Questions for Wiccans/Pagans

[SleepWhenWereDead]

I've very new to studying wiccan and pagan beliefs. I hope you can help me somehow.

1) What are the major differences between wiccans and pagans?
I understand that wiccans are pagan. But for the pagans that are not wiccan, what do they believe differently? Is It strongly different, or barely?

2) Can someone be wiccan and not celebrate the sabbats? Can someone be wiccan without practicing witchcraft or casing circles?

3) Random question: but name your religion please? I'm studying religions and I want to know about everything that's out there.

[Dieu des hommes]

Paganism is basically a catch all term for a variety of beliefs. Historically it's meant to refer to non-Abrahamic religions but nowadays it generally doesn't include major world religions too. It's primarily used for indigenous or folk religions (such as the spiritual beliefs of Native American tribes or Aboriginal Australians), it's also used for ancient and modern polytheistic religions (the famous ones being the Norse and Greek pantheons), as well as being a catch-all term for a variety of newer movements such as Wicca and Druidism. Paganism is more of a classification of religions than a religion itself.

Specific questions about Wicca aren't my bag, but there are quite a few people on this forum from time to time that have a good knowledge of the religion. I'm not really religious, but my views are influenced by Taoism and Buddhism, among many other things.

[witchunterobin]

I don't have name for my religion. I am a witch, but I am solitary. I worship a Goddess and a God. Stones, plants, animals and other things resonate energy that I feel. I have specific books and people that challenge my ideas on life and enlightenment.

As to your third part, never read or listen to something without challenging it in your own mind and heart. If you are searching for something that fits you, you'll know when you've been hooked.

[BTW Found]

SleepWhenWereDead

I've very new to studying wiccan and pagan beliefs. I hope you can help me somehow.

1) What are the major differences between wiccans and pagans?
I understand that wiccans are pagan. But for the pagans that are not wiccan, what do they believe differently? Is It strongly different, or barely?

2) Can someone be wiccan and not celebrate the sabbats? Can someone be wiccan without practicing witchcraft or casing circles?

3) Random question: but name your religion please? I'm studying religions and I want to know about everything that's out there.

1) Wiccans are people who have been properly initiated by a lineaged coven that can trace its lineage back to the New Forest Coven. Wiccans are priests/priestesses of a pair of specific deities whose names are not revealed until after initiation.

Pagan is a general term for any religion that is not Christian, Jewish, or Islam. Some would not include any of the major world religions like Hinduism and Buddhism as pagan. The beliefs of those who identify as pagan are so diverse that it is almost impossible to come up with anything that they all believe in.

2)Once you are initiated into a proper coven you are Wiccan. To be a practicing Wiccan you do need to celebrate the sabbats with the proper rituals done with your coven. You can not practice Wiccan rituals correctly without a coven. All Wiccan rituals require the use of witchcraft. As a Wiccan you use witchcraft at every ritual. You can not be Wiccan without being a witch, but you can be a witch without being Wiccan.

3) I am a Gardnerian Wiccan initiate.

[saint dreya]

BTW Found

Pagan is a general term for any religion that is not Christian, Jewish, or Islam.

And Baha'i.

BTW Found

Some would not include any of the major world religions like Hinduism and Buddhism as pagan.

My snarky Buddhist friends would say, "Buddhism is a philosophy", XP

Hinduism strikes me as a pretty "pagan" religion, regardless how you frame it. Granted, I consider Tibetan Buddhism pretty pagan, too, what with the bodhisattvas. Meh.

BTW Found

Once you are initiated into a proper coven you are Wiccan. To be a practicing Wiccan you do need to celebrate the sabbats with the proper rituals done with your coven. You can not practice Wiccan rituals correctly without a coven. All Wiccan rituals require the use of witchcraft. As a Wiccan you use witchcraft at every ritual. You can not be Wiccan without being a witch, but you can be a witch without being Wiccan.

To re-emphasize what you have already said (thanks), Wicca is an orthopraxic religion, where the action is what defines/unifies the religion, not so much the belief. Further, in that all Wiccans really are priests, it makes sense then that they would need more training and indoctrination than your run of the mill congregation.

