Beliefs and Practices

Traditional Gardnerians, on average, practice and follow the agricultural Wheel of the Year.  This practice of performing and observing rituals in this way is referred to as "Turning the Wheel," it is an important part of our work as members of the Craft. The agricultural year starts at Imbolc, February 1st, with the preparedness for Spring and new growth, and ends at Samhain with the final harvest. The eight sabbats consist of the Greater Sabbats (Imbolc, Beltane, Lammas, and Samhain) and the Lesser Sabbats (Spring Equinox, Summer Solstice, Autumn Equinox, and Winter Solstice). The Spring, Summer, and Fall months follow the life cycle, and the Winter months (where the Winter Solstice falls) are considered the Dark Time of the Year. The agricultural Wheel of the Year has much depth and includes knowledge of and is influenced by the astrological zodiac.

Traditional Gardnerians believe in the cycle of life, death, and rebirth and, therefore, hold the sacredness of fertility and reincarnation as paramount.  We believe that through reincarnation the Wica are reborn and will come to know and love each other again lifetime after lifetime. The soul is regarded as being immortal, and our primary purpose for reincarnating is the refinement of the soul and/or to assist other souls along their journeys. We believe that the joys and suffering of human existence is about learning and the soul's progression.  We also believe that while incarnate on this plane of existence, we are bound to each other, the laws of nature and the physical world, and thus our magick and interaction with the universe recognizes the truth of these immutable laws. 

Traditional Gardnerian practice is worked female to male and male to female. By this, we mean, specifically, cross-sex practice. Some accommodations may be made coven to coven for specific circumstances; however, by and large, this is the practice of Traditional Gardnerian Wica. There are many reasons for this, some of which cannot be disclosed to non-initiates. Traditional Gardnerian Wica is a fertility religion. We strongly believe that the tradition was handed down with this practice for a reason (magickal, not mundane) and feel that as a seeker, you are responsible for adhering to the tenets of the Craft as you receive them, not the other way around. Another way of saying this is that the seeker mindset upon entering the Craft should be one of learning and adopting the tradition. Traditional Gardnerian Craft is not for everyone; it is about fit. We encourage seekers to question if this path fits their spiritual needs first and foremost and does not clash with their mundane ideals.

The role of a Priest or Priestess of Gardnerian Craft, particularly High Priests and High Priestesses, is rooted in service.  This includes service to the Gods, service to seekers/initiates, and service to our communities (both the Craft community and the mundane communities we participate in throughout our lives). This is a core part of being a Traditional Gardnerian, and it can be stated that if you aren't heeding this call, you aren't practicing Gardnerian Craft.

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It is not uncommon, even as seekers, to find that you are called to service of some kind by the Gods.  Family members and friends may start looking to you more for support or guidance. You may find that other students in the Craft need your assistance and unique skills or that you are called on to lead or guide others in other contexts, such as during mundane activities like work or school.  You will also find that, once on the path, devotion to personal spiritual development and refinement is a requirement. The longer you participate in the Craft, the more you are called to do in service of others.  

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When you seek training and initiation, the Gods take notice. All seekers and initiates should be aware of this and be prepared to take on the role of a Priest or Priestess.  There is no laity in the Craft.

In our view, the world is alive, and populated by spirits and gods, therefore respect and connection to the land are of great importance. The witch seeks to work in harmony with the spirits of the land, creates relationships with them, and respects the world we live in.  The oppositional worldview, one that is preeminent in today's culture, is commodification: the subjugation or denial of nature and the use of it only to one's own ends. 

What is bought and sold is what is popular in the culture, which changes.  Our values and views are seated in the cycles and seasons of nature, of the stars and the planets, so our practices and interests are not swayed by the marketplace, popular opinion, or polls.  Our practices are rooted in immutable truths, and our rituals reflect those truths. This is why we seek to preserve them against change.

Most Traditional Gardnerians practice all forms of ritual skyclad. There are two reasons for this: practical and magical. Robes can be a hazard for safety reasons to do with lit candles and other implements and working tools. It can also be easy to overheat in a robe, especially when practicing magick. It is far more practical and freeing to work skyclad. Magickally, we feel the energy flows better between individuals without barriers like clothing. Additionally, trance induction and the magickal mindset are better achieved through shedding mundanity, and skyclad helps achieve this.

