Wicca Modern English term "Wicca" is derived from the Old English "wicca" () and "wicce" (), the masculine and 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
Georgian Wicca Georgian Wicca Georgian Wicca is a tradition, or denomination, in the neopagan religion of Wicca. In its organisation, it is very similar to British Traditional Wicca groups such as Gardnerian Wicca, however, it does not trace its initiatory line to one of the old English covens. The name "Georgian" refers to its founder, George Patterson, who founded the tradition in 1970 in the United States. The Georgian Tradition was founded in 1970 by George Eliott (Pat) Patterson III, when he began teaching his first students, two women called Zanoni Silverknife and Tanith. It began as a small coven in Patterson’s