnostic faith in the Divine Serpent of Light, in the Host of the Gregori, in the Children of Earth sired by the Watchers, in the lineage of descent via Lilith, Mahazael, Cain, Tubal-cain, Naamah, and the Clans of the Wanderers." Schulke believed that folk and cunning-crafts of Britain absorbed multicultural elements from "Freemasonry, Bible divination, Romany charms, and other diverse streams," what Chumbley called "dual-faith observance," referring to a "co-mingling of ‘native’ forms of British magic and Christianity".

Stregheria

An Italian neopagan religion similar to Wicca emerged in the 1970s, known as Stregheria. While Wicca was inspired by Murray's witch cult, Stregheria closely resembles Charles Leland's controversial account of an Italian pagan witchcraft religion, which he wrote about in Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches (1899). Its followers worship the Goddess Diana, her brother Dianus/Lucifer, and their daughter Aradia. They do not see Lucifer as the evil Satan that Christians see, but a benevolent god of the Sun. Most followers celebrate eight festivals equivalent to the Wiccan Wheel of the Year, though others follow the ancient Roman festivals. An emphasis is placed on ancestor worship and 'balance'.

Witchcraft, feminism, and media

Some of the recent growth in Wicca has been attributed to popular media such as Charmed, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the Harry Potter series, with their depictions of "positive witchcraft", which differs from the historical, traditional, and Indigenous definitions. A case study, "Mass Media and Religious Identity: A Case Study of Young Witches", found that the portrayal of positive witchcraft in popular culture is one reason young people are choosing to become Wiccans or self-identify as witches. The Internet is also thought to be driving growth in Wicca.

Wiccans often consider their beliefs to be in line with liberal ideals such as the Green movement, and particularly with feminism, by providing young women with what they see as a means for self-empowerment, control of their own lives, and a way of influencing the world around them. Feminist ideals are prominent in some branches of Wicca, such as Dianic Wicca, which has a tradition of women-led and women-only groups. The 2002 study Enchanted Feminism: The Reclaiming Witches of San Francisco suggests that some branches of Wicca include influential members of the second wave of feminism, which has also been redefined as a religious movement.

As of 2006, many within British Traditional Wicca do not believe that feminist Witches should be called Wiccan.

Demographics

Neopagan witchcraft has been extremely difficult to pinpoint due to many religious surveys grouping it with general Paganism, stigmatization from much of the outside world, poor public opinion, and the secrecy prevalent among Neopagan Witches (and Pagans as a whole). This causes the demographics to fluctuate drastically and become difficult to track. Establishing exact numbers pertaining to witchcraft is difficult. Nevertheless, there is a slow growing body of data on the subject. Based on studies conducted in the United States, all that can be said accurately of the growth rate of Neopagan Witchcraft in the U.S. is that "as of 2001 the ARIS organization reports that contemporary witchcraft saw a 1.575% growth rate between 1990 and 2001, effectively a doubling of adherents every two years." The limited tracking by ARIS has kept Neopagan Witchcraft from being continually and accurately tracked. However, there have been spikes over the years. These are attributed to growth as well as an increase in practitioner’s willingness to report, and increasingly positive views of Wicca in America.

The examples and perspective in this section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may improve this section, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new section, as appropriate. (July 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

United States

Based on the most recent survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, there an estimated 1.2 million Pagans in the United States. Six per mill of respondents answered "Pagan" or "Wiccan" when polled.

According to Dr. Helen A. Berger's 1995 survey, "The Pagan Census", most American Pagans are middle class, educated, and live in urban/suburban areas on the East and West coasts.

See also

• Astrotheology – Theological discipline
• Babalon – Goddess in Thelema
• English qaballa – English Qaballa system of James LeesPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
• Enochian magic – System of Renaissance magic
• European witchcraft – Belief in witchcraft in Europe
• Great rite – Wiccan ritual
• Lunar deity – Deity that represents the Moon
• Priestess – Women's ordination in religious groups
• Sorcery (goetia) – Magical practice involving evocation of spirits
• The Thunder, Perfect Mind – Text in the Nag Hammadi library

