Paganism vs Witchcraft

Frequently asked questions about witchcraft, Wicca, magick, paganism, and the occult. Subjects include love spells, Ouija boards, curses, Law of Attraction, and what to do if you don't have the needed tools, ingredients, altar, etc.
Post Reply
mitchelwolfs

Paganism vs Witchcraft

Post by mitchelwolfs »

I'm new here, but not new to the craft. I've followed the pagan path for 3 years now. People ask me about my pentagram and say that I do witchcraft. I tell them about what I do, but is paganism and witchcraft different, the same, or is witchcraft just the term for when we do magick?
User avatar
SpiritTalker
Banned Member
Posts: 6237
Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2016 9:51 am
Gender: Female
Location: Earth temporarily

Re: Paganism vs Witchcraft

Post by SpiritTalker »

Just replying to an old, unanswered FAQ post - that never had a reply but is still browsed.

I’m guessing that if people commented on a pentacle it’s because they saw the OP wearing a pentacle as an emblem of a spiritual path. The encircled, five point star is a common ritual tool found in modern ritual-witchcraft practice. It is also an old symbol pre-dating Christian religions but was briefly adopted by early Christians to symbolize the 5 wounds of Christ. To an ancient Jew it might represent the Pentateuch. It is seen in Pennsylvania Dutch “hex” designs. It is seen in Arcadian & Sumerian designs, in fact, it’s seen in ancient cultures world wide. There’s no single ownership or just one meaning.

Paganism generally is used as the broadest word for a religion that isn’t Hebraic, Islamic or Christian. These 3 are called Abrahamic because they share that figure in their beliefs. Paganism is a broad term and can refer to a structured religion (ex. Shinto, Hindu) or a spiritual path with a Nature-based story of creation. And might use magic or not.

Witchcraft & Magic are words that refer to structured methods of manifesting intention & possibly evolved from shamanistic practices going back to deer carved on rock stelae or painted on cave walls, so i think it must be part of the genetic strain introduced with Neanderthal-Cro-Magnon-Homo-Sapien-human. Magical use was at least recorded in ancient Nordic, Sumerian-Egyptian & Greco-Roman writing from where branches of modern European magical practices take their form.

So in my thinking - and you don’t have to agree - paganism and witchcraft are different in the details but share broad foundations in the development of human kind.
User avatar
Starwitch
Owner
Owner
Posts: 4864
Joined: Wed Feb 25, 2004 11:42 pm
Gender: Female
Location: Chattanooga, TN
Contact:

Re: Paganism vs Witchcraft

Post by Starwitch »

Good answer, thanks SpiritTalker.

To simplify:

"Paganism" an umbrella term, like "Judeo-Christian". It covers a lot of beliefs and religions.
Wicca is a religion, like Christianity.
Witchcraft is a practice, the same way prayer, laying-on hands, and speaking in tongues are practices that Christians do.
Post Reply

Return to “F.A.Q.”