Neopagan witchcraft

Group of neopagan traditions

Gathering of Wiccans for a handfasting ceremony at Avebury in England Part of a series on

Witchcraft

* Neopagan
* Wicca
* Feminist
* Dianic

By region

* Africa
* Asia
* Europe
* Goetia
* Roma
* Latin America
* Middle East
* North America
* Oceania

Related topics

* Cunning folk
* Folk religion
* Magic
* Black
* Grey
* White
* Magic and religion
* Shamanism
* Witch as an archetype
* Witch-cult hypothesis
* Witch hunt
* in the early modern period

* v
* t
* e

Neopagan witchcraft, sometimes referred to as The Craft, is an umbrella term for some neo-pagan traditions that include the practice of magic.[1] They may also incorporate aspects of nature worship, divination, and herbalism.[2] These traditions began in the mid-20th century, and many were influenced by the witch-cult hypothesis, a now-rejected theory that persecuted witches in Europe had actually been followers of a surviving pagan religion. The largest and most influential of these movements was Wicca. Some other groups and movements describe themselves as "Traditional Witchcraft" to distinguish themselves from Wicca. The first is viewed as more ancient-based, while the latter is a new movement of eclectic ideas.

In contemporary Western culture, some adherents of these religions, as well as some followers of New Age belief systems, may self-identify as "witches", and use the term "witchcraft" for their self-help, healing, or divination rituals.[3] Others avoid the term due to its negative connotations. Religious studies scholars class the various neopagan witchcraft traditions under the broad category of 'Wicca',[4][5] although many within Traditional Witchcraft do not accept that title.[6]

These Neopagans use definitions of witchcraft which are distinct from those used by many anthropologists and from some historic understandings of witchcraft, such as that of pagan Rome, which had laws against harmful magic.[7]

## Origins

[edit]

Further information: History of Wicca

Most societies that have believed in harmful witchcraft or black magic have also believed in helpful or white magic or cunning craft.[8] In these societies, practitioners of helpful magic provided services such as breaking the effects of witchcraft, healing, divination, finding lost or stolen goods, and love magic.[9] In Britain they were commonly known as cunning folk or wise people.[9] Alan McFarlane writes, "There were a number of interchangeable terms for these practitioners, 'white', 'good', or 'unbinding' witches, blessers, wizards, sorcerers, however 'cunning-man' and 'wise-man' were the most frequent".[10] Ronald Hutton prefers the term "service magicians".[9] Often these people were involved in identifying alleged witches.[8]

In the 1920s, the witch-cult hypothesis gained increasing attention in occult circles when it was popularized by Margaret Murray.[11] The witch-cult hypothesis was the idea that those persecuted as witches were not workers of harmful magic, but followers of a pagan religion (the "Old Religion") that had survived the Christianization of Europe. This has been proven untrue by further historical research.[12][13] Though the theory of accused witches being followers of an organized pagan religion was discredited in academia, it spurred renewed interest in witchcraft.[14]

From the 1930s, occult neopagan groups began to emerge who re-defined the term 'witchcraft' and applied it to their religion. They were initiatory secret societies inspired by Murray's witch cult theory, ceremonial magic, Aleister Crowley's Thelema, and historical paganism.[15][16][17] The earliest group was the Bricket Wood coven of English occultist Gerald Gardner. Gardner said he had been initiated by a group of pagan witches, the New Forest coven, who he said were one of the few remnants of this pagan witch cult.[18] His story is disputed by academics.[19][20][16][21][22] Gardner's neopagan witchcraft religion, later known as Wicca, adopted many of the traditions ascribed to Murray's witch cult.[23]

Gerald Gardner was not the only person who believed they were a member of a surviving pagan witch-cult. Others such as Sybil Leek, Charles Cardell, Raymond Howard, Rolla Nordic, Robert Cochrane and Paul Huson also said they had been initiated by surviving witch covens. They considered themselves to be following "hereditary" or "traditional" forms of pagan witchcraft.[24][25]

English historian Ronald Hutton notes that neopagan witchcraft is "the only full-formed religion which England can be said to have given the world."[26]

Following its establishment in Britain, Gardnerian Wicca was brought to the U.S. in the early 1960s[27] by English initiate Raymond Buckland and his then-wife Rosemary, who together founded a coven in Long Island.[15][28] In the U.S., numerous new variants of Wicca then developed.[29]

## Wicca

[edit]

Main article: Wicca

Part of a series on

Wicca

Pentacle

History of Wicca

* History of Wicca
* Etymology of Wicca
* Bricket Wood coven
* New Forest coven
* Dettmer v. Landon
* Witch-cult hypothesis

Notable figures

* Gerald Gardner
* Doreen Valiente
* Alex Sanders
* Maxine Sanders
* Sybil Leek
* Dafo
* Margot Adler
* Victor Anderson
* Artemis
* Gavin Bone
* Lois Bourne
* Jack Bracelin
* Raymond Buckland
* Eddie Buczynski
* Zsuzsanna Budapest
* Charles Cardell
* Ipsita Roy Chakraverti
* Patricia Crowther
* Vivianne Crowley
* Robert Cochrane
* Scott Cunningham
* Phyllis Curott
* Cerridwen Fallingstar
* Janet Farrar
* Stewart Farrar
* Raven Grimassi
* Gavin Frost
* Yvonne Frost
* Philip Heselton
* Frederic Lamond
* Silver RavenWolf
* Starhawk
* Joseph Wilson

