No, I've never heard of him before.

Thanks for starting the new thread... it looks like I have a few books to add to the reading list.

Thanks.

I think there is a little confussion between High Magic rituals and Wicca.

The Masons practice an adulterated form if High Magic, which is a combination of Judeo-christian, ancient Egyptian, and Alchemy studies. High Magic is known from the likes of the Order of the Golden Dawn and Gardnarian styles.

Wicca is a belief system based on natural powers, like spirits of the direction/winds. Herbalism and nature worship.

Incidentally, there are stories of wicca (meaning wise) being burned to death for wiping moldy bread on an infected wound. Take that Alexander Fleming!

Religious convictions kill many. Nietzche said "Conviction is the enemy of truth more than a lie."

Hey there everyone ... yep got to the end before I noticed how old this thread was.

Still a topic close to my heart so I thought I'd add my little bit to it anyways for any newcomers who might read through it.

Wicca is indeed a neo-pagan religion derived mainly from traditional Witchcraft but with elements of other paganistic beliefs sprinkled in for good measure.

You could say that Wicca is an updated version of the 'Old Religion' and it has gained more popularity of late with the upsurge in 'New-Age' interests therefore it tends to appeal to the younger generation and those new to Paganism (although not in every case, obviously there are those who have been into the Wiccan movement since the 1950's).

However, it is Witchcraft 'the craft of the wise' that has it's roots back in Neolithic times (revealed by cave art around the world), when Man first began to worship the Moon & Sun etc and ritualize this worship for the purpose of the hunt, and later crops ... still recognized by witches today at Samhain when 'solitaries' like myself - and/or - covens, ritualize 'The Rade With The Wild Hunt' to honour the Horned God (Herne not the Devil), as he makes his way around the world on All Hallows 'een collecting the souls of the dead.

Many people confuse Wicca and Witchcraft as one and the same thing and there are similarities ... (the prior being derived from the latter) ... and of course good old Hollywood always tends to lump the two together.

A good rule of thumb by way of defining the two (in the most general of ways);


Witchcraft = Traditional

Wicca = New-Age


Whilst practitioners of either system will be well aware of the differences, the edges continue to be a little fuzzy around the edges for many. I hope this helps clear-up a bit of that confusion for anyone who might be interested.

Bright Blessings

Woody.