Difference between Wicca and Pagan

[Pussycat1]

Could anyone please clarify in the simplest way the difference between being Wicca and being Pagan? I have been doing some online research but it appears there is a lot of contradicting information/views which have confused me (not that this is hard). Thanks x

[AdastraJunction]

The difference between Paganism/Wicca is Paganism is an umbrella term. Paganism is used to describe any religions outside of Christianity, Judaism, or Judeo-Christian. Wicca is a form of Paganism, meaning it is a religion that falls under it. Paganism describes a number of religions, such as: Wicca, Taoism, Satanism, Buddhism, Sikhism, etc. Wicca is just one particular religion that falls under this umbrella term.

There is a common misconception that all Pagans are witches, and that all Pagans are Wiccans. This is not true. Wicca is just a religion, that falls under the term of Paganism. It is not the same. Not all Pagans are witches, and not all Pagans are Wiccans. There are some similarities in both Paganism and Wicca. For example, the symbol of Paganism and Wicca in particular, is the pentacle. The pentacle is a symbol for the five element: fire, water, earth, air and spirit.

Paganism actually came years before Christianity. Wicca did not. Wicca is a more modern form of Paganism. The term "Pagan" actually means "country dweller". The term "Wicca" means "witchcraft."

A person who considers themselves a Pagan, usually is polytheistic. Polytheistic means one believes in more than one deity, whether that is a god or a goddess. In Wicca, some believe in a just a God, some believe in just a Goddess, and some believe in both. There are even some who believe in a number of gods and/or goddesses. So, Paganism and Wicca is one in the same, yet different.

Paganism does not have a founder. Wicca does. The founder of Wicca is Gerald Gardner. There are many Sabbats and Esbats that are celebrated in Wicca. Most people believe that these holidays are only celebrated in Wicca. This is inaccurate. These holidays, Sabbats, and Esbats are Pagan holidays. The Christians stole these holidays from the Pagans, in order to convert Pagans to Christianity.

In Paganism, you do not have to practice witchcraft. In Wicca, witchcraft is usually practiced, because Wicca is the religion of witchcraft. That is another major difference between Paganism/Wicca.

[Siona]

To slightly clarify a few points...

For example, the symbol of Paganism and Wicca in particular, is the pentacle. The pentacle is a symbol for the five element: fire, water, earth, air and spirit.

The pentacle gets associated with paganism frequently, but there are quite a few pagan traditions where the pentacle isn't involved in the tradition at all (and there are other traditions where the pentacle even occasionally has a different meaning).

There are many Sabbats and Esbats that are celebrated in Wicca. Most people believe that these holidays are only celebrated in Wicca. This is inaccurate. These holidays, Sabbats, and Esbats are Pagan holidays. The Christians stole these holidays from the Pagans, in order to convert Pagans to Christianity.

The wheel of the year, as it's generally called, is kind of a mash-up of holidays from a few different old pagan traditions... Like Samhain is Celtic, but Yule is Germanic. These are also not the only pagan holidays, and there are pagans who do not celebrate the wheel at all (or only celebrate the parts relevant to their tradition). As an example, a Greek reconstruction would be pagan, but they would follow the Greek festival calendar, not the wheel. There are lots of different holidays that different pagan traditions follow.

As for Christianity stealing holidays, I think in a lot of cases it's just folk traditions being absorbed into the new religion (as pagan traditions often did as well), rather than a deliberate act done by the church. Don't want to get too off topic, though...

In Paganism, you do not have to practice witchcraft. In Wicca, witchcraft is usually practiced, because Wicca is the religion of witchcraft. That is another major difference between Paganism/Wicca.

And just to be extra clear, not all witches are Wiccan. I'm a pagan and a witch (hedgewitch) but not at all a Wiccan. There are many non-Wiccan forms of witchcraft. There are also witches who wouldn't consider themselves pagan, either.

The issue with the term pagan is it is a very broad term which covers many different traditions, and those who simply identify as pagan who sort of create their own path based on pagan ideas/practices/etc. Pagans can have different beliefs on morality, deity, magic, ritual practice, holidays, any tools used, other beliefs... basically anything. Two different pagans can believe and practice two totally different sets of things. Whereas, as was mentioned, Wicca is a particular pagan religion - which to make matters more confusing, also has it's own traditions... there is Gardnerian Wiccan, Alexandrian Wicca, and many others. Wiccans will usually have similar beliefs and practices to other Wiccans, but a Wiccan and a pagan of another tradition may be completely different in practice and belief.

[Pussycat1]

Thank you for your replies, these are both areas I want to explore further and hopefully in time I will have a more definite path to follow x

[LiebeUndLicht]

A Pagan is an umbrella term for lots of different traditions, for example you can be a Druid which is a Pagan but if you are a Druid then you are not a Wiccan. I am pretty sure the other answers have clarified though so I am not really going to say much more.

[Siona]

Thank you for your replies, these are both areas I want to explore further and hopefully in time I will have a more definite path to follow x

You might be interested in a book called 'Paganism 101: An Introduction to Paganism by 101 Pagans' by Trevor Greenfield. It's a book where people of different pagan traditions give their perspective on different things, and it helps to give an idea of some of the different paths out there, and how they can vary greatly from each other. I don't think it covers every single path, that would be quite hard to do, but a fair number of some of the more popular paths are in there if I remember right.

While reading about different traditions, it's also good to remember that most pagan paths have different sects within the same grouping... like there are different Wiccan traditions, and there are also different druid traditions, different traditional witch traditions, and so on, so even within the same group sometimes you see some slightly different ideas and practices. If you're familiar with Christianity, it's like how baptists, Methodists, Catholics, etc are all types of Christian and share some base beliefs together, but they also have some different ideas on things.

[Shub Niggurath]

The difference between Paganism/Wicca is Paganism is an umbrella term. Paganism is used to describe any religions outside of Christianity, Judaism, or Judeo-Christian. Wicca is a form of Paganism, meaning it is a religion that falls under it. Paganism describes a number of religions, such as: Wicca, Taoism, Satanism, Buddhism, Sikhism, etc. Wicca is just one particular religion that falls under this umbrella term.

Just to clarify, most of eastern religions are not considered pagan. The term "pagan" mostly (but not exclusively!) refers to european indigenous polytheistic/animistic religions. Buddhism is nontheistic, Sikhism is monotheistic, Taoism is a heterogeneous tradition of philosophy and mixed religious beliefs. Also, Judaism is not only monotheistic - some of its factions are pagan (Jewish neopaganism, Jewitchery, Kabbalah etc).
But anyway, only for christians "any religions outside of christianity, judaism or judeo-christian" are considered pagan. Which is obviously not true. They usually use the term "pagan" to describe any "heresy" and "satanic religion" (heavy sarcasm here).

As Siona suggested, if you're interested in paganism it's definitely worth a deeper research - read the "Paganism 101" or maybe research through wikipedia as a start. It's good to be knowledgeable
Here's a list of modern pagan movements: Click

[HazelQ.boggslyon]

I found this on pinterest

Edit:
(The link wasn't working and when I tried to fix it it was too large to submit.
I screwed it up, I'm sorry. If you can find the pic again, please repost.
Mod, Firebird)