While the US government does not regularly collect detailed religious data, because of concerns that it may violate the separation of church and state, several organizations have tried to fill the data gap. From to , Trinity College in Connecticut ran three large, detailed religion surveys.
Those have shown that Wicca grew tremendously over this period. From an estimated 8, Wiccans in , they found there were about , practitioners in They also estimated there were around , Pagans pdf in It found that 0. Data on Wicca identification is ever sparser in the UK, the other country with a significant Wicca population. Witchcraft had a long and complicated history before the wellness and beauty industries became recently obsessed with it.
Witches have been a fixture in the popular imagination for centuries: And from Snow White to The Crucible to Melisandre in Game of Thrones , beauty, sexuality, and the quest for eternal youth have been baked into our perception of witches. The mainstreaming of mysticism makes sense when you consider how it overlaps with the interests of the millennial women. As Wicker noted, witchcraft is the perfect religion for liberal millennials who are already involved in yoga and meditation, mindfulness, and new-age spirituality.
With that foundation, they might show up for pagan holidays or new moon gatherings , or begin to explore the more serious spiritual concepts at the root of these practices. Thank you for the information! I am a beginning witch, and I am studying up on a lot of things, so this is helpful! Thank you so much! This articke really helped because i am beginning to practice witchcraft.
I want to learn as much as possible before doing any magic so i dont mess anything up. Thank for this helpful info! Free shipping worldwide. Search 0 Cart. Triple Goddess, Triquetra etc. Evil Eye Protection Locket. Shop now. View Talisman Chain Bracelets. See All Bestsellers. Your headline. Add your deal, information or promotional text.
Explore the Pentacle Collection. Media images often show Wiccans as teenage women, but in fact it is practised by males and females of all ages. Religious Witchcraft is not merely a system of magic, but is a Pagan mystery religion worshipping Goddess and God and venerating the Divine in nature. Its origins lie in pre-Christian religious traditions, folklore, folk witchcraft and ritual magic, but most Witches draw their inspiration from the 'Book of Shadows', a book of rituals and spells compiled by of one of Wicca's major figures Gerald Brosseau Gardner Gerald Gardner claimed to have been initiated in into a coven of Witches who met in the New Forest in Hampshire and his two most well known books Witchcraft Today and The Meaning of Witchcraft produced a huge surge of interest, inspiring a movement that has spread around the world.
Wicca honours the Divine in the forms of the Triple Goddess, whose aspects of Virgin, Mother, and Wise Woman or Crone are associated with the waxing, full and waning phases of the Moon, and as the Horned God.
The principal names by which the God is known are Cernunnos or Herne, both of which mean 'Horned One'. The emphasis placed on Goddess and God differs between groups, traditions and localities, but most Wiccans believe that for wholeness the image of the Divine must be both female and male.
There are no central authorities in Wicca. Some Witches are solo Witches. Others belong to covens — groups of like-minded people who meet together to worship the Gods and to do magic. Some covens are part of initiatory traditions in which more experienced people act as teachers to newcomers. Others are formed by groups of friends who want to meet and learn together.
The classic number of people in a coven is thirteen, but many covens are smaller. Some are mixed sex groups; others cater for Witches who prefer single sex covens. The major festivals of Wicca are known as sabbats. These are held eight times throughout the year and mark changes in the seasons. Witches also honour their deities at monthly rites known as esbats , which are held on the full Moon, when the mind is thought to be more magically powerful.
Sabbats begin at sunset and end at sunset the next day and most rites are held at night, lit evocatively by candles if indoors or by the moon, bonfires and lanterns if outside.
For indoor rituals, some Witches have rooms set aside as temples in their houses, which they use for rites.
Others use their ordinary living space. Rites take place in a consecrated space, the circle, and even if there is a temple, the circle space is created anew for each rite. The space is first swept with a broomstick or besom to purify it and then blessed with the four elements — air, fire, water and earth. The circle is then symbolically sealed by drawing a circle around it in the air with a wooden wand or a black-handled knife known as an athame.
0コメント