Wicca

===Origins, 1921–1935===
{{Quote box|width=25em|align=right|quote=Wicca originated in the early decades of the twentieth century among those esoterically inclined Britons who wanted to resurrect the faith of their ancient forebears, and arose to public attention in the 1950s and 1960s, largely due to a small band of dedicated followers who were insistent on presenting their faith to what at times was a very hostile world. From these humble beginnings, this radical religion spread to the United States, where it found a comfortable bedfellow in the form of the [[Counterculture of the 1960s|1960s counter-culture]] and came to be championed by those sectors of the [[Women's liberation movement|women's]] and [[gay liberation]] movements which were seeking a spiritual escape from Christian hegemony.|source=— Religious studies scholar Ethan Doyle White{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=2}} }}

Wicca was founded in England between 1921 and 1950,{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=14}} representing what the historian [[Ronald Hutton]] called "the only full-formed religion which England can be said to have given the world".{{sfnm|1a1=Hutton|1y=2003|1pp=279–230|2a1=Doyle White|2y=2016|2p=14}} Characterised as an "[[invented tradition]]" by scholars,{{sfnm|1a1=Baker|1y=1996|1p=187|2a1=Magliocco|2y=1996|2p=94|3a1=Doyle White|3y=2016|3p=14}} Wicca was created from the patchwork adoption of various older elements, many taken from pre-existing religious and esoteric movements.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=13}} Pearson characterised it as having arisen "from the cultural impulses of the ''[[fin de siècle]]''".{{sfn|Pearson|2002|p=32}}

Wicca took as its basis the [[witch-cult hypothesis]]. This was the idea that [[Witch trials in the early modern period|those persecuted as witches]] in [[early modern Europe]] were actually followers of a surviving [[paganism|pagan]] religion; not [[Satanism|Satanists]] as the persecutors claimed, nor innocent people who confessed under threat of torture, as had long been the historical consensus.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=14}}<ref name="Checkmark Books">{{cite book |last1=Guiley |first1=Rosemary Ellen |author-link1=Rosemary Ellen Guiley |title=The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft |edition=2nd |year=1999 |publisher=Checkmark Books |location=New York |isbn=0-8160-3849-X |page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofwi00guil/page/234 234] |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofwi00guil/page/234 }}</ref> The 'Father of Wicca', Gerald Gardner, claimed his religion was a survival of this European 'witch-cult'.{{sfn|Buckland|2002|p=96}} The 'witch-cult' theory had been first expressed by the German Professor [[Karl Ernest Jarcke]] in 1828, before being endorsed by German [[Franz Josef Mone]] and then the French historian [[Jules Michelet]].{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=15}} In the late 19th century, it was then adopted by two Americans, [[Matilda Joslyn Gage]] and [[Charles Leland]], the latter of whom promoted a variant of it in his 1899 book, ''[[Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches]]''.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|pp=15–16}} The theory's most notable advocate was the English Egyptologist [[Margaret Murray]], who promoted it in a series of books – most notably 1921's ''The Witch-Cult in Western Europe'' and 1933's ''The God of the Witches''.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=16}}<ref name="Checkmark Books"/> 

Almost all of Murray's peers regarded the witch-cult theory as incorrect and based on poor scholarship. However, Murray was invited to write the entry on "witchcraft" for the 1929 edition of the ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'', which was reprinted for decades and became so influential that, according to folklorist Jacqueline Simpson, Murray's ideas became "so entrenched in popular culture that they will probably never be uprooted".<ref name=simpson1994>Jacqueline Simpson (1994). Margaret Murray: Who Believed Her, and Why? ''Folklore'', '''105''':1-2: 89-96. {{doi|10.1080/0015587X.1994.9715877}}</ref> Simpson noted that the only contemporary member of the Folklore Society who took Murray's theory seriously was Gerald Gardner, who used it as the basis for Wicca.<ref name=simpson1994/> Murray's books were the sources of many well-known motifs which have often been incorporated into Wicca. The idea that covens should have 13 members was developed by Murray, based on a single witness statement from one of the witch trials, as was her assertion that covens met on the four cross-quarter days.<ref name=simpson1994/> Murray was very interested in ascribing naturalistic or religious ceremonial explanations to some of the more fantastic descriptions found in witch trial testimony. For example, many of the confessions included the idea that Satan was personally present at coven meetings. Murray interpreted this as a witch priest wearing horns and animal skins, and a pair of forked boots to represent his authority or rank. Most mainstream folklorists, on the other hand, have argued that the entire scenario was always fictitious and does not require a naturalistic explanation, but Gardner enthusiastically adopted many of Murray's explanations into his own tradition.<ref name=simpson1994/> The witch-cult theory was "the historical narrative around which Wicca built itself", with the early Wiccans claiming to be the survivors of this ancient pagan religion.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|pp=16–17}}

The 'witch-cult' theory has since been disproven by further historical research,<ref name="Hutton witch-cult"/> but it is still common for Wiccans to claim solidarity with witch trial victims.{{sfn|Buckland|2002|loc=10: Roots of Modern Wica}} The notion that Wiccan traditions and rituals have survived from ancient times is contested by most recent researchers, who say that Wicca is a 20th-century creation which combines elements of freemasonry and 19th-century occultism.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/print/2001/01/the-scholars-and-the-goddess/5910/ |title=The Scholars and the Goddess |journal=The Atlantic Monthly |first=Charlotte |last=Allen |date=January 2001 |issue=287 |oclc=202832236}}</ref> In his 1999 book ''[[The Triumph of the Moon]]'', English historian [[Ronald Hutton]] researched the Wiccan claim that ancient pagan customs have survived into modern times after being Christianised in medieval times as folk practices. Hutton found that most of the folk customs which are claimed to have pagan roots (such as the [[Maypole]] dance) actually date from the [[Middle Ages]]. He concluded that the idea that medieval revels were pagan in origin is a legacy of the [[Protestant Reformation]].{{sfn|Hutton|1999}}<ref>{{cite book |title=Goddess Unmasked |publisher=Spence |location=Dallas |first=Philip G |last=Davis |year=1998 |isbn=0-9653208-9-8}}</ref> Hutton noted that Wicca predates the modern [[New Age]] movement and also differs markedly in its general philosophy.{{sfn|Hutton|1999}}

Other influences upon early Wicca included various [[Western esotericism|Western esoteric]] traditions and practices, among them [[ceremonial magic]], [[Aleister Crowley]] and his religion of [[Thelema]], [[Freemasonry]], [[Spiritualism (movement)|Spiritualism]], and [[Theosophy (Blavatskian)|Theosophy]].{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|pp=17–18}} To a lesser extent, Wicca also drew upon folk magic and the practices of [[cunning folk]].{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|pp=19–20}} It was further influenced both by scholarly works on folkloristics, particularly [[James Frazer]]'s ''[[The Golden Bough]]'', as well as [[romanticism|romanticist]] writings like [[Robert Graves]]' ''[[The White Goddess]]'', and pre-existing modern pagan groups such as the [[Order of Woodcraft Chivalry]] and [[Druidism]].{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|pp=20–22}}