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Wicca (), also termed Pagan Witchcraft, is a contemporary Pagan new religious movement. 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 practice. Wicca has no central authority. Its traditional core beliefs, principles and practices were originally outlined in the 1940s and 1950s by Gardner and Doreen Valiente, both in published books as well as 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 ''traditions'', each with its own organizational structure and level of centralisation. Due to its decentralized nature, there is some disagreement over what actually constitutes Wicca. Some traditions, collectively referred to as British Traditional Wicca, strictly follow the initiatory lineage of Gardner and consider the term ''Wicca'' to apply only to similar traditions, while newer eclectic traditions do not. Wicca is typically duotheistic, worshipping a Goddess and a God. These are traditionally viewed as the Moon Goddess and the Horned God, respectively. These deities may be regarded in a henotheistic way, as having many different divine aspects which can in turn be identified with many diverse pagan deities from different historical pantheons. For this reason, they are sometimes referred to as the "Great Goddess" and the "Great Horned God", with the adjective "great" connoting a deity that contains many other deities within their own nature. These two deities are sometimes viewed as facets of a greater pantheistic divinity, which is regarded as an impersonal force or process rather than a personal deity. While duotheism or bitheism is traditional in Wicca, broader Wiccan beliefs range from polytheism to pantheism or monism, even to Goddess monotheism. Wiccan celebrations follow both the cycles of the Moon, known as esbats and associated with the Goddess, and the cycles of the Sun, seasonally based festivals known as Sabbats and associated with the Horned God. An unattributed statement known as the Wiccan Rede is a popular expression of Wiccan morality, although it is not accepted by all Wiccans. Wicca often involves the ritual practice of magic, though it is not always necessary. ==Definition and terminology== (詳細はreligious studies classify Wicca as a new religious movement, and more specifically as a form of modern Paganism. Cited as the largest, best known, most influential, and most extensively academically studied form of Paganism, within the movement it has been identified as sitting on the former end of the eclectic to reconstructionist spectrum. Several academics have also categorised Wicca as a form of nature religion, a term that is also embraced by many of the faith's practitioners. However, given that Wicca also incorporates the practice of magic, several scholars have referred to it as a "magico-religion". Wicca is also a form of Western esotericism, and more specifically a part of the esoteric current known as occultism. Although recognised as a religion by academics, some evangelical Christians have attempted to deny it legal recognition as such, while some Wiccan practitioners themselves eschew the term "religion" – association the latter purely with organised religion – instead favouring "spirituality" or "way of life". Although Wicca as a religion is distinct from other forms of contemporary Paganism, there has been much "cross-fertilization" between these different Pagan faiths; accordingly, Wicca has both influenced and been influenced by other Pagan religions, thus making clear-cut distinctions between them more difficult for religious studies scholars to make. The terms ''wizard'' and ''warlock'' are generally discouraged in the community. In Wicca, denominations are referred to as ''traditions'', while non-Wiccans are often termed ''cowans''. When the religion first came to public attention, it was commonly called "Witchcraft". For instance, the prominent "Father of Wicca", Gerald Gardner, referred to it as the "Craft of the Wise", "witchcraft", and "the witch-cult" during the 1950s. There is no evidence that he ever called it "Wicca", although he did refer to the collective community of Pagan Witches as "the Wica" (with one ''c''). As a name for the religion, "Wicca" developed in Britain during the 1960s. It is not known who precisely invented the term "Wicca" in reference to the religion, although one possibility is that it might have been Gardner's rival Charles Cardell, who was referring to it as the "Craft of the Wiccens" by 1958. The first recorded use of the word "Wicca" appears in 1962, and it had been popularised to the extent that several British practitioners founded a newsletter called ''The Wiccan'' in 1968. Although pronounced differently, the Modern English term "Wicca" is derived from Middle English ''wicche'', which itself comes from Old English ''wicca'' () and ''wicce'' (), the masculine term for wizard/sorcerer and the feminine term for witch, respectively, that was used in Anglo-Saxon England. By adopting it for modern usage, Wiccans were both symbolically cementing their connection to the ancient, pre-Christian past, and adopting a self-designation that would be less controversial than "Witchcraft". In early sources "Wicca" referred to the entirety of the religion rather than specific traditions. In ensuing decades, members of certain traditions – those known as British Traditional Wicca – began claiming that only they should be termed "Wiccan", and that other forms of the religion must not use it. From the late 1980s onwards various books propagating Wicca were published that again used the former, broader definition of the word. Thus, by the 1980s, there were two competing definitions of the word "Wicca" in use among the Pagan and esoteric communities, one broad and inclusive, the other smaller and exclusionary. Although there are exceptions, among scholars of Pagan studies it is the older, inclusive use of the term which has gained wider usage. Conversely, in various forms of popular culture, such as television programs ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and ''Charmed'', the word "Wicca" has been used as a synonym for witchcraft more generally, including in non-religious and non-Pagan forms. Alongside "Wicca", two other names often used for the religion by its practitioners are "Witchcraft" and "the Craft". However, the Pagan studies scholar Ethan Doyle White noted that the use of the word "Witchcraft" in this context was problematic because the term resulted in the religion being easily confused both with other, non-religious forms of witchcraft as well as other religions – such as Satanism and Luciferianism – whose practitioners sometimes describe themselves as "Witches". Another term that is at times used as a synonym for "Wicca" is "Pagan Witchcraft", although Doyle White again critiqued the utility of this term by noting that there were forms of modern Paganism – such as types of Heathenry – which also practiced magic and thus could also be described as "Pagan Witchcraft". From the 1990s onward, various Wiccans began describing themselves as "Traditional Witches", although problematically that was a term also employed by practitioners of other magico-religious traditions such as Luciferianism. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Wicca」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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