A Comparative Look at
Eclectic Wicca versus
Traditional Wicca
Raven Digitalis
T he highly eclectic version of Wicca, which is by far the most prevalent in the United States today, differs greatly from the original roots of Gardnerian Witchcraft. For better or worse, the majority of modern Wiccans are no longer “traditional,” and do not tend to be focused on initiatory lineage.
Contrary to Wiccan beliefs that were held for a number of recent centuries, Wicca is not an ancient religion. No proof has been produced of any ancient underground Witch cults or secretive Goddess worshipers. Instead, it seems that the majority of individuals across Western Europe did in fact convert to Christian monotheism while still retaining folk traditions and observations in varying degrees of faithfulness. Many of the charms and spells we term “Witchcraft” now were commonplace back in the day, with many of them being practiced by Christians as well as the hunters of alleged Witches themselves.
When Gerald Gardner created Wicca in the early 1950s, he drew upon many Celtic charms, superstitions, and Pagan rituals, and a variety of ancient folk traditions. This occurred after he was allegedly initiated into Witchcraft by a woman called Dorothy Clutterbuck, though the only indication of this Indian-born, English-Christian woman’s involvement with occultism comes from Gardner’s own claims.
Through his creation of Wicca, Gardner was not reviving a preexisting tradition … There is simply no such thing as the “Old Religion,” and family traditions of Witchcraft (“fam-trads”) have not been proven to exist before the 1950s.
Through his creation of Wicca, Gardner was not reviving a preexisting tradition, as he and anthropologist Margaret Murray (and numerous others) proposed. He was instead adhering elements of various practices into one cohesive and successful unit of practice.
There is simply no such thing as the “Old Religion,” and family traditions of Witchcraft (“fam-trads”) have not been proven to exist before the 1950s. This academic fact is now becoming widely accepted by a number of Wiccan practitioners, whether traditional or eclectic.
Gardner and colleagues drew upon traditions such as Freemasonry, the Golden Dawn, Thelema, Celtic Paganism, and even ancient magickal grimoires. Gardner’s work was greatly influenced by interactions with his poetic Priestess Doreen Valiente and England’s famed occultist Aleister Crowley. Regardless of Wicca’s recent developments, many of the true Old Ways of European Pagan polytheism and folk magick are indeed alive and well today due in part to Gerald Gardner’s contributions and in part to the upholding of folk practices within various European family lineages.
It’s common in initiatory Wicca to have what’s called a “downline” of initiates if one is a High Priest/ess who utilizes serious occult training and duly initiates others into the Craft. The initiatory line that can be traced back from a person is called their “upline,” and this is used in Wicca to trace one’s lineage back to Gerald Gardner. Some initiates refer to this as “authentic” Wicca, discounting the eclectic movements that are rooted in self-dedication into Witchcraft. However, the majority of lineage-based Wiccans simply view self-dedicated eclectic Craft as different rather than invalid.
Does an initiatory downline constitute greater authority or validity in one’s Craft? I would argue that it most certainly does not, but it has its place and is an admirable system of both recordkeeping and knowledge preservation, much of which is lacking in eclectic or less-disciplined styles of modern Wicca. Many nontraditional and traditional Witches tend to believe similarly. There are pros and cons to every approach of magick; nothing is “right” or “wrong,” but is simply different, and this diversity allows for a beautiful array of human experience and spiritual connection.
Wicca has never been an exclusive spiritual path or religion. Practitioners are encouraged to find their own identity and individual spiritual callings; this is perhaps exemplified by the line Do as ye will from the poetic piece now commonly known as the Wiccan Rede.
This line seems to have been lifted (or borrowed) from Aleister Crowley’s Thelemic axiom Do what thou Wilt shall be the whole of the Law. In this definition, however, will refers to a person’s True Will, or spiritual destiny. Taking Crowley’s definition into consideration, this line of the Rede actually encourages Wiccans to discover, follow, and align to their unique spiritual callings. Both eclectic Wiccans and orthodox British Traditionalists can and should explore a variety of spiritual practices to determine their place within.
