Witchcraft versus Wicca
The idea of magic and witchcraft has been around for a long time. Though, what are they exactly? Movies and TV shows such as Harry Potter, Hocus Pocus, and Sabrina the Teenage Witch all embody what is predictably thought of when people hear these words. However, witchcraft is not just found in fiction and superstition. There is a religion created in the early twentieth century known as Wicca, which shares some of the same aspects of stereotypical witchcraft. Though modern day Wicca has only been around for a century, it is based off of the craft which has been practiced hundred’s of years prior. Witchcraft itself is believed to have started gaining notoriety during the medieval era (Kieckhefer, Richard). With Christianity at it’s height, the church would condemn countless non-practitioners as heretics and have them persecuted. However, many traditional witches during the time practiced their own religion and beliefs, an
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One of the first notable persons to found the idea of wicca was Charles Leland (Carroll). He was an author and folklorist in the 1800s who wrote Aradia: Gospel of the witches (Carroll). This book regarded information gathered from a supposed Italian sorceress called Maddalena about the goddess Diana, though there was little credibility for it (Carroll). After him was Margaret Murray, who wrote about the time period where witches were burned and brought up the idea that witches were part of an ancient pagan religion in Europe (world religions professor). Then in the early 1900s Gerald Gardner wrote various accounts revolving around a coven he joined in 1939 (Carroll). He was a British Civil servant who added rituals, symbols, concepts and elements from ceremonial magick to add to the coven’s practices, as many of them had been forgotten (Carroll). However, it was not only writers who helped influence