Wicca Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! PreviewAdvancedSpecial charactersHelpHeadingLevel 2Level 3Level 4Level 5FormatInsertLatinLatin extendedIPASymbolsGreekGreek extendedCyrillicArabicArabic extendedHebrewBanglaTamilTeluguSinhalaDevanagariGujaratiThaiLaoKhmerCanadian AboriginalRunesÁáÀàÂâÄäÃãǍǎĀāĂ㥹ÅåĆćĈĉÇçČčĊċĐđĎďÉéÈèÊêËëĚěĒēĔĕĖėĘęĜĝĢģĞğĠġĤĥĦħÍíÌìÎîÏïĨĩǏǐĪīĬĭİıĮįĴĵĶķĹĺĻļĽľŁłŃńÑñŅņŇňÓóÒòÔôÖöÕõǑǒŌōŎŏǪǫŐőŔŕŖŗŘřŚśŜŝŞşŠšȘșȚțŤťÚúÙùÛûÜüŨũŮůǓǔŪūǖǘǚǜŬŭŲųŰűŴŵÝýŶŷŸÿȲȳŹźŽžŻżÆæǢǣØøŒœßÐðÞþƏəFormattingLinksHeadingsListsFilesDiscussionReferencesDescriptionWhat you typeWhat you getItalic''Italic text''Italic textBold'''Bold text'''Bold textBold & italic'''''Bold & italic text'''''Bold & italic textDescriptionWhat you typeWhat you getReferencePage text.<ref>[https://www.example.org/ Link text], additional text.</ref>Page text.[1]Named referencePage text.<ref name="test">[https://www.example.org/ Link text]</ref>Page text.[2]Additional use of the same referencePage text.<ref name="test" />Page text.[2]Display references<references />↑ Link text, additional text.↑ Link text===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] ... 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}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page