Some traditional tools of Gardnerian Wicca seem to have fallen out of favor with many American eclectics. The scourge, for example, is a whip or a cat o’ nine tails that was originally used in Gardnerian initiations to symbolize the equal-opposite harshness to its compassionate counterpart, “the kiss.”
Most sexual unions in a magickal setting, called a Great Rite, are symbolically acted with a cup and an athame, unless a couple is previously committed. This tends to hold true for traditional Wiccans and eclectic Witches. Additionally, modern Wicca does not tend to value strictly heterosexual relations over same-sex coupling when it comes to sexual magick or to relationships in general. Most modern Wiccans also tend to agree that ritual nudity (skyclad practice) has its time and place, but that most public ceremonies do not require it. (It’s interesting to note that Gerald Gardner was a devoted naturist, or nudist, which may explain his comfort level with being naked in one’s rites.)
Speaking of tools, the athame, or dagger, was originally intended to be a black-hilted knife, ideally inscribed with symbols that originally appear in MacGregor Mathers’s translation of the Renaissance magickal grimoire The Key of Solomon. The majority of modern eclectic Witches do not necessarily require their athame to have a black handle nor to be inscribed with specific text.
Gardnerian Craft also makes use of a wide variety of other tools that have greatly fallen out of favor in modern eclectic circles, including the cords (cingulum), garter, spear, burin, boline, and stang.
Various laws, like the Law of Threefold Return, have also fallen out of favor for a more equalized view of karmic give-and-take. Some individuals, however, believe that a person can only claim Wicca if they follow the Law of Threefold Return in addition to the Wiccan Rede, which was written and subsequently published by Lady Gwen Thompson in the 1960s. Still, some lineage-based initiatory Witches have their own views of karma that differ from Gardner’s.
Some Witches and some covens simply use the word “Wicca” as a common point of reference for teachings they offer, even if their lessons are sourced in a variety of philosophies in addition to Gardnerian Witchcraft.
For readers interested in the possible origins of a number of traditional Gardnerian tools, texts, and practices, I highly recommend the book Wicca Magickal Beginnings by Sorita d’Este and David Rankine.
In original Wicca, a person had to be “made a Witch” or “reborn as a Witch” by other Witches rather than simply choosing to dedicate and declare himself or herself a Witch, which is a very common practice in modern Craft.
In the Gardnerian structure, those who are initiated in the First Degree are given the titles of “Priest/ess” and “Witch.” Those of the Second Degree are bestowed the names “Witch Queen” (female) or “Magus” (male). Those initiated in the Third Degree can be called “High Priest/ess.” Though these initiatory terms may vary with each branch, these lofty titles often go unused by eclectic Wiccans; some standard initiates shy away from some of these titles, even using them in jest. Many eclectic self-dedicated Wiccans don’t use any of the aforementioned titles, reserving their use only for those who have been initiated (after all, why should the titles be removed from the structure?). With no disrespect intended toward Gardner, I find the terminology and general language used in his Book of Shadows to be a bit self-aggrandizing. This is likely due in part to his idea of perpetuating the validity of a lost tradition of Witchcraft.
The Gardnerian Book of Shadows is sometimes referred to as the Book of Shadows. This original document of modern Witchcraft was strictly intended to be copied by hand (not typed or photocopied), ideally with alterations and additions being made by each initiate. Some Gardnerian initiates, however, prefer to be more orthodox in their practices, choosing not to alter anything from the original text—including Gardner’s fascinating list of “Old Laws” allegedly pertaining to ancient Witchcraft traditions.
The vast majority of traditional Witches agree that sabbats and esbats, as perpetuated in the Book of Shadows, should be somewhat altered each time they are performed, thusly adapting rituals to the needs of the local community and to the psychic intuition of the hosts. By the same token, a common traditionalistic view is that if a spiritual system has precisely written initiatory rituals in place, practitioners should not deviate from these initiations as they were written by the founder or founders. (We also see this viewpoint expressed in Freemasonry and other esoteric fraternities like the Golden Dawn.) This ensures that the egregore, or astral imprint, of the ritual is energetically reinforced with every initiation. At present, some magickal traditions, such as the American tradition of Georgian Witchcraft, founded by George Patterson and Zanoni Silverknife, have fractured into separate initiatory camps due to variations in initiatory structure and training.
