Do you interchange the words "Wicca" and "Witch"?

Question

Did you know that not all Wiccans are Witches and not all Witches are Wiccan, And one is a religion and the other is not?

Answer 1

I am close to Wicca - but have to call myself just a witch for some of the reasons others have pointed out. I sometimes still call myself a Wiccan as it is fairly politically correct and has enough press that it is easeir than explaining just what I am. If you take the work Wicca, which I have always read the root meant "to bend" it is a nice term. But unfortunately some people decided that is was an exclusive domain and you could not use that term unless you met their criteria. Then they came up with Neo-Wicca which is an oxymoron. So I am just a witch who like to "bend" things, celebrates the same days, reveres nature, but can't call myself the closest to my beliefs due to the intolerance of others.

Answer 2

No. I do not. I'm a Wiccan.

In the 1970s and 1980s a particularly nasty stripe of Wiccans dictated that "real Witches" were called Witches, and the words Wicca and Wiccan (which they claimed were "properly pronounced as Weesha and Weeshan") were the terms used by poseurs and wannabes and "real Witches" used the term witch.

All I knew was I did not wannabe like those nasty people, and I've been a Wiccan, not a Witch, ever since.

The funny thing is now these "real witches" like to say they are the "real Wiccans" and everyone else is Neo-Wiccan.

Answer 3

Well that isn't entirely true.
You are right about Wiccans and Witches being different, but though Wicca is definitely a religion, Witchcraft can be too. It is not a religion to all who practice Witchcraft, but some, like myself, do incorporate religious aspects into their practices as a Witch.
So I am very aware of the differences between Wicca and Witchcraft and find it frustrating when people use the two words interchangeably, because the aren't.

Answer 4

I am a witch, not a Wiccan. Witch, in itself is not a religion as there are many different denominations. Some do practice the old religion and worship a great variety of goddesses and gods, but don't necessarily have a name for it as such. It just is. For some witches there is no religious involvement. Wicca, however, is the only recognized religion.
The only thing worse than a close minded Christian is a close minded pagan!
BB
)O(

Answer 5

I don't interchange them. There is some overlap, but I know Wiccans who do not claim to be Witches, and certainly are not in the traditional/ethnographic sense, and I know Witches who have little or nothing in common with Wiccans in either religion or ethical basis.

It's a common misconception; I simply hope that those who don't know better, when corrected, will learn the difference.

Answer 6

No because they aren't interchangable. They mean different things.

Not all Wiccans are Witches. Not all Witches are Wiccan... I'm a Witch and proud of it. ;-)

I do think that most have no clue. They just repeat what they've heard cause they don't know.

Answer 7

Nope, I've known some Wiccans who wish to be called Witches and some Witches who are not Wiccan. I let them tell me what they want to be called.

Answer 8

I stick with witch myself, I'm eclectic so I'm not pure Wiccan

Answer 9

No I don't... but then I studied the difference a long time ago and knew better. There's a big article on it in Pan Gaia too... about using the word "witch"... interesting.

_()_

Answer 10

Yep, I knew that. I'm an ex-Wiccan.