Seax-Wica
Encyclopedia
Neopaganism
Neopaganism is an umbrella term used to identify a wide variety of modern religious movements, particularly those influenced by or claiming to be derived from the various pagan beliefs of pre-modern Europe...
religion of Wicca
Wicca
Wicca , is a modern Pagan religious movement. Developing in England in the first half of the 20th century, Wicca was popularised in the 1950s and early 1960s by a Wiccan High Priest named Gerald Gardner, who at the time called it the "witch cult" and "witchcraft," and its adherents "the Wica."...
which is largely inspired by the iconography of the historical Anglo-Saxon paganism, though, unlike Theodism, it is not a reconstruction of the early mediaeval religion itself.
The tradition was founded in 1973 by Raymond Buckland
Raymond Buckland
Raymond Buckland , whose craft name is Robat, is an English American writer on the subject of Wicca and the occult, and a significant figure in the history of Wicca, of which he is a High Priest in both the Gardnerian and Seax traditions.According to his written works, primarily Witchcraft from the...
, an English-born High Priest of Gardnerian Wicca
Gardnerian Wicca
Gardnerian Wicca, or Gardnerian Witchcraft, is a mystery cult tradition or denomination in the neopagan religion of Wicca, whose members can trace initiatory descent from Gerald Gardner. The tradition is itself named after Gardner , a British civil servant and scholar of magic...
who moved to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the 1970s. His book, The Tree, was written with the intent for it to be a definitive guide to Seax-Wica, and was published in 1974 by Samuel Weiser, though subsequently republished in 2005 as Buckland's Book of Saxon Witchcraft. There are also on-line Books of Shadows
Book of Shadows
A Book of Shadows is a book containing religious texts and instructions for magical rituals found within the Neopagan religion of Wicca. Originating within the Gardnerian tradition of the Craft, the first Book of Shadows was created by the pioneering Wiccan Gerald Gardner sometime in the late 1940s...
for the tradition on assorted websites.
The tradition primarily honours Germanic deities such as Woden
Woden
Woden or Wodan is a major deity of Anglo-Saxon and Continental Germanic polytheism. Together with his Norse counterpart Odin, Woden represents a development of the Proto-Germanic god *Wōdanaz....
and Freya
Freya
In Norse mythology, Freyja is a goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, gold, seiðr, war, and death. Freyja is the owner of the necklace Brísingamen, rides a chariot driven by two cats, owns the boar Hildisvíni, possesses a cloak of falcon feathers, and, by her husband Óðr, is the mother...
, and are seen as representations of the Wiccan deities of the Horned God
Horned God
The Horned God is one of the two primary deities found in some European pagan religions. He is often given various names and epithets, and represents the male part of the religion's duotheistic theological system, the other part being the female Triple Goddess. In common Wiccan belief, he is...
and the Mother Goddess
Mother goddess
Mother goddess is a term used to refer to a goddess who represents motherhood, fertility, creation or embodies the bounty of the Earth. When equated with the Earth or the natural world such goddesses are sometimes referred to as Mother Earth or as the Earth Mother.Many different goddesses have...
, and uses a minimal set of the usual ceremonial tools and a spear. Runes are significant and regularly discussed. To the reconstructionists of the ancestral religion called Asatru, the followers of Seax-Wica are commonly mistaken as Wicca-tru, because of the misconception that followers of Seax-Wica claims historical authenticity. The use of the same term is sometimes used by followers of Seax-Wica as meaning fluffy bunny
Fluffy bunny
Fluffy Bunny, or Fluffbunny, is a pejorative expression used since at least 2001 in Wicca to refer to adherents of the religion who are thought to be superficial or faddish...
.
Openness
Seax-Wica does not employ any secrecy oath. The official books of Seax-Wica do not intend to omit or misrepresent itself, although they may be a bit sparse in terms of detail, leaving such things to individual practitioners or groups.Buckland's Book of Saxon Witchcraft does not mention how a solitary practitioner with no consecrated tools available gets started in Seax-Wica, as consecrated tools are used to cast the Circle, and tools are consecrated within the already cast Circle. Indeed, Buckland's Book of Saxon Witchcraft was written in mind that the reader would already be well versed in the various techniques of Witchcraft and Wiccan ritual, therefore intense study of other sources is imperative if one is looking to enter this tradition. However, Buckland has pointed out that his "Complete Book of Witchcraft" (commonly referred to as 'The Big Blue Book' and 'Big Blue') gives instructions on how to proceed when no tools are available. These instructions are sufficient enough to allow one to begin, self-initiate, and consecrate one's first tools.
There are also several Yahoo Mailing lists and web-based discussion boards for the tradition where one may inquire for more detail and clarifying commentary (see below).
Organisation
Seax-Wica allows self-initiation into its tradition. In the Seax Tradition, Covens work by a form of democracy, electing, un-electing, and re-electing Coven Officers, the Coven High Priest, and Coven High Priestess, and there are traditionally four Officers in Seax-Wica, and the elected High Priest and High Priestess serve for 13 full moons (a year). Within Ritual settings, there are the Thegn, a type of sergeant at arms/guard/watchman, who can also be responsible for the Covenstead (the meeting place of the Coven), or guarding a ceremony being performed, and a Scribe/secretary, who keeps most, if not all of the Coven's records. The word "Thegn", or "Thane" is an Anglo-Saxon title (Anglo-SaxonAnglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon may refer to:* Anglo-Saxons, a group that invaded Britain** Old English, their language** Anglo-Saxon England, their history, one of various ships* White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, an ethnicity* Anglo-Saxon economy, modern macroeconomic term...
: þeg(e)n meaning "an attendant, servant, retainer or official," usually in a military sense similar to the later "knight."
Raymond Buckland is not the head of the Tradition in likeness to other religious bodies, such as the Church is to Christianity, but is respected as its founder, and continues to practice it and contribute to it. He has also written extensively on a number of topics relating to Wicca, Neo-Paganism, and Witchcraft.