edit Since Wicca was first publically revealed in 1954, it has not had a long history of persecution. However, some Wiccans claim a historical link between Wicca and earlier religious and/or spiritual traditions, and thus may claim that the witch trials were persecutions against their faith.[citation needed] There is no independently verifiable evidence for any sort of actual traditional lineage for Wicca that is older than the early 20th century. In light of that, individual and group claims of persec ...

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Wicca, Wicca - Definition, Wicca - History of Wicca, Wicca - Origins, Wicca - Later developments, Wicca - Beliefs and practices, Wicca - Morality, Wicca - Discrimination and persecution of Wiccans, Wicca - United States, Wicca - Wiccan traditions, Wicca - Notes, Wicca - Bibliographical and Encyclopedic Sources, Wicca - Academic Studies

Read more here: » Wicca: Encyclopedia II - Wicca - Discrimination and persecution of Wiccans

One qualified exception is Gardnerian Wicca and other relatively traditional groups. Gardnerians do not make any moral judgements about homosexual people, but they usually form their covens from male-female pairs. Most traditional Wiccans worship the God and Goddess. Traditional Wiccan covens aspire to having equal numbers of men and women, to embody their belief in the importance of balance between the male and female (which extends sexually). This goal is often not met, since there are more women involved in the Wiccan Religion than ...

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Homosexuality and Wicca, Homosexuality and Wicca - Exceptions, Homosexuality and Wicca - Gay- and Lesbian-oriented traditions, Homosexuality and Wicca - Gay and bisexual deities

Read more here: » Homosexuality and Wicca: Encyclopedia II - Homosexuality and Wicca - Exceptions

edit Since Wicca was first publically revealed in 1954, it has not had a long history of persecution. However, some Wiccans claim a historical link between Wicca and earlier religious and/or spiritual traditions, and thus may claim that witch trials are persecutions against their faith.[citation needed] There is no independently verifiable evidence for any sort of actual traditional lineage for Wicca that is older than the early 20th century. In light of that, individual and group claims of persecution ...

See also:

Wicca, Wicca - Definition, Wicca - History of Wicca, Wicca - Origins, Wicca - Later developments, Wicca - Beliefs and practices, Wicca - Morality, Wicca - Discrimination and persecution of Wiccans, Wicca - United States, Wicca - Wiccan traditions, Wicca - Notes

Read more here: » Wicca: Encyclopedia II - Wicca - Discrimination and persecution of Wiccans

Wiccan morality can be summarised in the form of a text that is commonly titled The Wiccan Rede. The core maxim of that text states "An it harm none, do what thou wilt." ("An" is an archaic word meaning "if".) Many Wiccans promote the Law of Threefold Return. This is the idea that anything that one does will be returned to them threefold. In other words, good deeds are magnified in like forms back to the doer, and so are ill deeds. It can also be interpreted to mean that your deeds come back to you emotionally, spiritually, and physic ...

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Wicca, Wicca - Definition, Wicca - History of Wicca, Wicca - Origins, Wicca - Later developments, Wicca - Beliefs and practices, Wicca - Morality, Wicca - Discrimination and persecution of Wiccans, Wicca - United States, Wicca - Wiccan traditions, Wicca - Notes, Wicca - Bibliographical and Encyclopedic Sources, Wicca - Academic Studies

Read more here: » Wicca: Encyclopedia II - Wicca - Morality

List of pagans - Wicca. Adler, Margot - author, journalist, Wiccan Priestess and Elder, NPR correspondent in New York City Beyerl, Paul - founder of The Rowan Tree Church Baudino, Gael - author, mostly fantasy (Dianic Wiccan) Billinghurst, Frances - founder of the Temple of the Dark Moon (Alexandrian Wiccan) Buckland, Raymond - author of Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft and many others, and founder of Seax-Wica Budapest, Z. - lesbian Pagan teacher writer et ...

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List of pagans, List of pagans - Graeco-Roman, List of pagans - Christianization, List of pagans - Germanic Neopaganism, List of pagans - Neo-druidism, List of pagans - Wicca/Witchcraft/Eclectic/Various, List of pagans - Wicca, List of pagans - Stregheria, List of pagans - Ecstatic Witchcraft, List of pagans - Unclassified

Read more here: » List of pagans: Encyclopedia II - List of pagans - Wicca/Witchcraft/Eclectic/Various

Wiccan morality can be summarised in the form of a text that is commonly titled The Wiccan Rede. The core maxim of that text states "An it harm none, do what thou wilt." ("An" is an archaic word meaning "if".) Many Wiccans promote the Law of Threefold Return. This is the idea that anything that one does will be returned to them threefold. In other words, good deeds are magnified in like forms back to the doer, and so are ill deeds. It can also be interpreted to mean that your deeds come back to you emotionally, spiritually, and physic ...

