Wicca Vs Peganism?

Question

What's the difference between these two religions?

Answer 1

Pagan:
When capitalized, it generally refers to a general grouping of religions and approaches to religion. Some of these are also referred to as Neo-Pagan (people taking historical Pagan concepts and adapting or mining them for concepts and ideas.) Others are reconstructionist - recreating ancient religions (Greek, Roman, Egyptian) fairly strictly, with appropriate adaptations for modern life. If this sounds vague, it is. Some people count some paths as Pagan and not others. Some people in those paths identify themselves as Pagan, and not others. If you see someone identify themselves or something as Pagan, it's a good idea to keep your eyes open for an idea of what they mean by that. (or to ask!)

Wiccan:
Wicca is a specific religion. Some people use the word only for a very tight definition (initiatory priesthood traditions directly descending from the New Forest area of England working with specific religious mysteries and/or deities). More commonly, it's used more generally - groups having some practices in common (casting circle, approaches to working with deity, combination of folk magic and religious practice, etc.) Again, it's good to know how a specific person uses the term. Because Paganism is a broad term, it covers a lot of ground. Wicca is more specific (and there are more specific terms, too, like specific tradition or path names.) So, someone can be Pagan, but not Wiccan, but Wiccans are Pagan. Some people compare this to denominations within Christianity (you can be Christian but not Catholic, Methodist, Lutheran, whatever) but that's a little inaccurate, because it implies that all Pagans share some common beliefs.

Eclectic:
This word means that something gathers resources from a number of places. In the Pagan community, it means that someone's path draws from a variety of sources. Eclectic Wiccans draw from multiple traditions or resources while keeping a generally Wiccan ritual format/ritual cycle/etc. Eclectic Pagans may draw from a number of different Pagan paths. Traditional Wicca is a term for more structured practice: things are added only in accordance with the original practices (some traditions have more leeway about this than others.)

Solitary:
Solitary means various things. Most commonly, it means that someone does ritual and/or magical work solely on their own: without anyone else participating (as opposed to group work, working with a working partner, etc.) I have seen some people refer to "circles of solitaries" - people who mostly do their own thing, but come together for some shared rituals or events. (I tend to think that's something different than solitary, but there isn't a good word for it that I've seen.)

Coven:
Coven is a word used within Wicca - in traditional Wicca, they're a very tight knit group of people, who spend time learning to work and act together (magically and ritually) and reinforce that through specific commitments to each other. It's gotten into more common use now - again, worth seeing what someone means when they use it, if you're not sure. Group, grove, and circle are all other terms for groups, most of them less formal (used for people who are working together, but without the tighter coven ties.) Grove is used within some Druidic groups in specific ways.

I hope this gives you some insight to Wiccan & Paganism : )

Love & Blessings
Milly

Answer 2

Pagans are the people like the farmers and others that lived to far from a town to adopt that towns religion. and worshiped those things(Earth,Air, Fire and Water) that they worked and relied on to supply themselves and others with food.The Jewish people have specific rules to follow if they need to stop at a pagans dwelling for the night or to ride out bad weather or sickness.Such as not eating of any thing that was or will be used in a pagan ritual.
Wicca is a revival of Paganism . after the Christian Church turned on the Pagans for not converting to their religion.
Otherwise they are the same basically. with adaptation to fit the different times.

Answer 3

Paganism refers to any pre-christian/monotheistic beliefs or religions, usually earth-based and polytheistic. Wicca is a specific religion whereas paganism is general. For example, in Wicca, there is usually a God and Goddess, in paganism there can be any number of gods/goddesses but there is no one god. Hope this helps.

Answer 4

Paganism is a more general term. It includes many practices including Wicca. It is from the Latin for country and was used to indicate provincial beliefs as opposed to city sects like Christianity.

Answer 5

Wicca and paganism are far
more than just two religions.
At the core of wicca is worship
of mother nature and things
created. Paganism is usually the
worship of more than one deity.
That's it in it's simplest terms but
there is so much more. Read.

Answer 6

Paganism is actually an umbrella term used for any religion that does not worship the Abrahamic god. Wicca is a very prominent religion/spiritual path that falls under that term. Go to this website and read more about Paganism: http://www.religioustolerance.org/paganism.htm

Answer 7

Wicca is a subclass of Pagan.

Answer 8

All Wiccans are Pagan, but not all Pagans are Wiccan. Just like all Catholics are Christian, but not all Christians are Catholics.

Paganism is a general term covering many religions that fall under the category of Earth-based religion. Native American religion for instance are pagan.

So just like there are many different sects of Christianity, so are there of Paganism.

Answer 9

Wicca is a specific type of Paganism, just as Lutheran or Catholic is a type of Christianity.

Answer 10

Paganism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paganism

Wicca: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicca