“Do what thou wilt – then do nothing else.” These iconic words were written by Aleister Crowley, one of the forefathers of modern Wicca in his book The Book of the Law. In fact, these words were said to be dictated to him by the otherworldly entity Aiwass.
Although Crowley predates the official founding of Wicca as a religion, this principle of the pursuit of will is one of the tenents of Wicca today. As surprising as it may be when you consider its magical origins, the Wiccan religion has a lot in common with Christianity.
Wicca and witchcraft are subject to a lot of misconceptions thanks to generations of persecution, crusades, witchhunts, and Hollywood depictions. To help dispel some of these misconceptions, we put together this article. Read on to learn how the Wiccan belief system is actually closer to Christianity than you might think!
What Is Wicca?
Wicca is a pagan religion, meaning that it’s a modernized version of pre-Christian beliefs. The core principles, therefore, predate Christianity but were repackaged and resurrected in the 1900s.
Anthropologist Margaret Murray is one of the founders of the modern Wiccan religion. She wrote out several books on the witch cults of medieval Europe. These books became wildly popular and inspired several covens and ritualistic worship to spread around Britain.
This form of worship wasn’t exactly Wicca, at least not yet. The word Wicca came from Gerald Gardner, who published his book Witchcraft Today in 1954. This book gave a name to this nature-focused, ritualistic, spiritual practice.
Gardner is considered the father of modern Wicca, and his books are central to understanding the rituals and practices of the religion. He compiled these books with occultist Aleister Crowley. Crowley predated the term Wicca, but it can be said he practiced Wicca without knowing the word for it.
When the two men met, they shared their ideas and experiences and created Wicca: a new religion based on the old ways. Wicca would celebrate the equinoxes, the solstices, and the ebb and flow of the natural world. In essence, they resurrected the religion that was swept under the rug when Christianity took over.
Holidays in the Wiccan Religion
To the newcomer, Wicca can seem foreign and alien. But, as you learn about the practices and traditions, you might be surprised at how much you recognize. In fact, Wiccan holidays directly influenced their Christian counterparts.
This was a calculated move by Christians in an attempt to get more converts.
The most glaring example is Christmas. Although Christmas is often recognized as the day Christ was born, it’s actually theorized that he was born in June. In fact, there are no references to December 25th in the Christian scripture.
So, why is Christmas celebrated in December? The theory is that Christians moved the holiday in hopes of converting pagans to Christianity. The more similar the new religion was to the current religion, the easier the transition would be.
The pagan holiday of Yule falls anywhere between December 19th and the 23rd. It commemorates the birth of the Wiccan God. After giving birth, the Mother aspect rests, which is why we rest during winter.
Pagans would celebrate Yule by burning Yule logs and decorating trees. Sound familiar? These Christmas traditions were actually copied directly from paganism!
For another example, the pagan holiday Ostara is the inspiration for Easter. In the Wiccan belief system, the spring equinox is a day for renewal and abundance. Remember, pagan rites center around the crop, so spring marks the beginning of a new growing season.
During this time, the Goddess is in her Maiden aspect, and the God is a young man. During this time, rabbits are symbols of fertility and the first eggs of the season are found. The modern holiday Easter takes direct inspiration from Ostara!
Books of Spells
Hollywood and witchhunts have given Wicca a bad name. They propose that witchcraft is devil worship and a form of black magic. However, when it comes to the reality of spell-casting and rituals, Wicca and Christianity have more in common than you might think.
It’s worth noting that the concept of the devil didn’t exist until Christianity. Therefore paganism had no concept of devil worship or evil spell casting. This was a way for Christians to project evil onto polytheists.
Still, spells were a part of the pre-Christian religion and remain a part of modern Wicca today.
The Book of Shadows is another of Gardner’s books. It’s a compendium of rites and magical rituals used in Wicca. In other words, it’s the spellbook for modern witchcraft.
When you strip down all the dramatization, spellcasting isn’t much different from praying and Christian rituals. It’s all the use of specific phrases and intentions to ask a divine being for a certain outcome.
In fact, the book Roman Ritual can be regarded as a Catholic spellbook. This religious text is a book of exorcism rites, using spells and religious invocations to cast out the devil.
The Similarities of Worship
Although centuries of crusades and colonization have pitted the Wiccan religion and Christianity against each other, they’re very similar religions. Both use ceremony and ritual to entreat divine beings, both have some concept of spellwork, and both celebrate very similar holidays. Of course, once you get into the specifics, they’re very different, but the general structure of worship is the same!
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