Wicca

==Beliefs==

===Theology===
{{Main|Wiccan views of divinity}}

[[Theology|Theological]] views within Wicca are diverse.{{sfnm|1a1=Pearson|1y=1998|1p=49|2a1=Doyle White|2y=2016|2p=86}} The religion encompasses [[theism|theists]], [[atheism|atheists]], and [[agnosticism|agnostics]], with some viewing the religion's deities as entities with a literal existence and others viewing them as [[Jungian archetypes]] or symbols.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=86}} Even among theistic Wiccans, there are divergent beliefs, and Wicca includes [[pantheism|pantheists]], [[monotheism|monotheists]], [[duotheism|duotheists]], and [[polytheism|polytheists]].{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|pp=86–87}} Common to these divergent perspectives, however, is that Wicca's deities are viewed as forms of ancient, pre-Christian divinities by its practitioners.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=87}}

====Duotheism====

[[File:Horned God and Mother Goddess (Doreen Valiente's Altar).jpg|thumb|right|Altar statues of the Horned God and Mother Goddess crafted by Bel Bucca and owned by the "Mother of Wicca", [[Doreen Valiente]]]]

Most early Wiccan groups adhered to the duotheistic worship of a [[Horned God]] and a [[Mother Goddess]], with practitioners typically believing that these had been the ancient deities worshipped by the [[hunter-gatherer]]s of the [[Palaeolithic|Old Stone Age]], whose veneration had been passed down in secret right to the present.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=86}} This theology derived from Egyptologist Margaret Murray's claims about the [[Witch-cult hypothesis|witch-cult]] in her book ''The Witch-Cult in Western Europe'' published by Oxford University Press in 1921;{{sfn|Murray|1921}} she claimed that this cult had venerated a Horned God at the time of the Early Modern witch trials, but centuries before it had also worshipped a Mother Goddess.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=87}} This duotheistic Horned God/Mother Goddess structure was embraced by Gardner – who claimed that it had Stone Age roots – and remains the underlying theological basis to his Gardnerian tradition.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|pp=87–88}} Gardner claimed that the names of these deities were to be kept secret within the tradition, although in 1964 they were publicly revealed to be Cernunnos and Aradia; the secret Gardnerian deity names were subsequently changed.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=91}}

Although different Wiccans attribute different traits to the Horned God, he is most often associated with animals and the natural world, but also with the afterlife, and he is furthermore often viewed as an ideal role model for men.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=88}} The Mother Goddess has been associated with life, fertility, and the springtime, and has been described as an ideal role model for women.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=89}} Wicca's duotheism has been compared to the [[Taoism|Taoist]] system of [[yin and yang]].{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=87}}

Other Wiccans have adopted the original Gardnerian God/Goddess duotheistic structure but have adopted deity forms other than that of the Horned God and Mother Goddess.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|pp=89–90}} For instance, the God has been interpreted as the [[Oak King]] and the [[Holly King (archetype)|Holly King]], as well as the Sun God, Son/Lover God, and Vegetation God.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=90}} He has also been seen in the roles of the [[Wild Hunt#Leader of the Wild Hunt|Leader of the Wild Hunt]] and the Lord of Death.<ref name="Pearson 2005 9730">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Pearson |first=Joanne E. |editor-last=Jones |editor-first=Lindsay |title=Wicca |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Religion |volume=14 |pages=9730 |publisher=Macmaillan Reference USA |location=Detroit |year=2005}}</ref> The Goddess is often portrayed as a [[Triple Goddess (Neopaganism)|Triple Goddess]], thereby being a triadic deity comprising a Maiden goddess, a [[Mother goddess]], and a Crone goddess, each of whom has different associations, namely virginity, fertility, and wisdom.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=90}}{{sfn|Farrar|Farrar|1987|pp=29–37}} Other Wiccan conceptualisations have portrayed her as a [[lunar deity|Moon Goddess]] and as a Menstruating Goddess.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=90}} According to the anthropologist Susan Greenwood, in Wicca the Goddess is "a symbol of self-transformation - she is seen to be constantly changing and a force for change for those who open themselves up to her".{{sfn|Greenwood|1998|p=103}}

