This essay was originally written for my Intellectual Heritage 52 class and was submitted as my final essay. I have since made a number of additions and changes to it. As a relatively recent religious construct, Wicca has had the opportunity to develop under the influence of modern Western thought. Much of its philosophy has roots in more contemporary ideas despite its conscious effort to look to ancient Paganisms for spiritual inspiration. One of the various philosophies whose concepts have pervaded Wiccan religion is that of the Romantic Rebellion, an ideological movement that sought to counter Enlightenment ideals. Historian Ronald Hutton in his extensive inquiry into Wicca's history even states that:
[F]ar from being an unusually exotic and bizarre response to specific problems of the late twentieth century, it represented a distillation of certain notions and needs which had been developing in Western Europe, and in England in particular, since the eighteenth. If it is the child of any single phenomenon, then it is the belated offspring of the Romantic Movement. 1Particular similarities can be found between Wicca and the Romantic Rebellion in regards to their ideas concerning nature and divinity.
One of the main ideas proposed by many Romantic philosophers is that the Divine can be found within nature and thus can be experienced by humanity since humans are acknowledged as within Nature's sphere, not separate from it. In his poem "Flowers," Henry Wadsworth Longfellow acknowledges Divinity within all of these things:
And the Poet, faithful and far-seeing,He observes the same presence in the symbolic elements of both Heaven: stars, and Earth: flowers, in addition to residing within a human being. The Transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson takes this point further in his essay entitled "Nature" where he describes the sensation of coming into contact with both nature and Divinity:
Sees, alike in stars and flowers, a part
Of the self-same, universal being,
which is throbbing in his brain and heart.2
Standing on the bare ground, - my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, - all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eyeball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am a part and particle of God.3Perhaps speaking of a common view of nature as spiritually dead, Walt Whitman encourages those who are having difficulty discovering the Divine he perceives there:
The earth is rude, silent, incomprehensible at first,A primary belief within Neo-Pagan Witchcraft as with Romanticism is that Divinity is immanent both within Nature as a whole and within humans in particular. The Goddess and God are not separate from nature, and depending upon the individual Witch's perspective, may reveal Themselves through it (i.e. panentheism), or the material, tangible world may even be considered as the physical body of Divinity (i.e. pantheism). Doreen Valiente, a Wiccan priestess who had a significant hand in developing what is now recognized as modern Wicca, identifies the Wiccan constellations of Divinity, the Goddess and God, as being intimately tied with Nature:
Nature is rude, silent, incomprehensible at first,
Be not discouraged, keep on, there are divine things well envelop'd,
I swear to you there are divine things more beautiful than words can tell.4
For two are the mystical pillars,In concert with this idea, the universe is viewed as being an expression of the Divine and is therefore not inherently evil or sinful. Accompanying this central idea in Wiccan thought may also be panpsychism and possibly animism. An immanent view of Divinity allows for the possibility of individual encounters with it, much like those suggested by Longfellow and Emerson. In fact, such personal encounters of the Divine coursing through all Nature and through the individual have been an integral part of Wicca since it's early stages. Gerald Gardner, generally considered the founder of Wicca, describes that experience which in this case has been facilitated by rituals of invocation:
That stand at the gate of the shrine,
And two are the forces of nature,
The forms and forces divine.The dark and the light in succession,
The opposites each unto each,
Shown forth as a God and a Goddess:
Of this did our ancestors teach.5
By acting the part of the [G]oddess the priestess is thought to be in communion with [H]er; so the priest, acting as the [G]od, becomes at one with [H]im in [H]is aspect of Death, the Consoler, the Comforter, the bringer of happy after-life and regeneration. The initiate in undergoing the [G]od's experiences becomes a [W]itch.
Witches quite realize that this communion does not occur every time one assumes the [G]oddess position but they very soon realize that by doing so they begin to receive thrills which are apt to grow more and more intense when trance comes in. They KNOW! It is no use saying: "This is only suggestion, or the subconscious mind." They reply: "We quite agree; suggestion or the subconscious mind are simply some of the tools which we use to help open the Door." [. . .]