Rites and rituals

* Drawing down the Moon
* Great rite
* Handfasting
* Wiccaning
* Fivefold kiss
* Magic circle
* Cone of power
* Herbal medicine
* Scrying
* Spellwork / Incantation
* Banishing
* Divination
* Invocation
* Initiation
* Rite of passage
* Eko Eko Azarak
* Solitary practitioner
* Spiral dance

Deities

* Triple Goddess
* Horned God
* Green Man
* Holly King / Oak King
* Mother goddess

Traditions

* Alexandrian Wicca
* Blue Star Wicca
* Central Valley Wicca
* Chthonioi Alexandrian Wicca
* Gardnerian Wicca
* 1734 Tradition
* Celtic Wicca
* Church and School of Wicca
* Cochrane's Craft
* Coven of Atho
* Dianic Wicca
* Faery Wicca
* Georgian Wicca
* Odyssean Wicca
* Reclaiming
* Seax-Wica
* Stregheria
* Universal Eclectic Wicca

Wiccan organisations

* Aquarian Tabernacle Church
* Coven Celeste
* Children of Artemis
* Church and School of Wicca
* Circle Sanctuary
* Covenant of the Goddess
* New Reformed Orthodox Order
of the Golden Dawn
* Panthean Temple
* The Rowan Tree Church
* SpiralScouts International
* Universal Eclectic Wicca
* Wiccan Church of Canada
* Witchcraft Research Association

Holidays

* Wheel of the Year
* Solstice
* Equinox
* Imbolc
* Ostara
* Beltane
* Midsummer
* Lughnasadh
* Mabon
* Samhain
* Yule
* Esbat
* Wild Hunt

Key concepts

* Wiccan morality
* Wiccan Rede
* Rule of Three
* Wiccan views of divinity
* Coven
* Craft name
* Magic
* Witchcraft
* White magic
* Otherworld
* The Summerland
* Reincarnation
* Karma
* Skyclad
* Summoner
* Watchtower
* Familiar
* Animism

Paraphernalia

* Magical tools in Wicca
* Altar
* Amulet
* Athame
* Bell
* Besom
* Boline
* Book of Shadows
* Candles
* Cauldron
* Censer
* Chalice/Goblet
* Horn
* Incense
* Parchment
* Pentacle
* Runes
* Scourge
* Statue
* Talisman
* Tarot deck
* Theban alphabet
* Wand
* Witch's ladder

Literature

* Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches
* The Meaning of Witchcraft
* The Spiral Dance
* What Witches Do
* Witchcraft Today
* Charge of the Goddess
* Enchanted Feminism

Other

* Cunning folk
* Cunning folk in Britain
* Enochian
* European witchcraft
* Fluffy Bunny
* Flying ointment
* Goetia
* Granny woman
* LGBT and Wicca
* Malleus Maleficarum
* Museum of Witchcraft and Magic
* Runes
* Theban
* Thelema
* Witch hunt
* Witchcraft Research Association
* Witches' Sabbath
* Witching hour

* v
* t
* e

A Wiccan altar erected at Beltane

Wicca is a syncretic modern pagan religion that draws upon a diverse set of ancient pagan and modern hermetic motifs for its theological structure and ritual practices. Developed in England in the first half of the 20th century,[26] Wicca was popularised in the 1950s and early 1960s by Gerald Gardner. Gardner was a retired British civil servant, and an amateur anthropologist and historian who had a broad familiarity with pagan religions, esoteric societies and occultism in general. At the time, Gardner called it the "Witch Cult" and "Witchcraft", and referred to its adherents as "the Wica".[30][independent source needed] From the 1960s onward, the name of the religion was normalised to "Wicca".[31][better source needed]

Various forms of Wicca are now practised as a religion with positive ethical principles, organised into autonomous covens and led by a High Priesthood. A survey published in 2000 cited just over 200,000 people who reported practicing Wicca in the United States.[32] There is also "Eclectic Wicca", a movement of individuals and groups who share key Wiccan beliefs but have no formal link with traditional Wiccan covens. While some Wiccans call themselves witches, others avoid the term due to its negative connotations.[33]

### Gardnerian Wicca

[edit]

Main article: Gardnerian Wicca

Gardnerian Wicca, or Gardnerian Witchcraft, is the oldest tradition of Wicca. The tradition is itself named after Gerald Gardner (1884–1964). Gardner formed the Bricket Wood coven and in turn initiated many Witches who founded further covens, continuing the initiation of more Wiccans in the tradition. The term "Gardnerian" was probably coined by Robert Cochrane, who himself left that tradition to found his own.[34]

### Alexandrian Wicca

[edit]

Main article: Alexandrian Wicca

Alexandrian Wicca is the tradition founded by Alex Sanders (also known as "King of the Witches")[35] who, with his wife Maxine Sanders, established it in Britain in the 1960s. Alexandrian Wicca is similar to and largely based upon Gardnerian Wicca, in which Sanders was trained to the first degree of initiation.[36] It also contains elements of ceremonial magic and Qabalah, which Sanders studied independently. It is one of Wicca's most widely recognized traditions.[37]

### Eclectic Wicca

[edit]

Further information: Wicca § Eclectic Wicca

While the origins of modern Wiccan practice lie in coven activity and the careful handing on of practices to a small number of initiates, since the 1970s a widening public appetite made this unsustainable. From about that time, larger, more informal, often publicly advertised camps and workshops began to take place and it has been argued[38] that this more informal but more accessible method of passing on the tradition is responsible for the rise of eclectic Wicca. Eclectic Wiccans are more often than not solitary practitioners. Some of these solitaries do, however, attend gatherings and other community events, but reserve their spiritual practices (Sabbats, Esbats, spell-casting, worship, magical work, etc.) for when they are alone. Eclectic Wicca is the most popular variety of Wicca in America[39] and eclectic Wiccans now significantly outnumber lineaged Wiccans; their beliefs and practices tend to be much more varied.[40]