====Monotheism and polytheism====

Gardner stated that beyond Wicca's two deities was the "Supreme Deity" or "[[unmoved mover|Prime Mover]]", an entity that was too complex for humans to understand.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=92}} This belief has been endorsed by other practitioners, who have referred to it as "the Cosmic [[Logos]]", "Supreme Cosmic Power", or "[[Deity|Godhead]]".{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=92}} Gardner envisioned this Supreme Deity as a [[deism|deist]] entity who had created the "Under-Gods", among them the God and Goddess, but who was not otherwise involved in the world; alternately, other Wiccans have interpreted such an entity as a pantheistic being, of whom the God and Goddess are facets.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|pp=92–93}}

[[File:Horned God.JPG|upright|thumb|right|Sculpture of the Horned God of Wicca found in the [[Museum of Witchcraft]] in [[Boscastle]], [[Cornwall]]]]

Although Gardner criticised monotheism, citing the [[Problem of Evil]],{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=92}} explicitly monotheistic forms of Wicca developed in the 1960s, when the U.S.-based Church of Wicca developed a theology rooted in the worship of what they described as "one deity, without gender".{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=93}} In the 1970s, [[Dianic]] Wiccan groups developed which were devoted to a singular, monotheistic Goddess; this approach was often criticised by members of British Traditional Wiccan groups, who lambasted such Goddess [[monotheism]] as an inverted imitation of Christian theology.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=94}} As in other forms of Wicca, some Goddess monotheists have expressed the view that the Goddess is not an entity with a literal existence, but rather a Jungian archetype.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=95}}

As well as pantheism and [[duotheism]], many [[Wiccans]] accept the concept of [[polytheism]], thereby believing that there are many different [[deities]]. Some accept the view espoused by the occultist [[Dion Fortune]] that "all gods are one god, and all goddesses are one goddess" – that is that the gods and goddesses of all cultures are, respectively, aspects of one supernal God and Goddess. With this mindset, a Wiccan may regard the Germanic [[Ēostre]], [[Hindu]] [[Kali]], and [[Catholic]] [[Virgin Mary]] each as manifestations of one supreme Goddess and likewise, the [[Celtic deities|Celtic]] [[Cernunnos]], the ancient Greek [[Dionysus]] and the Judeo-Christian [[Yahweh]] as aspects of a single, archetypal god. A more strictly [[polytheism|polytheistic]] approach holds the various goddesses and gods to be separate and distinct entities in their own right. The Wiccan writers [[Janet Farrar]] and [[Gavin Bone]] have postulated that Wicca is becoming more polytheistic as it matures, tending to embrace a more traditionally Pagan worldview.{{sfn|Farrar|Bone|2004}} Some Wiccans conceive of deities not as literal personalities but as metaphorical [[archetype]]s or [[thoughtform]]s, thereby technically allowing them to be [[atheism|atheists]].{{sfn|Adler|1979|pp=25, 34–35}} Such a view was purported by the High Priestess [[Vivianne Crowley]], herself a [[psychologist]], who considered the Wiccan deities to be [[Jungian archetypes]] that existed within the subconscious that could be evoked in ritual. It was for this reason, she said "The Goddess and God manifest to us in dream and vision".<ref name="Crowleyarchetype">{{cite book |last=Crowley |first=Vivianne |author-link=Vivianne Crowley |title=Wicca: The Old Religion in the New Millennium |publisher=Thorsons |location=London |page=129 |year=1996 |isbn=0-7225-3271-7 |oclc=34190941}}</ref>
Wiccans often believe that the gods are not perfect and can be argued with.{{sfn|Pearson|1998|p=52}}

Many Wiccans also adopt a more explicitly polytheistic or [[animism|animistic]] world-view of the universe as being replete with spirit-beings.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|pp=95–96}} In many cases these spirits are associated with the natural world, for instance as ''[[genius loci]]'', [[fairies]], and [[elementals]].{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=96}} In other cases, such beliefs are more idiosyncratic and atypical; Wiccan [[Sybil Leek]] for instance endorsed a belief in [[angel]]s.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=96}}

