Traditional, Transitional, and Neo Wicca

The term Wicca itself properly refers to the collection of "British Traditional" and "America Traditional" forms of the Wiccan religion which can adequately trace their lineage back through the line of initiation, to Gerald Gardner's original Coven. This is traditionally acknowledged to include both the traditional Gardnerian and Alexandrian lineages- or traditions- specifically. However, there is some debate over whether or not additional lineages should be accepted within this denomination (as well as a number of lineages which have hived off over the decades and / or been "disowned" for various reasons- some of which, such as the Protean tradition, may still consider themselves a part of their original parent lineages).

Comparatively, NeoWicca is a secondary denomination of Wicca whose roots begin first with the two part "Court" system that was originally developed by figures such as Ed Fitch (a Gardnerian Initiate) and Joseph "Bearwalker" Wilson (A TradCrafter, and creator of the 1734 Tradition), among others; this system was cross-tradition oriented, and eventually developed into its own tradition that came to be known as "The Pagan Way".

After its introduction to the Americas, increased interest in the original forms of Wicca necessitated a multitude of rapid changes to the faith in order to keep up. This was due largely in part to the fact that Covens, by design, could only have a specific number of initiated members at any given point in time. The small amount of available initial space, long turnover time for proper training and hiving, and the lack of available Covens as a result, eventually led to Fitch, Wilson, and others developing this "Inner vs Outer Court" system to meet this growing demand; this Court System was- and is still- made up of the traditionally initiated Inner Court (or the core, legitimate, Traditional Coven), and a non-initiated Outer Court comprised of Seekers learning about the faith through that Coven.

These Outer Court circles frequently had their own sets of Deities that they worshiped during ritual, in order to protect the oathbound names of the traditional Deities of the Inner Court of Wicca. Additionally, other information was also modified with external mythology in order to protect other oathbound secrets of the Wiccan faith — and various "blinds" were created in order to properly distinguish non-initiated members from initiated ones; there was, of course, a reasonable expectation that these Outer Court Seekers would eventually join the Inner Court Covens they were training with, as properly initiated members- and that this information would be corrected for them upon their proper initiations.

Yet not all Seekers moved into their Covens' Inner Courts. Many went their own way, instead- taking the Outer Court knowledge they learned (which had been fundamentally flawed by necessity) and establishing their own Pseudo-Wiccan traditions. After a while many became unhappy with these changes, and the direction the Wiccan faith was going because of it. The validity of the growing number of these Pseudo-Wiccan traditions was brought into question- creating (among other things) arguments over Wicca's initiatory requirements as a whole; Initiated Wiccans reasonably sought to better articulate and solidify what Wicca was- and was not- based on Gardner’s original vision. And so a schism began forming, leading to (what I personally like to call) "the Codification Era".

On the more “liberal” (vs what is now often considered “fundamentalist”) side of the debate was support for non-initiation and full validity of Pseudo-Wiccan traditions. It was on this side that the religion’s original cofounder herself, Doreen Valiente, vocally sat (despite the fact that she was no longer Wiccan at all by this time). And it is particularly thanks to the contributions of Valiente in publications such as 'Witchcraft for Tomorrow'- further solidified by the support of other prominent figures such as Janet and Stewart Farrar in 'A Witches' Bible: The Complete Witches' Handbook'- that the idea of Self-Initiation into the Wiccan religious and spiritual mysteries, without the aid or need of a Coven, became a valid option for initiates to seek.

Solitary and Eclectic Wiccan practices certainly already existed prior to Valiente and the Farrars. However, they solidified their validity during a questionable point in Wicca's history, and their arguments laid the foundation for what eventually led to the creation of the three major Wiccan denominations that now ultimately exist today- whether they're officially or fundamentally recognized or not:

1. Traditional Wicca (originally described; required to be both lineaged and initiatory)
2. Transitional Wicca (above controversies + history described; often established before and during the "codification era"; can be lineaged and initiatory or not)
3. NeoWicca (non-initiatory and non-lineaged; further divided in another article).