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The Origins of Wicca its Principles of Belief
Wicca all began with a man named Gerald Gardner. He was fascinated by the world of Witchcraft. Gardner claimed that in 1939 he was initiated into the New Forest Coven by Dorothy Clutterbuck. Whether this Witch coven ever existed is still in question today, and if it did, how old it actually was.
He was also a member of a Ceremonial association known as the Order of the Golden Dawn, as well as being a friend of Aleister Crowley, the famous occultist. For those of you who don't know, Ceremonial Magic is a formal and complex style of ritual magic, often associated with Christian figures such as God and the Archangels rather than Pagan deities.
With the help of his High Priestess Doreen Valiente, Gardner blended Witchcraft and Ceremonial Magic, and created what is now regarded as the most popular Neopagan religion of our time: Wicca.
The aim of this thesis is to give the origins of each aspect of Wicca, its cultural background, and how Gardner came to choose them.
The God
The concept of a Horned God primerely comes from the writtings of Margaret Murray. She wrote about the fictitious Witch-cult worshiping a Horned God, and it is known that Gardner took a lot of inspiration from her work.
The Wiccan God has two primary aspects:
It is thought that the Oak King aspect comes from the old image of the Green Man in English folklore. Likewise, the Holly King/Hunter is his Winter aspect.
The God in his Winter aspect of Lord of the Hunt is believed to stem from a few places. There are several gods and spirits in English folklore who preside over wild animals and the hunt, notably Herne and Cernunnos.
The idea of the dying God who is reborn later in the year comes from the Slavic mythos of a dying god, Volos, who brought life to the harvest through dying each year.
The Goddess
The Maiden/Mother/Crone model of goddess upon which the Wiccan Goddess is based comes from Robert Graves' book The White Goddess, first published in 1948. Historical triple goddesses were not age and fertility based, and this MMC format is an entirely modern creation of Graves'.
The MMC model is one commonly used among Neopagans in general. The maiden is the aspect of childhood, adolescence, beginnings, purity, virginity, independence, and courage. The mother is the aspect of motherhood, protection, fertility, growth, and sexuality. The crone is the aspect of old age, wisdom, change, transformation, death, rebirth, and banishing.
Gardner used Graves' book as one of his many inspirations for Wicca, and he was also a good friend of Graves. Thus Gardner chose his idea of a triple Goddess as the basis for his own Wiccan Goddess.
The Sabbats
In the simplest terms, the Wiccan Sabbats are a combination of 4 Celtic holidays and 4 Norse holidays. The idea of using the 4 Fire festivals of the Celts came from Margaret Murray's work, in which she lists the holy days as sacred in the mythical Witch cult of which she wrote (though of course, this is not historic fact). Gardner, after reading her work, chose to use these festivals in his religion, also adding the 4 Norse holy days of the Solstices and Equinoxes to complete his 8-fold version of the Wheel of the Year (the term coined by Murray). The term "Sabbat" itself is derived from Murray, who took inspiration from the Witch trials in her work, as the Witches gatherings in Christian myth were called the "Sabbat".
The myths that surround the Wiccan Sabbats, however, are entirely different to those of the Celts and the Norse. Gardner created a whole new set of seasonal myths to fit in with his God and Goddess, rather than the Celtic and Norse gods.
The Rituals
Much of the ritual structure in Wicca comes from Ceremonial Magic. The specific methods of casting protective circles, invoking the Quarters and going through a strict ritual plan are all common traits found within CM. Originally, any Witchcraft practices would only involve the marking of a circle on the ground, if at all, and even then it was not used in the same context as the Wiccan circle. They were not used as protective barriers, but simply to mark out the area for magic.
The coven hierarchy is utilised a lot in Wiccan ritual, as the High Priest and Priestess would usually lead each ritual. The hierarchy of Degrees itself is derived from Freemasonry, so once again we see hints of Ceremonialism.
The Initiation rituals in Wicca involve such things as ritual binding, scourging, being blindfolded and challenged when entering the circle. Again we see elements of CM and Freemasonry here in the Wiccan Initiations.