===Afterlife===
[[File:Wiccan altar for Beltane in Wales.png|thumb|A Wiccan altar decorated to mark the festival of [[Beltane]] (30 April/1 May)]]
Belief in the afterlife varies among Wiccans and does not occupy a central place within the religion.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=146}} As the historian [[Ronald Hutton]] remarked, "the instinctual position of most [Wiccans]&nbsp;... seems to be that if one makes the most of the present life, in all respects, then the next life is more or less certainly going to benefit from the process, and so one may as well concentrate on the present".{{sfn|Hutton|1999|p=393}} It is nevertheless a common belief among Wiccans that human beings have a spirit or soul that survives bodily death.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=146}} Understandings of what this soul constitutes vary among different traditions, with the Feri tradition of witchcraft, for instance, having adopted a belief from the Theosophy-inspired [[Huna (New Age)|Huna movement]], [[Kabbalah]], and other sources, that the human being has three souls.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=146}}

Although not accepted by all Wiccans, a belief in [[reincarnation]] is the dominant afterlife belief within Wicca, having been originally espoused by Gardner.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=146}} Understandings of how the cycle of reincarnation operates differ among practitioners; Wiccan [[Raymond Buckland]] for instance insisted that human souls would only incarnate into human bodies, whereas other Wiccans believe that a human soul can incarnate into any life form.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=147}} There is also a common Wiccan belief that any Wiccans will come to be reincarnated as future Wiccans, an idea originally expressed by Gardner.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=147}} Gardner also articulated the view that the human soul rested for a period between bodily death and its incarnation, with this resting place commonly being referred to as "[[The Summerland]]" among the Wiccan community.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=146}} This allows many Wiccans to believe that [[Mediumship|mediums]] can contact the spirits of the deceased, a belief adopted from [[Spiritualism (movement)|Spiritualism]].{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=146}}

===Magic and spellcraft===
Many Wiccans believe in [[Magic (paranormal)|magic]], a manipulative force exercised through the practice of "[[spellcraft]]".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dunwich |first1=Gerina |author1-link=Gerina Dunwich |title=The A–Z of Wicca |date=1998 |publisher=Boxtree |page=120}}</ref> Many Wiccans agree with the definition of magic offered by [[ceremonial magic]]ians,{{sfn|Valiente|1973|p=231}} such as [[Aleister Crowley]], who declared that magic was "the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with will", while another ceremonial magician, [[Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers|MacGregor Mathers]] stated that it was "the science of the control of the secret forces of nature".{{sfn|Valiente|1973|p=231}} Many Wiccans believe magic to be a law of nature, as yet misunderstood or disregarded by contemporary science,{{sfn|Valiente|1973|p=231}} and as such they do not view it as being [[supernatural]], but a part of what [[Leo Martello]] calls the "super powers that reside in the natural".{{sfn|Adler|1979|pp=158–159}} Some Wiccans believe that magic is simply making full use of the five senses to achieve surprising results,{{sfn|Adler|1979|pp=158–159}} whilst other Wiccans do not claim to know how magic works, merely believing that it does because they have observed it to be so.{{sfn|Hutton|1999|pp=394–395}}

During ritual practices, which are often staged in a [[sacred circle]], Wiccans cast [[spell (paranormal)|spells]] or "workings" intended to bring about real changes in the physical world. Common Wiccan spells include those used for [[energy medicine|healing]], for protection, fertility, or to banish negative influences.{{sfn|Gallagher|2005|pp=250–265}} Many early Wiccans, such as [[Alex Sanders (Wiccan)|Alex Sanders]], [[Sybil Leek]] and Alex Winfield, referred to their own magic as "[[magic (paranormal)|white magic]]", which contrasted with "[[black magic]]", which they associated with [[evil]] and [[Satanism]]. Sanders also used the similar terminology of "[[left-hand path]]" to describe malevolent magic, and "[[right-hand path]]" to describe magic performed with good intentions;<ref>{{cite book |first=Alex |last=Sanders |author-link=Alex Sanders (Wiccan) |title=The Alex Sanders Lectures |publisher=Magickal Childe |year=1984 |isbn=0-939708-05-1}}</ref> terminology that had originated with the occultist [[Helena Blavatsky]] in the 19th century. Some modern Wiccans, however, have stopped using the white/black magic and left/right-hand-path dichotomies, arguing for instance that the colour [[black]] should not necessarily have any associations with evil.{{sfn|Gallagher|2005|p=321}}

