Universal Eclectic Wicca

What it is

Universal Eclectic Wicca is a Wiccan tradition that took shape in the United States. It belongs among the American forms of the craft that appeared after Gardnerian and Alexandrian Wicca were brought to America at the start of the 1960s. The body behind it is the Church of Universal Eclectic Wicca, incorporated and based in Great Falls, Virginia. Members may read Wiccan practice and belief in their own way, as long as a shared set of ethics is kept. The tradition is known for welcoming those who work alone as well as coven groups, and for a teaching coven that ran online.

Where it comes from

The story starts in 1969, with the main coven attached to the Silver Chalice Land Trust, an intentional community in Westchester, New York. Its members came from Dianic and British Traditional Wiccan backgrounds. That mix, and a wish to reform Wicca, led the High Priestess Jayne Tomas to compose a liturgy of her own for what became Silver Chalice Wicca. The Ordains of Silver Chalice is its defining text, written to answer the Old Laws of Gardnerian Wicca and also to depart from them. A companion piece, the Fifteen Creeds, dates from 1969. The trust's land was sold by 1986, and the covens grown from Silver Chalice took the name Universal Eclectic Wicca.

How it is done

Entry follows a course of study rather than a single ceremony. A newcomer usually begins at Pre-First Circle, holding only basic knowledge, and is typically enrolled on an introductory course. First Circle asks for a grasp of the Five Points of Wiccan Belief. Second Circle requires more knowledge and the signing of an oath of practice. At Third Circle a member carries out an independent project setting out a deeper devotion to a chosen Path. Beyond that come ordained clergy. Teaching runs through covens, three of which work online, so students can study at a distance.

Tools and materials

A floral pentagram is the sign most often linked with the tradition. A pentagram is a five-pointed star; here it is drawn with flowers, and the image stands for the tradition as a whole. On paper, the movement is held together by a small set of documents: the Ordains of Silver Chalice and the Fifteen Creeds from the founding years, and the Affirmation of Acknowledgement, which members assent to and which concerns their conduct toward people of other faiths.

What it is for

The tradition came out of a call for reform inside Wicca. The Fifteen Creeds lean toward a modern, democratic reading of the craft: they set store by honesty in research, thought and conduct, by equal standing for the sexes and for all races, by people making their own choices, and by involvement in the life of the wider community. The name carries the same intent. 'Universal' is used because, as the tradition puts it, anyone may use Wicca and anything may be used within it; 'eclectic' marks a practice fed by countless sources rather than one or two. The Affirmation of Acknowledgement turns that ethic outward, toward neighbours of other religions.

Who does it

A High Priestess shaped the early liturgy; Jayne Tomas is named as founder. The Church is now run by a Triad, a body of three that alone decides whether individuals and groups are admitted or refused. Each Triad member chooses and trains a successor. A Council of Elders advises the Triad, and any Third Circle member may put themselves forward for it; the Council picks one of its number each year as Chief Elder. Ordained clergy are ratified by the Association of Universal Eclectic Wicca Clergy. Membership spans solitary practitioners, coven members and clergy.

Peoples and places

The home base is the United States, where the Church is incorporated in Great Falls, Virginia, and where the founding community sat in Westchester, New York. The region served is international. The first Australian coven, Oak and Mistletoe, appears in 2008, the year it left to start the Inclusive Wicca tradition. Members are drawn from more than one Wiccan stream: the early coven combined Dianic and British Traditional backgrounds. Outreach is deliberate, with online covens teaching students who live far from any physical group.

What people believe

There is room for differing views of Wiccan practice, provided a shared ethical core is kept. Five points sum that core up: the Law of Return and the Wiccan Rede, together with ethics of Attunement, of Constant Improvement and of Self-Responsibility. Members also assent to the Affirmation of Acknowledgement. It asks them to recognise other faiths nearby, to accept that their followers hold them as firmly, to forgive past wrongs between religions, to judge no faith by the acts of a single person, to leave conversion alone, and to admit the possibility of being mistaken.

Compare and confuse

Universal Eclectic Wicca belongs with the American Wiccan traditions that followed Gardnerian and Alexandrian Wicca. Two offshoots are named. Progressive Eclectic Wicca formed in 2004, after a reorganisation of the online teaching coven did away with its clan structure and the clan Athames's Edge set itself up independently. Inclusive Wicca began in 2008, when the first Australian UEW coven, Oak and Mistletoe, broke away. Eclectic Wicca is the broader label; Universal Eclectic Wicca is one body within it.

Today

Three online teaching covens carry the tradition. The Coven of the Far Flung Net was chartered in 1997 and started work in January 1998; the tradition holds it to be the first teaching coven of its kind on the internet. The Coven of Non-Fluffy Wicca, from 2006, suits students who already know something of Wicca. Vircle serves Third Circle Studies. The splits of 2004 and 2008 show how the online structure has been reworked over time, and the Church describes its reach as international, with lineaged and non-lineaged septs.

Questions people ask about Universal Eclectic Wicca

Good reading and sources

• Universal Eclectic Wicca on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data