Help Meeeeee

[Silent Whisper]

this might be a dumb Q. but whats the difference between wiccan and pagen belafes???i suck at spelling but i think you no what i mean... blessed be

[Xander67]

no its not a dumb question

Wicca is a religion based on pagan traditions

the term "pagan" is used to descibe what has been comonly known as "the olde ways" earth religions

Druids, Wiccans, Qaballist, Strega...are all considered to be Pagan religions

let me use an anlalagy

Ice cream is like pagan as Vanilla and cholcolate is like Druids and Wiccans

ice cream= pagan
flavors= wicca, celts etc

[Silent Whisper]

i have heard that wicca is a neo-pagen. neo meaning new so there for new pagen...in other words am i pagen to? but just call myself wiccan??? like you said im ment but ice cream to?

[Xander67]

NEO PAGAN?? NOOOOOO

Wicca is older than Christianity even...
there are some cunfused souls who think that wicca is a "new age religion" when in fact wicca has been around long before christianity

not all ice cream is mint

and not all pagans are wiccan

just like not all birds are ducks

Wicca is just one of many religions in the pagan culture

a very good book is from Lewellyn publications titled" the wiccan mysteries" It does a good job of explaining it and on Goddesofwisdom's site click on the echowitch info link for an accurate attempt to clarify it

[GoddessofWisdom]

I have a hard time distinguishing between the different branches myself (because I have too many branches crammed into my head and I get confused )


but heres what I found


What is the difference between paganism, Wicca and witchcraft?






Paganism is best defined by what it is not rather than what it is. Paganism is literally hundreds of things, among them Asatru(worship of the Norse Gods), Kemetic/Netjer (worship of the Egyptian Gods), Native American and Australian Aborigine shamanism, Wicca, witchcraft, Voodoo, Afican Native religion, and too many others to fully list here. A pagan is generally defined as a follower of a nature religion that is not part of Christianity, Islam, or Judaism. The word pagan comes from the latin word for country dweller, and was originally used as a derogatory term by the Romans to describe any country "hick" who was unsophisticated or practiced a non-mainstream religion (and incidentally the early Christians were called pagans by the Romans LOL).
Wicca is then a subset of paganism. Wicca is a word first used around 50 years ago or so to define a type of religion reconstructed from what is thought to have been practiced by witches in ancient times, ie. a belief in the God and Goddess(in all Their many forms and names), honoring the Rede, (An it harm none, do as ye will), the Rule of Three (whatever you put out comes back to you three times), and celebrating the Wheel of the Year (the eight sabbats: Samhain, Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltaine, Litha, Lammas, and Mabon), full and new moons (Esbats)and practicing magick. There are lots of variations within Wicca (the variations are called traditions) based on various interpretations and personal beliefs(I have heard it said that there are as many traditions as there are Wiccans). Some of the more formalized traditions are Gardnerian, Alexandran, Faery, and Celtic, but there are many, many more.
Witchcraft can be defined as the worship of Nature and the practice of magick. And witches may or may not subscribe to the same beliefs as Wiccans. So some people might consider themselves witches but not Wiccan, or vice versa, or pagan but not Wiccans or Witches. Or all three as I do. I consider myself a pagan, a Wiccan, and a witch. It is all up to personal interpretation (as it should be). I tend to use Wicca and Witchcraft interchangeably (though I prefer the word Wicca because it is not laden with all the emotional baggage and sterotypes leftover from the Burning Times), though to some people they are not, but then this all boils down to word games.


http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Parthenon/2178/pagan.html

[Myst]

Please.

Use the search feature here at MW to find the many threads about Paganism and Wicca.

[talamh]

My understanding of the term "neopagan" is that because paganism has largely been an oral tradition, there is no reliable or accurate way of knowing which "pagan" traditions are very old and handed down through the millenia and which have been developed in the past hundred years or so.

So pagan was then and neopagan is now... at least in academic usage....

i don't think it really matters.... as long as what is done is meaningful and creative. Some pagans are very touchy about the term neopagan.. as if it implies a lack of authenticity. i think the authenticity is in the intent and experience... not in the name. bb talamh

[Xander67]

:mad: NOT NEOPAGAN NOT NEW AGE

how bout "a return back to the olde ways"?:) :)

[Twilight Garden]

Wicca may not be so new/neo, but many Wiccan "Traditions" (or Denominations for the Christian style mindframe) are. I think it depends on your Tradition. If you don't follow one, that makes it a completely different story. You may be doing mostly all old-school stuff or you could be doing new stuff or incorporating both. I'm no expert on this in any form. This is what I have been told by many Elders.