Scholars of religion [[Rodney Stark]] and [[William Sims Bainbridge|William Bainbridge]] claimed in 1985 that Wicca had "reacted to [[secularisation]] by a headlong plunge back into magic" and that it was a reactionary religion which would soon die out. This view was heavily criticised in 1999 by the historian [[Ronald Hutton]] who claimed that the evidence displayed the very opposite: that "a large number [of Wiccans] were in jobs at the cutting edge [of scientific culture], such as computer technology".{{sfn|Hutton|1999}}

===Witchcraft===

{{Quote box|width=25em|align=right|quote=Identification as a witch can[…] provide a link to those persecuted and executed in the Great Witch Hunt, which can then be remembered as a holocaust against women, a repackaging of history that implies conscious victimization and the appropriation of 'holocaust' as a badge of honour — 'gendercide rather than genocide'. An elective identification with the image of the witch during the time of the persecutions is commonly regarded as part of the reclamation of female power, a myth that is used by modern feminist witches as an aid in their struggle for freedom from patriarchal oppression.|source=— Religious studies scholar Joanne Pearson{{sfn|Pearson|2002b|p=164}} }}

Historian [[Wouter Hanegraaff]] noted that the Wiccan view of witchcraft was "an outgrowth of Romantic (semi)scholarship", especially the [[witch-cult hypothesis|'witch cult' theory]].{{sfn|Hanegraaff|2002|p=303}} It proposed that historical alleged witches were actually followers of a surviving pagan religion, and that accusations of infanticide, cannibalism, Satanism ''etc'' were either made up by the [[Inquisition]] or were misunderstandings of pagan rites.{{sfn|Hanegraaff|2002|p=304}} This theory that accused witches were actually pagans has now been disproven.<ref name="Hutton witch-cult"/> Nevertheless, Gardner and other founders of Wicca believed the theory was true, and saw the witch as a "''positive antitype'' which derives much of its symbolic force from its implicit criticism of dominant Judaeo-Christian and Enlightenment values".{{sfn|Hanegraaff|2002|p=304}} 

Pearson suggested that Wiccans "identify with the witch because she is imagined as powerful - she can make people sleep for one hundred years, she can see the future, she can curse and kill as well as heal[…] and of course, she can turn people into frogs!"{{sfn|Pearson|2002b|p=163}} Pearson says that Wicca "provides a framework in which the image of oneself as a witch can be explored and brought into a modern context".{{sfn|Pearson|2002b|p=167}}
Identifying as a witch also enables Wiccans to link themselves with those persecuted in the witch trials of the Early Modern period, often referred to by Wiccans as "the Burning Times".{{sfn|Pearson|2002b|pp=163–164}} Various practitioners have claimed that as many as nine million people were executed as witches in the Early Modern period, thus drawing comparisons with the killing of six million Jews in the [[Holocaust]] and presenting themselves, as modern witches, as "persecuted minorities".{{sfn|Pearson|2002b|p=163}}

===Morality===
{{Main|Wiccan morality}}
{{Quote box|width=246px|align=right|quote=Bide the Wiccan laws ye must, in perfect love and perfect trust&nbsp;...
Mind the Threefold Law ye should – three times bad and three times good&nbsp;...
Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill – an it harm none, do what ye will.|source=[[Lady Gwen Thompson]]<ref>{{cite book |title=The Rede of the Wiccae |publisher=Olympian Press |location=Providence |first1=Robert |last1=Mathiesin |author2=Theitic |pages=60–61 |date=2005 |isbn=0-9709013-1-3}}</ref>
 }}