The Elements
The four Elements, or Quarters, invoked in Wiccan ritual are derived from Ceremonial Magic. Gardner was a well known member of the Order of the Golden Dawn, a Ceremonial order, and it is here where he gained the inspiration to invoke the Elements during circle casting, among other things. The idea of "Elemential Watchtowers" is most certainly a Ceremonial concept.
The Tools
Many of the ritual tools in Wicca are of Ceremonial origin. These include the athame, the sword, the scourge, the bell, the wand (to a degree), the pentacle, and the chalice, as well as lesser tools like candles and censer.
The besom or broom is thought to be derived from the old legends of Witches riding on brooms to the Sabbat.
The wand, while partly a Ceremonial tool, is also thought to be derived from various accounts of Cunning Folk who would use a long branch or rod in their magical work.
The cauldron is probably one of the more traditional Pagan tools/symbols. The Celtic Goddess Cerridwen has a cauldron which represents femenine power and rebirth, in which she brewed magical formulae. This is thought to be where the legend of Witches brewing their magical potions came from, which later was used in real Witch practices.
The Rede and Charges
The Wiccan Rede, the most well known of Wiccan literature, was writen by Doreen Valiente, Gardner's High Priestess. The Charge of the Goddess was also writen by her, although the exact origin of the Charge of the God is unknown as it is a much later addition and there are several versions around today.
The Three Fold Law
The first known reference in print to the three-fold law of return appeared in 1970 in 'Witchcraft Ancient and Modern' by Raymond Buckland who was initiated into Wicca by Gerald Gardner. Therefore it is speculated that the Law was an early componant in Wicca, promoted by Gardner. However, its exact origins are unknown.
Despite popular belief, the Law has nothing to do with the Eastern concept of Karma.
The 161 Laws of Wicca
Written by Gerald Gardner shortly after Valiente left his coven. They are thought to be an attempt at reenforcing the idea that Wicca is an old religion, by the way they are writen in faux Old English. They are also considered to be a way to try and form some sort of control over the Wiccan population by setting them rules to live by. They are a later addition to the religion compared to other componants.
The Pentagram
Was taken from...you've guessed it... Ceremonial Magic. The pentagram is a promenant symbol used in Ceremonial Magic and Kabbala to invoke and banish spirits. It was not an original Pagan Witch symbol, and many non-Wiccan Witchcraft traditions do not include the pentagram for this reason. Gardner, being a member of a Ceremonial order, used the symbol in ritual. Thus it became the trade symbol of Wicca.
The Book of Shadows
The term "Book of Shadows" was coined by Gardner after he heard of a book of the same name which detailed the practice of divination by shadow lengths (hence, Book of "Shadows"). Historically speaking, a Witches' book was called a Grimoire, not a Book of Shadows as this is a modern term coined, as I said, by Gardner.
The notion of a Cunning Man or Wyfe (workers of good folk magic, often in a Christian context, who worked against local Witches) having a book in which to keep their concoctions and magical formulae is an old one. Hutton outlines this in his book, and he notes that this is the probably cause of the Witches' "spell book" in our modern stereotype, and indeed modern practice. There are various records of local Cunning folk who always seemed to have a black book with them, which they referanced when doing their work.
The Coven
The structure of the Wiccan coven is derived from two main places. Margaret Murray is responsible for the idea of covens having 13 members, and Gardner took this for a basis for his coven structure in Wicca. I go into more detail on this in the second thesis.
The degree system of 1st (Initiate), 2nd (Priest/ess) and 3rd (High Priest/ess) Degrees in Wicca is inspired by the degrees within Freemasonry. Indeed Crowley, whom aided Gardner in setting out a lot of Wicca's early structure, was a Mason. Until then, any existing Pagan Witch practices did not include any formal degree system.
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The False Testimony of the Old Religion
Debunking the Myths
Debunking the Myths
Margaret Murray & Her Thesis
The primary cause of the “Old Religion” idea is down to one woman, her name was Margaret Alice Murray. Born in 1863, Murray was a well known Egyptologist of her time. Her keen interests in folklore lead her to investigate the idea of a pre-Christian Witch religion which centred on the worship of a Horned God. Later she was to write two major works on the subject: The Witch-Cult in Western Europe (1921), and The God of the Witches (1931).
