2019-07-08
                                Wicca II


My curiosity was sparked. I've done a bit more casual research about
Wicca in my own time, mainly on the Internet. This is, in fact, round
two of my online research about Wicca.

Round one took place in the mid-00s and back then I had a smaller number
of sources by a smaller number of authors available. I'm not sure how
many of these authors were actually Wiccans. I learned that Wicca was an
earth-centered religion which worshipped a goddess and a god. I learned
that Wiccans would have an altar, engage in spellwork, and probably
belong to a coven. The Wiccan Rede (whatever a rede is) - "An it harm
none, do what thou wilt." - in its oddly archaic and relatively unclear
language was repeated very often, probably because it was an easy Wiccan
quote to get your hands on. Probably because I was relying on a small
number of sources which themselves all relied on the same source
material, I got the impression that Wicca was very steadfast and
dogmatic.

In round two of my research I've been able to rely on a greater number
of sources thanks to the much higher number of people publishing their
own content on the Internet than fifteen years ago. I watched a variety
of YouTube videos from a variety of producers, most of whom are Wiccans
themselves. I, perhaps unsurprisingly, got a view of a much more diverse
Wicca.

Wicca is indeed a nature-centred religion with magick as one of its
main practices. I feel that the Crowlean definition of magick also fits
Wicca well:

    Magick is the science and art of causing change to occur in
    conformity with will.

Wicca is actually a very diverse tradition, and some Wiccans adopt an
'anything goes' attitude, especially when it comes to spellwork (not in
terms of morality, but in terms of being undogmatic). Likewise, not all
Wiccans choose to follow the Wiccan Rede.

Incidentally, rede or rad is an Old English word meaning 'advice' or
'advise' (as a verb). It is the same morpheme as in the name Atelrad
Unrad. It doesn't seem to be used anywhere today outside of Wicca.

Conceptions of deity are one of these points of diversity. Some Wiccans
do worship a goddess and god, while others pick a deity from a popular
pantheon (e.g., Roman or Norse) to cultivate a relationship with. Some
Wiccans see the deity/ies they venerate as personal gods, while others
see them as personifications of nature.

Some wiccans do belong to covens but many also practice the craft in a
solitary manner. Having an altar is popular (and for many a sense of
pride) but not always considered essential.

One point of consistency seems to be the recognition of the Wheel of the
Year, that is the celebration of various Wiccan seasonal festivals such
as Samhain and Yule that acknowledge the changes of the seasons and the
spiritual changes these bring.