what is the difference between pagans and wiccans?

Question

me and a couple of friends are wondering about the difference so we can correctly choose spells to perform.

Answer 1

Pagan
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.

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.

Answer 2

The word Pagan implies a large group of religions, some which incorporate magic and others that have little use for it.
Wicca is a specific Pagan religion, somewhat of a soft polytheistic religion believing that Deity exists as two halfs (male/female) of one whole and all Gods and Goddess are a different aspect of this. Magic is an important part of Wicca, but there are a few Wiccans who don't bother with it.

Answer 3

Paganism (from Latin paganus, meaning "a country dweller" or "civilian") is a term which, from a western perspective, has come to connote a broad set of spiritual or religious beliefs and practices of natural or polytheistic religions. The term can be defined broadly, to encompass many or most of the faith traditions outside the Abrahamic monotheistic group of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This group may include some of the Dharmic religions, which incorporate seemingly pagan characteristics like nature-veneration, icon-veneration, polytheism and reverence of female deities, and are thus diametrically opposite to the Abrahamic faiths. Ethnologists avoid the term "paganism", with its uncertain and varied meanings, in referring to traditional or historic faiths, preferring more precise categories such as shamanism, polytheism, or animism. The term is also used to describe earth-based Native American religions and mythologies, though few Native Americans call themselves or their cultures "pagan". Historically, the term "pagan" has usually had pejorative connotations among westerners, comparable to heathen, infidel, and mushrik and kafir (كافر) in Islam. In modern times, though, the words "pagan" or "paganism" have become widely and openly used by some practitioners of certain spiritual paths outside the Abrahamic and Dharmic religious mainstream to describe their beliefs, practices, and organized movements

Wicca is a Neopagan religion and a religious movement found in various countries throughout the world. It was first popularised in 1954 by a British civil servant named Gerald Gardner[1] after the British Witchcraft Act was repealed. He claimed that the religion, of which he was an initiate, was a modern survival of an old witchcraft religion, which had existed in secret for hundreds of years, originating in the pre-Christian Paganism of Europe. Wicca is thus sometimes referred to as the Old Religion. The veracity of Gardner's claims cannot be independently proven, and it is thought that written Wiccan theology began to be compiled no earlier than the 1920s.[2] Various related Wiccan traditions have since evolved or been adapted from the form established by Gardner, which came to be called Gardnerian Wicca. These other traditions of Wicca each have distinctive beliefs, rituals, and practices. Many traditions of Wicca remain secretive and require that members be initiated. There is also a movement of Eclectic or Solitary Wiccans who do not believe that any doctrine or traditional initiation is necessary in order to practice Wicca. The 2001 American Religious Identification Survey estimated that at least 134,000 adults identified themselves as Wiccans in the US.

Answer 4

Wicca falls under the umbrella of Paganism.. there are many paths that fall under this umbrella.
Wicca is a nature-based belief in a God/Goddess and follows what's called the Wheel of the Year (Samhain, Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Mid-summer, Lughnassadh and Mabon. They also perform rites on the Full Moon, known as an Esbat.
It is a relatively young religion, in that it was founded by Gerald Gardner about 60 years ago.
You can find out more about these and other beliefs at
http://beliefnet.com
http://religioustolerance.org

Answer 5

wiccans follow the religion of Wicca. Pagans can follow any number of religions. pagan Is a generic title. Wiccan is a specific one.

Answer 6

All Wiccans are Pagan. Not all Pagans are Wiccan.

Answer 7

Pagan girls just want to have fun and Wiccan girls cast spells to make the fun happen.

Answer 8

I think pagans haven't deluded themselves into thinking they can perform magic.

Answer 9

pagans are poeple... wiccan is the religon