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Wiccan Organisation
Wiccan organisations are groups formed by Wiccans, particularly in North America. While in Europe Wicca is most often organised into independent covens, in the United States some covens choose to combine to form a Wiccan church or other organisation. Churches are often formed from hive covens. Legal status Some Wiccan and neopagan witchcraft organisations have chosen to achieve formal legal status by becoming non-profit corporations within their states or provinces, and sometimes they additionally obtain tax-exempt status in the United States under § 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. List of organisations * Aquarian Tabernacle Church * Bricket Wood coven * Children of Artemis * Church and School of Wicca * Circle Sanctuary * Coven Celeste * Covenant of the Goddess * New Forest coven * New Reformed Orthodox Order of the Golden Dawn * Panthean Temple * The Rowan Tree Church * SpiralScouts International * Universal Eclectic Wicca * Wiccan Church of Canada * Witchcraf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wicca
Wicca () is a modern Pagan religion. Scholars of religion categorise it as both a new religious movement and as part of the occultist stream of Western esotericism. It was developed in England during the first half of the 20th century and was introduced to the public in 1954 by Gerald Gardner, a retired British civil servant. Wicca draws upon a diverse set of ancient pagan and 20th-century hermetic motifs for its theological structure and ritual practices. Wicca has no central authority figure. Its traditional core beliefs, principles, and practices were originally outlined in the 1940s and 1950s by Gardner and an early High Priestess, Doreen Valiente. The early practices were disseminated through published books and in secret written and oral teachings passed along to their initiates. There are many variations on the core structure, and the religion grows and evolves over time. It is divided into a number of diverse lineages, sects and denominations, referred to as ''tra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Forest Coven
The New Forest coven were an alleged group of witches who met around the area of the New Forest in southern England during the early 20th century. According to his own claims, in September 1939, a British occultist named Gerald Gardner was initiated into the coven and subsequently used its beliefs and practices as a basis from which he formed the tradition of Gardnerian Wicca. Gardner described some of his experiences with the coven in his published books ''Witchcraft Today'' (1954) and ''The Meaning of Witchcraft'' (1959) although on the whole revealed little about it, saying he was respecting the privacy of its members. Meanwhile, another occultist, Louis Wilkinson, corroborated Gardner's claims by revealing in an interview with the writer Francis X. King that he too had encountered the coven and expanded on some of the information that Gardner had provided about them. According to Gardner, the faith which they followed was the continuation of the Witch-Cult, a pre-Christian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magical Organization
A magical organization or magical order is an organization created for the practice of ceremonial or other forms of occult magic or to further the knowledge of magic among its members. Magical organizations can include Hermetic orders, Wiccan covens and circles, esoteric societies, arcane colleges, witches' covens, and other groups which may use different terminology and similar though diverse practices. 19th century The Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor was an initiatic occult organisation that first became public in late 1894, although according to an official document of the order it began its work in 1870. The Order's teachings drew heavily from the magico-sexual theories of Paschal Beverly Randolph, who influenced later groups such as Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), although it is not clear whether or not Randolph himself was actually a member of the Order. The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn has been credited with a vast revival of occult literature and practices and was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grey School Of Wizardry
The Grey School of Wizardry is a school of occult magic that draws heavily on the fiction of J.K. Rowling. Founded by former headmaster Oberon Zell-Ravenheart, it operates primarily online and as a non-profit educational institution in California. The school offers lessons in over 500 classes across 16 departments. Graduates receive a certificate of journeymanship in their chosen major after completing an apprenticeship. History Before the school opened, the Grey Council was established in 2002 by Oberon Zell-Ravenheart as an advisory group to determine the curriculum. The Grey Council was composed of some two dozen authors, mystics, magicians and leaders of neopagan communities around the world, including Raymond Buckland, Raven Grimassi, Patricia Telesco, Frederic Lamond, Morning Glory Zell-Ravenheart, Donald Michael Kraig, Katlyn Breene, Robert Lee "Skip" Ellison, Jesse Wolf Hardin, Nicki Scully, Sam Webster, Trina Robbins, Ronald Hutton, Amber K, Ellen Evert Hopman, Luc S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Witchcraft Research Association
The Witchcraft Research Association was a British organisation formed in 1964 in an attempt to unite and study the various claims that had emerged of surviving remnants of the so-called Witch-Cult, such as those of Gerald Gardner, Robert Cochrane, Sybil Leek, Charles Cardell and Raymond Howard. It had been set up by Gerard Noel, with the help of several other interested witches. Presidency was first held by Sybil Leek, but after she was forced to emigrate to the United States after suffering persecution and being evicted from her home, it was taken over by Doreen Valiente, who had herself already been involved in several strands of neopagan witchcraft, including Gardnerian Wicca, Cochrane's Craft and the Coven of Atho. The WRA began publishing a magazine entitled ''Pentagram'', the first issue of which came out in August 1964. History Formation In February 1964 Sybil Leek announced the formation of the Witchcraft Research Association, with herself as its first president. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Odyssean Wicca
