Could someone please explain to me the difference between a Wicca, a Witch, and a Pagan? Is there a difference

Question

A few questions and answers I've seen in this forum have left me rather confused, and I am curious.
Are there any reliable internet sites where I can find out more about these religions?

Answer 1

ONE FLIES A BROOM,THE OTHER A MOP,AND THE 3RD HOLDS THE BUCKET,AND DUST PAN..

Answer 2

Well after reading through alot of the answers here I would say that there is a good deal of correct answers. Pagan is the equivelent of Christianity in that it is a umbrella for multiple religions. Wicca would be equivelent to Lutheran or Mormon in that it is a relion under the Pagan umbrella. Wicca is a nature based religion that, to my knowledge, is dualistic meaning they pray to the Lord and Lady (which is essentially God broken into a male and female aspect). Witchcraft is not a religion. Witchcraft is spellcrafting and potion making. Some Wiccans practice Witchcraft but not all.
Witchcraft does not mean Wiccan
Witchcraft does not mean Pagan
Pagan does not mean Wiccan
Wiccan does mean Pagan
Pagan does not mean practicer of Witchcraft
Wiccan does not mean practicer of Witchcraft
there it is broken down into Logic sentences (only took the 101 course on logic so forgive me if I missed a few or messed it up). Now to the other answers I read that like to slander Paganism or Wicca they are false. They like to spread their lies because they cannot deal with the thought that their truth may not be anothers truth. I have been Wiccan for 9 to 10 years now and never once have I been in an orgy. I do not ride a broomstick. and I do not worship satan because I do not believe in satan. I am just as moralistic as anyone else I know and moreso than many that I have seen in the R&S answers forum who claim to be Christian. Hope this helped out some. if you have any questions feel free to email me and I will help you find some answers.

Edit: Oh also in my opinion there is no such thing as Black magic and White magic. Magic is neutral it is how one uses it that determines whether it is good or not. There is a difference between Magic and spells. Magic is the energy or power used while Spells determine what the goal is. Therefore it would be White spells and Black spells

Answer 3

Wicca is a new form of an old religion, which was good enough for most of mankind for thousands of years. It's basically Druidism or nature worship, Asatru is another version of this. Odin the All-Father and the Great Mother play a big role in both. it is believed that these powerful God are inside of all nature, and control it.
Witches are people who have chosen one of the many forms of non-Christian, non-Jewish or non-Muslim religion. Some are into black magic or negative spells. Shamanists, sorcerers and various aboriginal beliefs and practices fit into the witch category.
Pagan just means non-Christian. A pagan could be a witch, a Wiccan, a shaman, a Druid, an ancestor worshipper, a Buddhist, whatever that isn't Christian.
"Pagan" doesn't actually describe anything as such, just what you are not.

Answer 4

Basically a Pagan is recognized as anyone not following one of the Abrahamic Religions.

A Witch can come from any religion, even ones that try to pretend they don't have any (you guys know the ones I'm talking about). Witchcraft is the use of folk magics; knowledge of herbs and animals, knowledge of the planets and stars; their movements and patterns, Knowledge of human nature and the spirit realm as well as divination. There IS a religious component to Witchcraft.

A Wiccan traditionally is a Priest or Priestess of a Pagan Witchcraft Tradition, who has studied a set of rituals and practices that have been handed down from the Priest or Priestess who taught them (Great, now I have that song from Fiddler on the Roof in my head).

Traditionally Wicca was founded to be an initiatory, oath-bound religious tradition, it practices and rituals carried out only in places where secrecy could be guaranteed, there are still countries that have laws against the practice of Witchcraft. Even though times have changed it is still the practice of those who are initiated into traditional Wicca to keep secret much of what they know and have been taught, the law and public opinion can be swayed with the right nudge of those of weak mind.

Answer 5

First, the word 'pagan' has latin roots, meaning 'someone from the country or someone outside of the culture'.

Pagan can also mean someone who doesn't believe in the same God as you do.

Wicca is a denomination, a type of nature based religion. Nature based religions from thousands of years ago, were formulated to meet the needs of the culture. The primarily focus was on survival, which meant that food and reproduction were the primary elements. The cultures realized the importance of fertility, both in crops/food, and in producing offspring. They understood the signifigance of planting cycles, lunar cycles, and that these cycles have an impact on our lives.

They understood that sexuality was natural, important, and it was sacred. They also understood the natural gifts of both the male and female.

These religions did not worship Satan, but they worshipped the Male/Female, which is God, the Creator.

It is so important to understand the history behind these religions, so that you know you do not need to be afraid.

Then there are those who understand the use of energy (magic). These folk can be called witches, but I don't like the word, for it is full of negative connotations. We all make use of energy every day, but few of us understand the impact, that our choices have on others. When we choose to take an action with the intention of harming or hurting an animal, person or the earth, then we are producing negative energy. This negative energy impacts one person, and then continues, unless a person makes a conscious effort not to react to the negative behavior.

What is satan? Instead of fearing some image or evil spirit, instead we should look to our corrupt behavior. It is our actions that produce 'sin', it is our responsibility to make choices not based out of our 'ego' but out of our 'compassion'.

