Comparing Wicca, Witchcraft, And Paganism

One of the many old belief systems is witchcraft and sorcery. It is often believed that

The Wiccan rede is a list of thirteen statements that describe what a Wiccan is and

They follow the Wiccan Rede, “a rule that instructs Wiccans to do what they will, as long as it harms none,” (Pike, 2016, Online). It is this rule that shapes the foundation for the Wiccan ethical systems, healing practices, and rituals. Wiccans revere deities both in the male and female aspect, however, the female aspect tends to hold the most power. Their goddess is depicted in three female forms that represent the three stages of a woman’s life: the maiden, the mother, and the old woman. Their god is portrayed with horns and is believed to be the deity that represents nature. This deity’s portrayal with horns leads to the common misconception that he represents the Christian devil. Another basic principle describes how this misconception could not be further from the truth while at the same time bringing up another difference between the Wiccan religion and Christianity, “We do not accept the concept of absolute evil, nor do we worship any entity known as “Satan” or “The Devil” as defined by Christian traditions,” (Zimmermann & Gleason, 2000, p. 11). In the Christian religion, they believe there is only one God. Unlike Wicca, they do not hold the elements sacred. The Christian form of sacred is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Their deities are both believed to have three manifestations; Christians have the Father, the Son, and

Catholics are strictly monotheists, the belief that is only one true God (“Basic Tenets of Catholicism”). Catholics believe their god created the earth in six days and rested on the seventh. Pagans are polytheists, the belief that there are multiple Gods (“Pagan Beliefs”). Pagans have a god representing each day of the week, such as Tiu for Tuesday

They can’t be classified as a pagan if they don't worship a god they have to be a goddess or such as many gods. The pagan is not like a Christian that only believes in one god they believe in like nature gods and elemental gods. How these type of religion will worship

There are countless different assumptions about witches. The majority of individuals in the sixteenth and seventeenth century presumed that God and Satan were real (Lambert 1). They also assumed that “witches” were in allegiance with Satan and made a vow to bow down and serve him (Lambert 1). Furthermore, another common belief was

A Religion where spells are acceptable, the earth is celebrated and nature is a basic mold of the major concepts, paganism. The word "pagan" originates from the Latin term paganus which is defined as country dweller, at one point any person not being an active Christian was considered to be a pagan. Pagan followers have a different view on life, such as they believe in the natural forces of the earth, and consciously try to live with it. Another example illustrating how unique this religion is the fact that pagans are polytheistic, but have the one chief god that rules over the others, it's contradicting that a pagan can also have no belief in any one god. An interesting concept about this religion is that you are not told a certain way,

Idea of witches date back to the Renaissance and the period in history known as the witch craze.

Religious, I am a very religious person, I go to church as much as possible and know a lot about the bible, I believe at one time when jesus walked the earth there was miracles or some may call magic taken place. He performed these miracles to show everyone who he was and the power he had through his father God. He raised people from the dead, fed thousands of people with five loaves of bread and two fish, gave blind people sight. However once he went back to heaven he said “It is written” which means he was done performing miracles, I think at that point the power to do things like that were over. Non religiously, well witchcraft is considered to be spiritual as its self, so there is no ways to describe it but other than explain it as close to a religion which is the belief in yourself as being the one with the god like powers and performing these magic miracles. However I personally do not believe in these or that they couldn't even be

Wicca and witchcraft are dotted across every corner of the web. As you browse for Wicca, you will always stumble upon spells and magic. This is because magic spells and spell casting are a big part of Wiccans' ritual practices.

The journal “Women and Explanations for European Witchcraft Beliefs in the 16th and 17th Century,” debates whether witchcraft was a tradition or part of everyday culture. James Sharpe believed that witchcraft was a part of everyday culture during that period. People targeted others for revenge or said they were a witch because they were an outcast. Anne Laurence argues that Christian and secular prosecution developed common tradition of witchcraft by popularizing a belief neither of Sharpes

The following paper will talk about Wicca and Paganism as a religion within the United States. Wicca is a diverse community as a religion, but is not yet considered by any Supreme court case but some aspects such as traditions are recognized by the federal and state courts. This will be further touched upon further later on.

The Wiccan religion is one of the fastest growing religions in the United States as well one of the most misunderstood due to the controversies surrounding its history and mystery shrouding its beliefs and doctrines. Due to a series of popular TV series that have shown Witchcraft in a positive light, such as Sabrina, the Teen-aged Witch and Charmed, the popularity of Wicca has grown, especially amongst teenagers; but sadly this popularity has not been partnered with a growth in understanding and respect (Kaminer). Although Wicca offers a nature-oriented, egalitarian belief system with a rich collection of customs and rituals, ignorance and historically-rooted misconceptions still dominate public opinion.

Pagans believe that nature is only replete if it includes mankind within it. Pagan traditions do not have harmony on how to understand humans or the meaning of life, just for each to find their own purpose. They do however, believe that humanity is part of nature, not greater or inferior to the other things in

Shorter defines witchcraft as the “inborn power to harm others secretly and unjustifiably.” This mean, there is no reason, it shows that witches harm randomly because they are driven to do so. According to Magesa, they operate psychically and project from the mind their powers on the victim. There is no rite preformed or spell uttered. Magesa draw a dichotomy between a sorcerer and a witch thereby states, “The use