Editing Wicca (section)

===Afterlife===
[[File:Wiccan altar for Beltane in Wales.png|thumb|A Wiccan altar decorated to mark the festival of [[Beltane]] (30 April/1 May)]]
Belief in the afterlife varies among Wiccans and does not occupy a central place.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=146}} As the historian [[Ronald Hutton]] remarked, "the instinctual position of most [Wiccans]&nbsp;... seems to be that if one makes the most of the present life, in all respects, then the next life is more or less certainly going to benefit from the process, and so one may as well concentrate on the present".{{sfn|Hutton|1999|p=393}} It is nevertheless a common belief among Wiccans that human beings have a spirit or soul that survives bodily death.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=146}} Understandings of what this soul constitutes vary among different traditions, with the Feri tradition of witchcraft, for instance, having adopted a belief from the Theosophy-inspired [[Huna (New Age)|Huna movement]], [[Kabbalah]], and other sources, that the human being has three souls.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=146}}

Although not accepted by all Wiccans, a belief in [[reincarnation]] is the dominant afterlife belief within Wicca, having been espoused initially by Gardner.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=146}} Understandings of how the cycle of reincarnation operates differ among practitioners; Wiccan [[Raymond Buckland]], for instance, insisted that human souls would only incarnate into human bodies, whereas other Wiccans believe that a human soul can incarnate into any life form.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=147}} There is also a common Wiccan belief that any Wiccans will come to be reincarnated as future Wiccans, an idea originally expressed by Gardner.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=147}} Gardner also articulated the view that the human soul rested for a period between bodily death and its incarnation, with this resting place commonly being referred to as "[[The Summerland]]" among the Wiccan community.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=146}} This allows many Wiccans to believe that [[Mediumship|mediums]] can contact the spirits of the deceased, a belief adopted from [[Spiritualism (movement)|Spiritualism]].{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=146}}