Wicca

Wicca, or Wiccanism, is a form of neo-paganism associated with witchcraft.

A modern religion drawing on various indigenous religions and magical practices. While ancient claims have been made, Wicca can only be traced back to the publication of "Witchcraft Today" by Gerald B. Gardner in 1952. Portions of the material he and his initiates have published can be traced to the works of Aleister Crowley and occult society's like The Golden Dawn. Doreen Valiente is generally acknowledged as author of several key Wiccan texts. What, if any, Wiccan texts might pre-date Gardner is unknown.

Wiccans range from those who self-identify, following a wide variety of spiritual and occult practices, to those who join secret initiatory groups known as covens or circles.

The role of belief in Wicca is flexible. Most of the traditional Wiccan branches (Gardnerian, Alexandrian, Blue Star, etc...) are orthopraxic, rather than orthodoxic, demanding adherence to a practice rather than a belief. In other traditions of Wicca, such as Dianic Wicca, religious belief plays a much stronger role. In traditional forms of Wicca it is possible that monotheists, polytheists, agnostics and atheists may practice in the same group.

Witchcraft, ritual magic, shamanic practices, meditation and visualization play an important role in Wicca. The inherent meaning of these practices vary from person to person. One Wiccan may consider them useful psychological tools, while another may impart supernatural power and meaning to these practices.

Today the term Wicca is used by a large variety of groups, often widely at variance with the model Gardner laid out in his original covens and books. Due to the popularity of movies and television shows featuring aspects of Wicca, and numerous shallow and unethical books exploiting this trend, it is considered by some to be a trendy fad religion of little substance.

Beliefs

It can be said Wiccans have only two beliefs at core: tolerance and a belief that humans can change reality by attuning their awareness.

Wiccans do not feel that there is is any one right religion, or even that any of them are right, but that any religous experience is fundamentally subjective. Therefore tolerance of religious belief is a necessary Wiccan trait, even though a religious belief itself is not. Wiccans do find the practices of religion useful, and they are sometimes known to use practices of other religions in a casual manner.

The belief that humans can change reality at will takes various forms in Wiccan traditions. Some Wiccans base their perspective in science, considering their practices natural rather than supernatural, and often depend on the theory that atoms can resonate with distant atoms that have been stimulated. Some believe in supernatural powers that may be tapped by humans. Some simply believe the practices are psychological tools; they consider what they practice to be "sleight of mind".

Wiccan ethics are often summed up in the Wiccan Rede:

"An it harm none, do as thou wilt."

The exact origin of the statement is unclear, having only appeared in wide circulation in the 1960s, but it is fundamentally a combination of the Golden Rule and Aleister Crowley's "Do as thou wilt shall be the whole of the law". Most Wiccans interpret the Rede as a caution to consider the harm your actions may cause and to consider that some actions are worth the repercussions.

Some humanists find it a very nice summation of ethics without divine principles in general.