References

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1. Berger 1999, p. 10.
2. Huson, Paul Mastering Witchcraft: a Practical Guide for Witches, Warlocks, and Covens, New York: G.P. Putnams Sons, 1970.
3. Clifton, Chas S., Her Hidden Children: The Rise of Wicca and Paganism in America, Lanham, MD: Altamira, 2006, ISBN 0759102023.
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5. ^ Berger, Helen A.; Ezzy, Douglas (September 2009). "Mass Media and Religious Identity: A Case Study of Young Witches". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 48 (3): 501–514. doi:10.1111/j.1468-5906.2009.01462.x. JSTOR 40405642.
6. Kelly, Aidan A. (1992). "An Update on Neopagan Witchcraft in America". In James R. Lewis; J. Gordon Melton (eds.). Perspectives on the New Age. Albany: State University of New York Press. pp. 136–151. ISBN 978-0791412138.
7. ^ Lewis, James (1996). Magical Religion and Modern Witchcraft. SUNY Press. p. 376.
8. ^ Doyle White, Ethan (2015). Wicca: History, Belief & Community in Modern Pagan Witchcraft. Liverpool University Press. pp. 160–162.
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12. Hutton, Ronald (2017). The Witch: A History of Fear, from Ancient Times to the Present. Yale University Press. p. 121.
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17. Valiente 1989, pp. 35–62.
18. Phillips, Julia (2004) , History of Wicca in England: 1939 to the Present Day (PDF), the Australian Wiccan Conference in Canberra (2004 Revised ed.), Canberra, archived (PDF) from the original on 5 March 2016{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
19. Heselton, Philip (2000). Wiccan Roots. ISBN 978-1861631107.
20. Heselton, Philip (2003). Gerald Gardner and the Cauldron of Inspiration. ISBN 978-1861631640.
21. Hutton 1999, p. .
22. Ruickbie, Leo (2004). Witchcraft Out of the Shadows. ISBN 978-0709075677.
23. Murray, Margaret A., The Witch-Cult in Western Europe, Oxford University Press, 1921.
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25. Clifton 2006, p. .
26. ^ Hutton 1999, p. vii.
27. Lipp 2007, p. 13.
28. Clifton 2006, pp. 24–25.
29. Lipp 2007, ch. 1.
30. Gardner, Gerald B (1999) . Witchcraft Today. Lake Toxaway, NC: Mercury Publishing. ISBN 0-8065-2593-2. OCLC 44936549.
31. Seims, Melissa (2008). "Wica or Wicca? - Politics and the Power of Words". The Cauldron.
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38. See Adler, Margot (1979). Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America Today. Viking. ISBN 0-670-28342-8., and Farrar, Janet; Stewart, Bone, Gavin (1995). The Pagan Path. Phoenix Publishing. ISBN 0-919345-40-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link), among others.
39. Howard, Michael (2009). Modern Wicca. Woodbury, Minnesota: Llewellyn. pp. 299-301.
40. Smith, Diane (2005). Wicca and Witchcraft for Dummies. Wiley Publishing. Pg. 125.
41. "British Traditional Wicca F.A.Q." Sacramento, CA: New Wiccan Church International. Archived from the original on 2011-07-27. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
42. Salomonsen 2002, p. 1.
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44. ^ De Blécourt, Willem; Hutton, Ronald; La Fontaine, Jean (1999). Witchcraft and Magic in Europe, Volume 6: The Twentieth Century. A&C Black. pp. 55–58.
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52. ^ Chumbley, Andrew D.; Howard, Michael; Fitzgerald, Robert (February 2002). "An Interview with Andrew D. Chumbley" (PDF). The Cauldron (103). In essence, the Crooked Path Teachings intend a direct means of autonomous initiation into the Knowledge of the Magical Quintessence.
53. ^ Chumbley, Andrew D. (May 2002). "Cultus Sabbati: Provenance, Dream and Magistry". The Cauldron (104). Archived from the original on 2010-06-19.
54. ^ Schulke, Daniel A. (November 2006). "Way and Waymark—Considerations of Exilic Wisdom in the Old Craft". The Cauldron (122). Archived from the original on 2011-07-28.
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56. "Stregheria.com FAQ". Stregheria.com. Archived from the original on 2006-05-22. Retrieved 2017-04-10.
57. ^ Jarvis, Christine (March 2008). "Becoming a Woman Through Wicca: Witches and Wiccans in Contemporary Teen Fiction" (PDF). Children's Literature in Education. 39 (1): 43–52. doi:10.1007/s10583-007-9058-0. S2CID 14030498. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-01-05. Retrieved 2018-11-11.
58. Merskin, Debra (23 May 2007). Joining Forces: Teen Girl Witches and Internet Chat Groups. Annual Meeting of the International Communication Association. San Francisco.
59. Berger 1999, p. 9.
60. Robinson, B.A. (4 April 2008), Estimates of the number of Wiccans in the U.S., Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, archived from the original on 22 October 2012, retrieved 3 September 2012
61. Kermani, Zohre (2013). Pagan Family Values: Childhood and the Religious Imagination in Contemporary American Paganism. NYU Press. p. 197. ISBN 978-1479894604.
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65. Berger 1999, pp. 8–9.

