Wicca, also known as "The Craft", is a modern pagan, syncretic, earth-centered religion. Considered a new religious movement by scholars of religion, the path evolved from Western esotericism, developed in England during the first half of the 20th century, and was introduced to the public in 1954 by Gerald Gardner, a retired British civil servant. Wicca draws upon ancient pagan and 20th-century hermetic motifs for theological and ritual purposes. Doreen Valiente joined Gardner in the 1950s, further building Wicca's liturgical tradition of beliefs, principles, and practices, disseminated through published books as well as secret written and oral teachings passed along to initiates.
Wiccan jewelry, showing a pentacle necklace, a pentacle ring, and a torc. A pentacle is used by many adherents of Wicca. The pentacle is generally placed on a Wiccan altar to honour the elements and directions.
Altar statues of the Horned God and Mother Goddess crafted by Bel Bucca and owned by the "Mother of Wicca", Doreen Valiente
Sculpture of the Horned God of Wicca found in the Museum of Witchcraft in Boscastle, Cornwall
Athame, ritual knife or dagger used in Wiccan practices
Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, is a type of religion or family of religions influenced by the various historical pre-Christian beliefs of pre-modern peoples in Europe and adjacent areas of North Africa and the Near East. Although they share similarities, contemporary pagan movements are diverse and as a result, they do not share a single set of beliefs, practices, or texts. Scholars of religion often characterise these traditions as new religious movements. Some academics who study the phenomenon treat it as a movement that is divided into different religions while others characterize it as a single religion of which different pagan faiths are denominations.
Heathen altar for Haustblot in Björkö, Sweden. The larger wooden idol represents the god Frey.
A Heathen shrine to the god Freyr, Sweden, 2010
The Parthenon, an ancient pre-Christian temple in Athens dedicated to the goddess Athena. Strmiska believed that modern pagans in part reappropriate the term "pagan" to honor the cultural achievements of Europe's pre-Christian societies.
Samogitian Sanctuary, a reconstruction of a medieval pagan observatory in Šventoji, Lithuania used by the modern Romuvans