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What is Wicca?
What is Pagan?
What is the difference?
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Wicca is an earth based religion typically associated with witchcraft. "Pagan" is a term created by the Catholic church to basically mean anything that is NOT Christian.
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They are...
not good. God bless us all!
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Wicca is a nature based religion that for the most part worships different Pantheon deities with emphasis, I feel, on Goddess worship. It is a Pagan religion because it doesn't believe in a single Deity and doesn't adhere to the concept that there is only one way to heaven primarily through Jesus Christ. There are all kinds of different Pagan religions. Example: All Wiccans are Pagans but not all Pagans are Wiccans. (Generally true except for a new rise in Christians who say they are also Wiccans.) Pagan is a blanket term for any religion that is not Christian based. Wicca is just one of those religions.
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Pagan is any religion that isn't one of the Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Islam, and Judaism). A Wiccan is a Pagan but a Pagan isn't neccesarily a Wiccan.
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Wicca is an earth-based religion that (generally) sees "the Divine" as a pair of deities - a mother Goddess and an annually reborn God. Since it's inception (some will say revival or renewal) in the early part of the last century (that would be the 1930s-50s, just for clarification), many different variations have sprung up throughout the world.
Pagan is an umbrella-term that refers to any member of a non-Christian faith. It is not a religion or faith of it's own.
Because Wicca is the most recognized of the Pagan paths, the words are often, erroneously, used interchangeably. Wiccans *are* Pagan, but not all Pagans are Wiccans.
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Wicca is an earth-loving religion that believes in a god and a goddess and is often(but not always) associated with witchcraft. Their main moral standard is known as the Wiccan Rede: "An ye harm none; do what ye will"
A Pagan can be described in several ways, it's commonly defined as anyone who follows a religion with more than one deity, but really means "country dweller". The more correct defintion is a follower any religion with "local" gods, like the Greeks and Romans who would have different gods for different cities. The term has evolved in more modern terminology to mean a follower of almost any "non-book religion" or polytheistic religion, allowing Wicca to fall under that category, although being a "modern" version of paganism, its better defined as new age or neopagan.
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You can be both a Wiccan and a witch, these two words are not the same
One of the biggest sore points among Wiccans is the improper usage of the terms "Wiccan" and "Witch". Too many people use the terms interchangably, presuming that they both mean the same thing. They do not.
Wiccan
Wicca is a religion, and someone who follows that religion is called a Wiccan. Sometimes it can be difficult to accurately define Wicca, and not all Wiccans will define themselves the same way. Observing the 8 Wiccan Sabbats, honoring the Gods and/or Goddesses, creating sacred space for rituals, to name a few. Many traditional Wiccans also feel that belonging to a coven is also a requirement and that those who practice their religion as a solitary, should not refer to themselves as Wiccan. Personally, I'm still not sure on that point. Typical Wiccans also practice magick, and therefore are also witches. You cannot be a "natural Wiccan" any more than you could be a "natural Christian".
Witch
The practice of witchcraft is not associated with any religion, therefore you can be a witch and yet also be a member of any number of religions (or none). Using the natural energies within yourself, along with the energies of herbs, stones or other elements to make changes around you is considered witchcraft. Though the skills and gifts that are part of witchcraft can be inherited from parents or grandparents, you aren't automatically a witch just because your grandmother may have been one. The use of magick takes practice, experience and learning. On a side note, a male witch is called a witch, not a warlock.
Pagan
Paganism refers to a variety of non-Christian/Jewish/ Islamic religions that are usually polytheistic and are often nature-based. Wicca is only one Pagan religion, but there are others such as Santeria, Asatru, or Shamanism. Many people do not necessarily identify with a specific religion, and just use the broad term "Pagan" to define their spiritual path. Pagan religions are distinct and separate from each other, and it should not be assumed that they are just different names for the same faith.
