Origins of Wicca

There are quite a few different "origins" of Wicca. No one really knows the true origin; so they come up with theories.

One theory is that Gerald Gardner was the one who "founded" Wicca. In the 1950's he published a book call "Witchcraft Today". In his book he outlined the practice of Wicca. In his book he claimed that all the information that was in his book was from a ancient coven that he had found. Their age-old traditions were passed down through the generations in Britain. He claimed that he was initiated into the new Forest Coven; this claim has yet to be proven. Some believe that Gardner had come up with Wicca himself instead of this secret hidden coven that he mentions in his book. He believed that you could only learn about Wicca in a coven. This had been the idea until Scott Cunningham had published his book "Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner" in 1988.

In Cunningham's book he explains that shamanism is defined as the first religion where magick is involved. In the past Shamans were known as medicine people and power wielders. It was from this primitive beginning in shamanism that Wicca came from. The rites and traditions have been brought forward and changed to fit into our modern world. Many of the techniques that wiccans use have a shamanic origin.

It's difficult to try and pinpoint the exact time and place that Wicca was founded, everyone has their own ideas as to the origin of Wicca. Why not make yourself comfortable with a nice warm drink (tea is my personal favorite but you can have coffee or hot chocolate) and come up with your own theory as to the origins of Wicca. Feel free to comment you theory :)