Wicca is the religion of the covens in maryland. In this article we will know about the history of the religion of covens in maryland

For centuries, the accusation of witchcraft served to exclude those whose marginality endangered dominant views, especially women. But more and more, this qualifier takes on a positive dimension, and is no longer affixed pejoratively, but claimed as a sign of freedom and empowerment of women. The neo-pagan Wicca religious movement, whose followers claim to be sorcerers, is symptomatic of this development from its birth in occult circles to its current influence on mainstream culture.

Wicca, also called Witchraft, or Craft, which appeared in broad daylight in the mid-twentieth century, played a considerable role in this demonization, in particular through the role played by witches of this obedience, such as Starhawk, in ecofeminist battles. Americans. Today, its influence is spreading among the general public , for example thanks to the success of fantasy literature or the proliferation of works calling for the (re) discovery of the “sacred feminine”.

Despite this, Wicca remains very poorly known, especially in the French-speaking world. What is this religion, whose followers call themselves wizards? Are they worshipers of Satan, as medieval witches were accused of? Are we really in the presence of a pre-Christian religion, which clandestinely survived the persecutions?

What is Wicca Religion?

Wicca developed, at first silently, in the English nebula and esoteric nebula of the interwar period. At this time a passionate debate developed about the existence in Europe of a primordial religion , prior to the spread of Christianity. Some of the players in this debate, academics or scholars, will have a decisive influence on the birth of Wicca.

The precursors

Charles Godfrey Leland (1824-1903)

Charles Leland is a jack of all trades. An abolitionist rebel, passionate about the occult and social sciences, he spent several years in Indian tribes. He then left for Europe, became interested in the Gypsies, the Celts and studied the persistence of pagan beliefs in local Italian folklore. He published in 1899 Aradia, the Gospel of the Witches eras . This book presents a mixture of myths and magic formulas, and would have been given to him by an Italian informant, claiming to be heir to a long line of witches.

A quiet influence

When it came out, the book was barely noticed. Charles Leland, because of his many commitments, is indeed seen as a political extremist rather than a serious researcher. A controversy exists in particular as to the authenticity of certain parts of the work. Mixed with passages considered authentic, they would have served to add a political dimension to them.

But Aradia will be an essential source for the development of the neo-pagan movement. Leland is the first to evoke the expression “The Old religion” , taken up by many currents, including Wicca, to designate a pre-Christian cult. Finally, the rituals described in this work will undoubtedly inspire those of Wicca, starting with the act of “Skyclad” (“clothed in the sky”, ■■■■■).

Margaret Alice Murray (1863-1963)

The work of Margaret Murray also had a decisive impact on the development of the Wiccan cosmology. She began her academic career with research in Egyptology. Prevented from going to Egypt by the First World War, she reoriented her work on primitive European religions. She is particularly influenced by the study of James George Frazer The Golden Bough , in particular with regard to her vision of tales and folklore , seen as a survival of primordial myths and religions .

The old religion

She analyzes witchcraft trials from the beginning of modern times, and deduces that the practices described were real. But they were, according to her, the survivals of an ancient pagan religion , practiced throughout Europe. She calls this fertility cult “Dianic Cult” . It was dedicated to a polymorphic deity, man, woman or animal. Despite the Church’s attempts to eradicate it, it is said to have persisted in the various layers of society until today.

It establishes the calendar of celebrations related to this cult, which remains used today by the majority of neo-pagans and Wiccans, and divides the year into eight Sabbaths , based on the solar cycle and marking each beginning and middle of the season. , and twelve or thirteen esbats , corresponding to full moon nights.

Robert Graves (1895-1985)

Robert Graves was a British poet and novelist. Traumatized by the First World War, he conceives of poetry and myths as remedies for this wound. His colossal work ranges from historical novels to critical essays and mythology. However, he considered himself above all an author of poetry, the only art form that finds favor in his eyes. Fiercely independent, he never rallies to any school, and does not frequent occult circles. However, her book The White Goddess will constitute an essential source of inspiration for Wicca, and in particular its feminist branch.

The White Goddess

This imposing work is presented as a genetic study of European mythologies, in particular Celtic and Greek. In this work, he takes up the idea of ​​the existence of an ancient religion, dedicated to a moon goddess .

An original matriarchy?

According to him, in line with the writings of Johann Jakob Bachofen or Friedrich Engels , this cult of the Goddess was accompanied by political and symbolic domination of women.

Legacy and controversies

The controversies by The White Goddess are commensurate with its influence. Indeed, the book is quite ambiguous about its status. Its foreword presents it as a work of anthropological research, so it will often be received as such. However, Graves indicates in his postscript that it is the fruit of an obsession which would have seized it suddenly. It would have been designed in a few weeks, far from historical or anthropological standards, under the influence of the muse. This work is therefore rather to be understood as a poetic and spiritual metaphor. It is certainly formidably erudite, but it was not conceived as a work of research.

