As a Feri practitioner, I’ve often received questions from my Wiccan friends about the differences between our traditions.
Some of them are actually unaware that Feri is not a form of Wicca — it’s an entirely different Pagan tradition!
Without a doubt, the two do have much in common, and have even influenced each other over time.
Many Wiccans today are familiar with the Iron Pentacle, for example, an important part of Feri practice.
As someone who has practiced both of these traditions, however, I do have to say that they are fundamentally different.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at some of the major differences between the Feri Tradition and Wicca.
1. Feri is an American form of witchcraft, while Wicca is British.
Pinpointing the origins of any spiritual tradition is a tricky business, and Feri and Wicca are no exception.
If we spoke with the people who are considered the founders of these traditions — the Andersons and Gerald Gardner — they would undoubtedly tell us these traditions originated in different places and times than the ones they lived in.
Victor Anderson, for example, did not see himself as the founder of Feri, and was adamant about the fact that the tradition originated in Africa. Gerald Gardner claimed Wicca was a continuation of a pre-Christian witchcraft tradition (presumably European).
Putting the mythological origins of these traditions aside, however, it is true that Feri was taught by Victor and Cora Anderson on the West Coast of the United States, while Wicca was popularized by Gerald Gardner in England.
Since then, both of these traditions have gone on to spread around the world, and have initiates on many continents.
2. Feri is an ecstatic tradition; Wicca is fertility based.
A significant difference between Feri and Wicca lies in the focus of the traditions.
I have stated that Feri, on the one hand, is an ecstatic tradition of witchcraft, but what exactly does that mean?
The Greek word ekstasis, which the English word ecstasy is derived from, means to stand outside of or transcend oneself.
If we use this definition as a base, ecstasy means going beyond our everyday awareness and entering into altered states of consciousness. In these states, we can experience the mysterious nature of both ourselves and the universe and undergo profound change.
There are many ways of entering in an ecstatic state in Feri, but often, we start with trance. Journeying and pathworking form the bedrock of our practice, and are abilities that every Feri witch must become skilled in.
While Wiccans also have ecstatic experiences and make use of trance, it’s not the primary focus of the tradition. Fertility, rather, lies at the heart of Wicca, and its eight seasonal festivals called Sabbats.
We can see this focus on fertility in the relationship between the Wiccan God and Goddess, especially as told in the myth of the Wheel of the Year.
Honoring and ensuring fertility, both that of the Earth as well as that of the coven, is the overarching focus on many Wiccan rituals.
3. Most Feri witches are solitary practitioners.
While Feri is an oral tradition, which means that it needs to be passed onto you by another person, most of the work that we do is on our own.
This stands in stark contrast to most Wiccan traditions that emphasize meeting and celebrating ritual as a group.
The solitary nature of Feri shouldn’t come as a surprise, however, considering the ecstatic nature of our tradition.
Meditation and trance — which form the backbone of our work — are highly personal experiences, which each person must undertake at their own pace.
In a group, we risk rushing these experiences or cutting them short, which is not ideal.
Overall, Feri has more of an internal focus than Wicca, and this lends itself better to solitary practice.
I also have to say that we Feris are a wild, anarchic bunch with a distaste for the hierarchy and dogma that often come with work in groups!
4. While Wiccans primarily honor a Goddess and God, the supreme deity in Feri is non-binary.
It’s true that most Wiccans do acknowledge something beyond the Goddess and God. This force is sometimes referred to as “The All,” or even “Dryghtyn,” in Gardenerian Wicca.
With this said, Wiccans don’t generally believe this entity is intimately concerned with their lives, or work closely with it in prayer or ritual.
For the most part, Wicca sees the divine through the lens of a masculine God and a feminine Goddess. These two are frequently seen within the parameters of a heterosexual relationship.
The myth of the Wheel of the Year describes this relationship, and the God and Goddess’ union is often symbolized in Wiccan ritual through “The Great Rite.”
In Feri, however, our supreme deity, the Star Goddess, is seen as intersex or non-binary.
Victor Anderson famously referred to her as “the clitorophallic God Herself” and we frequently invoke her as the “androgynous source of all creation.”
While we often use feminine pronouns for the Star Goddess, many Feri practitioners also refer to her as hir (pronounced the same way as the word “here”) or they.
Sometimes, we insert a forward slash between “God” and “dess” to emphasize the Star Goddess’s gender-expansive nature (i.e. the Star God/dess).
I also think it’s worth mentioning that the majority of Feri deities display androgynous traits, and sit at different points on the gender spectrum.
They are all reflections of the Star Goddess after all, and reflect her sex and gender diversity!
5. Feri is more of a bardic tradition than Wicca, and places greater emphasis on the arts.
Without a doubt, both Feri and Wicca can lay claim to great writers, musicians, and artists who have left lasting impacts on their traditions.
We have Wiccan author Doreen Valiente to thank for works like the Charge of the Goddess, for example, which has had an enormous influence on the entire Pagan movement.
Having said this, I do still think that Feri places a greater emphasis on the arts than Wicca. Part of this stems from the fact that many of us who are drawn to Feri are already making art in some way, and see it as an expression of our spirituality.
Creating artwork also constitutes an important part of every Feri witch’s training. In addition to spontaneous works created along the way, many teachers will ask their students to create art projects that reflect what they are learning.
These can take the form of sculptures, paintings, digital collages, poems, or even original musical compositions.
I think this tradition of artwork can be traced back to Victor Anderson, who was himself a poet, and said “Every poem is a love letter to the Goddess.”
