Essay on Wicca Vs. Paganism

It is important to note that Wiccans are not the type of witches that are often portrayed in Hollywood films nor do they necessarily look as you have been taught to expect. Many turn to Wiccan or Paganism because they find their selves to be lost within their culture and society. Reasonings as to why the Wiccan lifestyle as a religion is charming to people is because they tend to be open to most with an open mind. Free thinking is encouraged and meditation is a regular thing to gain positive energy.

Religions across the globe have their own distinctive rites and rituals, idols, traditions, and values. Each have in common a desire to explain something unexplainable by common wisdom, or attributing some aspect of life to some higher power. Many religions have at their heart etiological stories, which explain some sort of natural phenomenon through the physical manifestation of their deity or deities. From high winds and thunderstorms to love, fertility, and the sun, such religions focus on the physical world in this life. Other religions try to explain the "next" life or the afterlife. These religions usually give a moral code to live by, with stricter adherence to this code offering a better afterlife.

Witch comes from ‘wic’ which means to bend of shape consciousness/events of life through meditations & chants.

Witchcraft is a religion. Wicca is one type of Witchcraft, but the term "Wicca" is occasionally applied to Witchcraft in overall. In the United States, most people who practice this religion call themselves Witches or Wiccans. It is an earth-based religion and in some ways is similar to Native American spirituality. Wicca (sometimes called Wicce, The Craft, or The Old Religion) is based on an ancient religion of love for life and nature. The religion of Witchcraft or Wicca is recognized by most state governments, the federal government, and the United States Armed Forces. The courts have recognized the right of even prisoners to practice this religion on an equal basis with other religions. In ancient times, people appreciated the great forces of Nature and celebrated the seasons’ cycles and the moon. They saw spirituality in the sun and moon and in the Earth Herself. Basically, in all life.

Stereotypes and misconceptions are mainly false assumptions and beliefs about different cultures and groups. The reason as to why stereotypes and misconceptions exist is because many individuals Stereotypes are basically oversimplified images or ideas used to describe the gender, nationality or even nature of a certain type of person. While some stereotypes are humourous, they can also provide a negative impact upon their targets. Misconceptions, on the other hand, are false and rude accusations directed upon a certain individual or group. There are many stereotypes and misconceptions that are directed towards individuals of the Pagan religion because, since it represents only a small portion of the population, other individuals are

The two biggest differences we have from the Classical witch and the Christian Ideal featured in their sacred texts, is definitely the connotation that either receives and, the powers they may or may not have. In the first, witches aren’t seen in a negative light; just as they are in the later doctrine (the word Witch was created by the Christian Faith later on.) Before, they were known as oracles, and in some cases, as humans gifted by pagan deities, or the deities themselves (the case with some

There are many religions throughout the world today. Although there are several different religions, many individuals are not educated about the other beliefs besides there own. Religions today do have differences but are also very much the same. This is demonstrated between the religion of Yoruba, and Christianity. The Gods that the people in these religions worship are different but have the same purpose throughout the lives of each individual. Each individual’s purpose and goal in these religions also display similarities. Furthermore the rituals that are done throughout these religions are done for directions and to improve the relationship between the individual and their god. There are various differences and similarities between

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,

The development of Wicca in the modern times is associated with a gentleman named Gerald Gardner (1884-1964). He was a British civil servant and amateur archaeologist, who spent most of his working years in Southern Asia. Upon his return to England, he authored the book Witchcraft Today, which outlined many of the rituals and doctrines of the religion that is now called Wicca. Although Gardner claimed his book was inspired from Celtic traditions, it is actually a combination of Western faith, Asian magic, god and goddess worship, and Masonic rituals (Melton). The religion Gardner outlined in his book is a nature-oriented faith where a low emphasis on magic predominates. While there is a tendency to see Wicca and Witchcraft as one and the same and some Wiccans may identify themselves as witches, it is a personal choice and many modern Wiccans do not see themselves as witches. Witchcraft describes a magically-oriented practice but lacks the spiritual foundation that Wicca as a religion embodies. Today=s modern Wiccan religion is not the religion that Christians tried to

Wiccans believe that these are all, in reality, simply individual aspects of one God and one Goddess, rather than individual Deities. Just as there are numerous names for the Divine, so do Wiccans worship them in just as many ways.

Other things that the religions all share are that they all have their sacred places of worship. For the Christians there is the church. For the Jewish people there is the synagogue and then for the Muslims there is the mosque. They also all have their Sabbath or day of rest that they take time to go to their holy place of worship. The Jewish Sabbath is on Saturday while the Christian Sabbath is on Sunday.

In my interview I was fortunate to talk with a student from Pfeiffer, her name was Taylor. During this interview, I learned many new things about the Pagan Religion, also known as Wiccan. At the start of the conversation I was completely in the dark about the beliefs and acts of a Pagan.. I had never paid any attention, much less try to learn about other religions until starting this class. It definitely challenged me to empathize with the beliefs of others. The Pagan Beliefs are completely different from my religion, Christianity. Christianity places more of an importance on a figure, Jesus Christ. Unorthodoxly, Pagan’s place more emphasis in nature than in any one Godly figure.

     Christianity and Judaism are the few examples of religions that are originated from Western Traditions. These religions take different approaches to representational art and iconography which is found in their religious festivals. The Christian celebration of Easter and the Jewish Passover differentiate in their approaches to these icons in the history, the celebration and the symbols used during the commemoration of these holidays.

Creation of own religion it is western and eastern, western is Welisam and eastern is Itsanisam. (Welisam believes in god and confession to start the year good, also to show respect is to show that people are being cared about.)(Itsanisam believing in the faith and oneself has strong feelings towards themselves in succeeding, caring about their selves to first think and their selves before others, life to be reborn again.). They celebrate anything they want and are always believing in god, they are similar because they can believe in there selves and in god they can also celebrate

The task at hand is quite impossible, especially in a ten-page paper. I am about to compare two entire religions, that is two entire belief systems that certain individuals have devoted their entire lives towards; that generations have sought to follow, further, and protect with their lives. I will attempt to do this, but please bear in mind that my personal views will inevitably surface to a great degree and I will be prone to taking sides. I believe in fact that these two systems are poles apart and have very few similarities indeed. In this sense I am forced to conclude that they are hugely incompatible and that very few people will be able to accept both. In other words, a person who is