How many pagans do NOT consider themselves witches?

Question

In real life I constantly have people telling me "Oh your a witch!" when I tell them I am pagan. And I know many pagans DO consider themselves witches. I don't at all but I am curious as too how many do. How many consider yourselves withes and what trad?

I don't consider myself a witch and I'm Heathen

I have started to tell people I am Heathen from the get go. They can ask if they are interested.

Answer 1

Obviously I'm a witch, but I think you have a good point. There is a lot of focus on witchcraft in the Pagan community. Though I know many reconstructionist religions are less focused on witchcraft, and more on the traditional role of the theology and practices.

I'm a non-theistic Pagan, eclectic, and a witch.

Answer 2

While I do practice magic I do NOT consider myself a witch. I follow the Nordic religion and practice the magic associated with that (Runes, seidhr), the proper term being Vitki. Part of the problem is that those pagans that are witches are the ones that get the most attention and press and the media does not make a distinction between the word pagan and the word witch. Add to that the fact that many witches (and Wiccans) portray themselves as representative of ALL pagans and people that don't know the difference use the words witch, pagan and Wiccan interchangably, so when someone hears the word pagan they automatically think witch.

Personally I got tired of having to explain so instead of telling people I am a pagan I tel them I'm Asatru. I actually very rarely use the term Pagan unless I am referrering to the Pagan community as a whole, otherwise I use the individual religious designation for the system I am referring to.

Answer 3

Witch here.. my belief is a bit different.. I'm not Wiccan.. that's a religious system. I believe witches are born and that it is a birthright. I think that too many people see "pagan" and think Wiccan instead.
To me, witchcraft is animist, pantheist, ancestral. Witchcraft and Wicca are not the same thing (they're close, but so are Druidry, Shamanism, Tao, Voudoun and most indigenous 'sorceries'. What Witchcraft does not have is a hierarchy of better-than and lesser-than or a standard, pay-as-you-go structured training method that goes from a to z, with mail-out grading and/or ranking according to theories learned according to the associated authorities. So you won't be disappointed if we don't join you up ;)

I do understand that there are heathens, hellenists, satanists, et al who can fall under the "pagan" umbrella. It must be frustrating to constantly be labeled something you're not. I understand. As soon as I say 'witch', it's immediately assumed that I'm Wiccan.

Answer 4

Your assessment is correct. The closest you can find is actually Catholicism, which in fact is poorly disguised Paganism and not truly Christian. To understand this one needs only to look at their policies and practices in relation to direct scriptural edicts (don't worship angels saints etc., don't bow down to graven images, call none father but the Father in Heaven, one is saved by grace not works, etc.). In Catholicism they even go so far as to pick so called "patron saints", reminiscent of the pagan practice of choosing patron deities (in fact stolen directly from them). All that claim to be Christian are not Christian you know them by their "fruits", just like everyone that calls themselves "pagan" or "witch" (or whatever label is convenient to them) correctly represents those people. A pagan can call themselves a Christian all they want ,but their true colors will show. P.S. I didn't get to answer another question and would like to add my two cents. The more ardently a person in your life tries to convert you the more you should understand that you are loved. Many new Christians in their zeal forget that sometimes they need to tell you about what has happened in their life and let their new life do the rest of the witnessing for them. As spiritual newborns they many times charge off where they are not prepared to go; how many times do young children want desperately try to help do something they are not equipped to do yet? Again I say take it with the patience that you can for someone that loves you very much and does not want you to wind up in eternal torment (by your own choosing not God's I might add). Firmly and gently tell them you understand that their heart is in the right place, and you appreciate their concern and love for you, but right now you are not ready to give up living for yourself and that you know where they are if and when you are ready (assuming you live that long). I hope that can help.

Answer 5

LOL I consider myself to follow the path of Wicca the most but I do not consider myself to be a witch. I don't really think that one has to be a witch to be a Wicca or any other pagan religion. or vice versa for that matter. Witchcraft and religion are two separate things. While some may practice witchcraft while being one of the pagan religions it is not a necessity. I do know what you mean though. Its just proof of the lack of knowledge out there regarding the Pagan religions. Everyone gets confused because the people who are "teaching" about religion the most are Christians and most Christians know very little about other religions. I mean they shouldn't to be a good christian because their book tells them they cannot. While most pagan religions encourage the learning of other religions to better oneself. interesting huh?

Answer 6

in the mundane world, they have heard the term 'witch' and have false assumptions about what it means to be a witch. they know little about most pagan faiths, just that witches are usually pagan, therefore, they associate all pagans with witchcraft. i consider a witch to be an expert magical practitioner with one or more specialties. i am not a witch and never will be because i don't want to become a specialist in any particular field of study. likewise, i will never be a follower of just one faith. i'm a pagan by religion, and that's it.

Answer 7

I'm a Witch. My current Tradition is NROOGD, which is also the "public" Trad for a lot of actual Wiccans (Gardnerians, Alexandrians, and so on)

I certainly am aware that many, many Pagans are not Witches.

And not all Witches are Wiccans. In fact, FEW are, in the overall scheme of things (and few who call themselves Wiccan actually are). There are many, many forms of Witchcraft - Wicca is just one type.

Answer 8

I'm a pagan Taoist. I consider myself a witch because I do occassionally cast spells (of course only on myself, like meditation). No tradition, my own symbols and actions for my own purpose.

I agree with what you say and I define a witch as someone who practices witchcraft. But considering how many people think we're devil worshippers, I would hardly expect anyone not intimate with paganism to know the difference. It might be a nice opportunity to explain the difference.

Answer 9

I'm an Hellenic Reconstructionist, so, no, there isn't any "witchcraft" involved in my practises. A lot of rituals, a lot of offerings, some divination here and there, but not all witches practice divination and my rituals are rather solemn in comparison to those practised by an adherent to Wicca.

I'm in this LiveJournal community, "pimp_your_altar", where lots of pagans and witches of all stripes post photos of their shrines and altars. And I think somebody in there might be Catholic, cos I distinctly remember a Virgin Mary shrine of some sort. Once, I posted various photos of my own shrines, including the offering jar to Zeus Ktesios in my kitchen. One of the first people to comment said "What does that jar help you with? I might make one."

I respond: "It's not 'magical', it's an offering. I'm an Hellenic polytheism reconstructionist. I don't need help with anything."

Fortunately, people who weren't her found that comment hilarious, and likewise agreed that this McWiccan assumption that "Wicca is Pagan, therefore all Paganism is Wiccan" HAS TO end, and it should end with the general Pagan community first. Likewise, not all witchcraft is Wiccan, either (despite what anybody reads from $ilver Ravenwolf) -- Wicca is kind of a crazy-quilt of witchcraft and Pagan traditions, so while, say (and I'm just pulling this out of my ****, by the way), Wicca may have borrowed X from voodoo traditions, that does NOT make voodoo Wiccan. Wicca is a distinct and very much modern form of witchcraft, voodoo is much older than and is very distinct from Wicca. I'm sure there are other examples, but I also just woke up.

Answer 10

Pagan/Witch/Alexandrian Wiccan