Etymology of Wicca Stewart Farrar, describes "Wicca" as "the witches' name for their Craft" in his book "What Witches Do" (1971). The widespread adoption of "Wicca" in reference to Pagan Witchcraft would have brought benefits to its practitioners, who were widely maligned and faced persecution for their practice of "witchcraft"; an emotive term often associated with Satanism that had negative connotations in the Western imagination. Doyle White argued that the practitioners' presentation of themselves as Wiccans rather than witches removed some of the social stigma that they faced. From 1970 onward, increasing numbers of books teaching readers how to become Pagan Witches were
Wicca and LGBT people conventional practice appears to be exclusively heterosexual. When performed 'in token' this involves the athame (representing the masculine principle) descending into the chalice (representing the feminine). However, there is no evidence to suggest that a gay priest or lesbian priestess could not carry out this ritual for the sake of what it represents. According to Ann-Marie Gallagher, a professor of women's studies and long-time author of many books related to Wicca, "there is a moralistic doctrine or dogma other than the advice offered in the Wiccan Rede... The only 'law' here is love... It matters that we are gay, straight,