## Traditional Witchcraft

[edit]

Some strands of neopagan witchcraft refer to themselves as "Traditional Witchcraft",[4][5] "Traditional Pagan Witchcraft"',[41] or the "Traditional Craft". Their beliefs and practices are similar to Wicca, but they use these terms to differentiate themselves from mainstream Wicca. They may wish to practice neopagan witchcraft differently from mainstream Wicca and outside national Wiccan networks.[41] Religious studies scholars consider these traditions to fall under the umbrella or broad category of Wicca;[4][5] treating Wicca as a religion with denominations in the same way Christianity has denominations like Catholicism and Protestantism.[4] Religious studies scholar Ethan Doyle White described Traditional Witchcraft as:

> a broad movement of aligned magico-religious groups who reject any relation to Gardnerianism and the wider Wiccan movement, claiming older, more "traditional" roots. Although typically united by a shared aesthetic rooted in European folklore, the Traditional Craft contains within its ranks a rich and varied array of occult groups, from those who follow a contemporary Pagan path that is suspiciously similar to Wicca, to those who adhere to Luciferianism.[42]

### Cochrane's Craft

[edit]

Main article: Cochrane's Craft

See also: Robert Cochrane (witch)

Genuine Witchcraft is Defended

> I am a witch descended from a family of witches. Genuine witchcraft is not paganism, though it retains the memory of ancient faiths.

> It is a religion mystical in approach and puritanical in attitudes. It is the last real mystery cult to survive, with a very complex and evolved philosophy that has strong affinities with many Christian beliefs. The concept of a sacrificial god was not new to the ancient world; it is not new to a witch.

Roy Bowers incognito, November 1963 issue of Psychic News[43]

Roy Bowers, a.k.a. Robert Cochrane (1931–1966), founded a strand of neopagan witchcraft known as "Cochrane's Craft", in opposition to Gardnerian Wicca. Cochrane's Clan of Tubal Cain worshipped a Horned God and a Triple Goddess, much akin to Gardner's Bricket Wood Coven. Cochrane himself disliked Gardner and his strand of Wicca, and often ridiculed him and his tradition.[34] While Cochrane's Craft uses ritual tools, they differ somewhat from those used by Gardnerians, some being the ritual knife (known as an athamé), a staff (known as a stang), a cup (or commonly a chalice), a stone (used as a whetstone to sharpen the athame), and a ritual cord worn by coven members.[44]

At a gathering at Glastonbury Tor held by the Brotherhood of the Essenes in 1964, Cochrane met Doreen Valiente, who had formerly been a High Priestess of Gardner's Bricket Wood Coven.[45] The two became friends, and Valiente joined the Clan of Tubal Cain. Cochrane often insulted and mocked Gardnerians, which annoyed Valiente. This reached an extreme in that even at one point in 1966 he called for "a Night of the Long Knives of the Gardnerians", at which point Valiente "rose up and challenged him in the presence of the rest of the coven".[46]

### Feri Tradition

[edit]

The Feri Tradition (not to be confused with Faery, Fairy, Faerie, or Vicia, which are different traditions) is an ecstatic (rather than fertility) tradition founded by Cora and Victor Anderson. Scholars of Paganism like Joanne Pearson and Ethan Doyle White have characterised Feri as a Wiccan tradition.[47] The latter noted however that some neopagans restrict the term Wicca to British Traditional Wicca, in which case Feri would not be classified as Wicca; he deemed this exclusionary definition of the term to be "unsuitable for academic purposes".[48] Instead, he characterised Feri as one form of Wicca which is nevertheless distinct from others.[49]

### Sabbatic Craft

[edit]

The Sabbatic Craft is described by its founder Andrew D. Chumbley as "an initiatory line of spirit-power that can inform all who are receptive to its impetus, and which - when engaged with beyond names - may be understood as a Key unto the Hidden Design of Arte."[50] Chumbley sometimes referred to the Nameless Faith,[51] Crooked Path, and Via Tortuosa.[50][52] He reserved "Sabbatic Craft" as a unifying term to refer to the "convergent lineages"[50] of the "Cultus Sabbati," a body of neopagan witchcraft initiates.[52]

Chumbley's works and those of Daniel Schulke on the Cultus Sabbati's "ongoing tradition of sorcerous wisdom"[51] continue to serve as the prototypical reference works. The craft is not an ancient, pre-Christian tradition surviving into the modern age. It is a tradition rooted in "cunning-craft," a patchwork of older magical practice and later Christian mythology.[citation needed]

> 'Sabbatic Craft' describes a corpus of magical practices which self-consciously utilize the imagery and mythos of the "Witches' Sabbath" as a cipher of ritual, teaching and gnosis. This is not the same as saying that one practises the self-same rituals in the self-same manner as the purported early modern "witches" or historically attested cunning folk, rather it points toward the fact that the very mythos which had been generated about both "witches" and their "ritual gatherings" has been appropriated and re-orientated by contemporary successors of cunning-craft observance, and then knowingly applied for their own purposes.

