Random importaint stuff:
  Children are raised wiccan but it's made essencial that it's optional


History: 
  Gerald Gardner: 
    Publisized wicca in book "Witchcraft Today", 1954
    Created the Garderian tradidion of wikka from 
    Created "Books of Shadows" - not a sacred text, but contains a lot of stuff gerald liked.

  Doreen Valiente ("Mother of Wicca"): 
    Was in Gerald Garder's coven
    Outlined traditional core beliefs, principles, and practices before Gerald publisized it, in 1940's and 1950's





Beleifs:
  Wicca beleives in two gods, Tripple Goddess and Horned god 
  
  Tripple Goddess and Horned god stand for many things, which can be represented by lower level dieties
    > Because of this they are often refered to as the "Great * god[ness]", great refering to containing other dieties 
    > Many interpretations on these gods. Some refer to them as a devine figure, others more an imporsonal force
    > Commonality between traditions is that Wiccan dieties are viewed as forms of ancient, pre-christian divinities
 
  Tripple Goddess:
    Animals, natural world, afterlife, role model for men
    
  Hornded God:
    Life, fertility, described as ideal role model for women
  
  Broader Wiccan beleifs can range from 
    monisim (all from one source), 
    panthesm (reality is the embodyment of god)
    Godness Monothesism (a movement worshiping godnesses due to male dominated religon) 

  Monotheism:
    > Gardner says above the two gods are "Supreme Deity/Prime Mover", entity too complex for humans to understand
      That god created two "Under Gods", but are otherwise not involved in our world 
    > God is pantheistic, or part of the universe
  Polytheisim: 
    > all gods are one god, all godesses are one godess
    > Other stuff I shouldn't get into because this is taking too long

  Pentagram:  earth, air, fire, water, and aether/spirit
    
  After life doesn't play centreal peice in religon
  Reincarnation is common beleif
  
  Many beleive in magic, not all
    Spells often cast in a circle, and create physical changes such as healing, fertality, bandishing negativity
    Early wiccans refered as their magic to white magic, to help seperate themselves from satanisim ("dark" magic)

  People speculate wichcraft was a positive antitype, critising againsed christain fear of women with power/whiches
    > They deny commonly associated negative stereotypes 
  Five elements:
    > Spirit, air, water, earth, fire
    > geolocational

  Wheel of the year, usually 8 sabbats
    > All traditions have these 4:
      * candlemass
      * May Eve
      * Lammas
      * Halloween
    > Rites of passage:
    > "all practitioners are considered to be priests and priestesses"

Practices:
  > Many partake in them without beleif, as the rituals themselves induce a religous experience more then "dry" practices

Values:
  no centerallized dogmatic moral or ethical code, however, they beleive this:
    > Wiccan Rede: "an it harm done, do what ye will"; you can do whatever with responsability.
  Common beleifs:
    > Law of Threefold return: What ever actions one takes, they get it back 3x stronger, or equal on mind body spirit. 
    > 8 virtues: mirth, reverence, honour, humility, strength, beauty, power, and compassion. Comes from Doreen Valientine
    > Traditionally they were heteroexclusive (is that a word?), but sence then they've moved on and people are openly gay/bi
    > Jonne Pearson claimed wicans don't claim their gods have all answers and live rationally, gods help obtain completeness

    


Tradition branches:
  Wicca is devided into branches of diffrent beleifs and orginizational structures, these branches are called traditions
  Some main ones:
    > Gardnerian, Alexandrian and Algard make up British Traditional Wicca, based on Gerald's teachings
    > Traces back through super duper long proxy to Zsuzsanna Budapest, prefer "Witches" more then "wiccan"
  Covens of 13 (about). Require initiation after a year-day.
    Covens have no hiarchy structure
  Eclentric Wiccca's don't follow common traditional beleifs, make their own stuff

Misconceptions/controversy:
  Is it a religon?
    Evangelical Christains tried to make sure it wasn't legally classified as a religon 
    "Wicca has both influenced/been influenced by other Pagan religions, making clear-cut distinctions difficult for religious studies scholars"
    "Dettmer v. Landon" classifieed it as a religon, which was started for ritual objects in prisons
    In 2007 pentagram was allowed for headstones of deceiced in millitary

Paragraph ideas:
  History
  Misconceptions
  Controversy
  Diffrent branches of wiccan
  Values of wiccan
  Beleifs of wiccan
  
.....essay structure.....
Introduction
  Explain the basics of what the Wiccan religion is
Founding history
  Explain begining with Gerald and Doreen, with the initial coven 
Orginizional structure
  Covens, traditions, no hiarchy
  Go into seperate traditions?
Beleifs
  Dual gods
  Interpetations of those gods
  Gods don't have all the answers 
  5 elements, symbolisim
Values
  No dogmatic code
  "An it harm done, do what ye will" (Wiccan Rede)
  8 virtues
  Threefold return
Practices
  4 celibrations of year
  Initiation into covens
Controversy
  Debated weather or not it's a religon
    2007 gravestones
    Prison, Dettmer v. Landon
  People relating it to satanisim
  "coming out of the broom closet"
Conclusioin
  ????