Christian Wicca Overview (Jesus Christ, ritual, Creator, virgin, beliefs)

[Fluffy]

Introduction
Essentially, Christian Wicca is the religion of anybody who takes the majority of their beliefs from both Christianity and Wicca. It is most commonly called "Christian Wicca" but there are variations since most people come to it totally independent of each other or any established Christian Wiccan writings.

A key saying of Christian Wicca combines arguably the most important ethical point in the Bible, the sermon on the mount, with the most important ethical point in Wicca, the Wiccan Rede, to give "Love all and harm none".

History
The religion probably originated because of the diversity of the Wiccan pantheon in which many Wiccan groups and individuals were encouraged to tailor their god and goddess to suit a specific ritual or their own personality. This is based on the Wiccan belief that all their dieties are merely expressions of a higher, incomprehensible being sometimes referred to as the Creator or the Source.

Many Wiccans, from living in Christian societies and due to complementary nature of the ethical systems of each religion, began to identify more and more with Jesus Christ, and less commonly the Christian god, to the extent that Jesus had become the most prominent deity to them. The Virgin Mary was also becoming an increasingly common association with the goddess.

At first, the makeup of the religion was almost entirely ex-Wiccan due to the nature in which conversions happened. However, nowadays, there are probably an equal number of Christian converts as Wiccan, especially in places where Christianity is more liberal such as Western Europe.

The response of other religions to Christian Wicca has been mixed. Conservative Christians have seen it as a potential disaster, claiming that it will detract Christians into heretical lifestyles though liberal Christians have generally been much more accepting. The same is true of Wicca, with many conservatives feeling that this could destroy their religious identify whilst liberals argue that this is just one more path that is right for those who choose to walk it.

Resources
Embracing Jesus and the Goddess - Carl McColman best read alongside The Chalice and the Blade - Riane Eisler


Here are some of the most prominent online resources:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/witchcr5.htm (Objective overview along with some common problems faced by the Christian Wiccan)
http://www.christianwicca.org/
http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/christianwitches/ (Many articles detailing both sides of the debate as well as plenty of more practical aspects)