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Do Wiccans realize their religion is essentially a hoax?

This two-faced "religion" has been the apparent source of wirchcraft, so they can feel big and powerful around the gullible. But when pressed, they revert to the image of friendly, vacuous, innocuous, pagan/agrarian hippie-like people. But do they realize now, that there is no record of this "religion" before 1920? Do they know it was initially popularized by one guy in 1954. It was fake. It was not based on any ancient philosophy or religion.

But then, don't feel bad. In that respect it is no different from Scientology. In fact, that might even be true of Christianity. So what do you do and how do you feel when you discover this fact?

Check Wiki for Wicca.


Geez, Amanda, well I guess the answer is this: The elements EXISTED, whether they were known or not. Wicca DIDN'T. (And that got 5 thumbs up?Wow!)

Update 2:

It was a hoax because its founder represented it as something that it was not. It did not have historical roots, It was completely contrived.

Update 3:

Innocence lost, *somebody* saw a lot of witches, especially from the 12th through 16th centuries. I was going to mention Mormon, because that really is another example. It has been strongly suggested that it was based largely on a deliberate hoax. But I can see the answer to part of my question. When one;s beliefs are shown to be based on hogwash, they get very hostile about it. Thank you for your thoughtful answer.

Update 4:

Mint, I don't expect them to care that I think it is a hoax. I wondered if they cared that it IS a hoax. A very recent one. They were duped.

Update 5:

Dink2925, I had to laugh because despite the obvious sarcasm of your answer they STILL gave you two thumbs down! LOL. Yeah, it was them. And sorry, no, I don't think I can give you the best answer. In all good conscience. I'll let the community decide. I found out what I needed to know.

Update 6:

Excuse me, SEVEN thumbs up for the ridiculous analogy to the periodic table. This speaks volumes.

Update 7:

I'm not angry or afraid. More like amazed and disappointed.

Update 8:

But when it comes to anger, all one need to do is look at the answers. No, I didn't use a thesaurus, but if you don't like big words, I'll dumb it down next time.

28 Answers

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    Wikipedia is NOT to be taken as gospel truth. ;-)

    All religions are founded on the charisma of the leaders and the lack of imagination of the followers.

    All religions with a mass following are based on the imaginations of one, usually male, prophet.

    That some idea is new does not mean it's worth either more or less than anything else.

    There is no intrinsic difference beteen people listening to a speech and having a singsong on a Sunday (Fryday, Saturday) and people dancing around a fire at full moon, apart from convenience.

    My personal experience has led me to believe in some phenomena that are usually called "magic"

    These are my true feelings about the matter. No hoax!

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  • 1 decade ago

    I was Wiccan once upon a time and i decided that i would do a book report on the subject and found many things about Gerald Gardner. I found he lived a decently long life and belonged to a group that more then likely never used the term 'Wicca'. He originally wrote a few books back in the old days that were completely fictitious with a few hints of what he believed because it was against the law to practice any form of witchcraft in England. He fought to have that law changed and he did change it, after wards he released a few books about his belief but was supposedly shunned a bit by his peers, they wanted him to keep things quiet. But those things didn't make me hate Wicca more, it was just very interesting, the fact is some of the other beliefs in God's started out with a triple goddess also. Look at the Greeks, they originally had a triple goddess (can't remember the name though). So, Wicca may have taken things here and there about different religions, but the same could be said for Mormons and a few other religions, well actually the same could be said for the majority of Christian church that have sprung up after the original one was already set, but who knows what that was.

    And sense when did people become Wiccan to be big and powerful, it is a peace based religion. "harm none do what ye will". And it isn't the source of Witchcraft, some Wiccans claim to be witch's but witch's are mostly people who practise magick, with or without and set beliefs system. The only reason that you don't see a lot of Witch's before Wicca came around is because it was either illegal or Taboo.