— Andrew Chumbley defining Sabbatic Craft [50]

In his grimoire Azoëtia, Chumbley incorporated diverse iconography from ancient Sumerian, Egyptian, Yezidi, and Aztec cultures.[52] He spoke of a patchwork of ancestral and tutelary spirit folklore which he perceived amidst diverse "Old Craft" traditions in Britain as "a gnostic faith in the Divine Serpent of Light, in the Host of the Gregori, in the Children of Earth sired by the Watchers, in the lineage of descent via Lilith, Mahazael, Cain, Tubal-cain, Naamah, and the Clans of the Wanderers."[50] Schulke believed that folk and cunning-crafts of Britain absorbed multicultural elements from "Freemasonry, Bible divination, Romany charms, and other diverse streams,"[52] what Chumbley called "dual-faith observance," referring to a "co-mingling of ‘native’ forms of British magic and Christianity".[52]

### Stregheria

[edit]

Main article: Stregheria

An Italian neopagan religion similar to Wicca emerged in the 1970s, known as Stregheria. While Wicca was inspired by Murray's witch cult, Stregheria closely resembles Charles Leland's controversial account of an Italian pagan witchcraft religion, which he wrote about in Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches (1899). Its followers worship the Goddess Diana, her brother Dianus/Lucifer, and their daughter Aradia. They do not see Lucifer as the evil Satan that Christians see, but a benevolent god of the Sun.[36]

## Feminism

[edit]

Wiccans often consider their beliefs to be in line with liberal ideals such as the Green movement, and particularly with feminism, by providing young women with what they see as a means for self-empowerment, control of their own lives, and a way of influencing the world around them.[53][54] Feminist ideals are prominent in some branches of Wicca, such as Dianic Wicca, which has a tradition of women-led and women-only groups.[55] The 2002 study Enchanted Feminism: The Reclaiming Witches of San Francisco suggests that some branches of Wicca include influential members of the second wave of feminism, which has also been redefined as a religious movement.[53] As of 2006, many within British Traditional Wicca do not believe that feminist Witches should be called Wiccan.[6]

Reclaiming is a tradition of feminist neopagan witchcraft. It is an international community of women and men working to combine neopagan witchcraft, the Goddess movement, earth-based spirituality, and political activism. The tradition developed in the classes and rituals of its predecessor, the Reclaiming Collective (1978–1997). It was founded in 1979, amidst the peace and anti-nuclear movements, by two neopagan women of Jewish descent, Starhawk (Miriam Simos) and Diane Baker, to explore and develop feminist neopagan emancipatory rituals.[56] Today, the organization focuses on progressive social, political, environmental and economic activism.[57]

Deborah Willis writes that "the magical practices of modern feminist and New Age witches closely resemble those of early modern cunning folk", whose work involved thwarting witchcraft. Yet she notes that the ideology of these neopagan movements "would be quite alien to the sixteenth-century cunning woman, whose magical beliefs coexisted comfortably with her Christian ones".[58]

## Media

[edit]

Some of the recent growth in Wicca has been attributed to popular media such as Charmed, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the Harry Potter series, with their depictions of "positive witchcraft",[55] which differs from the historical, traditional, and Indigenous definitions.[55] A case study, "Mass Media and Religious Identity: A Case Study of Young Witches", found that the portrayal of positive witchcraft in popular culture is one reason young people are choosing to become Wiccans or self-identify as witches. The Internet is also thought to be driving growth in Wicca.[59]

## Demographics

[edit]

Main article: Demographics of Paganism

Neopagan witchcraft has been extremely difficult to pinpoint due to many religious surveys grouping it with general Paganism, stigmatization from much of the outside world, poor public opinion, and the secrecy prevalent among Neopagan Witches (and Pagans as a whole). This causes the demographics to fluctuate drastically and become difficult to track. Establishing exact numbers pertaining to witchcraft is difficult.[60] Nevertheless, there is a slow growing body of data on the subject.[61] Based on studies conducted in the United States, all that can be said accurately of the growth rate of Neopagan Witchcraft in the U.S. is that "as of 2001 the ARIS organization reports that contemporary witchcraft saw a 1.575% growth rate between 1990 and 2001, effectively a doubling of adherents every two years."[62] The limited tracking by ARIS has kept Neopagan Witchcraft from being continually and accurately tracked. However, there have been spikes over the years. These are attributed to growth as well as an increase in practitioner's willingness to report, and increasingly positive views of Wicca in America.[63]

The examples and perspective in this section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may improve this section, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new section, as appropriate. (July 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

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### United States

[edit]

Based on the most recent survey by the Pew Research Center, conducted in 2014, there are approximately 1 million Pagans in the United States, comprising 0.3% of the population.[64]

According to Dr. Helen A. Berger's 1995 survey, "The Pagan Census", most American Pagans are middle class, educated, and live in urban/suburban areas on the East and West coasts.[65]

## See also

[edit]

* Aleister Crowley bibliography
* Babalon – Goddess in Thelema
* English qaballa – English Qaballa system of James LeesPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
* Enochian magic – System of Renaissance magic
* European witchcraft – Belief in witchcraft in Europe
* Goetia – Magical practice involving evocation of spirits
* Great rite – Wiccan ritual
* Lunar deity – Deity that represents the Moon
* Magical organization – Organization for the practice of occult magic
* Priestess – Women's ordination in religious groups
* The Thunder, Perfect Mind – Text in the Nag Hammadi library
* Semitic neopaganism – Religions attempting to reconstruct ancient Semitic religions, which may include traditions of Jewish witchcraft
* Worship of heavenly bodies – Worship of stars and other heavenly bodies as deities

## References

[edit]