Works cited

• Berger, Helen (1999). A Community of Witches: Contemporary Neo-Paganism and Witchcraft in the United States. Columbia, South Carolina: The University of South Carolina Press. ISBN 1-57003-246-7.
• Clifton, Chas S. (2006). Her Hidden Children: The Rise of Wicca and Paganism in America. Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press. ISBN 0-7591-0201-5.
• Doyle White, Ethan (2011). "Robert Cochrane and the Gardnerian Craft: Feuds, Secrets, and Mysteries in Contemporary British Witchcraft". The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies. 13 (2). doi:10.1558/pome.v13i2.205.
• Doyle White, Ethan (2016). Wicca: History, Belief, and Community in Modern Pagan Witchcraft. Brighton: Sussex Academic Press. ISBN 978-1-84519-754-4.
• Howard, Michael (2011). Children of Cain: A Study of Modern Traditional Witches. Richmond Vista, California: Three Hands Press. ASIN B006XKJF2U.
• Hutton, Ronald (1999). Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0192854490.
• Kelly, Aiden A. (1991). Crafting the Art of Magic, Book I: A History of Modern Witchcraft, 1939–1964. Minnesota: Llewellyn Publications. ISBN 978-0875423708.
• Lipp, Deborah (2007). The Study of Witchcraft: A Guidebook to Advanced Wicca. San Francisco: Red Wheel/Weiser. ISBN 978-1-57863-409-5.
• Pearson, Joanne (2002). "The History and Development of Wicca and Paganism". In Joanne Pearson (ed.). Belief Beyond Boundaries: Wicca, Celtic Spirituality and the New Age. Aldershot: Ashgate. pp. 15–54. ISBN 9780754608202.
• Salomonsen, Jone (2002). Enchanted Feminism: Ritual, Gender and Divinity Among the Reclaiming Witches of San Francisco. Routledge. ISBN 978-0415223928.
• Valiente, Doreen (1989). The Rebirth of Witchcraft. London: Robert Hale Publishing. ISBN 0-7090-3715-5. OCLC 59694320.

Further reading

• De Mattos Frisvold, Nicholaj (2014). Craft of the Untamed: An Inspired Vision of Traditional Witchcraft. Mandrake.
• Del Rio, M. A. (2000). Maxwell-Stuart, P. G. (ed.). Investigations Into Magic. Translated by P. G. Maxwell-Stuart. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0719049767.
• Doyle White, Ethan (2010). "The Meaning of "Wicca": A Study in Etymology, History and Pagan Politics". The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies. 12 (2): 185–207. doi:10.1558/pome.v12i2.185.
• Gary, Gemma (2011). Traditional Witchcraft: A Cornish Book of Ways. Troy Books.
• Harris, N. (2004). Witcha: A Book of Cunning. Oxford: Mandrake of Oxford. ISBN 978-1869928773.
• Huson, Paul (1970). Mastering Witchcraft: a Practical Guide for Witches, Warlocks, and Covens. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons.
• Montesano, Marina, ed. (2020). Witchcraft, Demonology and Magic. Switzerland: Mdpi AG. ISBN 978-3039289592.
• Morgan, Lee (2013). A Deed Without a Name: Unearthing the Legacy of Traditional Witchcraft. Moon Books.
• Parsons, Jack (1979). Magick, Gnosticism & the Witchcraft: Introductory Essays. 93 Publishing. ISBN 978-0919690066.
• Radulović, Nemanja; Hess, Karolina Maria, eds. (2019). Studies on Western Esotericism in Central and Eastern Europe. Hungary: JATE Press. ISBN 978-9633153970.
• Salomonsen, Jone (1998). "Feminist Witchcraft and Holy Hermeneutics". In Geoffrey Samuel; Joanne Pearson; Richard H. Roberts (eds.). Nature Religion Today: Paganism in the Modern World. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0748610570.

