any wiccans can answer?

Question

I recently saw a website that claimed wiccans are not the same as witches. I have practiced wicca for a few years and all my books as well as at every meeting i have ever been to wiccans call themselves witches.Is there really a difference?

Answer 1

the website is right, but all of your books/meetings aren't wrong. wiccans and witches are not the same. i'm a witch but i'm a not a wiccan. however, i have a friend who's wiccan and practices also. wiccans may practice a craft, but not all those that practice are wiccan. it can be confusing =)

real simple definitions:
Wicca is a Neopagan religion and a religious movement found in various countries throughout the world.
A witch is a person who practices witchcraft, and may be male or female.

Answer 2

Yes, there is a difference.

You can be both a Wiccan and a witch, these two words are not the same
One of the biggest sore points among Wiccans is the improper usage of the terms "Wiccan" and "Witch". Too many people use the terms interchangably, presuming that they both mean the same thing. They do not.

Wiccan
Wicca is a religion, and someone who follows that religion is called a Wiccan. Sometimes it can be difficult to accurately define Wicca, and not all Wiccans will define themselves the same way. Observing the 8 Wiccan Sabbats, honoring the Gods and/or Goddesses, creating sacred space for rituals, to name a few. Many traditional Wiccans also feel that belonging to a coven is also a requirement and that those who practice their religion as a solitary, should not refer to themselves as Wiccan. Personally, I'm still not sure on that point. Typical Wiccans also practice magick, and therefore are also witches.

You cannot be a "natural Wiccan" any more than you could be a "natural Christian".

Witch
The practice of witchcraft is not associated with any religion, therefore you can be a witch and yet also be a member of any number of religions (or none). Using the natural energies within yourself, along with the energies of herbs, stones or other elements to make changes around you is considered witchcraft. Though the skills and gifts that are part of witchcraft can be inherited from parents or grandparents, you aren't automatically a witch just because your grandmother may have been one. The use of magick takes practice, experience and learning. On a side note, a male witch is called a witch, not a warlock.

Pagan
While I'm explaining terminology, I thought I would throw in "Pagan" as well. Paganism refers to a variety of non-Christian/Jewish/ Islamic religions that are usually polytheistic and are often nature-based. Wicca is only one Pagan religion, but there are others such as Santeria, Asatru, or Shamanism. Many people do not necessarily identify with a specific religion, and just use the broad term "Pagan" to define their spiritual path. Pagan religions are distinct and separate from each other, and it should not be assumed that they are just different names for the same faith.

Answer 3

This is not easy, because the terms have come to mean different things in different circumstances.

I'll do my best to not confuse you, but there's no guarantee.

OK, let's start with Wiccan. Wiccans are people who have been trained in, and initiated into, a lineage Tradition like Gardnerian or Alexandrian (and there are others).You aren't "Wiccan" just because you say you are. People who ARE Wiccan will know, the moment you SAY you're "Wiccan", that you are not. There are specific phrases by which they recognize each other, and if you don't know what those are, they will know you're not Wiccan.

Having said that, there's some confusion I'm going to have to add here. When Witches of various types and Traditions began to get involved in Interfaith Work, there was kind of an unspoken agreement that we would eschew the term "Witch" because of the connotations that most people have with that word. So we were all "wiccans".

Also, there are a lot of books out there that purport to be self-teaching guides for "Wicca" that are not, actually - some are the "outer court" stuff that is taught to people NOT trained in, or initiated into, any Wiccan Traditions. Some are hedge-witch stuff (a wonderful and rich tradition), and some are...well..I'm not sure what they are. Some seem to be like recipe books that don't teach you how to *cook*, just how to follow a recipe with none of the food science fundamentals that give you the tools to create your own successful recipes or even understand why the recipes they give you work.

NOTE: That does NOT mean that they don't teach you things of value - some books do, and some really don't. And this is NOT to say that if you have been self-trained as a Witch that your practice is invalid - I wouldn't know, I don't know what you do.