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1. ^ Berger 1999, p. 10.
2. ^ Dunwich, Gerina (1997). Wicca A to Z: A Modern Witch's Encyclopedia. Secaucus, N.J.: Carol Pub. Group. p. 148\. ISBN 0806519304.
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4. ^ a b c d Doyle White 2016, pp. 160–162.
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23. ^ Jacqueline Simpson (1994). Margaret Murray: Who Believed Her, and Why? Folklore, 105:1-2: 89-96. doi:10.1080/0015587X.1994.9715877
24. ^ Hutton 1999, p. 305.
25. ^ Clifton 2006, p. [page needed].
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27. ^ Lipp 2007, p. 13.
28. ^ Clifton 2006, pp. 24–25.
29. ^ Lipp 2007, ch. 1.
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33. ^ Lewis, James (1996). Magical Religion and Modern Witchcraft. SUNY Press. p. 376.
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53. ^ a b Jarvis, Christine (March 2008). "Becoming a Woman Through Wicca: Witches and Wiccans in Contemporary Teen Fiction" (PDF). Children's Literature in Education. 39 (1): 43–52\. doi:10.1007/s10583-007-9058-0. S2CID 14030498. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-01-05. Retrieved 2018-11-11.
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57. ^ Starhawk (1995), The Five-Point Agenda, Reclaiming.org, Starhawk, archived from the original on 8 March 2012, retrieved 10 September 2012
58. ^ Willis, Deborah (2018). Malevolent Nurture: Witch-Hunting and Maternal Power in Early Modern England. Cornell University Press. p. 24.
59. ^ Berger & Ezzy 2009.
60. ^ Berger 1999, p. 9.
61. ^ Robinson, B.A. (4 April 2008), Estimates of the number of Wiccans in the U.S., Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, archived from the original on 22 October 2012, retrieved 3 September 2012
62. ^ Kermani, Zohre (2013). Pagan Family Values: Childhood and the Religious Imagination in Contemporary American Paganism. NYU Press. p. 197\. ISBN 978-1479894604.
63. ^ "How many Wiccans are there?". www.religioustolerance.org. Archived from the original on 5 May 2016. Retrieved 2016-02-12.
64. ^ Smith, Gregory; et al. (2014), "Chapter 1: The Changing Religious Composition of the U.S.", America's Changing Religious Landscape (PDF), Washington D.C.: Pew Research Center, p. 21
65. ^ Berger 1999, pp. 8–9.

### Works cited

[edit]

* Adler, Margot (2006). Drawing Down the Moon; Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America. Penguin Books. ISBN 9780807032374.
* Berger, Helen (1999). A Community of Witches: Contemporary Neo-Paganism and Witchcraft in the United States. Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press. ISBN 1-57003-246-7.
* Berger, Helen A.; Ezzy, Douglas (September 2009). "Mass Media and Religious Identity: A Case Study of Young Witches". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 48 (3): 501–514\. doi:10.1111/j.1468-5906.2009.01462.x. JSTOR 40405642.
* Clifton, Chas S. (2006). Her Hidden Children: The Rise of Wicca and Paganism in America. Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press. ISBN 0-7591-0201-5.
* Doyle White, Ethan (2011). "Robert Cochrane and the Gardnerian Craft: Feuds, Secrets, and Mysteries in Contemporary British Witchcraft". The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies. 13 (2). doi:10.1558/pome.v13i2.205.
* Doyle White, Ethan (2016). Wicca: History, Belief, and Community in Modern Pagan Witchcraft. Brighton: Sussex Academic Press. ISBN 978-1-84519-754-4.
* Hutton, Ronald (1993). The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles. Cambridge, Mass.: Blackwell Publishers.[ISBN missing]
* Hutton, Ronald (1999). Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0192854490.
* Hutton, Ronald (2017). The Witch: A History of Fear, from Ancient Times to the Present. Yale University Press.[ISBN missing]
* Kelly, Aiden A. (1991). Crafting the Art of Magic, Book I: A History of Modern Witchcraft, 1939–1964. Minnesota: Llewellyn Publications. ISBN 978-0875423708.
* Kelly, Aidan A. (1992). "An Update on Neopagan Witchcraft in America". In Lewis, James R.; Melton, J. Gordon (eds.). Perspectives on the New Age. Albany: State University of New York Press. pp. 136–151\. ISBN 978-0791412138.
* Lipp, Deborah (2007). The Study of Witchcraft: A Guidebook to Advanced Wicca. San Francisco: Red Wheel/Weiser. ISBN 978-1-57863-409-5.
* Pearson, Joanne (2002). "The History and Development of Wicca and Paganism". In Joanne Pearson (ed.). Belief Beyond Boundaries: Wicca, Celtic Spirituality and the New Age. Aldershot: Ashgate. pp. 15–54\. ISBN 9780754608202.
* Rabinovitch, Shelley; Lewis, James R. (2004). The Encyclopedia of Modern Witchcraft and Neo-Paganism. Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-2407-3.
* Salomonsen, Jone (2002). Enchanted Feminism: Ritual, Gender and Divinity Among the Reclaiming Witches of San Francisco. Routledge. ISBN 978-0415223928.
* Tosenberger, Catherine (2010). "Neo-Paganism for Teens". Jeunesse: Young People, Texts, Cultures. 2 (2): 172–182\. doi:10.1353/jeu.2010.0037. S2CID 163061063. Project MUSE 406886.
* Valiente, Doreen (1989). The Rebirth of Witchcraft. London: Robert Hale Publishing. ISBN 0-7090-3715-5. OCLC 59694320.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Del Rio, M. A. (2000). Maxwell-Stuart, P. G. (ed.). Investigations Into Magic. Translated by P. G. Maxwell-Stuart. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0719049767.
* Doyle White, Ethan (2010). "The Meaning of "Wicca": A Study in Etymology, History and Pagan Politics". The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies. 12 (2): 185–207\. doi:10.1558/pome.v12i2.185.
* Huson, Paul (1970). Mastering Witchcraft: a Practical Guide for Witches, Warlocks, and Covens. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons.
* Montesano, Marina, ed. (2020). Witchcraft, Demonology and Magic. Switzerland: Mdpi AG. ISBN 978-3039289592.
* Murray, Margaret A. (1921). The Witch-Cult in Western Europe. Oxford University Press.
* Parsons, Jack (1979). Magick, Gnosticism & the Witchcraft: Introductory Essays. 93 Publishing. ISBN 978-0919690066.
* Radulović, Nemanja; Hess, Karolina Maria, eds. (2019). Studies on Western Esotericism in Central and Eastern Europe. Hungary: JATE Press. ISBN 978-9633153970.
* Salomonsen, Jone (1998). "Feminist Witchcraft and Holy Hermeneutics". In Geoffrey Samuel; Joanne Pearson; Richard H. Roberts (eds.). Nature Religion Today: Paganism in the Modern World. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0748610570.