It is the old case of: "Unless you have experienced it yourself you will never believe. When you have experienced it, you don't believe, you KNOW."6
The prominent French philosopher Rousseau is well-known for his thoughts concerning what he describes as the "noble savage." He believes that more primitive cultures are preferable to their civilized counterparts, for society has corrupted mankind. Other Romantic philosophers echo this thought in their works. Henry David Thoreau in his book Walden speaks of the virtues of a simpler life:
Most of the luxuries, and many of the so-called comforts of life, are not only indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind. With respect to luxuries and comforts, the wisest have ever lived in a more simple and meagre life then the poor. The ancient philosophers, Chinese, Hindoo, Persian, and Greek, were a class than which none has been poorer in outward riches, none so rich in inward. 7The poet William Wordsworth in turn laments the unappreciative attitude modern man has towards nature and responds to it personally by yearning for a perspective he attributes to the Pagan past:
- Great God! I'd rather beWicca, as a whole, tends to adhere to this same conception of idealizing people who are less technologically advanced. Its high regard for those groups who are in more direct contact with nature may help to explain the popular myth of Wicca's origins. Within a wide range of Wiccan publications, a story is woven of how Witchcraft is a pre-Christian Pagan religious survival that has continuous roots possibly stretching back into Paleo- or Neolithic times. For instance, Wicca has been described as "quite specifically, an ancient Celtic magic-religion. [. . .] Witchcraft has existed in the form still practiced today for approximately 6,000 years." 9. Wicca is depicted as the universal belief system of Western Europe which was centered around the worship of a Great Mother Goddess and Her consort, the Horned God. Various stone age sculptures of voluptuous women (e.g. the so-called Venus of Willendorf) and certain cave paintings of men depicted with antlers are cited as evidence of this theory. With the advent of Christianity, Wicca was forced to go underground to preserve itself. Certain families passed down the lore and practices of Wicca, keeping these teachings a secret for fear of discovery. However, within the past few decades and the repeal of the Anti-Witchcraft laws in England, these hereditary Witches began to be more open about their religion.
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.8
This entire theory of Witchcraft as a Pagan religious survival has been largely based upon the writings of Margaret Murray (particularly The Witch-Cult in Western Europe) and has recently come under intense scrutiny:
Murray's theories held sway for quite some time. In the last twenty years, however, they have come under increasing attack. The arguments against her are many: that she took as true stories that may have been fabricated under torture; that, while she gave good evidence for Pagan survivals in Britain, she did not give evidence that an organized Pagan religion existed, or that this religion is universal, or that convens or sabbats existed before they appeared in Inquisitors' reports.10Why, in light of all the recent research and evidence gathered in opposition of this theory, has this myth still persisted to be proposed as literal history? A reason for the oftentimes willful ignorance that causes this myth to remain asserted as history may lie with the fact that Wiccans are so fond of the idea of a connection with the primitive people of the past and present. Witches will even draw parallels between the religion of Witchcraft, commonly identified as a resurgance of ancient European Paganism, and those of polytheistic, shamanistic, native, and/or tribal religions:
Like Native Americans, Taoists, Australian Aborigines, the Yoruban tribes in Africa, Eskimos, Hawaiians, Lapps, and other indigenous peoples, the people of old Europe and the Fertile Crescent lived close to the earth abd respected their relationship with nature as sacred, for they experienced their world as the embodiment of the divine.11In its desire to identify with a more instinctual, primal humanity it has, in many cases, continued to relate a tale of its beginnings which has been increasingly shown to be inaccurate. There is a great deal of idealizing of Pagan and tribal cultures within Wicca; the Celts, Egyptians, Norse, Greeks, Romans, and Native Americans are all subject to be viewed in a rather rose-colored light and their mythologies and customs are respected (though not always in a historically accurate fashion). Since these cultures lacked our level of technology, they are thought to have a closer connection with Nature, and some Wiccans may believe that this may lend their practices some additional effectiveness.
;Since Wicca's historical roots quite potentially lie with the ideas expressed by Romantic philosophers, it is no wonder that they share significant commonalities. Wicca and the philosophy of the Romantic Rebellion share some common points concerning both Divinity and nature as well as having a similar tendency to "romanticize" ancient cultures and look to them for inspiration.
2)Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. "Flowers." The Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Hertfordshire, England: Wordsworth Editions Ltd., 1994. 6.
3)Emerson, Ralph Waldo. ÒNature.Ó The Works of Emerson. Roselyn, NY: BlackÕs Readers Service. 529.
4) Whitman, Walt. "Song of the Open Road." Selections from Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman. New York: Avenel Books, 1961. 68.
5) Valiente, Doreen. "The Witches' Creed." Witchcraft for Tomorrow. Custer, WA: Phonenix Publishing, Inc., 1978. 173.
6) Gardner, Gerald B. Witchcraft Today. Lake Toxaway, NC: Mercury Publishing. 145.
7) Thoreau, Henry David. Walden. New York: Penguin Books, 1999. 10.
8) Wordsworth, William. "The World is Too Much With Us; Late and Soon." Temple University Intellectual Heritage 52. 2nd edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Custom Publishing, 2003. 188 - 89.
9) Weinstein, Marion. Positive Magic: Occult Self-Help. New York: Earth Magic Productions, 1994. 67.
10) Adler, Margot. Drawing Down the Moon. New York: Penguin Group,1986. 48.
11) Curott, Phyllis. Preface. Book of Shadows: A Modern Woman's Journey into the Wisdom of Witchcraft and the Magic of the Goddess. New York: Broadway Books, 1998. xiii.
All contents (unless otherwise noted) are copyright Desirée Isphording 2004, 2005 and may not be copied, modified, or distributed without prior express permission.