What Is Wicca?

So, what is Wicca?

For me, the relationship between Pagan, Witch, and Wicca can be described in a similar matter to describing Christianity and its various denominations and sects.

In other words, from Christianity, we get Roman Catholicism. From the Roman Catholic Church, we had the Protestant Reformation which, in turn, gave us a wide variety of Christian denominations that are further removed from the Roman Catholic Church.

Paganism and its sister paths come to us through a similar manner. Paganism is, more or less, a general term to describe millions of people and their religious paths. From Paganism, we can then see Witchcraft as a separate and unique religion. From Witchcraft, we now get to Wicca. One thing that is unique to Paganism, Witchcraft, and Wicca is that many of their adherents manage to practice Christianity in some form (or Judaism or Islam or Buddhism) and their Pagan-based religion.

Pagan

I will start with the word, “Pagan”. In the past, the term, “pagan”, referred to anybody who was a polytheist, to somebody who believed in more than just one god or deity. As time went on, this word was changed to include anybody who was not a follower of the three big Western religions; that is, somebody who is not Jewish, Christian, or Moslem. Now, we often see a Pagan who believes that deity is immanent as opposed to transcendent, the Divine as being here with us and acting with us as opposed to being outside of Creation, as above creation. Paganism is not actually a specific religion, just as Christianity is not one religion. It is a movement with room for a variety of beliefs and sects! Pagan is an umbrella term, one that covers a lot of different beliefs, groups, individuals, and practices.

Paganism is an umbrella term. It is not one specific religion with one set of beliefs, practices, and ethics. Paganism can include Witchcraft, Wicca, Shinto, Yoruba, and various other spiritual beliefs and practices. Paganism is not any one of these; it is all of these!

Witch

Now, a witch may be a Pagan—or he/she may not be a Pagan! We tend to assume that all witches are Pagan, but some of my best friends, for example, are what we can now call Christian Witches! Witches, whether Pagan or Christian, tend to believe in magick as a part of their practices and spiritual life. They use magick to manipulate energies in order to achieve a specific goal. They tend to incorporate a Goddess and a God into their pantheon and work with Them in ritual, worship, and magic (For Christian Witches, this may be God the Father and/or Jesus, and maybe one of the Marys as the Goddess). Witchcraft is also the largest single form of Paganism in the world today and it is the most influential form of Paganism that we see (White, 2010: 185).

But doesn’t the Bible say, … ?

Many people will bring up the Biblical injunction against witchcraft (and Paganism) by quoting Exodus, chapter 22: 18 in the King James Version. “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live!” In the Hebrew Bible, this would be Exodus 22: 17 and reads “Thou shalt not suffer a sorceress to live (יז מְכַשֵּׁפָה, לֹא תְחַיֶּה.).

But what does that verse actually say?

In the original Hebrew, the word, “witch”, is not actually used. Rather, the Hebrew word, “mekhashepha”, is found. This is the word which has been mistranslated into witch! In all actuality, what the verse should read is “Thou shalt not suffer a poisoner to live” or “Thou shalt not suffer an herbalist who uses their cuttings for evil purposes to live”.

Additionally, it may be argued that the verse is not referring to Israeli herbalists, but to PAGAN herbalists as a way to keep the Israelis a separate people! Jewish magical texts have existed for centuries and are nothing new. What appears to be anathema to the Hebrew scriptures are foreign magickal practices and beliefs—and this actually makes sense when you remember that:

1. The Jews had been enslaved in Egypt and, when they came to what is now Israel, they were attempting to lay their claim to these land and establish their own kingdom and national identity

2. While slaves in Egypt, they would have witnessed the magicks of the court magickians—and were determined not to have the same in their society!

I do have to remind you that many churches and other religious groups try to warn their members and followers away from certain practices that may be related to New Age studies, such as astrology, Tarot, and crystals. Their reasoning for this (and there is actually some truth in this) is that these studies can lead a person into Paganism, Witchcraft, and/or Wicca.

Wicca

Wicca is a newer religion than either Paganism or Witchcraft. It is also a more specific path. Yes, Wicca stems from both Paganism and Witchcraft, but it is a more specific faith system than Paganism (which can include a wide variety of radically different religious systems) and can be more narrowly defined than Witchcraft (which in itself can include a wide variety of different types of witchcraft, including Wicca). By definition, Wicca is a:

1. Modern form of Witchcraft

2. That is initiatory

3. And was founded in England,

4. Based upon ancient forms of Witchcraft and Paganism, ancient forms of pre-Christian religions

5. Duotheistic religion; it incorporates a Goddess and God into its natural framework

It seems that a part of the reason for the confusion about the words “Witch” and “Wicca” may stem from the Middle Ages in Europe. It seems that, at that time, the common Old English word was actually “wicca” and was pronounced as witch-a. The word, “wicce”, did not denote an actual religion or spiritual philosophy. Rather, it was the common term for what we would now call a sorceress or witch (with a small “w” to differentiate the non-religious witch from a modern day Witch).

That Modern English uses the word “Wicca” seems to be no accident! Apparently, “Wicca referred to a magician whose function was to weaken the power of evil”. Modern Wicca was brought about in England and was popularized by Gerald Gardner in 1954; this form of Wicca promoted itself as having been based on the ancient witchcraft practices of Ye Olde England and they kept the same word that the English used in the Middle Ages! The term Wicca is a continuation of the ancient practice of wicca to weaken the force of evil in the individual, the family, the community, the world.