Dianic Wicca, also known as Women's Spirituality, Feminist Spirituality, Feminist Witchcraft, and Feminist Wicca. Dianic Wicca - Beliefs and practices. Dianic Wicca, Dianic Witchcraft, and Feminist Dianic Witchcraft are all common titles for the Neopagan Feminist Dianic tradition. While some Dianics self-identify as Wiccans, some prefer the term Witch or priestess of the Goddess. Dianic Wicca can be very similar to traditional Wicca in practice (see section below for a discussion ...

Including:

• Dianic Wicca - Beliefs and practices
• Dianic Wicca - History
• Dianic Wicca - Important figures
• Dianic Wicca - Differences between Dianic Feminist Wicca and Mainstream Wicca

Read more here: » Dianic Wicca: Encyclopedia - Dianic Wicca

Feminist Witchcraft:

Several new monotheistic religions started since the early 1970s by women in the feminist community who belonged to the women’s spirituality movement and/or who had contact with Neopagan Witches. It is partially an outgrowth of Neopagan Witchcraft, with male deities booted unceremoniously(!) out of the religion entirely, and partially a conglomeration of independent and eclectic do-it-yourself covens of spiritually-inclined feminists. The religions usually involve worshiping only the syncretic Goddess and using Her as a source of inspiration, magical power and psychological growth. Their scholarship is generally abysmal and men are usually not allowed to join or participate.

(See also: Feminist Witchcraft, Pagan, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

WEBWEAVING "Witchy" and Feminist term for Networking

(See also: WEBWEAVING, Witchcraft, Wicca, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

Witchcraft: TWO WITCHES A Modern Craft Fairy-Tale

Once upon a time, there were two Witches. One was a Feminist Witch and the other was a Traditionalist Witch. And, although both of them were deeply religious, they had rather different ideas about what their religion meant. The Feminist Witch tended to believe that Witchcraft was a religion especially suited to women because the image of the Goddess was empowering and a strong weapon against patriarchal tyranny. And there was distrust in the heart of the Feminist Witch for the Traditionalist Witch because, from the Feminist perspective, the Traditionalist Witch seemed subversive and a threat to "the Cause".

Read more here: » Witchcraft: TWO WITCHES A Modern Craft Fairy-Tale

Wicca and Witchcraft: Basic Philosophy of Wicca or Witchcraft

Wicca, or Witchcraft, is an earth religion -- a re-linking with the life force of nature, both on this planet and in the stars and space beyond. In city apartments, in suburban backyards, and in country glades, groups of women and men meet on the new and full moons and at festival times to raise energy and put themselves in tune with these natural forces. They honor the old goddesses and gods, including the Triple Goddess of the waxing, full, and waning moon, and the Horned God of the sun and animal life, as visualizations of immanent nature.

Read more here: » Wicca and Witchcraft: Basic Philosophy of Wicca or Witchcraft

Paganism & Pornography

At times my political views seem to lead me into contradictions. Last month saw me writing a furious letter to Penthouse magazine concerning their misinformed story on Witchcraft. Within two weeks I was writing to the head of the QuickTrip Corporation protesting the removal of Penthouse from their stores. You'd think I would have been happy at a blow struck against a magazine that maligned my religion. Not so. At stake is the free expression of ideas. Misinformation and censorship are both threats to that freedom. Of the two, I judge censorship to be the greater threat. As long as publishing continues unimpeded, retraction of misinformation is possible. When publishing is censored, even that becomes impossible.

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Reflections on OLD GUARD PAGANISM

'Old Guard Paganism'. The phrase started out as a joke, but then caught on. This tells us something. It tells us there is a NEED for such a term. It also implies its own antithesis, 'New Guard Paganism'. And it indicates that there is some difference between the two -- a 'difference that makes a difference' -- and thus requires differentiating labels. (It should perhaps be noted that the word 'Paganism' is used in the present context -- however inaccurately -- to refer to modern Neo-Pagan Witchcraft, or Wicca. With grave misgivings, I have adopted this usage here.)

