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
Chthonioi Alexandrian Wicca as equally valid, lineaged, proper Initiations and part of our Tradition." Because of the acceptance of same-sex initiations, some elders of Alexandrian Wicca do not recognize Chthonioi-Alexandrian tradition as "Alexandrian". Chthonioi Alexandrian Wicca Chthonioi Alexandrian Wicca is a Boston-area family of Alexandrian Wicca-derived covens directly downline from Coven Chthonioi. Coven Chthonioi grew out of the Alexandrian practice of its founders in the 1970s, has an unbroken lineage back to Alex Sanders and Maxine Sanders, and has been in continuous operation since 1974. This coven is the originator of the cycle of rituals that has become known as the Book of