Her work started when she began researching contemporary records of the witch trials, including confessions made by those under torture, and stock information such as the Malleus Maleficarum. Her findings lead her to the conclusion that there was in existence, a secret Pagan religion of witches who honoured a Horned God, whom was referred to as the Devil or Satan by those under torture.
However there has been much criticism of her writing, and today she has been duly dismissed as being incorrect in her theories. One main reason for this is due to her complete lack of supporting evidence: "a few well-known works by Continental demonologists, a few tracts printed in England and quite a number of published records of Scottish witch trials. The much greater amount of unpublished evidence was absolutely ignored." (Hutton 1991)
According to Murray, the witch-cult was the oldest religion in the world and was practiced by Stone-Age people. Her evidence is two cave paintings, neither of which, according to historian Ronald Hutton, depict what Murray claims they do. One image is supposedly a group of people dancing in a circle. The second is supposedly a priest in animal skins with deer antlers on his head. This is hardly evidence enough to suggest they were practicing Witchcraft in covens and worshiping a Horned God. Murray seems to have not so much jumped as leaped to an unfounded conclusion.
Another of Murray’s theories is that this pagan cult practiced voluntary human sacrifice. Two supposed members whom fell victim to this sacrifice were listed as King William Rufus (William II) of England, and Saint Joan of Arc, among others.
King Rufus was accidentally shot with an arrow by his friend while they were out hunting, according to historians. Murray somehow seemed to think his friend was in fact a fellow Pagan carrying out Rufus’ wishes of being a sacrifice. In fact there is no evidence of this, and Murray again has leapt to unfounded conclusions.
Saint Joan of Arc was a Catholic, there is no doubt about this, and she is venerated in the Catholic Church as a saint. She claimed to have visions of God, and was tried for heresy in 1431. She was burnt at the stake for heresy later that year. Murray, however, seemed to believe she was in fact a member of the Witch-cult, and allowed herself to be captured by Christians and burnt at the stake as a willing sacrifice to the Horned God. This is probably the one of the most bizarre and illogical of Murray’s claims.
Among her other theories was the idea of Witch covens having thirteen members. Her basis for this was skewed at best. She was very careful in trying to prove this theory by selecting any witch trial she could find in which there were thirteen people killed. In fact, only a very small percentage of witch trials had thirteen accused. When Murray found no more, she instead took to changing accounts of witch trials to make them fit thirteen. This goes against every historian’s teaching: she was manipulating evidence to fit her own ideas. In other words, she was lying.
One example is that of the Aberdeen witch trials in 1597, during which twenty-four people were burned as witches, and another seven were banished, making thirty-one in total. However, Murray listed only twenty-six of the accused in order to make two covens, conveniently “forgetting” the other five because they didn’t support her theory. Another example is the St Osyth trials in which two were hanged as witches. Murray, in her attempt to manipulate history, lists thirteen people instead, and this is a blatant lie.
This was not the only evidence she manipulated. The trial confessions of supposed witches often contained statements such as witches flying through the air to the Sabbat, and transforming into animals. However, Murray was quick to omit these passages in her quotes because they seemed too fantastical to be done by real practicing Witches. In other words, she removed the evidence which suggested the confessions were nothing more than fantasy in order to make her claims seem true. This is another example of a big historian no-no.
Murray is also the woman credited with the idea that this secret Witch religion went underground to hide itself from the eyes of Christianity. However, this seems very unlikely as the Church was so well established that it thoroughly stamped out any heretical beliefs that were circulating at the time. There is also no evidence that supports the idea of a Witch religion at this time, underground or not.
Murray really thought she was onto something, but a few decades later when historians looked back at her work, her "sources" turned out to be shaky at best, her evidence was manipulated and false, and her conclusions about a surviving Witch religion were finally dissolved into fabrication of her own imagination.
