General Beliefs
Wicca (also known as Neo-Paganism or Witchcraft) is a generic name for a group of belief systems that are similar in many ways. Most Wiccan hold the belief that there is one all powerful Diety, with two parts the feminine or Goddess part, and the masculine or God part. These two parts, the Goddess and the God, form the basis for Wiccan worship practices. Each Wiccan coven (a group of Wiccans who worship together using the same system) and solitary practicer chooses their own style of worship, known as a tradition.
Most traditions revolve around a specific pantheon of Gods and Goddesses. Since Wiccans typically believe that every Goddess and God in every pantheon is an extension of the Universal Goddess and God, this allows for a vast variety of traditions with hundreds of different individual belief systems.
Most Wiccan holidays and beliefs revolve around the seasons and Nature. There are 8 major Wiccan holidays: Yule or the Winter Solstice, Imbolc (~Feb 2), Ostara or the Spring Equinox, Beltain (May), the Summer Solstice, the Autumn Equinox, and Samhain (~Oct 31). There are also celebrations called Esbats on the Full Moon, when many Wiccans celebrate the Goddess and preform magick.
Magick is also highly regarded and encouraged in Wicca. It is considered to be an act of communing with the Deities and is typically performed in conjunction with the phases of the Moon. The only moral rules that most Wiccans feel are necessary are called "The Witches' Reed" and the Karmic "Law of Three." The Reed states, "An ye harm none, do as ye will." This includes harming others and oneself both physically, mentally, and psychically. Most Wiccans also interpret it as forbidding the use of magick to do harm. This is enforced by the Law of Three, which states that any energies (negative or positive) one sends out returns three-fold back to oneself. This is also seen as a deterrent against "black magick."
Craft Timeline (post 1900 CE)*
1921 Margaret Murray identifies Dianic Tradition in "The Witch-Cult in Western Europe." Murray puts forth the idea that modern witchcraft is directly descended from ancient pagan beliefs.
1947 Gerald Gardner meets Aleister Crowley
1951 The Witchcraft Act is repealed in Great Britain
1950's Gerald Gardner begins his Gardnerian Tradition in England, Gardner begins to publicize Witchcraft on a large scale
1963 Alex Sanders founds the Alexandrian Tradition in England. Sanders refers to himself as "King" of his Witches
Raymond Buckland is initiated in Gardner's Tradition, brings Gardnerianism to the US
1970 Alexandrian Witchcraft in United States
1971 Janet and Stewart Farrar publish their first work What Witches Do: A Modern Coven Revealed
1973 Raymond Buckland founds Seax-Wica in United States.
1988 Scott Cunningham publishes Wicca: A Guide For the Solitary Practitioner; creates a way for the average person to practice Witchcraft in a Solitary way, without necessarily having been initiated into a tradition
1989 Church of All Worlds releases Witchcraft, Satanism and Ritual Crime: Who's Who and What's What; this booklet has been distributed to police organizations and governmental agencies to set the record straight on modern Witchcraft
1993 Silver RavenWolf publishes first edition of To Ride a Silver Broomstick
1996 The Witch's Voice goes online
*Note: this timeline does not by any means contain all of the craft history possible. In fact, I purposefully made this timeline only go back as far as 1900 CE, because as yet I have not had the opportunity to research enough into earlier time periods. For more detailed info, please visit the sites at the end of this section.
Timeline sources include:
Gardnerian Witchcraft in England -- http://www.oocities.org/SoHo/5756/bgrdtrad.html
The Homepage of Janet and Stewart Farrar and Gavin Bone (closed due to the death of Stewart Farrar earlier on 7 Feb 2000)