what the difference between heathenism and wicca?

Question

noone has ever explained...^-^
is heathenism always norse inspired???
*is confused*

haha you guys think i care....it makes me giggle...wasn't asking for opinions here

Answer 1

Wicca and Heathenism are quite different, though both are Neopagan religions. Heathenism is a form of Norse Reconstructionism -- it always refers to the Norse/Germanic pantheon. It is also sometimes called Asatru. They attempt, as closely as possible, to reconstruct the Old Religion of the ancient Scandinavians/Germans/Vikings/Norse. Much of their beliefs and practices are based on the Eddas, Sagas, and Archeology.

Wicca is a new religion that started in the 1950's, inspired by the theory that the Witchcraft Persecutions of the Middle Ages were actually an attempt to wipe out a pre-Christian Pagan religion. Wicca is an attempt to reconstruct, or reinvent, the Witchcraft religion of Europe (which may or may not have actually existed). Gerald Gardner is credited with starting Wicca, but there were a few others who were doing about the same thing around the same time. Central to Wicca is the idea of a Goddess and a Horned God, eight seasonal holidays called Sabbats, and nature worship.

There is a debate in the Pagan community between reinvention and reconstruction, which is funny, because while Wiccans will gleefully borrow ideas from Heathens, Heathens generally tend to look down on Wiccans for not being "historically accurate." Heathens, and some other Pagan reconstructionists, really hate being confused with Wiccans, whom they regard as "fluffy bunnies."

Answer 2

There is quite a bit of differences.

((to others - No, we don't worship Satan, we don't believe in him).

Heathenism is a reconstruction religion of the Northern European and Anglo-Saxons (Norse, Germanic, Teutonic, A/S, Viking, Nordic - yes). Some Wiccans do incorporate some of the Heathen deities but heathenism is different.

A few differences: a sun goddess and moon god (Wicca is the opposite) * no need for sacred/magic circles during rituals * the Nordic pantheon with no intermixing of pantheons * we don't believe in reincarnation * the soul/human is a complex entity of several components * there are 9 realms of existence (including Midgard - here) * not as much use of magic (if any) * the holidays are close but not quite the same - we have Harvest, not Halloween and our major holidays are Summer finding and Yule.

there's more but that's a good start.

Added: Bella - that's a common misconception but you are in error. Heathenism is a separate religion and not really compatible with Wicca without some major adjustments that most heathens don't attempt.

Edited: To those bashing Wicca, paganism and Heathenism - butt out. If you don't know about a subject, stay quiet and show us some of that Christian love and tolerance.

Answer 3

The word "Heathen" is Old English and means "person/people of the heath". In layman's terms, the common farm or country folk. Christians oftentimes refer to Pagans as "heathens", meant to marginalize or insult us, but those that do so, do not really know the real meaning of the word.

Those who follow Paganism, in all of it's myriad forms, are following the religious practices of the common man. And it doesn't matter what country or region the person is from or what form of Pagan practice they follow.

In modern Pagan Practices, to say that Heathenism is Nordic-based, is not technically accurate, because of the simple fact that there are no heaths in the Norse regions.


There is no historic record of any kind for Heathenism to have come directly from the Nordic beliefs. It does draw from the Norse, but is actually Anglo-Saxon in origin.

Answer 4

Heathens honor the old Norse Gods.
Wiccans honor whoever they want, but the majority believe that the God and Goddess are all the same, just under different names.

I honor the old Greek Gods.

I started out a simple Wiccan, then realized there is more than one god and one goddess, and I honor 14 Gods now. (all 12 olympian and 2 lesser Gods)

I'm a hard polytheist, but still practice Wicca in some ways.

Answer 5

There are a lot of differences between Heathenry and Wicca.

--Wiccans worship divinity in the form of male and female polarities known generically as the God and Goddess. Depending on who you ask some view them as separate entities and some view them as two aspects of one divine whole. Heathens are hard polytheists and don't see the individual Gods and Goddesses as aspects of one divine.

--Wiccans cast a circle and evoke the elements for their rituals. Heathen rituals, or fainings (blots if there is blood involved) tend to be much simpler and no circle casting is involved.

--Wiccans follow the Rede as the code of conduct concerning their ethical and moral behavior. Heathens generally follow their own concept of morals and right behaviors as demonstrated by the Gods (some Asatru go by the Nine Noble Virtues but not all do).

There are tons of other differences and I think the essay here: http://www.webcom.com/~lstead/wicatru.html explains them all very well.

And no Heathenry isn't always Norse inspired...there is also Germanic Heathenry, Anglo-Saxon, etc.

Answer 6

Wow... 14 answers and only three of them are anywhere near accurate. A lot of idiots are on tonight, I see.

From what I understand, heathenism is indeed Norse/Asatru. Heathenism is a part of paganism I'm not very familiar with, so I'll leave it to them to explain.

Wicca's traditions are newer, and tend to focus on polarity, rituals, etc. Wicca's also much more general with deities- we do have general representations of deities (triple goddess etc) however Wiccans are mostly left to figure out which deities we wish to focus on for ourselves.

I've also noticed that most fellow Wiccans tend to be very hippie-ish (minus drugs and free love) in the sense that we are more likely to strive for peace and harmony. Heathens tend to be a little less like that- I'm pretty sure they value warriors.

Answer 7

"Heathenism" is another term for Asatru, which is a reconstructionist Norse religion. Heathens follow Norse deities, study norse mythology and culture, and shape their ethics based on Norse concepts.

Wicca is a modern religion that is influenced by a great many different religions and schools of thought (such as ceremonial magic). It is heavily rooted in the four Platonic elements and gender polarity. Worship is centered around a god and goddess who may come from any number of pantheons.

Answer 8

Heathenry is the reconstruction of the practices of the ancient pre-Christian indigenous Northern European (aka Germanic which includes, but is not limited to, Norse). Heathenry is also sometimes referred to as Asatru or Forn Sed.

Try the website of the Asatru Folk Assembly.

http://www.runestone.org

They have a good online basic introduction primer on Asatru for beginners:

http://www.runestone.org/introduction/primer.html

Wicca was invented by Gerald Gardner in the 1940's and 1950's. While inspired by ancient European pagan religions, much of his material came from Freemasonry, 19th and early 20th Century Western ceremonial magick (Golden Dawn and Crowley which is where circle casting, calling quarters, athames, etc. came from), and Theosophy as well as the academically discredited theories of Margaret Murray (Horned God and Goddess duality, ancient universal "matriarchal" agrarian society claims, etc.). He cobbled it together into a workable system which many folks find useful.

Answer 9

Wicca was formed in the 50s. It believes in one Goddess and God, and all other gods and goddesses are aspects of them. They focus a lot on magic in their rituals.

Heathenism worships the Norse pantheon. All the gods are separate and unique, not aspects of each other. Magic is not important, and rituals are called blots (pronounced bloat) or sumbles. If you're curious about Heathenism, try reading this site for a good starter guide: http://www.erichshall.com/asanew/newtotru.htm

For a more through comparison of Wicca and Asatru, read this article: http://www.ravenkindred.com/wicatru.html

Answer 10

Heathenism is usually specific to a Germanic, Anglo Saxon, or Nordic faith, and is a nearly exact reconstruction... Wicca is a re-creation with a lot of guesswork to make it more full. It is duotheistic, (moreso anyway) while Heathenism is usually Polytheistic or Henotheistic. Wicca always has a magickal component, while Heathenism often doesn't use magick.