## External links

[edit]

* Wicca, Witchcraft or Paganism? at Learnreligions.com
* Witchcraft and Wicca at the CUNY Academic Commons

* v
* t
* e

Neopagan witchcraft

History|

* History of Wicca
* Etymology of Wicca
* Wicca and LGBT people
* Dettmer v. Landon

Traditions|

| British Traditional|

* Alexandrian Wicca
* Blue Star Wicca
* Central Valley Wicca
* Chthonioi Alexandrian Wicca
* Gardnerian Wicca

|

Other|

* 1734 Tradition
* Celtic Wicca
* Church and School of Wicca
* Cochrane's Craft
* Coven of Atho
* Dianic Wicca
* Faery Wicca
* Feri
* Georgian Wicca
* Odyssean Wicca
* Reclaiming
* Seax-Wica
* Stregheria
* Universal Eclectic Wicca

Notable
figures|

* Gerald Gardner
* Doreen Valiente
* Alex Sanders
* Maxine Sanders
* Sybil Leek
* Dafo
* Margot Adler
* Victor Anderson
* Artemis
* Gavin Bone
* Lois Bourne
* Jack Bracelin
* Raymond Buckland
* Eddie Buczynski
* Zsuzsanna Budapest
* Charles Cardell
* Ipsita Roy Chakraverti
* Patricia Crowther
* Vivianne Crowley
* Robert Cochrane
* Scott Cunningham
* Phyllis Curott
* Cerridwen Fallingstar
* Janet Farrar
* Stewart Farrar
* Raven Grimassi
* Gavin Frost
* Yvonne Frost
* Philip Heselton
* Frederic Lamond
* Rosaleen Norton
* Silver RavenWolf
* Starhawk
* Joseph Wilson

Deities|

* Triple Goddess
* Horned God
* Green Man
* Spirit of nature
* Holly King / Oak King
* Mother goddess

Key
concepts|

* Wicca
* Wiccan morality
* Wiccan Rede
* Rule of Three
* Wiccan views of divinity
* Coven
* Craft name
* Magic
* Witchcraft
* White magic
* Otherworld
* The Summerland
* Reincarnation
* Karma
* Skyclad
* Summoner
* Watchtower
* Familiar
* Animism

Rites
and ritual|

* Drawing down the Moon
* Great rite
* Handfasting
* Wiccaning
* Fivefold kiss
* Magic circle
* Cone of power
* Herbal medicine
* Scrying
* Spellwork / Incantation
* Banishing
* Divination
* Invocation
* Initiation
* Rite of passage
* Eko Eko Azarak
* Solitary practitioner
* Spiral dance

Holidays|

* Wheel of the Year
* Solstice
* Equinox
* Imbolc
* Ostara
* Beltane
* Midsummer
* Lughnasadh
* Mabon
* Samhain
* Yule
* Esbat
* Wild Hunt

Paraphernalia|

* Magical tools in Wicca
* Altar
* Amulet
* Athame
* Bell
* Besom
* Boline
* Book of Shadows
* Candles
* Cauldron
* Censer
* Chalice/Goblet
* Horn
* Incense
* Parchment
* Pentacle
* Runes
* Scourge
* Statue
* Talisman
* Tarot deck
* Wand
* Witch's ladder

Literature|

* Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches
* The Meaning of Witchcraft
* The Spiral Dance
* What Witches Do
* Witchcraft Today
* Charge of the Goddess
* Enchanted Feminism

Related|

* List of Wiccan organisations
* Bricket Wood coven
* New Forest coven
* Neopagan witchcraft
* Witch-cult hypothesis
* Left-hand path and right-hand path
* Cunning folk in Britain
* European witchcraft
* Malleus Maleficarum
* Granny woman
* Cunning folk
* Magical alphabets
* Runes
* Theban
* Hebrew
* Witching hour
* Witch hunt
* Witches' Sabbath
* Flying ointment
* Museum of Witchcraft and Magic
* Witchcraft Research Association

* v
* t
* e

Modern paganism

Approaches|

* Eclectic
* Nature religion
* New Age
* Neoshamanism
* Reconstructionism
* Secular
* Western esotericism
* Western philosophy