There are so many sites available on the internet, to assist in understanding the many religions outside of Christianity. But don't forget, to also explore the Divinity which lies within you. (Gnostic Gospels).

Answer 6

Yes there is a difference. And it's going be confusing LOL
A wiccan is a witch but not all witches are wiccan. Not all pagans are witches and not all pagans are Wiccan.
Go to paganspath.com I like it much better then witchvox.com but you can go there to.

For the record I am neither witch nor Wiccan. I'm Heathen Pagan. :) Sorry, I know it's confusing.

Astaru and several of the "Recon" are NOT neo-pagan. They were never "deconstructed". Most "conversions" in the north didn't happen until about 1000 AD. Many of those conversions never happened. They just said they did to make the Christians happy and leave them alone. Some of my family is from Lithuania and I was celebrating pagan things before I knew what pagan was. We practice what WAS. Many think heathen especially are not "modern" enough because of this fact. We are NOT NEO. Many of the Recons do indeed have ORIGINAL literature. Book of the Dead anyone? That's just Egypt. Heathens have the Edda's. We have sources that are not modern.

Answer 7

Lots of good reading here (and a few that's absolutely absurd...Christians, wrong board?). It's a matter of exclusivity and inclusivity as previously stated. Here's a few facts i've encountered, obviously open to debate based on the experience/education of others.

Wiccans and Witches are pagans. Not all Witches are Wiccans and vice-versa (although the overlap does seem to be common).

Witches do magick, but may or may not worship diety or honor the wheel of the year.

Wiccans honor the wheel of the year and worship diety and may or may not do magick (the ones I've encountered do).

Props to the people plugging Witchvox. It's one of the links at our website. There are others Hope it helps: www.eclecticcoven.info.

BB
Teddy the Bear

Answer 8

Wicca is a specific pagan spiritual path based on Celtic paganism, and generally involves reverence of nature, a god and goddess figure, and specific redes.

Pagan is a generic term for anyone not of the big 3 monotheistic religions, and more specifically for religions that revere nature; can be atheistic, theistic, or polytheistic, and may or may have specific edicts.

Witch is a term that refers to someone who practices witchcraft. Not all pagans are witches but all witches are pagans. Wiccans also may or may not be witches and vice versa.

Answer 9

Pagans are members of religions other than the Abrahamic sects. Technically, anyone who is not a Jew, Christian, or Muslim is 'pagan'. However, the term is predominantly used for those who follow polytheistic religions or rebirth religions (such as Khemeticism, the rebirth of the ancient Egyptian faith).

Wicca is a pagan religion which venerates the Lord and Lady in their myriad forms. Magic is not, of necessity, a part of Wiccan practice.

Witches are individuals who engage in magickal practices or spellcraft.

One can be a Pagan without being Wiccan (such as Asatruar, follows of the Norse religion, or followers of Khemeticism, mentioned above). All Wiccans are Pagans though.

Some witches are wiccans, some wiccans are witches. But not all witches are wiccan, nor are all wiccans witches.

Indeed, not even all witches are Pagans. There are numerous sects of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam which incorporate rituals that would be considered spell-craft of some form or another.

Answer 10

A Wiccan is a person who practices the religion of Wicca.

Wicca is one variety of what are collectively known as Pagans. Pagans are GENERALLY either "soft" or "hard" polytheists (the differance being whether the person believes the Gods and Goddesses have distinct personalities or are aspects of the Divine Masculine and Feminine archetypes). Some of the various types of Pagans you will see here are Wiccans, Asatrur/Heathen (specifically worshippers of the Norse Gods), Hellenistae (worshippers of the Greek Gods -- also called Hellenic Polytheists, I am one) and eclectic Pagans who are not Wiccan.

Witches are generally speaking Pagans of various types who practice what could be termed "magick" BUT that is also a term that can be used as a description of a Wiccan so that is not as reliably used term.

I would recommend www.witchvox.com for general information on Wiccans and differant ways that Wicca is practiced.

I will leave it to my Asatrur/Heathen contacts to recommend sites related to their religion as I do not have the background to know which ones are most reliable.

For Hellenismos (Hellenic Polytheism), I would recommend http://www.hellenion.org/index.html and http://www.neokoroi.org/index.htm for information on the practices as well as http://www.theoi.com/ for basic information on the Gods. There are other organizations and websites, but these are ones I know are reliable.

Answer 11

There's tons and tons of sites out there. You could just google it and get 1000s of sites. www.witchvox.com is a decent site for basic information. :)
Let me put it this way: all wiccans are pagan, but not all pagans are wiccans. In the same way that all catholics are christian, but not all christians are catholics. Does that make sense? Wicca is just a branch of paganism. Now witch...that's hard to explain because in all technicality, you don't even need to be pagan to be considered a witch. A witch...hmm. That's a little harder to explain. A witch is often someone who is a person who often believes in an earth-based belief system. They are often those who practice magick. Remember, not everyone casts spells. It's not a "requirement" that you cast spells. A witch could refer to someone who is pagan or wiccan. I hope that makes sense and helps you to differentiate between them. :)