**TomH wrote:
Freyr,
For the benefit of the ignorant:
- Can you give a succinct explanation of what Wicca is and what Wiccans believe? Is there an equivalent of the Christain Creeds which sets out the core beliefs succinctly?**
There’s a joke within the Wiccan community, ask 13 Wiccans for their opinion on a subject and you’ll get 14 different responses. 
I’ll try to be succinct as possible about this. If any of the other Wiccans want to add or comment on my statements here, go ahead.
A) A belief in polytheism or at least, duotheism. We believe in a God and a Goddess. Some even go as far to say that all Gods are one God and all Goddesses are one Goddess.
B) The basic moral guideline is the Rede; “And it harm none, do what you will” Many Wiccans have gone over this one, trying to clarify it. Most arguments hinge on the meaning of the word none. Does none mean all living things? Just humans? Higher animals? Each Coven usually hashes this out for themselves.
C) A belief in magic and its ability to affect change both within one’s self and the world around us. Defining magic is the hard part. Some go with simple “Magic is change in accordance to Will” I this is most often attributed to Crowely. Bonewits give a more elaborate definition in his book, Real Magic.
D) Connected-ness with the world around us. Many Wiccans feel that on both a physical and meta-physical level, we are intimately connected to the earth. This is contrasted with the verse from the (KJV)Bible Gensis 1:28; And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Wiccans believe we don’t have dominion over the earth but are on an equal level with all other living creatures, and our sentience gives us the responsibility to watch and care for them and the planet.
There are more, but I feel these are the major points.
2. Since you raise it in the OP, where did Wicca come from?
Wicca is the creation of Gerald B. Gardener in the mid 40s and 50s of the 20th century. He rode the groundswell of interest in Paganism in England from the 19th century and created a new faith based upon the works of Margaret Murray and his own membership with the Golden Dawn. Murray’s thesis about the existence of an underground witchcult surviving from the mideval period has been proven false. Most Wiccans think of themselves as the spiritual inheritors of antique Paganism. For a more detailed history, try reading Margot Adler’s Drawing Down the Moon (Beacon Press, 1986). For a really detailed history of British Wicca, try Ronald Hutton’s Triumph of the Moon (Oxford Press, 1998).
3. What made you convert from Christianity to Wicca? The main point was Christianity’s viewpoint on homosexuality. That made me leave Christianity. I later found Wicca and discovered it met my spiritual needs and accepted who I was with no reservations. In the time between leaving Christianity and coming into Wicca, I found several theological points about Christianity that I found dissatisfying; its monotheism, its idea of sin and redemption; those are the two major points of contention I have.