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The question of What is Wicca comes up often. The definition of Wicca can range from a Goddess religion dating back 14,000 years, to a trendy name for a New Age drift toward peace with the earth complete with Indian spirit guides, Asian philosophy and fat-free yogurt. (neither of these are quite correct) So, What is Wicca? First and foremost, Wicca is a religion. The Wiccan religion regards nature as sacred, the universe as magickal, and divinity as both masculine and feminine. Wicca is the creation* of Gerald Gardner and his group in the 1940's. Some aspects of Wicca are based on Witchcraft, but a significant portion of it appears to have originated from ceremonial magick and the writings of Aleister Crowley and several other 19th and early 20th century authors. Much of the confusion on the age of Wicca was caused by Gardner's group referring to Wicca as "the old religion". While Wicca is based somewhat on old religions, it is not the old religion itself and should be considered a modern development. Wicca is not synonymous with Ancestral Witchcraft. Wicca is to some extent** based on Ancestral Witchcraft but not to the point where there is no differentiation of the two. Wicca is not related to diabolical witchcraft. Church of Magick does not even acknowledge the existence of diabolical witchcraft. It is our understanding that during the dark ages those wishing to discredit practitioners of ancestral religions created the fictitious concept of devil worshiping witches. Dragon Tradition is not the original form of Wicca. It is one of many traditions which have developed since the 1940s i.e. Alexandrian, Dianic, and Faerie Tradition Wicca. Dragon Tradition Wicca is not old. Dragon Tradition started being developed in 2000 and is being formally introduced in 2002. * The question of Wicca being a new religion, reconstructed religion, or old religion is seldom agreed on due to multiple definitions of the term Wicca. ** The issue of how much or how little of Wicca is based on Ancestral Witchcraft is hotly debated and beyond the scope of this document. History As with anything I'll start at the beginning. Please keep in mind that Wicca and Witchcraft are two completely different animals or it will get confusing. The Roman Occupation Europe had religions before the invasion of the Roman Empire. (the specifics are beyond this course) Information on the old European religions can be found in the book A History of Pagan Europe by Prudence Jones & Nigel Pennick. My apology for suggesting you purchase a book. I have found no online resource that even comes close. The Roman Empire gradually invaded and occupied Europe by around 100 C.E. At this time the official religion of the empire was still based on the Roman Pantheon. (Greco-Roman Gods) European religions didn't exactly get displaced, much of the old religions were merged with Greco-Roman practices but some of it survived at least semi-intact. Around 250 C.E. Christians were starting to get into positions of power in the empire. Although there were attempts to stop it, Christianity became the official religion of the empire around 390 C.E. With the Romans in power in Europe, Christianity spread through the nobility and upper class. In the peasant class and in the rural areas the old religions survived (although perhaps in a form mutated by the Greco-Roman Pantheon). Peasant and rural practice of the old religions continued like this for hundreds of years. It appears to have been accepted by the Christians because it wasn't proving to be a problem. However by the 10th century it had become enough of a problem to get recognition. In 906 the official church policy (as stated in Canon Episcopi) was that these people were confused and "perverted by Satan" and that no one should follow them. This was the birth of the fictitious concept of "diabolical witchcraft" namely witches who worshiped Satan. Keep in mind a commonly accepted theory is that it wasn't Satan who was being worshiped, but rather the gods of the old religions. To the Christian Church the old Pagan gods and Satan were one and the same. The Dark Ages By the 15th century things had changed for the worse. Pope Innocent VIII issued a formal declaration that anyone accused of consorting with demons [practicing anything other than Christianity] was to be arrested and tried [tortured convicted and executed]. That began what many call "the burning times". The torture at the hands of the Christians was unspeakable. It is not clear how many of those executed for "consorting" were actually practicing anything close to the old religions. It is likely that some if not most of those found to be "consorting" were either unpopular people, or those accused so they could be eliminated and their property seized. **19th Century** **19th Century** That brings us to the beginning of Wicca. In the 19th and early 20th century, historians (and I use the term loosely) started researching/speculating about the Witch trials of the earlier centuries. Some authors expressed that a form of ancient Goddess worship had been flourishing and was being systematically stamped out by Christianity who feared being overthrown. In almost all cases the academic quality of the research was... and I'm being nice here... substandard. Gerald Gardner, Father of Wicca Gerald Gardner was an Englishman, a civil servant and amateur archeologist. Gardner had an interest in religion, the occult and magick. Gardner studied anything he could get his hands on regarding witchcraft and magick including much of the "research" mentioned above. After his retirement in 1936 (according to his account) Gardner was initiated into the New Forest coven of "Old Dorothy". He remained active in Old Dorothy's coven for several years.

