Editing Wicca (section)

===Ritual practices===
[[File:Athame.JPG|thumb|[[Athame]], ritual knife or dagger used in Wiccan practices]]
{{Main|Magical tools in Wicca}}
Many rituals within Wicca are used when celebrating the [[Wheel of the Year|Sabbat]]s, worshipping the deities, and working magic. Often these take place on a [[full moon]], or in some cases a new moon, which is known as an [[Esbat]]. In typical rites, the coven or solitary assembles inside a ritually cast and purified [[magic circle]]. Casting the circle may involve the [[invocation]] of the "Guardians" of the cardinal points, alongside their respective classical elements; air, fire, water, and earth. Once the circle is cast, a seasonal ritual may be performed, prayers to the God and Goddess are said, and spells are sometimes worked; these may include various forms of 'raising energy', including raising a [[cone of power]] to send healing or other magic to persons outside of the sacred space.{{citation needed|date=April 2019}}

In constructing his ritual system, Gardner drew upon older forms of ceremonial magic, in particular, those found in the writings of Aleister Crowley.{{sfn|Pearson|2007|p=5}}

The classical ritual scheme in [[British Traditional Wicca]] traditions is:{{sfn|Farrar|Farrar|1981}}
# Purification of the sacred space and the participants
# Casting the circle
# Calling of the elemental quarters
# Cone of power
# Drawing down the Gods
# Spellcasting
# Great Rite
# Wine, cakes, chanting, dancing, games
# Farewell to the quarters and participants

These rites often include a special set of [[Magical tools in Wicca|magical tools]]. These usually include a knife called an [[athame]], a [[wand]], a [[pentacle]] and a [[chalice]], but other tools include a broomstick known as a [[Besom broom#In Wicca|besom]], a [[cauldron]], [[candle]]s, [[incense]] and a curved blade known as a [[boline]]. An altar is usually present in the circle, on which ritual tools are placed and representations of the [[God]] and the [[Goddess]] may be displayed.{{sfn|Crowley|1989}} Before entering the circle, some traditions fast for the day, and/or ritually bathe. After a ritual has finished, the God, Goddess, and Guardians are thanked, the directions are dismissed and the circle is closed.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bado-Fralick|first=Nikki|date=1998|title=A Turning on the Wheel of Life: Wiccan Rites of Death|url=https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/handle/2022/2491|journal=Folklore Forum|volume=29|pages=22|via=IUScholarWorks}}</ref>

A central aspect of Wicca (particularly in Gardnerian and Alexandrian Wicca), often sensationalised by the media is the traditional practice of working in the nude, also known as ''[[Skyclad (Neopaganism)|skyclad]]''. Although no longer widely used, this practice seemingly derives from a line in ''[[Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches#Influence on Wicca and Stregheria|Aradia]]'', [[Charles Godfrey Leland|Charles Leland]]'s supposed record of Italian witchcraft.<ref>{{cite book |title=Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches |publisher=David Nutt |first=Charles |last=Leland |author-link=Charles Leland |page=7 |year=1899|title-link=Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches }}</ref> Many Wiccans believe that performing rituals skyclad allows "power" to flow from the body in a manner unimpeded by clothes.{{sfn|Pearson|2002b|p=157}} Some also note that it removes signs of social rank and differentiation and thus encourages unity among the practitioners.{{sfn|Pearson|2002b|p=157}} Some Wiccans seek legitimacy for the practice by stating that various ancient societies performed their rituals while nude.{{sfn|Pearson|2002b|p=157}}

One of Wicca's best known liturgical texts is "The [[Charge of the Goddess]]".{{sfn|Pearson|2005}} The most commonly used version used by Wiccans today is the rescension of [[Doreen Valiente]],{{sfn|Pearson|2005}} who developed it from Gardner's version. Gardner's wording of the original "Charge" added extracts from Aleister Crowley's work, including ''[[The Book of the Law]]'', (especially from Ch 1, spoken by Nuit, the Star Goddess) thus linking modern Wicca irrevocably to the principles of [[Thelema]]. Valiente rewrote Gardner's version in verse, keeping the material derived from ''Aradia'', but removing the material from Crowley.{{sfn|Guiley|1999|p=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofwi00guil/page/52 52]}}