Wiccanism — what the religion of modern witches teaches

We believe that the time of witches and sorcerers has long passed and they can only be found on the pages of books or in films about the harsh Middle Ages. But this is not quite true, because witches still live among us. Moreover, they have created their own, unlike anything else, neo-religion. And this is not some kind of youth subculture that will be forgotten in a couple of years. Wiccanism, or Wicca for short, appeared at the beginning of the last century.

The father of Wiccanism was not a magician, not a warlock or even a writer, but a retired former British civil servant Gerald Gardner. He was a fan of the famous ideologist of occultism and Satanism Aleister Crowley, who also called himself a prophet. Having absorbed Crowley's ideas and thoroughly reworked and supplemented them, Gardner created a new religion with holidays, rituals and history.

The year of the appearance of Wiccanism is considered to be 1920, but mass interest in this religion appeared only in the 50s. We can say that this is a cult of worship of the forces of nature and higher forces. Gardner laid the foundation of Wicca, but his followers made up a detailed concept. They took the book "Aradia, or the Gospel of Witches" as a basis. It was written in 1899 by the folklorist from the USA Charles Godfrey Leland.

The book allegedly contained rituals and spells of medieval witches from Italian Tuscany. However, serious studies of this work have called into question not only the actions described in it, but also the very existence of the Tuscan witch community. But this was of little interest to connoisseurs of witchcraft, and they drew Leland's wisdom by handfuls.

Wiccanism is a dualistic religion in which the two main deities are the Sun and the Moon. In addition, there are many secondary gods responsible for various natural phenomena and events. The supreme god personified by the sun of day is the horned Kernunnos. It was borrowed from the ancient Celts. It is believed that Ato, Minotaur, Pan, Dionysus and others are also his names among different peoples.

The moon as a goddess has three life phases: Virgo, Mother and Old Woman. Virgo represents the new moon, development and growth. Mother — full moon, maturity, harmony and sexuality. The old woman is waning, wisdom and death. In general, Wiccans believe that all the gods in history are one and harmoniously complement each other. And they also believe in reincarnation, although they urge to live here and now, without postponing everything for later.

An important part of the neo-religion of witches is magic. It is based on five basic elements: fire, air, earth, water and spirit or ether, which occupies the main role. The magical practices of Wiccan are complex and confusing. Everything happens at night, on a sabbath or as it is also called a coven. Many rituals are performed in the nude, or, as the adherents of religion say, "in heavenly clothes." This practice was described in his book by the same Leland, who studied fictional Tuscan witches.

Due to the fact that Wiccans use Tarot cards and conduct strange night rituals, they are often considered Satanists. But they have nothing to do with devil worshippers. Their teaching says that it is forbidden to worship Satan, as well as to perform any sacrifices and offend other faiths. Wiccanism puts openness and honesty at the head of human virtues.

Also, adherents are convinced that everyone is obliged to cultivate 8 basic qualities in himself: reverence, respect, joy, strength, humanity, beauty, compassion and power. They will help to come to the main goal of every believer — harmony and unity with nature, and rapprochement with God and the Goddess.