See also:

Wicca, Wicca - Definition, Wicca - History of Wicca, Wicca - Origins, Wicca - Later developments, Wicca - Beliefs and practices, Wicca - Morality, Wicca - Discrimination and persecution of Wiccans, Wicca - United States, Wicca - Wiccan traditions, Wicca - Notes

Read more here: » Wicca: Encyclopedia II - Wicca - Morality

Wicca - Origins. The history of Wicca is much debated. Gardner claimed that the religion was a survival of matriarchal Pagan religions of pre-historic Europe (see Völva), taught to him by a woman known as "Dafo" or "Old Dorothy" (identified by Doreen Valiente (1984) as Dorothy Clutterbuck, although modern researchers such as Philip Heselton have theorized that Dafo and Clutterbuck were two separate individuals). Others posit that he invented it himself, following the thesis of Dr. Margaret Murray and sources suc ...

See also:

Wicca, Wicca - Definition, Wicca - History of Wicca, Wicca - Origins, Wicca - Later developments, Wicca - Beliefs and practices, Wicca - Morality, Wicca - Discrimination and persecution of Wiccans, Wicca - United States, Wicca - Wiccan traditions, Wicca - Notes, Wicca - Bibliographical and Encyclopedic Sources, Wicca - Academic Studies

Read more here: » Wicca: Encyclopedia II - Wicca - History of Wicca

A sect within Neopaganism is sometimes referred to as a "tradition," although this term is more properly used to define a sect within a particular Neopagan religion, such as Wicca, Hellenism, Ásatrú, Druidry, Dianics etc. There are many traditions within the larger world of Neopaganism, most of which are identified according to the pantheon they work with, or the founder of the tradition. The main distinction between the branches is between reconstructionism, the attempt to base a modern approach to paganism on a particular h ...

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Neopaganism, Neopaganism - History, Neopaganism - Historical sources, Neopaganism - Ecological and mystical currents, Neopaganism - Pantheon, Neopaganism - Worship and Ritual, Neopaganism - Number of adherents, Neopaganism - Concepts of divinity, Neopaganism - Neopagan views of gods and gender, Neopaganism - Traditions, Neopaganism - Reconstructionist, Neopaganism - Syncretist and eclectic, Neopaganism - Related theological concepts, Neopaganism - Usage of the term 'Neopagan', Neopaganism - Sources

Read more here: » Neopaganism: Encyclopedia II - Neopaganism - Traditions

During Christianization, Christianity became itself suffused by pagan elements, but it was not until the High Middle Ages that interest of the scholastic in the culture and religion of Classical Antiquity began to revive. Thomas Aquinas attempted to fuse concepts of Graeco-Roman philosophy and cosmology with Christianity. With the Renaissance, Graeco-Roman mythology became omnipresent in Europe, but it was still clad in a Christian interpretation. Neopaganism proper begins only with 18th century Romanticism, and the surge of interest in Germ ...

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Neopaganism, Neopaganism - History, Neopaganism - Historical sources, Neopaganism - Ecological and mystical currents, Neopaganism - Pantheon, Neopaganism - Worship and Ritual, Neopaganism - Number of adherents, Neopaganism - Concepts of divinity, Neopaganism - Neopagan views of gods and gender, Neopaganism - Traditions, Neopaganism - Reconstructionist, Neopaganism - Syncretist and eclectic, Neopaganism - Related theological concepts, Neopaganism - Usage of the term 'Neopagan', Neopaganism - Sources

Read more here: » Neopaganism: Encyclopedia II - Neopaganism - History

Most Neopagan traditions are polytheistic, but the interpretation of the concept of deity may vary widely, including pantheistic, deist, henotheistic, psychological and mystical interpretations. In Wicca, the concept of an Earth or Mother Goddess similar to Greek Gaia is emphasized, but male counterparts are also evoked, like the Green Man and the Horned God, loosely based on Celtic Cernunnos. ...

See also:

Neopaganism, Neopaganism - History, Neopaganism - Historical sources, Neopaganism - Ecological and mystical currents, Neopaganism - Pantheon, Neopaganism - Worship and Ritual, Neopaganism - Number of adherents, Neopaganism - Concepts of divinity, Neopaganism - Neopagan views of gods and gender, Neopaganism - Traditions, Neopaganism - Reconstructionist, Neopaganism - Syncretist and eclectic, Neopaganism - Related theological concepts, Neopaganism - Usage of the term 'Neopagan', Neopaganism - Sources

Read more here: » Neopaganism: Encyclopedia II - Neopaganism - Pantheon

During Christianization, Christianity became itself suffused by pagan elements, but it was not until the High Middle Ages that interest of the scholastic in the culture and religion of Classical Antiquity began to revive. Thomas Aquinas attempted to fuse concepts of Graeco-Roman philosophy and cosmology with Christianity. With the Renaissance, Graeco-Roman mythology became omnipresent in Europe, but it was still clad in a Christian interpretation. Neopaganism proper begins only with 18th century Romanticism, and the surge of interest in Germ ...