Read more here: » Paganism: Reflections on OLD GUARD PAGANISM

A witch-hunt was traditionally a search for witches or evidence of witchcraft, which could lead to a witchcraft trial involving the accused person. Today such events are recognised as a type of moral panic. Witchhunts still occur in the modern era, in the sense that ignorant or uneducated people, isolated peoples, or people living a traditional lifestyle may persecute people that they believe are witches. The term is now widely used in a modern sense to refer to any search for a perceived or hidden enemy, with the same connotations of ...

Including:

• Witch-hunt - Early modern Europe
• Witch-hunt - Evidence
• Witch-hunt - Execution
• Witch-hunt - The Burning Times
• Witch-hunt - Africa
• Witch-hunt - Other parts of the world
• Witch-hunt - Sociology
• Witch-hunt - Modern usage
• Witch-hunt - George Orwell
• Witch-hunt - Arthur Miller
• Witch-hunt - Modern witchhunts
• Witch-hunt - Religious deprogramming
• Witch-hunt - Day care sex abuse
• Witch-hunt - Involuntary commitment
• Witch-hunt - Political confirmation

Read more here: » Witch-hunt: Encyclopedia - Witch-hunt

Goddess worship is a general description for the veneration of a female Goddess or goddesses. Many New Age Goddess devotees prefer the term goddess spirituality, avoiding the term "worship" for a faith that does not distance the Divine into a remote, hierarchical separation. Goddess veneration may be also used instead of "worship", as it can imply respect and intimacy without undue deference. In such contexts, "spirituality" is often preferred to "religion" because major organised religions have not typically nurtured go ...

Including:

• Goddess worship - Examples of goddess worship

Read more here: » Goddess worship: Encyclopedia - Goddess worship

Wicca is a Neopagan religious movement found in many different countries, though most commonly in English-speaking cultures. Wicca was first publicised in 1954 by a British civil servant named Gerald Gardner after the British Witchcraft Act was repealed. He claimed that the religion, of which he was an initiate, was a modern survival of an old witch cult, which had existed in secret for hundreds of years, originating in the pre-Christian Paganism of Europe. Wicca is thus sometimes referred to as the Old Religion. The veracity o ...

Including:

• 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 - Wicca

Pentagram:

Another word for a five pointed star, used as a symbol for the occult in general and Neopagan and Feminist Witchcraft in particular.

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

Dianic Witchcraft:

(1) A postulated medieval cult of Diana and/or Dianus worshipers.

(2) Term used by some henotheistic Neopagan Witches to refer to their concentration on the Goddess.

(3) Term used by some Feminist separatist Witches to describe their practices and beliefs.

(See also: Dianic Witchcraft, Pagan, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

Dianic Wicca, Dianic Witchcraft, and Feminist Dianic Witchcraft are all common titles for the Neopagan Feminist Dianic tradition. While some Dianics self-identify as Wiccans, some prefer the term Witch or priestess of the Goddess. Dianic Wicca can be very similar to traditional Wicca in practice (see section below for a discussion of their differences), but differs significantly from it in beliefs. Most Dianic Wiccans worship the Goddess only, acknowledging that She is the source of all living and contains all within Her. There are Dianic wi ...

See also:

Dianic Wicca, Dianic Wicca - Beliefs and practices, Dianic Wicca - History, Dianic Wicca - Important figures, Dianic Wicca - Differences between Dianic Feminist Wicca and Mainstream Wicca

Read more here: » Dianic Wicca: Encyclopedia II - Dianic Wicca - Beliefs and practices

DIANIC FEMINIST WICCA: A Wiccan tradition started by Ann Forfreedom that includes both female and male practitioners , solo practitioners, mixed covens and all female covens. Dianic Feminist Wiccans must have a Priestess present for a Circle ritual to be held and encourages practitioners to be involved in feminist and humanist issues. Groups work either skyclad or robed.

(See also: DIANIC FEMINIST WICCA, Magickal Traditions, Magickal Paths, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

TRADITIONS: A sect or division within Paganism, Wicca, Magick. The use of tradition as "sect" is not a new use, nor is "new tradition" an oxymoron.  Systems of training in the Craft: Some traditions are: Gardnerian, Celtic Traditionalist, Welsh Traditionalist, Y Dynion Mwyn, Alexandrian, Continentalist, Stregha, Fairy, Feminist, Dianic, etc.

