Wicca is a type of contemporary or modern Paganism (new religious movements) influenced by historic pagan beliefs in pre-Christian (Wicca Spells, 2019).
Paganism is an umbrella term with many earth based faiths and spiritual belief systems. Some pagan religions that follow under this include Wicca, Asatru, Dianic, and Eclectic Witchcraft. In summary, all Wiccans are Pagan, but not all Pagans are Wiccan. All Wiccans are witches, but not all witches are Wiccan. Wicca also has several traditions falling underneath it. These traditions are all based on the main beliefs of Wicca but have slightly different ways they practice. Some traditions include Hereditary/Family Tradition, Shamanic, Gardnerian, Alexandrian, Celtic, British Traditionalist, Dianic, Faerie, Circle Craft and Eclectic. (Wigington, 2018).
An easier way to understand the complexity of Paganism is thinking of it like the Christian religion. For example, Christianity is the main religion with many branches off it like Protestantism, the Catholic Church, and the orthodox church. They are all Christian religions, they just have slightly different beliefs (Wigington, 2018).
Pagans were people who lived in rural areas and when Christianity was spreading, they would cling to their old religions. They were known as the mean people who did not worship the God of Abraham (Fox, 2016).
Wicca was brought to the public in the 1950’s by Gerald Gardner. He is known as the father of Wicca, and was founded by him based on old Pagan traditions (Wigington, 2018).
Wicca doesn’t have a central book (like the Bible) so they practice their religions in different ways. Wiccans can practice in groups called covens or alone. Since the religion is very decentralized, Wiccans practice different traditions. For example, the British Traditional Wicca strictly follows the initiatory lineage traditions of Gardner while the Eclectic Wicca don’t exclusively follow every tradition initiated, but create their own syncretic spiritual path by reinventing the beliefs and rituals. They are uninitialed in any tradition (Wigington, 2018).
Fox, S. (2016). Introduction to the Wiccan religion and contemporary paganism. Circle Sanctuary. Retrieved from https://www.circlesanctuary.org/index.php/about-paganism/introduction-to-the-wiccan-religion-and-contemporary-paganism
Wicca Spells. (2019). An introduction to wicca, witchcraft, and magic. Retrieved from https://wiccanspells.info/wiccan-pagan-articles/an-introduction-to-wicca-witchcraft-and-magic/
Wigington, P. (2018). Introduction into paganism: A thirteen step process. ThoughtCo. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/intro-to-paganism-step-by-step-study-guide-4006913
Wigington, P. (2018). Wicca, witchcraft or paganism – What’s the difference? Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/wicca-witchcraft-or-paganism-2562823
This video provides a brief description on the Wicca religion described by a Wiccan priestess