See also:

Neopaganism, Neopaganism - History, Neopaganism - Historical sources, Neopaganism - Ecological and mystical currents, Neopaganism - Pantheon, Neopaganism - Worship and Ritual, Neopaganism - Number of adherents, Neopaganism - Concepts of divinity, Neopaganism - Neopagan views of gods and gender, Neopaganism - Traditions, Neopaganism - Reconstructionist, Neopaganism - Syncretist and eclectic, Neopaganism - Related theological concepts, Neopaganism - Usage of the term 'Neopagan'

Read more here: » Neopaganism: Encyclopedia II - Neopaganism - History

Many Neopagan movements overlap with occultism, witchcraft and magic. Wicca in particular emphasizes the role of witchcraft and ritual. Most Neopagan religions celebrate the cycles and seasons of nature through a festival calendar that honors these changes. The festival calendar can change from climate to climate, and can also depend upon one's religious path of choice. ...

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Neopaganism, Neopaganism - History, Neopaganism - Historical sources, Neopaganism - Ecological and mystical currents, Neopaganism - Pantheon, Neopaganism - Worship and Ritual, Neopaganism - Number of adherents, Neopaganism - Concepts of divinity, Neopaganism - Neopagan views of gods and gender, Neopaganism - Traditions, Neopaganism - Reconstructionist, Neopaganism - Syncretist and eclectic, Neopaganism - Related theological concepts, Neopaganism - Usage of the term 'Neopagan', Neopaganism - Sources

Read more here: » Neopaganism: Encyclopedia II - Neopaganism - Worship and Ritual

Wicca - Origins. The history of Wicca is much debated. Gardner claimed that the religion was a survival of matriarchal Pagan religions of pre-historic Europe (see Völva), taught to him by a woman known as "Dafo" or "Old Dorothy" (identified by Doreen Valiente (1984) as Dorothy Clutterbuck, although modern researchers such as Philip Heselton have theorized that Dafo and Clutterbuck were two separate individuals). Others posit that he invented it himself, following the thesis of Dr. Margaret Murray and sources suc ...

See also:

Wicca, Wicca - Definition, Wicca - History of Wicca, Wicca - Origins, Wicca - Later developments, Wicca - Beliefs and practices, Wicca - Morality, Wicca - Discrimination and persecution of Wiccans, Wicca - United States, Wicca - Wiccan traditions, Wicca - Notes

Read more here: » Wicca: Encyclopedia II - Wicca - History of Wicca

Most Neopagan traditions are polytheistic, but the interpretation of the concept of deity may vary widely, including pantheistic, deist, henotheistic, psychological and mystical interpretations. In Wicca, the concept of an Earth or Mother Goddess similar to Greek Gaia is emphasized, but male counterparts are also evoked, like the Green Man and the Horned God, loosely based on Celtic Cernunnos. ...

See also:

Neopaganism, Neopaganism - History, Neopaganism - Historical sources, Neopaganism - Ecological and mystical currents, Neopaganism - Pantheon, Neopaganism - Worship and Ritual, Neopaganism - Number of adherents, Neopaganism - Concepts of divinity, Neopaganism - Neopagan views of gods and gender, Neopaganism - Traditions, Neopaganism - Reconstructionist, Neopaganism - Syncretist and eclectic, Neopaganism - Related theological concepts, Neopaganism - Usage of the term 'Neopagan'

Read more here: » Neopaganism: Encyclopedia II - Neopaganism - Pantheon

Many Neopagan movements overlap with occultism, witchcraft and magic. Wicca in particular emphasizes the role of witchcraft and ritual. Most Neopagan religions celebrate the cycles and seasons of nature through a festival calendar that honors these changes. The festival calendar can change from climate to climate, and can also depend upon one's religious path of choice. ...

See also:

Neopaganism, Neopaganism - History, Neopaganism - Historical sources, Neopaganism - Ecological and mystical currents, Neopaganism - Pantheon, Neopaganism - Worship and Ritual, Neopaganism - Number of adherents, Neopaganism - Concepts of divinity, Neopaganism - Neopagan views of gods and gender, Neopaganism - Traditions, Neopaganism - Reconstructionist, Neopaganism - Syncretist and eclectic, Neopaganism - Related theological concepts, Neopaganism - Usage of the term 'Neopagan'

Read more here: » Neopaganism: Encyclopedia II - Neopaganism - Worship and Ritual

The "Coven of the Blue Star", established in Philadelphia in 1975 by Franque D "the Wizard", gave birth to both the name and the original membership of what would eventually become the Blue Star tradition. In 1980, on its membership application to the Covenant of the Goddess, the coven described itself (with tongue in cheek) as practicing "Great American Nontraditional Collective Eclectic Wicca". Tzipora Klein, who had joined the coven in 1977, and her then-husband Kenny Klein, left on a folk music tour after the 1983 release of their ...

