Free Wicca School Blog

No other Religion since the Spanish Inquisition has been on the receiving end of more slander and misinformation campaigns by dominant well established conventional religions then Wicca has recently been. Hence; it is no wonder that myths about Wicca and Wiccans abound.

One common myth is that bloodletting or blood rituals as is commonly found in Christian history and art can also be found in Wicca. The fact of the matter, is that throughout the history of Wicca nothing more than herbs have been cut for their rituals and no dead, dying or wounded deity's are ever recognized or depicted in Wicca as are commonly found in other more conventional religions.

Another common myth is that Wicca and Paganism are the same and that the word “Pagan” has some connection to Satanism. While paganism and Wicca do share some common beliefs they are recognized as being separate in practice.

Also, the word “ Pagan” has absolutely no connection to Satanism but rather is a word that the ancient Romans used to refer to “country” or “rural” farmers that dwelled in the countryside outside of the cities of Rome. When Christianity became the religion of “power” in ancient Rome it was these rural practitioners of traditional nature oriented belief systems that were among the first to be persecuted by the church and like so many others were labeled “Satanic”.

As long as modern man has been discovering evidence of how their ancient ancestors lived and went about their lives they have been also discovering evidence of ancient religious practices. Archaeologists tended to be at a loss as to how to understand what ancient paleolithic peoples were doing when they practiced their religion so what they found tended to be “written off” as mere cave paintings or “Voodoo”.

It was in England in the early to mid part of the twentieth century that the word “Wicca” was coined and original religious practices of mans ancient ancestors began to be revived and spread from continent to continent. So, while many people who are unfamiliar with the actual origins of Wicca may view it as a relatively new religion, the irony of the fact is that it is quite possible one of the oldest.

Other misconceptions abound regarding Wicca and paganism including many people interpreting the word “Pagan” to have some connection to Satanism. The fact is that the word “Pagan” was a word that the ancient Romans used that in Latin translation simply means “country folk”.  In ancient Rome it was Rural farmers that practiced a nature based religion that was based on the simple life that they lived and the natural world that sustained them.

The word “Wicca” is a recently coined word that is used to describe an alternative religion that is becoming more and more popular as people become more disinchanted with more conventional forms of religion. Wicca is a nature based belief system that offers practitioners a set of principles that are grounded in the natural laws of nature and the functions of the four seasons.

Wicca as religion actually is possibly the oldest form of religion known to mankind and evidence of its practice have been found that indicate that it was being practiced by paleolithic peoples well over ten thousand years ago. Most of the holidays celebrated by Wiccans revolve around the phases of the moon and the planting and growing seasons with traditions that have been recognized and practiced since humans first began to till the soil for sustenance.

In spite of the many myths that abound regarding Wicca, it is a family oriented religion that never engages in any kind of animal sacrifice in the way that practitioners of Santeria, which Wiccans are often confused for do. Another common myth is that Wiccans are atheist which is totaly false as Wiccans recognize and pay homage to a number of deities.

An Introduction to Dianic Wicca

Because Wicca is a relatively new religion that draws on ancient pagan traditions, it is constantly changing and adjusting to the new modern age that we live in. The term “Wicca” was coined during the middle of the nineteen-hundreds in England and so it to is relatively new.

Dianic Wicca is something that has sprung form the broader community of Wiccans and it can be most aptly described as a “womans only” form of Wicca. If you were to walk into a Dianic coven, you would see only women who were entirely reliant on the goddess and female deities during their ritual.

It really makes such perfect sense, because up until the birth of modern day Wicca, women were expected to take a back seat in convectional religious practice if they were given a seat at all. Many women who practice Dianic Wicca feel that their feminine energy manifests itself in its most powerful form when the ritual is devoid of male energy.

The Beginnings of Dianic Wicca

Also, many women tend to feel more comfortable and relaxed and thus can meditate more deeply when they are in the presence of their sister Wiccans exclusively. Dianic Wiccans trace their beginning back to the Roman Empire when a female prestress conducted rituals that called on the goddess Diana during their rituals and this further evolved to include other female deities.

Dianic Wiccans also rely on ancient Greek and Egyptian female deities during their rituals and worship. The Dianic Wiccan community is growing and is expected to continue to grow on into the future as women everywhere are finding Dianic covens a safe place for refuge in what many conceive as a male dominated society.

Given that Dianic pagan practices predate all contemporary modern religions it seems only natural that things should come full circle and Dianic covens might take their rightful place in the broader Wiccan Community.

Celtic Wicca is a blended form of Wicca that incorporates modern and Celtic tradicional beliefs in what many refer to as Baptist Wicca. It is a polytheistic form of Wicca that tends to focus mostly on the male aspect of deity worship but in recent times has began to regognise the relevance of the goddess as well.

The Celtic Wiccan region essential refers to the area encompasing Wales. Scotland and Ireland which has a long standing tradition of deity worship. Celtic Wicca is a nature based form of Wicca that draws on the powers of the Earth, herbalism and divination as well as the many Celtic gods and godesses during ritual practice. Much of what we know as Celtic Wicca today traces its roots to the early post Christian times of the Roman Empire.

Some Celtic Wicca History

While Romans who lived in the cities were torced to practice an early form of Christianity, the rural peasants carried on their religious traditions in the countryside far from reach of the religious authorities. During that time living in a Roman city and not practicing Christianity was hazardous to ones health as the ruling class of the time were the first to recognize Christianity as an effective means of controling the working class.

What the early Celts practiced was actually referred to as Paganism, because the term Wicca came from the the English practitioners of Witchcraft and it was Gerald Gardner who changed the spelling from Wica to Wicca. Because acurate records weren't kept by early Celtic Pagans it is difficult to know the exact details of what this early form of religion intailed.

Celtic Wicca, In Conclusion..

Enough is known about Celtic Wicca, however, because it was passed down from generation to generation and it has been heavily studied by anthropologists and historians. Even today many of the peoples living in rural areas where Celtic Wicca originated still practice tradicional religions that contain a hint of pagan traditions in their rituals.