Quote:
Wicca is a tradition of Witchcraft that was brought to the public by Gerald Gardner in the 1950s. There is a great deal of debate among the Pagan community about whether or not Wicca is truly the same form of Witchcraft that the ancients practiced. Regardless, many people use the terms Wicca and Witchcraft interchangeably. Paganism is an umbrella term used to apply to a number of different earth-based faiths. Wicca falls under that heading, although not all Pagans are Wiccan.
The term “pagan” (derived from the Latin paganus, which translates roughly to “hick from the sticks”) was originally used to describe people who lived in rural areas. As time progressed and Christianity spread, those same country folk were often the last holdouts clinging to their old religions. Thus, “pagan” came to mean people who didn’t worship the god of Abraham.
So, in a nutshell, here's what's going on. All Wiccans are witches, but not all witches are Wiccans. All Wiccans are Pagans, but not all Pagans are Wiccans. Finally, some witches are Pagans, but some are not.
Hopefully this will help clear the air up for some of us. This was pulled from about.com on Paganism/Wicca. I do, however, do not totally agree with the last line. Not all Wiccans are witches. You can have the beliefs of a wiccan and perhaps light a candle here and there to honor a deity or person, however, a witch is someone who practices magick EVERYDAY. This means cleansing your altar, divining, meditating, doing rituals, etc. Really, it depends on the part of the world you are from. Some people get offended when you call them Wiccan, some get offended being referred to as Pagan. And some hate being call Witches. Genuinely, I believe the biggest different between the three is the geographical locations and the type of people.
Here's the link if anyone's interested:
Paganism/Wicca at About.comThere are Christians who also practice witchcraft. Do not let them fool you. They still follow the traditional Christian beliefs and some do use such divining tools as Wiccans/Pagans/Witches, such as altars, divination tools, etc. There will be those who are ignorant and think those of us who practice things a little differently than them will think otherwise, like we're devil worshippers. Like everyone else has been saying, ignore them. We know we are out seeking the same thing everyone else is, we just seek for it slightly different, but yet in the same sense, the same way as everyone else.
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