Gerald Gardner (1884-1964)

Gerald Gardner is almost unanimously regarded as the founding father of Wicca. He is for sure the one who will bring her out of occultist circles.

Anthropologist and amature folklorist , he spent his youth and most of his career in the British Empire. He works in plantations in Ceylon, Borneo, Malaysia and travels throughout South East Asia. During his career, in opposition to the racism of most planters, he established relations with the natives. He is interested in their habits and customs, their conceptions and practices of magic or their religious beliefs . During his stay in Borneo, he was initiated into a Masonic lodge. In 1936, he retired and returned to England, where he became a member of a naturist society and continued to be passionate about esotericism and folklore.

He comes into contact with the Rosicrucian Order Crotona Fellowship , an esoteric Rosicrucian brotherhood. It is within this brotherhood that he meets a group of people, some of whom are said to be descendants of wizards, and who will initiate him, in 1939, to Wicca. It was during the ceremony that he would have understood that he was in fact initiated into the ancient European religion, which would have clandestinely survived centuries of Christianization.

Fearing that the Old Religion might disappear, Gardner wishes to share his discovery with the public. The same year, he joined the Folklore society and published with Margaret Murray an article devoted to relics of Witchcraft dating back to the nineteenth century, which he would have in his possession.

That same year, Gardner published a historical novel titled A Goddess Arrives , under the pseudonym of Scire. In this novel, which tells the story of a witch named Dayonnis and identified with the great goddess, he describes rituals very similar to those which will be, a few years later, used in the Gardnerian covens.

But he cannot then publicly claim to be a sorcerer , for legal reasons.

The Withcrafts acts

Indeed, the Witchcraft Acts , promulgated in 1542 and reinforced several times until 1735, are then still in force in Great Britain. They condemn the practice or use of any form of witchcraft, enchantment or conjuration whatsoever, or the practice of divination . These laws are then still applied, especially against the many mediums that emerge within the spiritualist wave of the nineteenth century. They will still be used to condemn, in the middle of the Second World War, the revelation by the medium Helen Duncan of the loss of two ships and their crew.

This condemnation deeply marked the spiritualist movement. It therefore exerts strong pressure on the government to abolish the Witchcraft Acts. Little by little, this is bearing fruit. In 1948, Cecil Williamson opened a witchcraft museum on the Isle of Man. He appoints Gardner resident sorcerer and he presides over the opening ceremony. The following year, he published a second historical novel, High Magic’s Aid , still under a pseudonym. There he describes, in even more detail than in his first novel, two initiation ceremonies. In 1951, he bought the museum of witchcraft from Williamson and the same year, the Witchcraft Acts were abolished and replaced by the Fraudulent Medium Act., which only punishes fraud in the exercise of spiritualism.

The field is finally open for Gardner , who will spend the rest of his life promoting Wicca, initiating dozens of people and intervening in the media.

The revelation

He published, this time under his real name, Witchcraft Today in 1954 . In this work, he takes up Margaret Murray’s thesis on medieval witchcraft. He denies that witches ever worshiped Satan, and claims that they practiced the ancient worship of the goddess. According to him, this is similar to the traditions of the Greek and Roman mysteries. Wicca would be the survival of this religion, transmitted clandestinely.

In 1959, he published a last work, The Meaning of Witchcraft , in which he openly claimed to be a sorcerer. He presents the followers as peaceful people, far from the devil worshipers described by medieval sources. It also lays down the principles of cosmology and the Wiccan liturgy.

According to him, wizards and witches have always come together in a coven, which he defines as follows in Witchcraft Today :

“A coven is made up of people who celebrate the rite within the Circle; according to tradition, it is made up of six perfect couples headed by a High Priestess. "

They worship two main deities, the God of forests and Beyond and his wife, the triple Goddess of the Moon , Fertility and Rebirth. The Goddess has the main role, but she can only be worshiped in balance with her husband.

The rites are practiced ■■■■■, in couples, and use meditation, dance and incantations to awaken their sacred power. Some rites involve a ritual sexual act, believed to reproduce the union of the god and the goddess.

Wizards and witches refer to Margaret Murray’s calendar, and celebrate Sabbaths and Esbats.

The rituals, incantation and theology to which each coven refers are recorded in a book of shadows . Each initiate must recopy the book of shadows from his coven during his initiation. Once this is done, he must then modify it to adapt it to his experience. He is then free to create his own coven, following the rituals and philosophy that seem most appropriate to him.

Doubts

Important gray areas, however, surround Gardner’s “rediscovery” of the Old Religion. Indeed, while Gardner claims to have inherited his Book of Shadows , which dates back to the 16th century, several versions of it are known, quite different from each other. The conditions under which he would have received his initiation also remain unclear. The identity of the witch who would have transmitted the teachings of Wicca to him is thus not known with certainty.

The question of preserving or reinventing rites also arises. Some claim that Gardner was initiated into one of the surviving traditions. Others claim that he purely and simply invented these rituals from various sources. ■■■■■■ and initiation by the sexual rite are thus perceived by some as the pure invention of an “old pig”.