Witchcraft Wednesdays: Witchcraft vs Wicca

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So I went over what witchcraft is last week, and this week I want to tackle a very difficult subject - Witchcraft vs Wicca.

Popular belief is that they are one in the same, and that both is and is not true. While all Wiccans are witches, not all witches are Wiccan. Wicca falls under the umbrella term of witchcraft and paganism, and is a nature-based religion that revolves primarily around the worship of a God and Goddess. There are also commonly aspects of needing to study before initiation and practicing in a group or coven, but not always.

Witchcraft does not inherently need to be religious, though it can be. It can even include religions such as Christianity and Judaism, though I will go over that in another post. As I stated in my post last week, all witchcraft is at is core is the idea that we can manipulate the world around us with our natural energies. Anything beyond that is up to the individual and their personal practices.

But it begs the question; why do so many people confuse the two, even inside the community?

I think the answer is very simple. Many people looking to get into witchcraft who were not raised in it turn first to books, especially if they're trying to keep it hidden and their internet might be being spied on or they generally have no privacy with their computers as with many minors who are looking to get into witchcraft. These books are readily available at most public libraries, or in many cases going to a Barnes and Noble or similar book store allows you the ability to at least peruse without buying.

Now, this is where things get tricky. Many books you see that are marketed towards witchcraft are actually books on Wicca or are at least heavily flavored towards it. This is mostly because they were written in the 90's or earlier, when the line between witchcraft and Wicca was a lot more blurry than it is today. And in many cases because they are said to be for beginners or at least appear as such the people reading them don't know the difference and don't understand that all things related to witchcraft need to be taken with a grain of salt. These books talk about the Rede, the 3 Fold Law, the idea of Do No Harm, and other things that are not inherent to witchcraft at all and are in fact religious aspects of Wicca.

Because of this, myself and many other witches I have talked to believe this is why many beginners either turn fully to Wicca or at least incorporate many parts of it into their early craft and why people both inside and outside the community often believe the two are one in the same. From the perspective of an outsider trying to read these books as a good resource to understand what's going on because the internet is not available to them or they don't know where to begin when using such a vast resource it's easy to see why that kind of confusion happens as well.

So just remember - all Wiccans are witches, but not all witches are Wiccan. Non-Wiccan witches don't believe in the 3 Fold Law, they can and often do use their powers to curse people, and in many cases they really don't appreciate being confused for Wiccans and given the spiel for not following Wiccan rules. Don't assume someone is Wiccan just because they say they're a witch or practice witchcraft, as my mother used to say "When you assume all you do is make an ass out of you and me." :)

If there are any other topics you'd like to see me discuss in posts like this please let me know, I'd be happy to do so in the future ^^

Please take everything I say with a grain of salt. A big part of witchcraft is essentially critical reading. That is, not blindly following what anyone says even if you consider them to be any kind of authority figure. Look at every bit of information you take in and decide for yourself if that is something you want to abide by.