Knight of Shadows
Is there a difference between Wicca and Witchcraft?
I wish this was a simple question, but things are rarely simple with religion. So instead of giving you an answer, I'll tell you a bit of history.
When Wicca was first developing, its founder believed that he was discovering an unbroken lineage of underground witchcraft practitioners in his area. From the eyes of Wicca's founder, Gardner, witchcraft is Wicca. In his works on Wicca you rarely see him use the word "Wicca." He refers to the practice as Witchcraft. If you read a lot of these early works on Wicca and some early scholarship by outsiders on the movement, you will very often see Wicca used synonymously with Witch and Witchcraft. The matter is further complicated by the fact that the word Witch comes from an etymological root of
wicca. So in an etymological sense and from the standpoint of its early development, the two words are synonyms.
As time has passed, modern practitioners of Gardner's creation and the Neopagan community have began to create a distinction between these two words. Wicca has generally come to be known as the religion created by Gerald Gardner (see the website "
Wicca for the Rest of Us" for a breakdown of the characteristics of this Wicca), while Witchcraft can refer to many things outside of that definition. It is hard to pin down definitions because among the community there is disagreement about what makes a Wiccan. Some who are very traditionalist insist that you must be initiated into a lineaged coven to claim the title "Wiccan." Others believe that you can self-initiate (more commonly called dedication) and call oneself Wiccan.
In short, definitions vary and opinions vary on this question. Personally, I've stopped worrying so much about labels and instead focus on what it is that I'm describing. Using a single word to describe something so complex works poorly anyway. Let it be emphasized that where you use these terms, be sure to clarify what you mean!
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