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  • 4 years ago

    There's a thorough change among "hoax" and "new". The latter, any good-educated Wiccan will inform you - the previous, no longer such a lot. Gerald B Gardner created Wicca across the Fifties, even though there is a few proof of a few companies that would arguably be "proto-Wicca" way back to the 1910s. Anything additional again than that, like one of the crucial esoterica group of the 1800s, used to be extra supply fabric than direct connection. It does draw from historical devout elements, however it is hardly ever an unbroken continuation of any specified faith. While there is a few individuals that also grasp to the incorrect perception that it is an historical faith, they're simply a misinformed minority. That stated, the age is inappropriate. Every faith had it is beginning factor - it is approximately revelation and interplay with the Divine, no longer approximately how lengthy its lineage is. If a faith's acquired a lineage, that is undoubtedly best, however simply for the reason that a faith is the "new child" does not imply something.

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  • 1 decade ago

    Because I am not an authority, I will find some quotes for you.

    Wicca itself is a new religion. But it is based on many Pagan religions, so the concepts are not new.

    "Wicca is a religion based, in part, on ancient, northern European Pagan beliefs." "Although the religion is a modern creation, some of its sources pre-date the Christian era by many centuries."

    (a date BEFORE 1920)

    "Charles Leland (1824-1903) published a book in 1899: Aradia: Gospel of the Witches"

    "According to Gardner (1884 - 1964), Wicca: was REVIVED in the UK by himself, his High Priestess Doreen Valiente, (1922 - 1999) and others" It existed before.

    Our religion is not a hoax because it is NEW.

    All religions were created or started (or discovered?) at some point or another. Christianity isn't valid just because it's two thousand years old and ours is apparantly only fifty!

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  • 1 decade ago

    Actually there's no record of this religion before Gerald Gardner's publication in 1954, and plenty of Wiccans know this, including myself. Its historical claims are based on a theory generally traced back to a publication in 1921 (Witch-Cult of Western Europe), which is perhaps what you're thinking of, although Wicca differs sharply on several points with that book.

    There is a difference between being incorrect and promoting a hoax. Gardner's historical claims are wrong, but he may have been honestly incorrect on much of it (although books such as 50 Years of Wicca suggest that Gardner knew he was inventing some of the history).

    None of these revelations make Wicca fake.. it simply makes it not ancient. Are only ancient religions correct? I think not. The teachings I find sound. You are arbitrarily connecting two facts. You are correct in that Wiccan rituals are not thousands of years old. But how does the age of rituals prove that certain beings don't exist? (what I would consider the definition of a fake religion)

    Your impression that Wiccans are all clueless on their history is ignorant, as is your suggestion that we all wish to be agrarian and hipie-like. The largest historical work on the development of Wicca (Triumph of the Moon) to date was written by a Wiccan. Pagans have their own academic journal (The Pomegranate).

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  • 1 decade ago

    Well duh aren't you the smart one to point out that Wicca started out in the 1950's. You must be a scholar! The only people who claim it is ancient are the people who never studied the history. That one guy you speak of was Gerald Gardner. There are parts of Wicca that are suppose to be from an older belief system. Who knows but he claimed it was. I guess kind of like when the christians claimed that their religion was the only religion. We all know it has Pagan roots. It doesn't bother me that you think you've found some kind of secret weapon to prove Wicca isn't real. It is real. All religion have to have a beginning.

    Plus not all Wiccans do magic. So there is another brilliant thing for you to wave around like it means anything.

    If you really want to know about a religion you sure don't look to Wikipedia to be the know all. Read books that Gerald Gardner wrote. That will tell you where it came from. Heck for that fact look at any books that is a history of Wicca.

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  • Terry
    Lv 7
    1 decade ago

    There are only two belief structures as old as humankind. These are animism and the crafts. All of the other religions are "johnny come lately" by comparison. And the less then 2000 year diffference between one religion and another is a drop in the full bucket of religious beliefs that have risen and fallen from popularity as humankind evolved toward what it is now.