Wicca has been characterised as a life-affirming religion.{{sfn|Samuel|1998|p=128}} Practitioners typically present themselves as "a positive force against the powers of destruction which threaten the world".{{sfn|Hanegraaff|2002|p=306}}
There exists no [[dogma]]tic [[moral]] or [[ethics|ethical code]] followed universally by Wiccans of all traditions, however a majority follow a code known as the [[Wiccan Rede]], which states "an it harm none, do what ye will". This is usually interpreted as a declaration of the freedom to act, along with the necessity of taking responsibility for what follows from one's actions and minimising harm to oneself and others.<ref name="ExegesisRede">{{cite journal |url=http://www.draknet.com/proteus/rede.htm |title=Exegesis on the ''Rede'' |journal=[[Harvest (Neopagan magazine)|Harvest]] |first=Judy |last=Harrow |volume=5 |issue=3 |date=1985 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070514030732/http://www.draknet.com/proteus/rede.htm |archive-date=14 May 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Another common element of Wiccan morality is the [[Rule of Three (Wicca)|Law of Threefold Return]] which holds that whatever benevolent or malevolent actions a person performs will return to that person with triple force, or with equal force on each of the three levels of body, mind, and spirit,<ref name="Lembke3fold">Lembke, Karl (2002) [https://web.archive.org/web/20050508032805/http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usca&c=words&id=3801 ''The Threefold Law''].</ref> similar to the eastern idea of [[karma]]. The Wiccan Rede was most likely introduced into Wicca by Gerald Gardner and formalised publicly by [[Doreen Valiente]], one of his High Priestesses. The Threefold Law was an interpretation of Wiccan ideas and ritual, made by [[Monique Wilson (Wiccan)|Monique Wilson]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Adams |first=Luthaneal |title=The Book of Mirrors |year=2011 |publisher=Capall Bann |location=UK |isbn=978-1-86163-325-5 |page=218 }}</ref> and further popularized by [[Raymond Buckland]], in his books on Wicca.{{sfn|Buckland|1986|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=fAED7p4stxwC&pg=PT10 Preface to the Second Edition]}}

There is some disagreement among Wiccans as to what the Law of Threefold Return (or Law of Three) actually means, or even whether such a law exists at all. As just one example, McKenzie Sage Wright discusses this in her HubPages artlcle, ''Ethics in Wicca: The Threefold Law.'' 

Many Wiccans also seek to cultivate a set of eight virtues mentioned in [[Doreen Valiente]]'s ''[[Charge of the Goddess]]'',{{sfn|Farrar|Farrar|1992}} these being mirth, reverence, honour, humility, strength, beauty, power, and compassion. In Valiente's poem, they are ordered in pairs of complementary opposites, reflecting a [[Dualistic cosmology|dualism]] that is common throughout Wiccan philosophy. Some lineaged Wiccans also observe a set of [[Wiccan Laws]], commonly called the ''Craft Laws'' or ''Ardanes'', 30 of which exist in the Gardnerian tradition and 161 of which are in the Alexandrian tradition. Valiente, one of Gardner's original High Priestesses, argued that the first thirty of these rules were most likely invented by Gerald Gardner himself in mock-archaic language as the by-product of inner conflict within his Bricket Wood coven.{{sfn|Valiente|1989|pp=70–71}}{{sfn|Hutton|1999|}}

In British Traditional Wicca, "sex complementarity is a basic and fundamental working principle", with men and women being seen as a necessary presence to balance each other out.{{sfn|Greenwood|1998|p=105}} This may have derived from Gardner's interpretation of Murray's claim that the ancient witch-cult was a fertility religion.{{sfn|Greenwood|1998|p=105}} Thus, many practitioners of British Traditional Wicca have argued that gay men and women are not capable of correctly working magic without mixed-sex pairings.{{sfn|Greenwood|1998|p=106}}

