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how can you tell if you are a wiccan?

i dont know how to trace back my family tree and find any of my ancestors that might be wiccans is thee anyway to trace back or find out if i'm a wiccan?

Public Comments

1. Wicca was founded in the 1940s by Gerald Gardner. What do you mean ancestors, your parents? Beyond which, it's not hereditary. It's a personal spiritual path.
2. your not to past relatives may have practiced the religion.... do you? because that would determine if you are wiccan or not.
3. Well considering Wicca is only about 60 years old, I seriously doubt your ancestors were Wiccan. And unless you can trace your family tree back 1400 years, then you don't know what they were before Christianity. You just have to make an educated guess.
4. You're wiccan if your practice the religion, not if someone in your family once practiced. If you want to trace back just to find out if someone was wiccan then you need to see if you have a family tree. If not, then start making one. It's can be hard to do but well worth the effort.
5. You're ancestors being Wiccan does not make you Wiccan. You're only Wiccan if you practice Wicca.
6. Wicca is only about 60 years old. It isn't hereditary any more than Christianity is hereditary. It is a choice that one may make. Are you confusing the religion of Wicca with the practice of witchcraft? The practice of witchcraft is much older than Wicca and there are many different forms of it. You could try to find evidence of it in your family but it may be difficult. In the past, not all members of a family were literate so they may not left behind any evidence. And the evidence that you find may just be local superstitions or folklore and not that they actually practiced any magic.
7. I agree with the other posters; your ancestors can't really be Wiccan since Wicca has only been around for 60-ish years. You are Wiccan if you practice it.
8. You're a Wiccan if you hold to the beliefs of Wicca. It's a religion, not an ethnicity, and it's a recent one at that. This is like asking how to tell if you're Christian. Or Buddhist. Or a Scientologist. Religion isn't inherited. Wicca is a 20th century religion, so any Wiccans in your family probably don't go back farther than your grandparents. But even if they are, that doesn't make you Wiccan. Belief and practice makes you Wiccan.
9. Look for a broomstick between your legs. Also, look at old pictures and see if any of your relatives are wearing witches hats and stirring up a brew.
10. Wicca has only been here since circa 1940, so you're ancestors couldn't have been Wiccan. I suppose there is the possibility that you could have had witches (which is very different from wicca) or some other sort of pagan in your family. To research your family, use you family surnames to find things like court records, property records, etc. Good luck!
11. Ancestors are completely unnecessary. If you believe the tennets of Wicca, then try it out, and find out for yourself. Dedicate yourself for one year and one day to learning the Wiccan path... then read. Start with Scott Cunningham's books (Wicca: Guide for the Solitary Practitioner is probably the best out there for beginners) and then branch out. After a year of study, you should understand enough about what Wicca is to make an educated decision. Enjoy yourself for that year, and have fun studying it. I've been Wiccan since 2001, and couldn't hope for a better life choice.
12. There is nothing "hereditary" about Wicca, or paganism, or witchcraft. If you practice Wicca, or another branch of paganism, then you are. If you practice witchcraft, you're a witch. As another answerer mentioned, "Wicca" first appeared in the 1900's. "Charmed" made it appear as though Wicca has been going on since time began, and only those born into it are Wiccan. There is absolutely no truth to that. I am a practicing Norse pagan, and witch. All of my family, as far back as I can go are Lutheran or Methodist.
13. going back in time they would have been refered to as pagan as it was well before christian times however records of this would not be noted unless you had a grimoire from an ancestor, as people believed to be witches or posses any type of power were burned at the stake and skewered in a cross form through their sides they were also drowned. To be wiccan you must respect the three fold law. email me if you want more info. (teacher of wicca and pagan traditions)
14. Wicca is not an ethnicity, it is a modern Neopagan religion. It is a polytheistic nature religion, and a beautiful and sincere spiritual path. Since Wicca started some time between 1930 and 1954, chances are you don't have any Wiccan ancestors. The way you tell if you are Wiccan, is you read some Wiccan books, and if the beliefs of Wicca resonate with you, then you can choose to be Wiccan. Check out _Wicca, a practical guide for the solitary practitioner_, by Scott Cunningham, _Buckland's Complete book of Witchcraft, by Raymond Buckland, _Bonewits Complete Guide to Wicca and Witchcraft_, by Isaac Bonewits, _A Witches' Bible Complete_, by Janet and Stewart Farrar, and _Drawing Down the Moon_, by Margot Adler.
15. You can't be Wiccan by accident or without knowing it. If you don't know whether or not you're Wiccan, you're not Wiccan.