Arts and institutions|

* Festivals and events
* Music
* Temples

By country or region|

* Australia
* German-speaking Europe
* Hungary
* Ireland
* Italy
* Scandinavia
* South Africa
* United Kingdom
* United States
* Minnesota

Movements (list)|

| Ethnic|

* African
* Ausar Auset
* Godianism
* Heathenry
* Armenian
* Baltic
* Dievturi
* Romuva
* Burkhanism
* Canarian (Berber)
* Caucasic
* Abkhaz
* Ossetian-Scythian
* Celtic
* Druidry
* Wicca
* Daco-Thracian (Romanian)
* Egyptian
* Kemetic Orthodoxy
* Germanic
* Greco-Roman
* Hellenic
* Roman
* Natale di Roma
* Korean
* Semitic
* Slavic
* Rodnovery (list)
* RUNVira
* Peterburgian Vedism
* Ynglism
* Turko-Mongolic
* list
* Uralic
* Estonian
* Erzyan
* Finnish
* Hungarian
* Mari
* Udmurt
* Zuism

* Interfaith: European Congress of Ethnic Religions · Foundation for Traditional Religions

|

Syncretic|

* Adonism
* Christo-Paganism
* Church of All Worlds
* Church of Aphrodite
* Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans
* Goddess movement
* Ivanovism
* Pagan Federation
* Radical Faeries
* Ringing Cedars' Anastasianism
* Secular paganism
* Temple of Priapus

* Neopagan witchcraft: Wicca
* Cochranianism
* Feri
* Reclaiming
* Stregheria

In society|

* Criticism
* Crypto-paganism
* Discrimination
* LGBTQ+ and paganism
* Pagan studies
* Technopaganism
* Writers on modern paganism

Related articles|

* Ariosophy
* Witch-cult hypothesis
* Hermeticism
* Neotribalism
* Platonism in the Renaissance
* Thelema
* Theosophy
* Traditionalist School

* v
* t
* e

Magic and witchcraft

Types|

| Region|

* Africa
* Azande
* Ghana
* Witch smeller
* Asia
* Jhākri
* Philippines
* Europe
* Italy
* Akelarre
* Benandanti
* Cunning folk
* Greece and Rome
* Seiðr
* Völva
* Witch-cult hypothesis
* Anglo-Saxon England
* Britain
* Latin America
* Middle East
* Oceania
* Mākutu

|

Form|

* Chaos magic
* Goetia
* Hoodoo
* Medieval
* Neopagan
* Wicca
* Renaissance
* Solitary practitioner
* Warlock
* Witch doctor

Practices|

* Animism
* Apotropaic magic
* Black magic
* Ceremonial magic
* Magical formula
* Coven
* Curse
* Anathema
* Damnation
* Jinx
* Demon
* Divination
* Entheogen
* Evocation
* Familiar
* Gray magic
* Incantation
* Jinn
* Love magic
* Mediumship
* Moon magic
* Necromancy
* Occultism
* Shamanism
* Black
* Regional
* Yellow
* Sex magic
* Sigils
* Spiritism
* Spiritualism
* Sympathetic magic
* Witches' Sabbath
* White magic

Objects|

* Amulet
* Athame
* Broom
* besom
* Censer
* Cloak of invisibility
* Crystal ball
* Flying ointment
* Goofer dust
* Grimoire
* Incense
* Julleuchter
* Kitchen witch
* Love charm
* Magic carpet
* Magic circle
* Magic ring
* Magical weapons
* Magic sword
* Mojo bag
* Nkisi
* Nkondi
* Poppet
* Potions
* Sator Square
* Talisman
* Wand
* Witch ball
* Witch's ladder

Folklore and
mythology|

* Agamede
* Aradia
* Baba Yaga
* Circe
* Dayan
* Drude
* Elbow witch
* Hecate
* Huld
* Kalku
* Medea
* Morgan le Fay
* Muma Pădurii
* Nine sorceresses
* Obayifo
* Pasiphaë
* Sebile
* Sorginak
* Spearfinger
* Three Witches
* Witches of Benevento
* Witch of Endor
* Yama-uba

Major
historic treatises|

* Witchcraft and divination in the Old Testament (8th–2nd centuries BC)
* Directorium Inquisitorum (1376)
* De maleficis mulieribus (1440)
* Formicarius (1475)
* Summis desiderantes affectibus (1484)
* Malleus Maleficarum (1487)
* De Lamiis et Pythonicis Mulieribus (1489)
* Laienspiegel (1509)
* De praestigiis daemonum (1563)
* The Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584)
* Newes from Scotland (1591)
* A Dialogue Concerning Witches and Witchcrafts (1593)
* Daemonolatreiae libri tres (1595)
* Daemonologie (1597)
* Magical Investigations (1599)
* Compendium Maleficarum (1608)
* A Guide to Grand-Jury Men (1627)
* The Discovery of Witches (1647)
* Treatise on the Apparitions of Spirits and on Vampires or Revenants (1751)

Persecution|

| Modern|

* Jamyi Witch hiring controversy
* accusations against children
* India
* Nepal
* Papua New Guinea
* Witch camp

|

Early Modern|

| Americas|

* Maryland
* New York
* Salem
* Virginia

|

Eastern Europe|

* Hungary
* Northern Moravia
* Poland
* Russia

Northern Europe|

* Baltic
* Denmark
* England
* Finland
* Iceland
* Norway
* Scotland
* Sweden

Western Europe|

* France
* Geneva
* Italy
* Spain
* Basque

Classical|

* Witch trials in the Holy Roman Empire

Related|

* Witch hunt
* Witch's mark
* Pricking
* List of people executed for witchcraft

In popular culture|

* Magic in fiction
* Witches in fiction

Related|

* Witch (word)
* Witch (archetype)
* Christian views on magic
* Magical organization
* Maleficium
* Left-hand path and right-hand path
* Feminist interpretations of witch trials in the early modern period
* Folk religion
* Adept