External links

• The Survey of Scottish Witchcraft at the University of Edinburgh
• Wicca, Witchcraft or Paganism? at Learnreligions.com
• Witchcraft and Wicca at the CUNY Academic Commons

v t e Neopagan witchcraft
History	History of Wicca Etymology of Wicca Wicca and LGBT people Dettmer v. Landon
Traditions	British Traditional Alexandrian Wicca Algard Wicca Blue Star Wicca Central Valley Wicca Chthonioi Alexandrian Wicca Gardnerian Wicca Other 1734 Tradition Celtic Wicca Church and School of Wicca Cochrane's Craft Coven of Atho Dianic Wicca Faery Wicca Feri Georgian Wicca Odyssean Wicca Reclaiming Seax-Wica Stregheria Universal Eclectic Wicca
Notable figures	Gerald Gardner Doreen Valiente Alex Sanders Maxine Sanders Sybil Leek Dafo Margot Adler Victor Anderson Artemis Gavin Bone Lois Bourne Jack Bracelin Raymond Buckland Eddie Buczynski Zsuzsanna Budapest Charles Cardell Ipsita Roy Chakraverti Patricia Crowther Vivianne Crowley Robert Cochrane Scott Cunningham Phyllis Curott Cerridwen Fallingstar Janet Farrar Stewart Farrar Raven Grimassi Gavin Frost Yvonne Frost Philip Heselton Frederic Lamond Rosaleen Norton Silver RavenWolf Starhawk Joseph Wilson
Deities	Triple Goddess Horned God Green Man Spirit of nature Holly King / Oak King Mother goddess
Key concepts	Wicca Wiccan morality Wiccan Rede Rule of Three Wiccan views of divinity Coven Craft name Magic Witchcraft White magic Otherworld The Summerland Reincarnation Karma Skyclad Summoner Watchtower Familiar Animism
Rites and ritual	Drawing down the Moon Great rite Handfasting Wiccaning Fivefold kiss Magic circle Cone of power Herbal medicine Scrying Spellwork / Incantation Banishing Divination Invocation Initiation Rite of passage Eko Eko Azarak Solitary practitioner Spiral dance
Holidays	Wheel of the Year Solstice Equinox Imbolc Ostara Beltane Midsummer Lughnasadh Mabon Samhain Yule Esbat Wild Hunt
Paraphernalia	Magical tools in Wicca Altar Amulet Athame Bell Besom Boline Book of Shadows Candles Cauldron Censer Chalice/Goblet Horn Incense Parchment Pentacle Runes Scourge Statue Talisman Tarot deck Wand Witch's ladder
Literature	Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches The Meaning of Witchcraft The Spiral Dance What Witches Do Witchcraft Today Charge of the Goddess Enchanted Feminism
Related	List of Wiccan organisations Bricket Wood coven New Forest coven Neopagan witchcraft Witch-cult hypothesis Left-hand path and right-hand path Cunning folk in Britain European witchcraft Malleus Maleficarum Granny woman Cunning folk Magical alphabets Runes Theban Hebrew Witching hour Witch hunt Witches' Sabbath Flying ointment Museum of Witchcraft and Magic Witchcraft Research Association

v t e Modern paganism
Approaches	Eclectic Nature religion New Age Neoshamanism Reconstructionism Secular Western esotericism Western philosophy
Arts and institutions	Festivals and events Music Temples
By country or region	Australia German-speaking Europe Hungary Ireland Italy Scandinavia South Africa United Kingdom United States Minnesota
Movements (list)	Ethnic African Ausar Auset Godianism Heathenry Armenian Baltic Dievturi Romuva Burkhanism Canarian (Berber) Caucasic Abkhaz Ossetian-Scythian Celtic Druidry Wicca Daco-Thracian (Romanian) Egyptian Kemetic Orthodoxy Germanic Hellenic Roman Semitic Slavic Rodnovery (list) RUNVira Peterburgian Vedism Ynglism Turko-Mongolic list Uralic Estonian Erzyan Finnish Hungarian Mari Udmurt Zuism Interfaith: European Congress of Ethnic Religions · Foundation for Traditional Religions Syncretic Adonism Christo-Paganism Church of All Worlds Church of Aphrodite Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans Goddess movement Ivanovism Pagan Federation Ringing Cedars' Anastasianism Secular paganism Temple of Priapus Neopagan witchcraft: Wicca Cochranianism Feri Reclaiming Stregheria
In society	Criticism Crypto-paganism Discrimination LGBTQ+ and paganism Pagan studies Technopaganism Writers on modern paganism
Related articles	Ariosophy Witch-cult hypothesis Hermeticism Neotribalism Platonism in the Renaissance Thelema Theosophy Traditionalist School

• Neopagan witchcraft
• Contemporary history
• Wicca