[lauiras]

I think Pagan is just anyone who isn't apart of an abrahamic religion, so I think a lot of people are pagan technically. I think you should use "neo-pagan" instead, it's more along the line of nature religions.

[Madame_Craft]

For a long time when people asked me what I was I would just say I was a Pagan. While others have touched on Pagans. Wicca is much more complicated there is debate on what is considered Wicca and what is not. To clarify Wicca is supposed to be a group (coven) thing where you are intintated in and have to go through training before hand. There are various different branches of paganism that have stemmed off of traditional Wicca. However, all Wiccans are witches, but not all witches are Wiccans. Witchcraft is a practice and Wicca is a religion. There are lots of rules when it comes to this branch of religion along it does fall under the giant umbrella of Paganism.

Personally I'm part of a coven, however because I am still on the road to initiation things are rather strange. I'm part of Deboran Witchdom not the traditional versions of Wicca.

[CuAnnan]

NatasTheOccultist

Just wanted to invite you all to a guild I made about religions an the occult!
please everyone is welcomed, heart

**Points to siggy**

Etc, not ext
Can't handle basic abbreviations but have pretensions to the occult?

[madderFox]

I'm also new to wicca, but I'll give it a shot.
1) There are lots of different kinds of pagans! As I understand it, but I'm not sure, a pagan is anyone who is polytheistic and does not recognize the god of Abraham. But, I might not be right about that.
2) I don't know what a sabbat is! So I have no idea! I do practice spellcraft, but I am solitary (my town is predominately Catholic so it's unlikely I'll find a coven.)
3) I consider myself an atheistic wiccan. (I do look to some archetypes from some pantheons as notable figureheads, but do not actually believe they exist!)
I hope I could help some, but like I said, I'm new too! >w<

[Calelith]

Eris Merrywolf

3) I consider myself an atheistic wiccan.

"Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn!"

An Atheistic Wiccan?

What do you think Wicca is? What are the names of the Lord and Lady? Age?

"Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn."

[Starcrossedsky]

As others have said - Wicca is a specific religion, paganism is a group of religions (some affiliated with each other, some not).

I'm not in a position to answer Wicca-related questions with authority, but you can definitely be a witch without celebrating sabbats or any other particular holiday. I usually don't, myself. "Wiccan" and "witch" are terms used interchangably a lot when they really shouldn't be.

As for religion, I'm an atheist, Exact Meaning of the Word.

[lauiras]

Eris Merrywolf

I'm also new to wicca, but I'll give it a shot.
1) There are lots of different kinds of pagans! As I understand it, but I'm not sure, a pagan is anyone who is polytheistic and does not recognize the god of Abraham. But, I might not be right about that.
2) I don't know what a sabbat is! So I have no idea! I do practice spellcraft, but I am solitary (my town is predominately Catholic so it's unlikely I'll find a coven.)
3) I consider myself an atheistic wiccan. (I do look to some archetypes from some pantheons as notable figureheads, but do not actually believe they exist!)
I hope I could help some, but like I said, I'm new too! >w<

do you believe in a afterlife

[yllw-drgnfly]

Hello, everyone. I have been studying Wicca for over a year now and I, personally count myself as a Wicca without a coven, or a Solitary Wicca. I believe most of the questions have been answered, but I would like to just drop in my two cents:

You do not need a coven to be a practicing Wicca. There are self-dedicating ceremonies in which you let the Gods (if you believe in multiple ones, as most Wicca do, to my knowledge) know that you are pledging yourself to their worship.
You probably should celebrate the Sabbats, even if you simply prepare a special meal or something else that is simple, but special.
You don't have to practice spellcasting or magick to be considered Wicca. Wicca is a belief system that centers around the worship of the Earth in the form of a woman. Some Wiccans may also worship the Sky in the form of a man. Most portraits of such a God resemble a goat-faced or horned Satyr-like male. This is likely where the image of modern Satan came from.
The celebration of Esbats is also not necessarily needed to be considered a Wicca.

To my knowledge, all you really need to be a Wicca is a reverence for the Earth, the planet on which we all live.

If you would like, I could recommend some books for further study on the subject.

And, if anyone would like to correct me on anything, I wouldn't mind. I am still learning, after all.