What are the differences between these...?

Question

Wiccan ...or is it Wicca?

Pagan

Being a 'witch'

Spell crafting

I know people who says they are pagan... also refer to themselves as witches and practice spell casting or witchcraft (??) ....not all nice either ....I'm very confused but trying to understand.

Can anyone explain the differences and can you be more than one thing? I'm lost....

Answer 1

Wicca is a specific Pagan religion, based around worship of nature, the Lord and Lady, and most Wiccans will partake in magic/witchcraft.

A Pagan is a broad term for anyone with polytheistic beliefs, usually ones that have some aspect of nature worship.

Some Pagans and Wiccans can be atheistic or agnostic as well... pagan religions are usually not as strict as the Abrahamic ones.

Answer 2

I thought paganism was any religion that was not yet major...

Answer 3

A Wiccan practices Wicca.

Wicca is a specific modern, polytheistic religion centering around a god and goddess pairing

A pagan is anyone who isn't a Jew, Christian or Muslim.  however, most pagans (Hindus, Buddhists, etc) find thet erm derogatory and do not use it to self-identify.  People who self-identify as Pagans are generally Neo-Pagans.  They follow modern religions influenced to varying degrees by ancient pagan religions.  Wicca is one such religion.

A modern witch practices a type of magical practice called witchcraft, which is generally practical in nature, draws from concepts of folk magic, and focuses on emotion and will over heavily ritualized ceremony.

A historical witch was someone who causes harm through magic.  They are a largely fictional concept, as many of the accusations made against accused witches simply aren't possible to commit.

Spellcrafting is largely synonymous with witchcraft.  Other groups also work with magic, but they do not refer to what they do as "spells."

Answer 4

I also like your avatar.

Pagan:  A class of various natural religions.

Wicca: The name of a pagan religion.

Wiccan: (n) A person who adheres to Wicca.

wiccan: (adj) About Wicca.

Witch:  A person who practices witchcraft.

Spell Crafting:  The act or practice of working spell-based magick.

Answer 5

Wicca:  A specific pagan believe system started in the 1940's by Gardiner

Wiccan: someone who practices Wicca

Pagan: A broad umbrella term referring to anyone who practices a pre-christian-based spiritual system such as (but not limited to - Wicca, Druidism, Shamanism, Celtic Witchcraft, Eclectic, Norse)

Witch:  someone who practices spell-crafting (many pagans, esp. wiccans will refer to themselves as witches)

Witchcraft/spell crafting:  Using spells of all kinds to affect the greater world for the betterment of either the caster or the person from whom they are casting.

So, a good rule of thumb "All Wiccans/Witches are Pagans, but not all Pagans are Wiccans/Witches".  Email me if you have other questions.  

Answer 6

I know this isn't an answer to your question but I just have to say. . . .

Your avatar and your name are brilliant.. :)

Answer 7

Merry Meet,

I think it’s simpler to point you to Wikipedia for now. It's a basic overview, but it works.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Paganism

Paganism (from Latin paganus, meaning "country dweller, rustic") is a word used to refer to various religions and religious beliefs from across the world. It is a term which, from a Western perspective, has modern connotations of spiritualist, animistic or shamanic practices or beliefs of any folk religion, and of historical and contemporary polytheistic religions in particular.

The term can be defined broadly, to encompass the faith traditions outside the Abrahamic monotheistic group of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The group so defined includes many of the Eastern religions, Native American religions and mythologies, as well as non-Abrahamic ethnic religions in general. More narrow definitions will not include any of the world religions and restrict the term to local or rural currents not organized as civil religions. Characteristic of pagan traditions is the absence of proselytism and the presence of a living mythology which explains religious practice.

Witchcraft

Witchcraft, in various historical, anthropological, religious and mythological contexts, is the use of certain kinds of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft. While mythological witches are often supernatural creatures, historically many people have been accused of witchcraft, or have claimed to be witches.

Witchcraft still exists in a number of belief systems, and indeed there are many today who identify with the term "witch". The majority of Europeans historically accused of witchcraft were women, and in legends and popular culture the stereotype is female; however males were also often referred to as witches.

Wicca

Wicca is a pagan, nature-based religion popularised in 1954 by Gerald Gardner, a retired British civil servant, who at the time called it Witchcraft and its adherents "the Wica". He said that the religion, of which he was an initiate, was a modern survival of an old witchcraft mystery religion which had existed in secret for hundreds of years, originating in the pre-Christian paganism of Europe. The veracity of Gardner's statements cannot be independently proven, however, and it is possible that Wiccan theology began to be compiled no earlier than the 1920s.

Various Wiccan lineages or 'traditions' have since branched out of that popularised by Gardner, which came to be called Gardnerian Wicca. Each lineage has distinctive rituals, oral traditions and liturgy, and most remain secretive and require that members be initiated. Other traditions have also formed independently of Gardnerian lineage, including a growing movement of Eclectic Wiccans who do not believe that any doctrine or traditional initiation is necessary in order to practice Wicca.

The term 'Wicca' has somewhat different usage. Traditionally 'Wicca' referred only to initiatory witchcraft in the lineage of Gerald Gardner and the New Forest coven (e.g. Gardnerian and Alexandrian Wicca), sometimes referred to as British Traditional Wicca in North America.

More recently the term 'Wicca' has become more inclusive and encompasses a number of traditions inspired by but independent of that lineage.

For a further or deeper understanding I suggest going to Witchvox.com.

Blesses Be

Nyjh