Many practitioners who observe Wiccan holidays do not necessarily observe typical Wiccan beliefs, superstitions, or ritualistic structures, and may instead do away with the title “Wiccan,” using instead “Pagan,” “Neopagan,” or simply “Witch” as self-referential terms. Many modern Witches simply do not follow teachings laid out in Gardnerian Wicca or other systems of British Traditional Witchcraft, and may follow a different syncretized system of Neopagan spirituality entirely. The majority of modern Witches, namely in the United States, tend to practice Neopagan Witchcraft in a form suitable to their individualistic spiritual journeys, which may or may not include elements of original Wicca.
Neo-Wicca is a term that some modern practitioners have adopted, or that has been given to modern eclectic Wiccans by more traditional Gardnerian or Alexandrian initiates. But do people call themselves Neo-Hindus, Neo-Buddhists, or Neo-Christians? Not quite. Though Wicca has changed and adapted in numerous ways from its original form, I don’t believe this is just cause to use any more modernized term of recognition, not least because Wicca itself is a Neopagan system. The term Neopagan may be a more appropriate descriptor, because its broad terminology leaves each person’s personal practice up to interpretation. There is not one singular Pagan practice, but an array of modern traditions—Wicca’s variations included—that draw on much older practices. “Eclectic Wicca” or “eclectic Neopaganism” seem like honest terms that both recognize one’s diversity while still paying respect to Gardner’s modern roots.
What we now call “Witchcraft” is a magick as old as time itself, even if no Pagan cults or traditions have ever been preserved in their entirety … but why should they be? While I and other Witches may take issue with some of Gardner’s approaches and claims, it’s good to recognize the man’s profound contributions to the world of modern esoteric practice. As with all spiritual paths, Wicca is a living tradition that was meant, from the start, to evolve, take shape, and take flight in the hearts of those yearning for self-empowerment and a deeper connection to Mother Earth by way of the Moon Goddess, the Sun God, the cosmic bodies, and one’s own deeper consciousness.
Sources
Crowley, Aleister. Magick, Book Four: Parts I–IV. Boston, MA: Weiser, 2004.
d’Este, Sorita, and David Rankine. Wicca Magickal Beginnings. London: Avalonia Press, 2008.
Digitalis, Raven. Shadow Magick Compendium: Exploring Darker Aspects of Magickal Spirituality. Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 2008.
Farrar, Janet and Stewart. A Witches’ Bible: The Complete Witches’ Handbook. Custer, WA: Phoenix Publishing, 1981.
Greer, John Michael. The New Encyclopedia of the Occult. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 2003.
———. Secret Societies and Magical History. Presentation at PantheaCon in San Jose, CA, 2007.
McNevin, Estha. Opus Aima Obscuræ. Tradition materials and lesson notes. Missoula, MT, 2003–present.
Silverknife, Zanoni. Lessons in Georgian Wicca, 101–104. Class handouts and lecture notes. Missoula, MT, 1999.
Raven Digitalis (Missoula, MT) is the author of Shadow Magick Compendium, Planetary Spells & Rituals, and Goth Craft, all published by Llewellyn. He is a Neopagan Priest and cofounder of an “Eastern Hellenistic” Coven and Order called Opus Aima Obscuræ (OAO), and is a DJ of Gothic and industrial music. Also trained in Georgian Witchcraft and Buddhist philosophy, Raven has been a Witch since 1999, a Priest since 2003, a Freemason since 2012, and an empath all of his life. Raven holds a degree in anthropology from the University of Montana and is also a professional Tarot reader, small-scale farmer, and animal rights advocate. He has appeared on the cover of newWitch magazine and Spellcraft magazine, and has been featured on various print, radio, and television media outlets, including MTV News. Visit him online at www.ravendigitalis.com or www.facebook.com/ravendigitalisauthor.
Illustrator: Rik Olson