Collections like Thorns of the Blood Rose and Lilith’s Garden serve as introductions to Feri Tradition, and have directly influenced our myths and rituals.
Besides creating our own art, in Feri we also emphasize experiencing the works of other artists. In addition to reading Victor’s poetry, we can listen to Gwydion Pendderwyn’s songs, or watch Thorn Coyle dance.
6. We don’t cast circles very often.
While casting a circle before a ritual or magickal working is a common, and even recommended practice in Wicca, in Feri, we rarely do so. There are several reasons for this.
From a historical standpoint, it’s said that Victor Anderson never required that a circle be cast before doing magical work.
Victor’s rituals — and Feri rituals in general — tend to be more simple, informal and spontaneous than Wiccan ones. They are also frequently described as shamanic.
Feri initiate Francesca DeGrandis expounds on this point, saying: “If I am to use magic as did the village witch — as a natural part of my day, throughout my day, while getting my dishes washed — I can’t cast a circle for every bit of magic I do.”
The most important thing to be able to pray or work magick from a Feri standpoint is soul alignment and kala. In Cora Anderson’s words, we do this work on a daily basis in order to keep ourselves “clean and bright and free from complexes within and without.”
Having said this, Feri witches do certainly cast circles from time to time, especially in our work with the gods.
According to Anaar Nino, the Grandmaster of the Feri Tradition, this was the purpose Victor ascribed to the ritual circle — a lens that makes it easier to reach the gods.
7. When we do cast a circle, we invoke seven directions.
In addition to invoking the powers of North, East, South, and West, Feri witches also call on the powers of Above, Below, and Center.
This puts Feri in line with the traditions of indigenous peoples like the Lakota and Cherokee that have honored seven directions for millennia.
In the same way that each of the cardinal directions is associated with an element in Wicca, so too are Above, Below, and Center.
In Feri, these directions are associated with the element of Aether — or Spirit — and just like the other four directions, they each have their respective Watchers.
In formal ritual, we call these on all seven of these directions and ask them to guard our rites.
8. We usually absorb energy instead of grounding it.
At the heart of the Feri Tradition is a strong sense of what my teacher Storm Faerywolf has called “energy ecology.”
This is evident in the way that we deal with the energy that is raised in magick and ritual work.
While most Wiccans would ground this surplus energy, in Feri, we absorb it into our bodies.
We do this by visualizing the energy being soaked up by all of the cells in our body, or flowing into our bones.
This may sound taboo to many witches who believe that not sending excess energy into the earth can lead to feeling jittery, disoriented, or burnt out, but in Feri, we absorb this energy as a way to increase our capacity for magickal power.
Increasing this capacity is actually a prime goal of our work, and something we practice on a daily basis.
In building up the reservoir of energy within our bodies, we become more powerful witches.
9. Likewise, we transform more frequently than we banish.
Another example of Feri energy ecology can be seen in the way we work with unwanted energy.
This especially applies where our own energy is concerned, as we don’t want to give a drop of it away!
Let’s imagine, for example, that I have a bad habit of nail biting.
In my Wiccan days, I probably would have designed a spell to banish this habit, and repeated it every night during the waning moon.
While my spell certainly might have been successful, from a Feri perspective, it would have come at a high cost.
I would have overlooked the fact that there was a powerful energy behind my habit — belonging to me — that had the potential to be transformed and reclaimed.
Now, as a Feri witch, while there are various rites I could use for this purpose, I would probably start with the kala rite. This is a core practice of our Tradition, which can take many forms.
The outline of the ritual is simple, however — all that is needed is a glass of water.
As I hold the glass, I would focus on the bad habit of nail biting, and let my thoughts and feelings about it build up within me. Perhaps shame would bubble up, or even an unpleasant memory of being scolded for biting my nails.
Once I could feel all of this viscerally in my body, I would allow myself to react without judgment. I would then exhale, and focus on sending the habit, as well as all of the thoughts and feelings associated with it, into the cup of water in my hands.
From there, I would visualize my own personal power as a pure white flame that ignites and engulfs my body. I might also call on the Star Goddess to lend me her power, and assist me with the transformation.
Once the charge felt sufficient, I would breathe the white flame into the cup of water, and visualize it completely transforming the negative energy there.
When the transformation was complete, I would drink the water — taking in my transformed energy.
10. We have one initiation instead of three, and it usually comes after many years of study (often five or more).
Yes, you read that right — you could be studying for up to five years or more, and still not be a Feri initiate!
Unlike Wicca, we do not have first, second, or third degrees — Feri initiation is one, and one alone.
I have some ideas about why this is, and why I now prefer this to the three-degree system I initially trained in.
First and foremost, any initiation makes us more of who we already are. It empowers us — all of us, all of our parts, and not just the ones we like.
Many of us come to the Craft “tangled” — that is, with baggage and complexes. We come with things that we need to disentangle so that our life force can flow unimpeded.
In this sense, it’s a benefit to receive initiation after many years training, because we will change — and often drastically — during the journey.
We cannot know exactly how long this process will take, but there are, of course, signs.
According to Grandmaster Anaar, our very physical appearance can change after we have been studying Feri for a time. She says we can even begin to walk differently!
This brings me to something else Anaar once said: “You’re enough. By initiation, you should have understood this.”
Knowing that we are enough is one of the outcomes of Feri study, but it’s true that this knowledge takes a lot of hard work and time.
Instead of letting the length of the training and journey overwhelm us, I’ve found it’s best to simply focus on the work at hand.
In this way, we can let knowledge, wisdom, and initiation emerge as the fruits of our dedication.