Editing Gardnerian Wicca (section)

==Beliefs and practices==

===Covens and initiatory lines===
Gardnerian Wiccans organize into [[coven]]s that traditionally, although not always, are limited to thirteen members.<ref name="TMoW">{{cite book |last1=Gardner |first1=Gerald |title=The Meaning of Witchcraft |date=2004 |publisher=Red Wheel/Weiser |location=York Beach, ME |isbn=1-57863-309-5}}</ref>{{rp|10}} Covens are led by a High Priestess and the High Priest of her choice, and celebrate both a Goddess and a God.<ref name="TMoW" />{{rp|11}}

Gardnerian Wicca and other forms of [[British Traditional Wicca]] operate as an initiatory [[mystery cult]]; membership is gained only through [[initiation]] by a Wiccan High Priestess or High Priest. Any valid line of initiatory descent can be traced all the way back to [[Gerald Gardner]], and through him back to the [[New Forest coven]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

Rituals and coven practices are kept secret from non-initiates, and many Wiccans maintain secrecy regarding their membership in the religion. Whether any individual Wiccan chooses secrecy or openness often depends on their location, career, and life circumstances. In all cases, Gardnerian Wicca absolutely forbids any member to share the name, personal information, fact of membership, and so on without advanced individual consent of that member for that specific instance of sharing.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

In Gardnerian Wicca, there are three grades of initiation. [[Ronald Hutton]] suggests that "the outlines of the first two [initiation] rituals are very clearly [[Freemasonry|Masonic]]."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hutton |first1=Ronald |title=The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft |date=2019 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-882736-8 |page=237 |edition=New}}</ref>

===Theology===
In Gardnerian Wicca, the two principal deities are the [[Horned God]] and the [[Mother Goddess]]. Gardnerians use specific names for the God and the Goddess in their rituals. [[Doreen Valiente]], a Gardnerian High Priestess, revealed that there were more than one.<ref name=Valiente89/>{{rp|52–53}}

===Ethics and morality===
{{More citations needed section|date=December 2008|talk=y}}

The Gardnerian tradition teaches a core ethical guideline, often referred to as "The Rede" or "The [[Wiccan Rede]]". In the archaic language often retained in some Gardnerian lore, the Rede states: "An it harm none, do as thou wilt."<ref name="Losch52">{{cite book |last1=Losch |first1=Richard R. |title=The Many Faces of Faith: A Guide to World Religions and Christian Traditions |date=2002 |publisher=William B. Eerdmans |location=Grand Rapids, Michigan |isbn=0802805213 |page=52 }}</ref>

{{Blockquote|Witches [...] are inclined to the morality of the legendary Good King Pausol, "Do what you like so long as you harm no one". But they believe a certain law to be important, "You must not use magic for anything which will cause harm to anyone, and if, to prevent a greater wrong being done, you must discommode someone, you must do it only in a way which will abate the harm."<ref name="TMoW" />{{rp|108}}}}

A second ethical guideline is often called the Law of Return, sometimes the [[Rule of Three (Wicca)|Rule of Three]]. Like the Rede, this guideline teaches Gardnerians that whatever energy or intention one puts out into the world, whether magical or not, will return to that person "multiplied by three".{{citation needed|date=September 2023}} This law is controversial, as discussed by John Coughlin, author of ''The Pagan Resource Guide'', in an essay, "The Three-Fold Law".<ref>John J. Coughlin, [http://www.waningmoon.com/ethics/3fl-1.shtml The Three-Fold Law] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150201234132/http://www.waningmoon.com/ethics/3fl-1.shtml |date=1 February 2015 }}, on his website ''[http://www.waningmoon.com/ethics/index.shtml The Evolution of Wiccan Ethics] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190301013357/http://www.waningmoon.com/ethics/index.shtml |date=1 March 2019 }}''. Also published in ''Ethics and the Craft – The History, Evolution, and Practice of Wiccan Ethics'' (Waning Moon, 2015).</ref>

The religion tends to be non-dogmatic, allowing each initiate to find for themselves what the ritual experience means by using the basic language of the shared ritual tradition, to be discovered through the Mysteries.<ref>Akasha and Eran (1996). "Gardnerian Wicca: An Introduction" http://bichaunt.org/Gardnerian.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100617040549/http://bichaunt.org/Gardnerian.html |date=17 June 2010 }}</ref> The tradition is often characterized as an [[orthopraxy]] (correct practice) rather than an [[orthodoxy]] (correct thinking), with adherents placing greater emphasis on a shared body of practices as opposed to faith.<ref>Fritz Muntean (2006) "A Witch in the Halls of Wisdom" interview conducted by Sylvana Silverwitch http://www.widdershins.org/vol1iss3/l03.htm {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100713004353/http://www.widdershins.org/vol1iss3/l03.htm |date=13 July 2010 }}</ref>