* v
* t
* e

Magic and witchcraft in Britain

Folk magic|

| Variants|

* Anglo-Saxon metrical charms
* Anglo-Saxon paganism
* Cunning folk in Britain
* Goetia
* Nicnevin

|

Magicians|

* Dummy, the Witch of Sible Hedingham
* James Murrell
* George Pickingill

Ceremonial magic|

| Organizations|

* A∴A∴
* Alpha et Omega
* Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor
* Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
* O∴A∴A∴
* Ordo Templi Orientis
* Society of the Inner Light
* Typhonian Order

|

Magicians|

* Peter J. Carroll
* Andrew Chumbley
* Aleister Crowley
* John Dee
* Kenneth Grant
* Dion Fortune
* Phil Hine
* James Lees
* Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers
* Madeline Montalban
* Alan Moore
* Austin Osman Spare
* A. E. Waite

Early Modern
witchcraft|

| By country|

* Witchcraft in early modern Scotland
* Witchcraft in early modern Wales

|

Trials|

* Windsor Witches
* 1579
* Witches of Warboys
* 1589–1593
* North Berwick witch trials
* 1590
* Aberdeen witch trials
* 1596–1597
* Pendle witches
* 1612
* Northamptonshire witch trials
* 1612
* Samlesbury witches
* 1612
* Witches of Belvoir
* 1619
* Bury St Edmunds witch trials
* 1645, 1662, 1655, 1694
* Alloa witches
* 1658
* Bideford witch trial
* 1684
* Paisley witches
* 1696
* Pittenweem witches
* 1704
* Islandmagee witch trial
* 1711

Accused
witches|

* Lilias Adie
* Margaret Aitken
* Allison Balfour
* Margaret Bane
* Margaret Barclay
* Magdalene Blair
* Janet Boyman
* Margaret Burges
* Katherine Campbell
* Janet Coutts
* Janet Douglas, Lady Glamis
* Meg Dow
* Margaret Duchill
* Geillis Duncan
* Margaret Dunholm
* Bessie Dunlop
* Isobel Elliot
* Issobell Fergussone
* John Fian
* Agnes Finnie
* Maud Galt
* Gormshuil Mhòr na Maighe (aka Gormla)
* Isobel Gowdie
* Helen Guthrie
* Gwen ferch Ellis
* Janet Horne
* Grissel Jaffray
* Geillis Johnstone
* Mary Hicks
* Marie Lamont
* Beatrix Leslie
* Euphame MacCalzean
* Janet McNicol
* Elspeth McEwen
* Violet Mar
* Sarah Morduck
* Barbara Napier
* Alice Nutter
* Mary Pannal
* Alison Pearson
* George and Lachlan Rattray
* Elspeth Reoch
* Agnes Sampson
* Isobell Shyrie
* Bessie Stevenson
* Anna Tait
* Annaple Thomsone
* Marioun Twedy
* Issobell Young
* Marion Walker
* Beatrix Watsone
* Jane Weir
* Major Thomas Weir
* Janet Wishart
* Bessie Wright

Witch hunters and
Witch-prickers|

* Christian Caldwell
* John Kincaid

Neopagan witchcraft|

| Variants|

* Wicca: Alexandrian Wicca
* Gardnerian Wicca
* Cochrane's Craft

|

Neopagan
witches|

* Artemis
* Charles Cardell
* Robert Cochrane
* Dafo
* Stewart Farrar
* Janet Farrar
* Gerald Gardner
* Frederic Lamond
* Sybil Leek
* Alex Sanders
* Doreen Valiente
* Cecil Williamson

Modern
witchcraft|

| Last person imprisoned under
the Witchcraft Act 1735|

* Helen Duncan

|

Monuments
and museums|

| Monuments|

* Witches' Well, Edinburgh
* Maggie Wall

|

Museums|

* Museum of Witchcraft and Magic, Cornwall

* v
* t
* e

Pagan studies

* Paganism
* Contemporary paganism
* Nature religion
* Western esotericism

Anthropological and
folkloristic approaches|

* Luhrmann's Persuasions of the Witch's Craft (1989)
* Orion's Never Again the Burning Times (1995)
* Hume's Witchcraft and Paganism in Australia (1997)
* Greenwood's Magic, Witchcraft and the Otherworld (2000)
* Magliocco's Witching Culture (2004)

Historical approaches|

* Hutton's The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles (1991)
* Hutton's The Triumph of the Moon (1999)
* Clifton's Her Hidden Children (2005)

Religious studies
and theological approaches|

* Salomonsen's Enchanted Feminism (2002)
* Gardell's Gods of the Blood (2003)
* York's Pagan Theology (2003)
* Davy's Introduction to Pagan Studies (2007)

Sociological approaches|

* Adler's Drawing Down the Moon (1979, 1986, 1996, 2006)
* Scarboro, Campbell and Stave's Living Witchcraft (1994)
* Berger's A Community of Witches (1999)

Interdisciplinary
edited volumes|

* Pearson, Roberts and Samuel's Nature Religion Today (1998)
* Strmiska's Modern Paganism in World Cultures (2005)

Academic, peer-reviewed
journals|

* Aries
* The Pomegranate
* Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft
* Nova Religio

Pagan studies books
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