British Traditional Wicca - History of The Term

History of The Term

The term "wicca" is well-attested as the Old English word for " witch", the female form being "wicce" both older forms of the Modern English "witch". In modern usage, however, it came into the public lexicon with the works of Gerald Gardner, with the spelling "wica". That the term (in either spelling) was used solely for a particular group of witches was generally accepted both by Gardner's initiates and unrelated witches who did not use the word to describe themselves, and in some cases would speak scornfully of the "Wiccans".

Initially, "the Wica" was used as the term for the group in question. Members of the group were described as "of the Wica", and their religion was merely labelled "The Old Religion". The usage changed to the current trend of referring the religion and priesthood as "Wicca" and its practitioners as "Wiccan" (used both as a noun and an adjective).

Due to the impact of Gardner, Alex Sanders, and their initiatory descendants, upon Pagan witchcraft, and possibly due to the term being originally relatively unknown and hence not sharing nuances and preconceptions that "witch" and "witchcraft" have, the term "Wicca" became the term used for almost all Neopagan witchcraft.

This led to three groups using the term in different ways:

1. The New Forest-descended covens were using the term "Wicca" solely to describe themselves.
2. Neopagan Witches were using the term "Wicca" to describe all or nearly all Pagan witches, certainly including themselves as well as the New Forest-descended covens, and often including those witches that disassociated themselves from the term. In many cases arguing that "Wiccan" and "Witch" were synonymous.
3. Some who would label themselves "witches" (some of these also labelling themselves "Pagan", some not) would be aware of the term "Wicca" but, however they understood it, not consider themselves Wiccan.

This difference in definition led to some hostility between the first and second groups. The New Forest-derived covens saw the Neopagan Witches as claiming a name that did not belong to them, but only to "family". The Neopagan Witches saw the New Forest-derived covens' claim to the term as elitist and disparaging of their own paths. As historical hostility between Gardnerians and Alexandrians waned, the differences between them and others using the term "Wicca" became all the more apparent.

The term "British Traditional Witchcraft" was suggested, mainly in the United States, as an uncontroversial label for the New Forest-descended covens, but that term is used in Britain to refer to those traditions, such as Cochrane's, that claim a heritage predating Gardner's publications, but not related to Gardner's groups or recent predecessors of it.

Hence the term "British Traditional Wicca" became the term used to uncontroversially label the New Forest traditions, though they will generally use "Wicca" amongst themselves to refer only to British Traditional Wicca.