    Wicca is a young religion that will accept those who call themselves Witches, but is not based on the crafts that Witches sometimes practice. I have journals of nature worship throughout humankinds tenure, that Wicca seeks to keep this alive is a positive much needed when many mainstream religions are letting nature be destroyed.

    On "wiki," this web site is highly biased and is constantly prowled and edited by adherents of main stream religions.

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  • MUDD
    Lv 7
    1 decade ago

    Hoax? Do you make the same claim for Protestants, who can only trace their history back to Martin Luther? I glanced through the article in Wikipedia and it does not say that there is no record of this religion before 1920 at all.

    Wicca is only one variety of pagan witchcraft, with specific beliefs and practices. Members of Initiatory Wiccan groups worship a Goddess and a God; they observe the festivals of the eight Sabbats of the year and the full-moon Esbats, using distinctive ritual forms; and they attempt to live by a code of ethics. Other forms of witchcraft may also adopt some similar specific religious, ethical or ritual elements.

    The history of Wicca is much debated. Gardner claimed that the religion was a survival of matriarchal Pagan religions of pre-historic Europe, taught to him by members of the New Forest Coven; their rites were fragmentary, and he had substantially rewritten them. It has been posited by authors such as Aidan Kelly and Francis X. King that Gardner invented the rites in their entirety,[22] incorporating elements from the thesis of Dr. Margaret Murray, incantations from Aradia[23] and practices of ceremonial magic.[24]

    Heselton concludes that while Gardner may have been mistaken about the ancient origins of the religion, his statements about it were largely made in good faith. Gardner's account is as follows: After retiring from adventuring around the globe, Gardner encountered the New Forest coven. Subsequently fearing that the Craft would die out,[25] he worked on his book Witchcraft Today, releasing it in 1954, followed by The Meaning of Witchcraft in 1959. It is from these books that much of modern Wicca is derived.

    I'm afraid you are the only person using the word hoax here. Wikipedia (and Heselton) use the words "Good Faith" and that Wicca is " only one variety of pagan witchcraft, with specific beliefs and practices." If your purpose was merely to incite comment, you have achieved it, but according to the traditions of the very religion you have inadvertently slandered, your first concern should be, as it even says in the Hippocratic oath "first, do no harm" or "An it harm none, do what ye will." I'm afraid you have failed that litmus test.

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  • xx.
    Lv 6
    1 decade ago

    ... you do realize that Wiccans KNOW Wicca was founded by Gerald Gardner and based on older Celtic/druid traditions? Just because a religion is new doesn't mean it is any less valid that one that is old. And who's 'they'? I certainly don't feel the need for more power. And I certainly don't prance around in fields all day barefoot.

    And by the way I don't feel you grasp the ideology of Wicca, Scientology, or Christianity for that matter. It's not about when the religion was founded, its the morals and ethics that count. You obviously feel insecure with yourself and you have to stoop down to the level that you state the obvious as if its a big secret and then attempt to discredit an entire belief system by slipping in a few big words that you obviously looked up in an online thesaurus.

    In conclusion: Shut up and drink your juice box you little troll.

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  • Kallan
    Lv 7
    1 decade ago

    Their religion was founded by Gerald Gardner under spurious conditions, but how does this make their belief a hoax?

    They worship a god and godesss manifest through nature and use ritual magick both of which have very ancient origins. The bottom line is that they are a peaceful path of spirituality that doesn't harm anyone. There's no hoax in that whatsoever. Anything you read from wikipedia really needs to be taken with a grain of salt. For all you know, some ex-wiccan who's angry with his/her former coven just wrote up the article to get back at them. That's the problem with user-generated information sites. You can't be sure that what you're reading is accurate.

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  • 1 decade ago

    L Ron Hubbard invented Scientology on a bar room bet. Paul invented what was to become the Roman Catholic Church, circa 70 AD, for his own personal reasons like the fame and power it gave him. Who knows what Mohamed was really motivated by. All could be a hoax Or not. All religions need a beginning. The bible came into existence through the pagan Emperor Constantine. That's at least as outrageous as Gary Whoever starting Wicca.

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