British Traditional Wicca

British Traditional Wicca (abbreviated BTW) is the term used, mainly in the United States of America, to group a set of Wiccan traditions originating in the New Forest region of England. The term British Traditional Wicca is used to define the originator traditions and practices (usually with traceable lineage) apart from other subsequent forms of Wicca. It is rarely used by initiates in the United Kingdom, as there are fewer alternative traditions to distinguish from.

British Traditional Wicca
AbbreviationBTW
TypeWicca
GovernancePriesthood
TraditionsAlexandrian Wicca
Algard Wicca
Blue Star Wicca
Central Valley Wicca
Chthonioi Alexandrian Wicca
Gardnerian Wicca
RegionUnited Kingdom, United States, Australia and few countries
FounderGerald Gardner (De facto)
OriginVarious
Various
MembersLower than 20,000

The most prominent of these traditions are Gardnerian Wicca and Alexandrian Wicca but also other traditions claiming a shared New Forest history. These reach as far abroad as America with traditions such as Central Valley Wicca.

History of the term Wicca

The term "wicca" is well-attested as the Old English word for "[male] witch", the female form being "wicce" both older forms of the Modern English "witch".[1] In modern usage, however, it came into the public lexicon with the works of Gerald Gardner, with the spelling "wica".[2][3]

gollark: Also sometimes weird-abbreviation-case.
gollark: Most (all?) CC APIs use camelCase, but potatOS is programmed in snake case for no good reason.
gollark: For once I agree with <@!565075471012855820>, Hungarian notation is very unpleasant to read.
gollark: Slightly, I think it could confuse some programs, wipe away torches, that sort of thing.
gollark: Hmm, I did not know it could do that.

See also

References
  1. Wiktionary:Witch
  2. Gerald Gardner, Witchcraft Today, ISBN 0-8065-2593-2
  3. Gerald Gardner, The Meaning of Witchcraft, ISBN 1-57863-309-5
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