What is the difference between being a wiccan vs. a pagan? Isn't that like the difference between catholism and baptist?
2006-10-17 03:49:30 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Paganism covers many, many different paths. Wicca is a specific path in Paganism. Many beliefs are the same with some additional beliefs. Paganism is like Christianity--has many different parts. Wicca would be like a religion in Christianity such as Methodists.. Make sense?
2006-10-17 03:57:02 · answer #1 · answered by tabby_24_2000_2000 2 · 5⤊ 0⤋
A pagan is not necessarily a wiccan, but a wiccan is a pagan.
Let 's define our terms first, kay?
A pagan is anyone who believes something other than monotheistic doctrine. (ONE big god) This is usually a put-down, by believers against anyone who doesn't believe exactly what they believe..
A pagan can be into a bunch of gods or none, worshipping trees or bears or TV or money. Anything but the one big guy in the sky.
Wiccan, is a specific set of beliefs, mostly pagan, that is about worshipping nature. It is full of spells, dancing naked in the moonlight and often about sexual coupling as a form of worship.
People who practice this are warlocks(men) or witches, but usually don't use those terms because they scare people.
It IS NOT SATANIC. Usually, wiccans don't believe satan exists.
Satanism is pagan, because it believes that satan is more powerful than the big god in the sky.
Druids, Incans, Greek mythological gods, all pagan, no wiccan.
Some Christian churches consider Catholics pagan because of the Trinity thing. and all the statues and incantations for intercession, beads, candles and such. Jehovah's Witnesses don't practice christmas or birthdays because it is pagan.
I consider all christianity pagan because of the trinity thing, and the rituals, blood sacrifice, virgin birth, worshipping the bible, and crosses and not sticking to a god.
I am an atheist, studying to be a buddhist.
2006-10-17 04:48:06 · answer #2 · answered by Lottie W 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Vaguely. All wiccans are pagans, not all pagans are wiccan.
I'm not wiccan though I'm something of an atheistic pagan (labels get so in the way when there isn't one that describes you, you know?). I am a chaos mage in practice, but I don't believei n gods or magic or any of that other stuff... I just go through the steps because I like the psychological effects thereof.
For example, I do out-of-body work on a fairly regular basis, and I always find myself in the presence of Fenrir Wolf of Norse mythology -- even though I don't believe in the real existence of any gods or goddesses.
2006-10-17 03:59:17 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, more like Wiccan is to pagan as Baptist is to Christian. One can be a pagan without being a Wiccan; Wicca is just an organized religious subset of paganism, while paganism is diverse and covers a large number of organized and less-organized paths.
2006-10-17 03:55:33 · answer #4 · answered by angk 6 · 5⤊ 0⤋
Paganism is an umbrella term rather than a specific religion. Wicca is a specific pagan religion with it's own deities, theology, practices and ethics. There are many pagan (neo-pagan) religions, each having their own theologies and deities, but Wicca is the most well-known. Other well-known neo-pagan religions are Neo-Wicca, Druidism, Asatru, Hellenism, Kemeticism, and various other Reconstructionist religions related to specific pagan cultures. All of these are neo-pagan but may be very different from Wicca and each other.
2006-10-17 21:31:07 · answer #5 · answered by Witchy 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Well okay... my sister explained this to me some because she is Wiccan.
A Wicca is a Pagan, but not all Pagans are Wiccan. "Wicca" is based off of the ancient Greco-Roman, Egyptian Teutonic and Celtic religions that predate Christianity... although from what I understand its mostly European based and tends to focus mostly on celtic Druidism.
A "Pagan" is a general term used by Christianity to describe anyone that is not Christian. So technically, Native American religions and such would be "Pagan," but not necessarily Wicca. Many non-denominationally religious people have taken they word "Pagan" to loosely describe themselves, but are not actually Wiccan.
2006-10-17 03:57:13 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Wicca is more "structured" whereas Paganism can cover many more areas. Both religions focus on the pursuit of knowledge and are based on the "do onto others" principle (the Rede) but there is much more to both faith systems. Paganism can be more diverse with influences from and not limited to the Celtic, Norse, Druidic, Egyptian, Shintoism, Indian belief systems. I know one Pagan who's main deity is Isis (Egyptian) and I have another friend who's Pagan faith revolves Shintoism.
And it's not really Wicca v. pagan. Both belief systems practice tolerance of others! :)
2006-10-17 05:34:47 · answer #7 · answered by arcanehex 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
There are many types of Wiccan traditions, which are largely pagan, but every now and then you will run across a person with a little bit of christianity involved. www.witchvox.com is a good resouce to learn more. wiiccans are pagans, but there are many different pagan traditions that are not wiccan.
2006-10-17 04:00:04 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
My thought is (and I could be wrong)
Pagan is an umbrella term - like Christian is.
There are many different types of Paganism. I don't know if Wiccans consider themselves Pagan or not.
Anyway, that's what I *think* it is.... again, I have been known to be very mistaken before.
2006-10-17 04:00:16 · answer #9 · answered by Miss Vicki 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Wicca as I understand it has a structured belief system...paganism may or may not.
2006-10-17 03:54:41 · answer #10 · answered by David B 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