Pagan Village News

Though there seems to be few who realize this, not all witches are Wicca's, but almost all Wicca are witches. Many people believe that the words witch and Wicca are synonymous. They clearly are not. The actual religion of Wicca is not yet over a century old. This is not to say that all the traditions are not. Stream witchcraft and many family traditions are centuries old, yet Wicca itself is a new religion based on these older ones. Whereas witchcraft has existed since before written history.

What is the difference between a witch and a Wicca? Wicca is a religion and witchcraft is a science, the science of magic to be exact. Wicca is a positive earth based religion that uses magic in the form of rituals. Witchcraft is the use of magic, therefore most, if not all Wicca re witches, but not all witches are Wicca.

Anyone, regardless of religious background can be a witch. The only requirement is that they use magic. If more people knew the difference between these two, they would not toss them about so freely, and then the media would have an easier time defining what Wicca truly is.

The term witch can describe many different pagan groups. There are Satanic witches, and Wicca witches, as well as kitchen or witchy witches. This can leave a large factor for misunderstanding. If you say that you are a witch, be sure to point out what kind of witch you are. Many describe themselves as eclectic witches or Wicca witches.

As well as Paganism being used as a general term for all ancient and modern religions that identify Nature as the body of the Divine. Some other cultural Paganism is, Hinduism of India, Shinto of Japan, Santeria, Voudon and Macumba of the African Diaspora, and Taoism of China. Since many people are pantheistic, when Pagans speak of many Gods and Goddesses, this is a polytheistic imagery, which may be meant metaphorically.

These Earth religions include Wicca, Druidism, Shamanism just to name a few, while traditional religions of indigenous people include such variations as Voodoo, Ifa, Santeria, and Eclectic Native American which inspired medicine societies. Other variations of widespread religions that do honor Nature and Earth and our place in it as well as other mystic beliefs and practices are Moslem, Sufi, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Taoist, Christian; again just to name a few.

A Pagan is a part of an eclectic, mostly modern religious movement which does encompass a wide array of religions that revere the Divine in nature and also draw upon the myths and symbols of ancient faiths.

Neo-Paganism is a collection of widely diversified contemporary religions, rooted in indigenous traditions and experiencing inspiration from them. These religions are based on and characterized by the belief that there is an interconnection with all life, immanent divinities, and personal autonomy. Not only is it Nature centered, it is of gender equality and equity.

A witch, practitioner of Wicca/Paganism, honors the Divine in Nature and uses magick as a tool for not just personal, but global transformation. A witch typically worships both male and female deities. There are instances, such as Dianics, who worship and work with only Goddesses. Witches also celebrate “The Wheel of the Year”, birth, death, and rebirth at the changing of the seasons.

Therefore, a Pagan is a believer in pantheism, ploytheism, and naturism. These are not all inclusive as seen by non-Judeo, Christian/Christ, and Zoroastrian as being Odinist/Pagan. Pagans main tenet is the worship and being in harmony with the Earth and with all life. Pagans believe the world is a resource not to be subdued or exploited. Another belief is that the divinity takes many forms in all cultures and the civilizations and that Pagan is a general term including a broad array of religions that revere the Divine in nature and/or drawn upon myths and symbols of ancient faiths.

Witch encompasses many a number of religious systems that consider the Earth as being sacred. They use spells to focus and amplify the will. This is generally for the good of all humankind and all creatures, as well as for the good of the Earth. They believe in the divine feminine as well as the masculine and are attuned to the cycles of the seasons (The Wheel of the Year) and the cycles or phases of the moon (Moon cycles). Depending on the culture or locale in which it is practiced, these may be slightly different. Some examples are; Europe/Celtic, Germany/Powwow, Christian/Irish and Masonic, Meditterranean/Strega, Sicilian, and Greek, just to name a few.

The term “witch” can be expanded, as it has been by anthropologist, to be Shamanic Healers, Paleo-Asiatic Tribes, and the Austrian Aborigine.

But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.
--Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia, 1782

Moon Phase

Planetary Hour