โคWicca, Witchcraft and Paganismโค
The Wicca faith, its traditions and principals can signify different things to different people and many aspects are open to interpretation. I have attempted to outline the basics as I understand them from my ownย experiences, study and day-to-day practices.
๐ป The most common confusion about the terms Wicca, witchcraft and paganism is the difference between them. I have often been asked whether all witches consider themselves to be Wiccans, and some people think that all pagans consider themselves to be witches and many people are under the misconception that to be a Wiccan just means to be aย โgoodโ witch. There is a huge difference between the three, so let us clear up the difference now. This could also help you when thinking about which path to follow from the beginning and maybe discovering which one you consider yourself to be.
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๐ป Art By:ย jacquelindeleonย on Instagram
๐ปย Wicca is a pagan, nature- and witchcraft-based religion. A Wiccan is someone that follows pagan beliefs and also practices withcraft as a part of their faith. We follow the eight Sabbats (festivals) and twelve Esbats (celebrations of the full moon) and practice magickal workings such as rituals and spell work at specific times related to the phases of the moon. A Wiccan follows the energy and power of the natural earth and the universe and all its natural occurrences, the moon, the sun and the stars.
๐ปย Wicca also promotes a great sense of freedom and positivity. It gives you the opportunity to take a path in the faith that you feel is right for you, allowing you freedom within the faith to do things in a way that you choose. Wicca embraces the fact we all have different beliefs and opinions while still being a part of the faith; it gives us the opportunity to live how we would like but with the guidelines of our beliefs. Wicca promotes positivity but also self-love and empowerment, while trying to diminish negative energy and behaviours. Most of all we believe in balance: we believe that there can be no good without bad and that we cannot learn if we do not make mistakes. We own out mistakes and realize we alone are in charge of our behaviour. Wiccans tend to have morals and codes that keep this balance in our lives and that ensure we are as kind to humans, animals and the earth as we can possibly be. This also means keeping cruel , manipulative and toxic behaviour towards others as far away from us as possible. Wiccans practice their magick using the natural world around them. This can be from the ingredients that they use, the earthโs energy and even the timing of when we carry out our spell work, using the moonโs phases and seasons to guide us. We incorporate magickal workings into our philosophy to keep harmful factors out or our lives and to bring in positivity and goodness.
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๐ปย A pagan is simply someone who follows a nature-based religion, paganism. There are several religions that could fall under the term paganism, such as Wicca, Druidry and Asatru. Pagans can be monotheistic or polytheistic, which means they can believe in one or many divine beings. Many pagans believe in one god and one goddess as they tend to believe in balance. Pagans practice nature-worship (which may sound a little strange to you, but itโs not, I promise). Many have a strong belief that the earth is sacred and they should treat it as an equal tp themselves and take care of it as well as they possibly can. All of their practices follow the earth and natural occurrences such as the seasons, the moon and phases of the sun.
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๐ปย Last, but not least, is witchcraft. This is a practice. It is a craft. And a witch is somebody that practices witchcraft; to be specific, who practices magick and uses the earthโs energy to achieve a specific desired result. Anybody whoย practices a form of magickal workings, such as divination and future prediction, healing using the natural world, ritual work, spells, potions, alchemy, herbalism, etc, can be considered a witch. Sometimes even people with psychic abilities or who are spiritual mediums may consider themselves to be witches. So, a witch is someone who simply practices witchcraft in some shape or form. This means you do NOT have to be a Wiccan to be a witch, nor do you have to celebrate the Sabbaths or follow any pagan teachings: a witch can have any or no religion. This also means you can be considered a witch if you are Wiccan, even thoughย โWiccanโ is the preferred term, because we practice witchcraft as an element of our path.
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๐ปย Source: A Modern Guide To Witchcraft and Magick By: Harmony Nice
๐ปย All Art By: Jacquelinedeleon On Instagram