(See also: TRADITIONS, Witchcraft, Wicca, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

DIANIC TRADITION:

1) A feminine based craft movement, which rejects the concept of the Male God, concentrating on the worship of the Goddess. Named after Diana, virgin goddess of the hunt; a stem of the Old Religion which has all-female members.

2) The Old Dianic Tradition. This a particular English tradition of Witchcraft honoring the Goddess Diana. It is a structured tradition and fairly similar to Gardnerian Wicca. Morgan McFarland, Mark Roberts, and Sybil Leek brought this tradition from England. It is called the Old Dianic tradition as opposed to the New Dianic tradition started by Z. Budapest.

3) The New Dianic Tradition is a particular tradition founded by Z. Budapest and other modern feminists. It has a loose ritual structure, a small core of feminist teachings, and encourages spontaneity among its members. Most covens accept women only, some accept only lesbians, a few accept women and men.

4) The original tradition of Shan, Clan Mother to the House of the Goddess in London, England. This tradition seems to have used a little of everything in it's formation, but primarily derives most of its teachings from the New Dianic Tradition. In the Dianic Tradition, there is much diversity in ritual and religious practice. Most covens honor the Goddess primarily or exclusively. Quite a few are Goddess Monotheistic.

(See also: DIANIC TRADITION, Witchcraft, Wicca, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

Gerald Gardner is credited with re-introducing the word 'Wicca' into the English language, although he himself used the spelling 'Wica' in his published work of 1954. The spelling 'Wicca' is now used almost exclusively, (Seax-Wica being the only major use of the four-letter spelling). In Old English, wicca meant "A wizard, soothsayer, sorcerer, magician" (Bosworth, 1898 [1]). Its modern English descendant is the word witch, now used almost exclusively to describe women sorcerors, but formerly used for both sexes. Other ( ...

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 - Definition

Gerald Gardner is credited with re-introducing the word 'Wicca' into the English language, although he himself used the spelling 'Wica' in his published work of 1954. The spelling 'Wicca' is now used almost exclusively, (Seax-Wica being the only major use of the four-letter spelling). In Old English wicca meant "A wizard, soothsayer, sorcerer, magician" (Bosworth, 1898 [1]). The word has long been out of use. Its modern English descendant is the word witch. Other disputed derivations are from the Old English roots wic ...

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 - Definition

Witch-hunt - Religious deprogramming. Hundreds of members of the Unification Church who were caught and harangued by deprogrammers complained of interrogation technique similar to that reported during the European witchhunts. Deprogrammers would tell the detainee that he had been "brainwashed" by the "cult" and threaten to hold him indefinitely unless he "realized" he had been brainwashed. Opponents of deprogramming claim that this parallels the tactic of accusing a prisoner of witchcraft and torturing them until ...

See also:

Witch-hunt, Witch-hunt - Early modern Europe, Witch-hunt - Evidence, Witch-hunt - Execution, Witch-hunt - The Burning Times, Witch-hunt - Africa, Witch-hunt - Other part of the world, Witch-hunt - Sociology, Witch-hunt - Modern usage, Witch-hunt - George Orwell, Witch-hunt - Arthur Miller, Witch-hunt - Modern witchhunts, Witch-hunt - Religious deprogramming, Witch-hunt - Day care sex abuse, Witch-hunt - Involuntary commitment, Witch-hunt - Political confirmation

Read more here: » Witch-hunt: Encyclopedia II - Witch-hunt - Modern witchhunts

There are many traditions, sub-traditions, and lineages of Wicca; among these is Solitary Wicca, which is Wicca practiced by oneself and often in secret. Other Wiccan traditions include: Alexandrian Wicca Blue Star Wicca Celtic Wicca Christian Wicca Correllian Nativist Church (Correllian Wicca) Dianic or Feminist Wicca Eclectic Wicca Faery Wicca Feri Tradition Gardnerian Wicca Kemetic Wicca Odyssean Wicca Pagans for Peace Tradition Seax-Wica Shakti Wicca Stregher ...

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 - Wiccan traditions