Although Gerald Gardner initially demonstrated an aversion to [[Homosexuality and Wicca|homosexuality]], claiming that it brought down "the curse of the goddess",{{sfn|Gardner|2004|pp=69, 75}} it is now generally accepted in all traditions of Wicca, with groups such as the Minoan Brotherhood openly basing their philosophy upon it.{{sfn|Adler|1979|pp=130–131}} Nonetheless, a variety of viewpoints exist in Wicca around this point, with some covens adhering to a hetero-normative viewpoint. Carly B. Floyd of [https://www.iwu.edu/ Illinois Wesleyan University] has published an informative white paper on this subject: ''[https://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/socanth_honproj/56/ Mother Goddesses and Subversive Witches: Competing Narratives of Gender Essentialism, Heteronormativity, Feminism, and Queerness in Wiccan Theology and Ritual].'' 

The scholar of religion Joanne Pearson noted that in her experience, most Wiccans take a "realistic view of living in the real world" replete with its many problems and do not claim that the gods "have all the answers" to these.{{sfn|Pearson|1998|p=47}} She suggested that Wiccans do not claim to seek perfection but instead "wholeness" or "completeness", which includes an acceptance of traits like anger, weakness, and pain.{{sfn|Pearson|1998|p=49}} She contrasted the Wiccan acceptance of an "interplay between light and dark" against the New Age focus on "white light".{{sfn|Pearson|1998|p=48}} Similarly, the scholar of religion Geoffrey Samuel noted that Wiccans devote "a perhaps surprising amount of attention to darkness and death".{{sfn|Samuel|1998|p=128}}

Many Wiccans are involved in environmentalist campaigns.{{sfn|Crowley|1998|p=178}}

===Five elements===
[[File:Five elements and pentagram.svg|thumb|right|Five elements with pentacle]]
Many traditions hold a belief in the five [[classical element]]s, although they are seen as symbolic representations of the [[phase (matter)|phases of matter]]. These five elements are invoked during many magical rituals, notably when consecrating a [[magic circle]]. The five elements are [[Air (classical element)|air]], [[Fire (classical element)|fire]], [[Water (classical element)|water]], [[Earth (classical element)|earth]], and [[Aether (classical element)|aether]] (or spirit), where aether unites the other four elements.<ref name="Zell2006-42">{{cite book |title=Creating Circles & Ceremonies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i3Iqu0h1VH0C&pg=PA42 |publisher=New Page Books |location=[[Franklin Lakes, New Jersey|Franklin Lakes]] |first=Oberon |last=Zell-Ravenheart |author2=Zell-Ravenheart, Morning Glory |year=2006 |page=42 |isbn=1-56414-864-5 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Various analogies have been devised to explain the concept of the five elements; for instance, the Wiccan [[Ann-Marie Gallagher]] used that of a tree, which is composed of earth (with the soil and plant matter), water (sap and moisture), fire (through [[photosynthesis]]) and air (the formation of [[oxygen]] from [[carbon dioxide]]), all of which are believed to be united through spirit.{{sfn|Gallagher|2005|pp=77, 78}}

Traditionally in the Gardnerian Craft, each element has been associated with a cardinal point of the compass; air with east, fire with south, water with west, earth with north, and the spirit with centre.{{sfn|Gallagher|2005}} However, some Wiccans, such as [[Frederic Lamond (Wiccan)|Frederic Lamond]], have claimed that the set cardinal points are only those applicable to the geography of southern England, where Wicca evolved, and that Wiccans should determine which directions best suit each element in their region. For instance, those living on the east coast of [[North America]] should invoke water in the east and not the west because the colossal body of water, the [[Atlantic ocean]], is to their east.{{sfn|Lamond|2004|pp=88-89}} Other Craft groups have associated the elements with different cardinal points, for instance [[Robert Cochrane (witch)|Robert Cochrane]]'s Clan of Tubal Cain associated earth with south, fire with east, water with west and air with north,{{sfn|Valiente|1989|p=124}} and each of which were controlled over by a different deity who were seen as children of the primary Horned God and Goddess. The five elements are symbolised by the five points of the [[pentagram]], the most-used symbol of Wicca.{{sfn|Valiente|1973|page=264}}