4) What is Witchcraft/Wicca?
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This article is from the Paganism FAQ, by susanhk@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Susan Harwood Kaczmarczik) with numerous contributions by others.
4) What is Witchcraft/Wicca?
Wicca was the first (or at least one of the first) of the neopagan
religions. As a result, it is the best known, and tends to overshadow
its younger, smaller siblings. This bias appears in the postings in
alt.pagan and in this FAQ. This does not mean that Wicca is more
valid than other neopagan religions -- just larger and louder.
Wicca, however, is only one of the things called W/witchcraft (or
sometimes, the Craft, a term also applied to Masonry). There are a
whole range of styles of folk-magic around the world which are called
witchcraft in English. If the word Witch is capitalized, it indicates
that it is being used to refer to a member of a pagan religion, not
just to a practitioner of folk-magic. There are also Witches who
practice religions called Witchcraft which are not Wicca. These
religions tend to be more folk-pagan than Wicca, drawing on the
heritage of a specific culture or region.
Wicca itself is a new religion, drawing strongly on the practices
of Ceremonial Magic. While there are claims that Wicca goes back into
the mists of pre-history, honest examination of the practices and
history of the Wicca will make it clear that Wicca is new. (Actually,
the word "Wicca" itself is recently coined, at least in its present
usage. The OE "wicca" was pronounced "witch-ah" and meant male
magician. The new word "Wicca" is pronounced "wick-uh", capitalized
as a religion, and means a religion, not a person.) However, Wicca
has developed in many directions and should not be seen as a unified
whole, even though it is fairly new. Rituals and beliefs vary widely
among Witches.
Unlike most of the neopagan religions, Wicca is an initiatory
religion, that is, people who choose to practice Wicca believe that
the commitment to this path set changes in motion in their lives.
Many Traditions (sects) of Wicca formalize this with a ritual (or
series of rituals) of initiation. Others, especially Solitary
Witches, trust that the Gods will do the initiating of the Witch.
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