Many people seem to get confused between the three words Witch, Pagan and Wiccan. There are crossovers to be sure, but each is also distinct on it’s own. The line can get mighty blurred since Pagans often call themselves witches as well, and vice versa.
What is a witch? A witch is someone who practices magic. The magic practiced by a witch is usually folk magic such as lighting candles, using herbs and oils, etc. They also may perform divination, necromancy and a host of other spiritual or magical skills.
Witches have been known in all cultures. Sometimes they are looked upon as positive members of the community, while in other cultures they are feared and shunned. Witches don’t share a morality code, so where one witch may lean towards doing only positive magic, another may feel justified in using it for revenge or harm. A witch can be someone from any religion, and what it boils down to is that a Witch practices the craft of the witch.
Pagan is a term used to identify someone who believes in multiple Deities as opposed to one. Wiccans, Asatru, and many others would be considered Pagan because they believe in a host of Gods and Goddesses and not just one God or Goddess. Pagans are polytheists while Christians are considered to be monotheists and who believe in Jesus. Of course if you stepped into any Catholic church and see statues of Mary and the Saints, you may be scratching your head over this one. But they claim there is only one God, so they are technically monotheists.
The word Pagan is an umbrella term. There are many traditions that fall under the umbrella of the term Pagan, just as there are many denominations (Baptist, Catholic, Mormon, etc) that fall under the title of Christian. A Pagan’s tradition may be Wiccan, Asatru, Druidry, etc. These days eclectic Paganism is quite popular with people taking from many sources to create their own individualized spirituality.
On to the last word here – Wicca. Wicca is a religion, but to make things even more complex, not only are there many traditions of Paganism, there are also many Wiccan traditions. Wicca was created by Gerald Gardner in the 1950′s. There is some controversy around this story since Gardner claimed to be initiated by a witch named Dorothy Clutterbuck which no one can prove existed. Controversy aside, Gardner created his own system of worship of the Gods and Goddesses as well as his own magical system in which he borrowed bits and pieces from many sources. Wicca tends to focus on a God and a Goddess with the belief that all Gods are one God, and all Goddesses are one Goddess. However, even this may vary depending on the tradition. There is even a Dianic tradition of Wicca which only worships a Goddess. I don’t know enough about them to know whether She has a God as a consort or not.
Wiccans used to practice magic as part of their religion and when initiated were generally given the title of “witch and priest/ess”. Wiccans have been changing quite a bit in the last few decades, to where you may meet modern Wiccans who call themselves witches, yet don’t believe in using magic. I disagree with them calling themselves witches if they don’t practice magic since a witch is a person who uses witchCRAFT. I believe they are using the word witch in the context of ‘wise one’, but the wisdom is in reference to plant lore, spirits and other energies. If one doesn’t use these skills, I don’t believe they should call themselves a witch.
As a little side note here, I’m sure some of you have heard that you must be initiated in order to be a witch. This is just my opinion, but I believe that nothing could be farther from the truth. There are witches who learn on their own through books and trial and error who become quite accomplished, as well as hereditary witches who did not necessarily perform initiations. There have always been those who felt the calling and just learned however they could. No initiation was needed, they just practiced on their own.
If you want to learn and work with a group in a specific tradition, that’s when initiation becomes necessary. A certain tradition may require levels of initiation to learn their particular mysteries, and I see that as quite valid as well. You are learning their tradition in their way.
So to sum it up, a Pagan is a polytheist who may or may not be Wiccan, and may or may not be a witch.
A Wiccan is generally a Pagan and also may or may not be a witch.
A witch is someone who practices witchcraft, and may be Pagan, Christian, or other religion, or even no religion at all. Most males who practice the craft prefer to call themselves by other names than witch, such as Rootworker, Root Doctor, Wizard, Magician, and others. Male Wiccans however, will call themselves witches whether the actual practice of witchcraft is there or not.
Article by Draiga Wolfsong
www.MysticCauldron.com