Odyssean Wicca is a Wiccan tradition created in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in the late 1970s. Its principal founders were Tamarra and Richard James. Most of its practitioners today live in Ontario, but it also has members in Eastern Canada and the United States. The tradition differs from other initiatory Wiccan traditions in its emphasis on preparation of its members for public priesthood. The Odyssean tradition is strongly connected with the Wiccan Church of Canada, a public Wiccan church also founded by the Jameses. Origins and history The Odyssean Tradition of Wicca was founded by Richard and Tamara James in 1979, along with other members of their coven. The name of the tradition was inspired by Homer's ''Odyssey'', and is meant to emphasize a belief in life as a "spiritual journey". The tradition grew out of the James' creation of the Wiccan Church of Canada, with which the tradition is still very closely associated. While the James’s and their coven members claimed to h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Universal Eclectic Wicca
Universal Eclectic Wicca (UEW) is one of a number of distinctly American Wiccan traditions which developed following the introduction of Gardnerian and Alexandrian Wicca to the United States in the early 1960s. Its corporate body is the Church of Universal Eclectic Wicca (CUEW) which is incorporated and based in Great Falls, Virginia. It is particularly noted for its early Internet teaching coven – the Coven of the Far Flung Net (CFFN), and for its inclusive approach to solitary as well as coven based practitioners. History Silver Chalice Wicca What was to become UEW began, in 1969, as the core coven associated with the Silver Chalice Land Trust; an intentional community based in Westchester, New York. Silver Chalice had a diverse membership drawing from both Dianic and British Traditional Wiccan backgrounds. It was partly as a response to this diversity, as well as a perceived need for reform in Wicca, that their High Priestess, Jayne Tomas, began to create a body ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SpiralScouts International
SpiralScouts International is a United States-based youth organization based on Wiccan symbolism and values. History The program was created in 1999 as a loosely organized children's program at the Aquarian Tabernacle Church (ATC) in Index, Washington Index is a town in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. The population was 178 at the 2010 census. History Prior to settlement by White Americans, the Skykomish lived in the area between Sultan and Index. The Skykomish had a village al .... The leader of the first circle was Heather Osterman. As word spread over the internet about the program, Pete Pathfinder Davis, founder of the Aquarian Tabernacle Church and SpiralScouts, implemented a formalized and expanded program under the guidance of Justine Goodwin, the first International Director, making it available internationally in 2001. With the aid of an internet committee of some 500, the original handbook was developed. Over time, the program has spread across the g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Rowan Tree Church
The Rowan Tree Church is a Wiccan organization, legally incorporated in 1979. It is an Earth-focused network of Members dedicated to the study and practice of the Wiccan Tradition known as Lothloriën. Originally centered in Minneapolis beginning in the late 1970s, its main office is in Kirkland, Washington. The Rowan Tree Church maintains its network through newsletters, the internet and with an annual retreat (meeting every third year at Old Faithful and, at other times, at The Hermit's Grove in Kirkland, a property). The Rowan Tree Church has an in-depth training program which leads to ordination. It has been publishing ''The Unicorn'' newsletter since 1977. ''Littlest Unicorn'' is published eight times a year for children and their parents. The church began around the work and teaching of Rev. Paul Beyerl in the mid-1970s. See also *Neopagan witchcraft *Wiccan organisation Wiccan organisations are groups formed by Wiccans, particularly in North America. While in Europe Wic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Reformed Orthodox Order Of The Golden Dawn
The New Reformed Orthodox Order of the Golden Dawn (abbreviated NROOGD, commonly pronounced "nuh-roog'd") is a Wiccan tradition founded in 1967. Despite its name, has little or nothing to do with the original Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. History The NROOGD Tradition of the Craft originated in 1967 with a group of friends (including e.l.f. Silverlocke, Glen Turner, Judy Greenwood, and Aidan Kelly). e.l.f. Silverlocke was taking a class at San Francisco State College, which gave her the assignment of creating and leading a ritual. She came up with the idea of recreating a Witches' Sabbath, using published sources from Robert Graves, Margaret Murray and Gerald Gardner, a ritual was composed that has served as the basis of NROOGD practice ever since. After repeat performances of this rite yielded results on a number of occasions, a decision was made to create a group identity and train others in its performance. The name New Reformed Orthodox Order of the Golden Dawn wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Covenant Of The Goddess
The Covenant of the Goddess (CoG) is a cross-traditional Wiccan group of solitary Wiccan practitioners and over one hundred affiliated covens (or congregations). It was founded in 1975 in order to increase co-operation among witches and to secure for witches and covens the legal protection enjoyed by members of other religions. Member covens generally focus theology and ritual around the worship of the Goddess and the Old Gods (or the Goddess alone), which is general practice within Wicca. The Covenant of the Goddess operates largely by consensus and maintains strict autonomy for all members. History The CoG began in 1975 when Wiccan elders of various traditions gathered to form an organization for all Witchcraft practitioners. At this meeting, they drafted a covenant and bylaws. That same year on the Summer Solstice, 13 covens ratified the bylaws. It was incorporated on Halloween (or Samhain) 1975, as a non-profit religious organization in California. Activities At each Sabbat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