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Blue Star Wicca, Blue Star Wicca - Origins and history, Blue Star Wicca - Practices, Blue Star Wicca - Ranks and degrees, Blue Star Wicca - Relationship to other traditions, Blue Star Wicca - Notes and references

Read more here: » Blue Star Wicca: Encyclopedia II - Blue Star Wicca - Origins and history

Many Neopagans and Neopagan traditions attempt to incorporate historical religions and mythologies into their beliefs and practices, often emphasizing the hoary age of their sources; thus, Wicca in particular is sometimes referred to by its proponents as the "Old Religion", a term popularised by Margaret Murray in the 1920s, while Germanic Neopaganism is referred to as Forn Sed, "the Old Way". Such emphasis on the antiquity of religious tradition is not particular to Neopaganism, and is found in many other religions, compare for examp ...

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Neopaganism, Neopaganism - History, Neopaganism - Historical sources, Neopaganism - Ecological and mystical currents, Neopaganism - Pantheon, Neopaganism - Worship and Ritual, Neopaganism - Number of adherents, Neopaganism - Concepts of divinity, Neopaganism - Neopagan views of gods and gender, Neopaganism - Traditions, Neopaganism - Reconstructionist, Neopaganism - Syncretist and eclectic, Neopaganism - Related theological concepts, Neopaganism - Usage of the term 'Neopagan', Neopaganism - Sources

Read more here: » Neopaganism: Encyclopedia II - Neopaganism - Historical sources

BELLS: Often used as ritual tools. They can be used to invoke directional energies, to ring in the sunrise on a Sabbat, or to frighten away faeries and baneful spirits.

(See also: BELLS, Paganism, Pagan, Pagan Dictionary)

Many Neopagans and Neopagan traditions attempt to incorporate historical religions and mythologies into their beliefs and practices, often emphasizing the hoary age of their sources; thus, Wicca in particular is sometimes referred to by its proponents as the "Old Religion", a term popularised by Margaret Murray in the 1920s, while Germanic Neopaganism is referred to as Forn Sed, "the Old Way". Such emphasis on the antiquity of religious tradition is not particular to Neopaganism, and is found in many other religions, compare for examp ...

See also:

Neopaganism, Neopaganism - History, Neopaganism - Historical sources, Neopaganism - Ecological and mystical currents, Neopaganism - Pantheon, Neopaganism - Worship and Ritual, Neopaganism - Number of adherents, Neopaganism - Concepts of divinity, Neopaganism - Neopagan views of gods and gender, Neopaganism - Traditions, Neopaganism - Reconstructionist, Neopaganism - Syncretist and eclectic, Neopaganism - Related theological concepts, Neopaganism - Usage of the term 'Neopagan'

Read more here: » Neopaganism: Encyclopedia II - Neopaganism - Historical sources

FOLKLORE: Traditional sayings, cures, faerie tales, and folk wisdom of a particular locale which is separate from their mythology.

(See also: FOLKLORE, Paganism, Pagan, Pagan Dictionary)

ELEMENTALS: Archetypical spirit beings associated with one of the four elements. Elementals are sometimes called Faeries.

(See also: ELEMENTALS, Paganism, Pagan, Pagan Dictionary)

Adherents.com estimates there are one million Neopagans. It is necessary to define clearly who is included in any estimate, as Neopagan could mean active initiates, or anyone who likes Tarot! Also there is a difference between Western (Neo) Paganism, (technically a New Religious Movement), and worldwide traditional Neopagan faiths. It is possible, however, to consider these varied and diverse indigenous religions, generically referred to as "pagan" by monotheistic faiths, as having enough in common to warrant grouping them together as a single religious movement. Th ...

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Neopaganism, Neopaganism - History, Neopaganism - Historical sources, Neopaganism - Ecological and mystical currents, Neopaganism - Pantheon, Neopaganism - Worship and Ritual, Neopaganism - Number of adherents, Neopaganism - Concepts of divinity, Neopaganism - Neopagan views of gods and gender, Neopaganism - Traditions, Neopaganism - Reconstructionist, Neopaganism - Syncretist and eclectic, Neopaganism - Related theological concepts, Neopaganism - Usage of the term 'Neopagan', Neopaganism - Sources

Read more here: » Neopaganism: Encyclopedia II - Neopaganism - Number of adherents