Traditional Gardnerian practice is typically lineaged and passed down from High Priestess to High Priestess. Traditional Gardnerian Wica is matrilineal - while Gardner aided this religion to grow, it is suggested he was initiated and handed down fragmentary materials by a priestess of the New Forest Coven, and he recognized the High Priestess as the coven leader. That is not to say, however, that a High Priest cannot run a group or train you in the Craft without a High Priestess - but certain coven functions require a HPS and cannot be conducted otherwise. Typically, our tradition's strongest and longest-lasting covens have a High Priestess and High Priest working in tandem to carry on the Craft. High Priests and High Priestesses are both critical to the function of the coven, although their roles are expressed differently. All that being said, we do want to recognize that the respect of the HPS, her responsibility in continuing the tradition, and her involvement in casting the circle are typically of great importance to practice.

Despite the efforts, primarily of non-initiates, to discredit Gerald B. Gardner's work and his contribution to the pagan community, the Traditional Gardnerian Wica understand that Gardner was recognized by and was initiated into a witch cult with ancient roots.  Multiple sources support Gardner's discovery and acceptance into this group, and indeed, for those of us initiated into Gardnerian Craft and having access to materials not available to the general public, we can trace much of his work back to ancient practices as they moved through cultures and time. While Gardner did not receive the totality of Gardnerian Craft from his initiators, which we acknowledge, he gave structure and consistency to what he did inherit to preserve and contain the mysteries revealed to him.  Because we know that Gardner contained these mysteries within the rituals and laws in the Book of Shadows, as stewards of this tradition, we encourage all initiates to regard his work carefully and with discernment.

Traditional Gardnerians don't charge for the Craft. We live in a culture that strives to commodify absolutely everything, but some things are beyond money. We do not charge for training; we are only interested in individuals willing to commit their time, energy, and love to the religion, not as a commodity in the market.  This practice differentiates us from other witchcraft practitioners and the culture as a whole. Ours is not a materialistic worldview but a religious and spiritual one.

Some claim the concept of the Burning Times is a fabrication of Gardner's, which has its roots, again, in the disbelief of Gardner's words about finding and joining a witch cult.  We know the Burning Times, historically known as the Inquisition and the Witch Trials, are real.  Beyond the well-documented historical fact, there is the belief that some of the ire directed at witches at these times was due to the use of witchcraft for ill means and gains.  It makes sense. For who among us tolerates an unfair advantage over others in life?

We know that witches were persecuted on the continent and in the British Isles, both burned and hanged for many reasons; stresses were often manifest through the persecution of witches and non-witches in individual countries and cultures in England and Europe. The reason for persecution was often cited as malifica and/or fraud.

For this reason, the Wica do not encourage or typically participate in cursing, hexing, or selling of the Craft. Some of the roots of the threefold law, as it is commonly known, also come from this understanding of the ramifications of using baneful magick or selling the Craft. As the Wica, we are mindful of this past and are ever aware of the possibility of it recurring, as was Gardner.

There is no central authority in Wica, nor should there be. Each coven is autonomous and will practice as has been handed down to them. We respect and believe in coven autonomy and support coven autonomy across all Gardnerian groups, Traditional or otherwise. 

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Coven autonomy, though, only stretches as far as the coven itself. Groups utilizing the title of "Gardnerian" represent the tradition and are thus subject to community scrutiny if they veer wildly from the source and foundations of the tradition. There are two divergent groups under the label Gardnerian - Traditional and Inclusive.  The movement away from traditional practices has resulted in this distinction.

As Traditional Gardnerians, it is our responsibility to be stewards of the Craft of the Wise.  While other paths may look towards modernity, following cultural trends, or moving with the popularism of the age, Traditional Gardnerian Wica is tasked with preserving the knowledge we have received from our forebearers and keeping to the Old Ways. We are mindful that what is considered old today will, in another breath, be considered at the fore again in the not-too-distant future.  The sustainability and the survival of the Old Ways are enduring because it is ultimately rooted in truth, nature, and the human experience.  We listen to our Elders, who have seen popularism come and go and have dedicated their lives to the preservation and practice of the Craft. We will continue their work by preserving the Craft for future generations.