Murray and Wicca
Many Wiccan Fundamentalists often use Murray as evidence for Wicca being hundreds, if not thousands of years old. Aside from Murray being debunked as false history, let’s compare Wicca to the supposed Witch-cult Murray wrote about:
- Murray stated that this ancient Witch religion practiced willing human sacrifice. Now I don’t know about anyone else, but I have never heard of this within Wicca, nor have I heard of a Wiccan condoning such acts. Indeed a lot of Wiccans are always quick to assert that human sacrifice, or blood sacrifice of any kind, is against their religion.
- Murray claimed several major Christian figures as Pagans. I have never seen any Wiccan claim people like Joan of Arc as one of their own, and to do so would indeed be an insult to Christianity.
- Murray claimed that these Witches worshipped only a Horned God, and while there is a Horned God within Wicca, there is also a Goddess. If this ancient Witch religion was the same as Wicca, where is this Goddess?
- Murray also claimed that the Horned God of these Witches was the Devil or Satan of Christian mythos, as confessions at the witch trials indicated. The majority of Wiccans are quick to state that their God is anything but the Christian Devil or Satan, and would never associate themselves with such an evil figure.
- It should also be noted that not once does Murray mention the word “Wicca”. The term was coined by Gardner, as before then it was never used to describe a religion.
Does this ancient Witch religion Murray spoke of sound like Wicca? Of course not. So to use Murray as a source for Wicca being ancient is not only sourcing false history, but highly illogical as the two have so little in common.
Gardner’s Reasoning
Gerald Gardner read Murray’s work with great enthusiasm. The idea of an ancient Witch religion fascinated him, and so he was quick to take up her ideas as fact. When he was initiated into a Witch coven, and blended these practices with Ceremonial Magic to create Wicca, he often referred to his religion as “the Old Religion”.
The main reason for this is because Gardner didn’t see any distinction between Wicca and Witchcraft. He considered his religion to be the “new” Witchcraft of modern times, and used the terms interchangeably. So when he spoke of Wicca being the Old Religion, he was actually referring to the Witchcraft described in Murray’s work. But of course since Wicca was Witchcraft to him, he didn’t see any problem in calling his new creation the Old Religion, when in fact it is a modern invention that is far from being the Witchcraft Murray wrote about. They were completely different things, but he saw them as the same, so he referred to them in the same way: the “Old Religion”.
Indeed this is why most people think Wicca is the Old Religion. Gardner always referred to it as such, so it must be true. What most don’t realise is the above: he based it on Murray’s work, which is not only false history, but so far from Wicca it’s unbelievable.
It was only after Gardner published all his books, and even after his death, that Murray was shown to be false. Murray too, died in 1963 before her work was fully analysed and debunked. Both of them went to the grave believing in the "Old Religion" as historical fact.
Conclusion
The so called "Old Religion" that people say is Wicca wasn't even Wicca at all. The whole idea of an Old Religion came from Murray, but the supposed religion she described bared hardly any resemblance to Wicca. The Witchcraft she spoke of was based around the witch trials, most of which was fabricated anyway from her own wild conclusions.
After Gardner read her work, he always referred to Wicca as the Old Religion because he believed his religion was a continuation of the Witch religion Murray described. This is how the idea of Wicca being the "Old Religion" came about. Gardner read her books and thought they were true, that a Witch religion was around for hundreds of years. That is why Gardner started calling Wicca the "Old Religion": because he saw his religion as the "new" Witchcraft (despite the fact there are other Witchcraft religions that aren't Wiccan, but that's beside the point) a modern version of this Old Religion, when in fact, the Old Religion Murray spoke of had nothing to do with Wicca at all!
Today, most sensible and educated Wiccans and Witches regard the "Old Religion" as a myth of their path, a fable: not historically true, but Murray's work was still a major contribution to the foundation of modern Witchcraft and Wicca, so they keep it in mind as a mythological text. Like Genesis of the Bible; not historically true, but it's still a myth of the Christian and Jewish religions. I only hope that one day, the real history of Wicca will be popularised, and the false history of Murray will be lost in the midst of myth as it should be.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Murray
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_arc
http://www.controverscial.com/Margaret Alice Murray.htm
http://wicca.timerift.net
Triumph of the Moon – Ronald Hutton
The Witch-Cult in Western Europe – Murray
The God of the Witches – Murray
Witchcraft Today - Gerald Gardner
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