ALSO, there is NOTHING wrong with being a Witch but not a Wiccan. I'm equal parts hedge-witch and initiated in two different non-BTW traditions of the Craft. The Tradition I currently practice is one that is used by a lot of Lineage (BTW) Wiccans as their "outer court" (public) practice. I am a Pagan and a Witch (and by some definitions, a small-w wiccan), but I am NOT "Wiccan". My practice is perfectly legitimate, and I am never treated as "less than" by BTWs (Wiccans).

There is nothing "lesser" about who I am or what I do.

But, bluntly, WICCA is NOT "anything you want it to be". It is NOT the outer court stuff you can learn from a book. It requires face-to-face training. It involves revelatory initiation into a group and that group's practices.

You can call yourself a Wiccan, but you won't be recognized as such. You can also call yourself a Catholic, but if you don't profess to believe in the Communion of Saints, if you' haven't been through catechism, if you haven't taken your First Communion, you're not a Catholic. It doesn't matter for how many years you've gone to Mass, you're not a Catholic without those things, and more. You're something else. And there's not one thing wrong with that, just don't call yourself a Catholic unless you have gone through catechism, taken your First Communion, and profess to believe what Catholics believe.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with being a Witch. It is a proud heritage. There is nothing wrong with being a Pagan and neither a Witch nor a Wiccan. There are long and wonderful traditions of various types of Paganism, and perfectly legitimate new practices that will, in time, become traditions.

Listen, you are not less of a Witch if you are self-trained and self-dedicated. But you are not a Wiccan.

And there's no need to be one, if that's not what you want to be.

Answer 4

Many Wiccans call themselves witches, and many witches are Wiccans, but the term Witch has come to be used to describe all manner of magickal practicioners. Although, technically, the word Wicca and the word Witch come from the same root word, as we all know, language changes over time.

So a Satanic Witch, is definately not a Wiccan because Satanists, at least the Leveyan kind are either Atheists or belief that they are their own God or both.

Wiccans are those witches who adhere to the Wiccan Rede and the 13 Principles of Wiccan belief.

Answer 5

Yes. Some Wiccans are witches. Most witches are Wiccans. That does not mean all Wiccans practice witchcraft, or all that practice witchcraft are Wiccan. Most of the Wiccans I know are practicing witches, but I know one who is not. He lives by all the "laws" but he does not do ritual spellwork. In addition, there is a whole Christian witch group out there, where they consider themselves witches but do not follow Wicca.

For myself, I am Wiccan and a witch.

)O(

Answer 6

Yes, there is a difference. Not all Wiccans practice The Craft, some just follow the path of Wicca. Just like not all Catholics are priests.

Answer 7

A witch is someone who practices magic, they can be of any religion or no religion....Wicca is a religion all it's own. Basically all Wiccans are witches, but not all witches are Wiccans....except of course for the rare Wiccan who doesn't practice magic, but where's the fun in that?

Answer 8

It depends on who you ask, really. It's all in the interpretation.

In Wicca, ritual is magick, thus, if you practice magick you can be considered a witch. But you don't have to Wiccan to be a witch. My mother, who's Christian, practices magick everyday - of course she does it without realizing it. She'll make things happen if she's upset, she's had visions, she'd pray for something and it'll come to pass - things like that. So, because of the power she possesses, I consider her a witch.

Understand what I'm saying?

Answer 9

Speaking as one who is BTW trained, a well said to Raven's Voice.
As someone who is Wiccan, I can tell you with all certainty that those of us who are truly Wiccan don't identify ourselves to each other as "Wiccan" There are things that you just can't get from books.

Answer 10

It's your choice what you want to call yourself. I know some that do consider themselves witches, while others think it's a sterotypical "insult"..go figure. The group that I associate with are people connected to Source Energy (from the Universe.) So we consider ourselves "Sourcerers". Because we are connected to Source. So, to each his own I guess!