1950s In 1951 after the repeal of the last of the witchcraft laws in England, Gardner went public as a witch and broke off from Old Dorothy's "New Forest Coven" forming his own. According to his account much of his new Coven's Book of Shadows was based on the New Forest Coven's. [Note: I now have reason to believe that Gardner actually broke off from Old Dorothy's coven prior to 1951 and simply did not go public about his own coven until the laws were repealed.] In 1953 Gardner met Doreen Valiente and she was initiated into his Coven. Doreen opposed how much of Gardner's Book of Shadows was "borrowed" from Aleister Crowley. Gerald and Doreen rewrote Gardner's "Book of Shadows" and developed the original form of Wicca now known as "Gardnerian Tradition". In 1954 Gardner wrote a book called "Witchcraft Today" which became quite popular and Gardnerian Covens were being started all over England. 1960s & '70s '80s & 90s In the early 1960s Wicca started appearing in the United States. Wicca caught on quite quickly because the rebellious, earth centric basis of Wicca fit right in with the 60s eco-friendly hippy movement. In the 1960s and 70s many new traditions were created. While a few will argue this, they were all based somewhat on Gardner's work. Alexandrian Wicca is one of the oldest and very near to original Gardnerian. Seax Tradition, Faery Tradition, and Dianic Tradition are well known, and there are countless others. By this time many aspects of the original Wicca had fallen from popularity in the new traditions; Things like ritual nudity, and sexual activity as a central part of ritual were replaced with more conservative practices. [NOTE: Yes, both ritual nudity and sexual activity during ritual were both a significant part of the original Wicca.] Mid 1970s By the mid 1970s Wiccan practice came to the attention of the academic community and the history of Wicca was examined. Gardner claimed that Wicca was "The Old Religion" and that the ritual and Book of Shadows were both based on the practice of the New Forest Coven which had an unbroken lineage back to the practice of Witchcraft in the dark ages. Gardner's claims about New Forest were generally accepted at the time. People flocked to what they believed to be the religion of their ancestors and for the most part accepted Gardner and the others on their word. People practicing Wicca were told it was thousands of years old, only to find out from the academic community that significant parts of it were written in the last 25 years. As you can imagine this caused quite an uproar. First there was a lot of academic bashing, then people felt betrayed and lied to by the Wiccan community. We now know within reasonable doubt that some major aspects of Wicca are recent, borrowed from Freemasonry, Ceremonial Magick and the books of Margaret Murray, Charles Leland, and Aleister Crowley among others. [NOTE: Sad as it may seem, people new to Wicca are seldom told the truth about the history and still to this day believe they are practicing an ancient religion.] [NOTE: The history of Wicca may be rough around the edges, but this doesn't change the legitimacy of it in my opinion. Wicca is a wonderful religion that is empowering and enlightening.] Keep in mind, up to this point (for the most part) the only way to learn Wicca was to join a coven practicing it. 1980s and the New Age That brings us to the 1980s, and the "New Age" movement. With the dawn of New Age spirituality came an opportunity to make a huge pile of money selling books on Wicca. No longer did one need to find a coven and learn from a teacher, now all one needed to do was visit a bookstore, spend on a couple of books and voila, you're a Wiccan. It became the age of "self-initiation" which was a dirty word to those in formal coven practice. 1990s Because Wicca was being treated as a "New Age" religion, other practices which had nothing to do with the original Wicca became common in the practice of Wicca. Soon there were pentacle wearing Wiccans with Native American spirit guides, studying Yoga chakras, and practicing Reiki (a Chinese healing technique). Wicca Today As you can see Wicca has changed significantly in 50 years, from a secretive dark mystical coven practiced tradition to a New Age solitary practice with self-initiation. As to Wicca being a direct descendant of ancestral religions, let me say this: In referring to Gardnerian Wicca (circa 1953) there are some aspects of it which are ancient. Almost all of it is not more than 500 years old. A lot of it is less than 150 years old, and a significant amount is post World War II. .....AND SOME WISDOM FROM THE GREYBOOK --Because we know that indeed there is a GOD of many Modes, we must acknowledge this Power in the community as well so we may call our future home Gods' Kingdom; The Place we will call home. Prymus 1-1969 --When you, of The Family find yourself as being a guest of anothers' home, remember who you are and why you are and respect host as you put the host before yourself. In short, mind your manners. Prymus 1-1969 --He will come as a Great, Great descendent of slaves; from the middle of the Great Country; Born in the city of wind; An artist of various sorts; Inspired by the Ascended Masters, He will found the Family and build our community. Prymus 2-1983 --Artists do have a diffrent 'air' about themselves than most others; Inwardly and outwardly like the flamboyant Peacock or the enigmas Arachnid. Prymus 3-1998 --Magnetize!! Prymus 4/2003. Family! If you say that you love your mate, then truly LOVE. To take a living being for granted is like one having bad hygeine; Not taking care of the body and allowing lower life forms to digest on your own toxic flesh. PRYMUS 4 Women should be worshipped and served by MAN resposibly; Although WO/Man are both Divine in Creation, WE ALL COME FROM THE FEMININE. PRYMUS 1