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I would love to be able to completely separate Wicca from Witchcraft. I would love to be able to know, when I'm reading a book, which practices are Wicca. All of the books I currently own are about Wicca in some shape or form so I can't really tell the difference in the two. (I know the difference between them I just can't pick what practices belong to Wicca and which to Witchcraft.)

And let me be very specific by what I mean by using the word Wicca/n. I don't mean the Gardarian initiation-only lineaged Wicca. I mean the stuff you pull off a new age book shelf at the book store. Ever since re-joining Gaia I've encountered several people who like to sit upon their high horses and explain to you everything that is wrong with your quote-unquote Wiccan practices. I don't need another explanation, it's just far easier to call it Wicca because in every title it says Wicca.

It would be really helpful if I could see some responses to this issue I'm having and possibly some good book lists or sources.

I have few more questions regarding spiritual paths, but I need this answered first, I do believe.

I don't think I was clear in my original post. I do not want purely wiccan practices. I want Witchcraft practices that aren't riddled full of wiccan principles. I'm not a wiccan and nor do I want to be. I want to be able to take witchcraft and apply other spiritual paths to it but not wicca.

Does this make more sense?

Easiest solution is to get some books that aren't Wicca books.

There's a ton of them.

Raymond Buckland's "Complete Book of Witchcraft" is good.

Ummmm... -thinks-

There's plenty of Chaos Magic books you could look at. That's got nothing to do with wicca. I'm a fan of Hermeticism, which is also good, if you like structured systems.

Take anything by Scott Cunningham, and it's basically just Witchcraft with added morality.

I suggest Aleister Crowley's books. Nothing to do with Wicca. He was an all round occultist, his books discuss a variety of topics, including what is referred to as black magic which tends to put many Wiccans off. However, I think you can never know too much and it's your choice if you use your knowledge or not. It's mostly ceremonial magic though.

-Sigh- No one seems to understand. I'm not refusing to consider what others have said. I agree with it. It's just that while refering to those books, it's easier to say they are Wiccan because that's what they say they are, and most have Wiccan influences, which is what I'm trying to avoid. But I guess in the long run it doesn't really matter.


Here is a good solid question. Is the worship of One God and One Goddess a Wicca tradition? Is the Wheel of the Year a Wicca thing? Are full moon ceremonies Wicca tradition?

What I'm really trying to take a look at here are the practices not the accessories such as tarot and crystals.

While that is entirely true, some of his works are a very informative read. With that I am aiming mostly at Magick, where if you don't dive too deep into Thelema (consequentially mostly just skip chapter/book 4) it gives a nice rounded introduction into the basics of meditation/yoga, essentially teaching concentration, and the theory of magick.

You are right though, it is not witchcraft. However, I am not really sure on what witchcraft is. I mean, I know the history behind it, but I don't think I could phrase a proper definition... I'd say it's spells and chants and superstition. Not to offend anyone, I think there is a big difference between Paganism, Wicca and witchcraft. It seems that witchcraft is different things in different parts of the world. Egyptian witchcraft is quite different from Native American shamans, but they both essentially do the same thing.

Which I guess brings me to my point. Witchcraft is not a structured religion, it is based on completely localized traditions and beliefs. It's practically impossible to distinguish between Wicca and witchcraft because they both have the same roots, which are scattered all over the place.

The wheel of the year is not a Wicca thing. Well it is, but it isn't. It's kinda like Christmas, which is a celebration of Jesus's birth, but it coincided with a pagan winter celebration. The expression, The Wheel of the Year is, as far as I can tell, Wiccan. The actual calendar, the holidays in the year however, are of Celtic origin.

As far as the one god and one goddess are concerned, I really cannot offer a reasonable answer. My studies have been mostly in different mythologies, preferably polytheistic, and while there are several occurrences of trinity in both goddesses and gods, I cannot think of anything that would specifically worship only one deity of each gender. Which doesn't mean that they don't exist, only that I hadn't stumbled upon it.

Wicca is solely ditheistic. There is the Lord and Lady and you have to worship them both, there are no other deities present. The core of Wicca are the rituals and initations which makes it orthopraxic not orthodoxic.

Deorwynn, it sounds to me that you should look into occultism or spellcraft in general rather than contemporary Paganism, though it still isn't really clear what you're looking for. How you draw the line (if it even exists, and in some cases it doesn't) between Wicca, Witchcraft and witchcraft really vary and there isn't a solid consensus. So perhaps if you describe clearly what exactly it is you're looking for we could be more useful. sweatdrop

As for those other questions you brought up in your last post, God-Goddess is pretty typical of Wicca, and personally I have a hard time calling a tradition Wiccan if it is not duotheistic in this manner, since so much of their theological/philosophical understanding revolves around that male-female dichotomy. Honoring the solar cycle is really something found in Pagan religious worldwide throughout history, though the specific form of the "Wheel of the Year" is more contemporary. I'm not positive if it was invented by Gardner, but even if it was, there are other Neopagans that use it that aren't Wiccan. Same with honoring the lunar cycle. Yes, it's part of Wiccan traditions, but it isn't exclusive to it.