What is the fundimental differences between Witchcraft, Paganism, and Wicca?

Merry Meet!

Thank you for your question. It is both a difficult question and a simple question. As we are constrained with regards to space, I am going to try and answer this as concisely as possible.

Paganism: The origin of the word “pagan” is from the Latin word “paganus”. The problem is that nobody has really figured out exactly what the Latin word meant. The way the word “Paganism” is used today is to collectively describe all non-Christians. In other words, Wiccans and Witches are also Pagans.

Wicca: Wicca is a modern, neo-pagan, religious version of the Old Craft (Witchcraft). It was founded by Gerald Gardner in the mid 1900. Wicca is quite a broad-based religion and is interpreted by different Wiccan grouping in many different ways. Wicca (like most pagan belief systems) is a nature based religion. Most Wiccans worship the dualistic nature of Deity (male and female aspects). Some Wiccans perform magick and some don’t. Wicca has its roots in Goddess worship and in Witchcraft.

Witchcraft: Witchcraft is the old Craft and strictly speaking, not a religion in itself. There are however many Witches who do view the Craft as a religion, especially those on the Celtic path. It is always good to remember that the witches of old were from a variety of different cultural and religious backgrounds (even Christian). Witchcraft is also called the Craft of the Wise. The reson for this is that witches were held in high regard in their various communities. They had an extensive knowledge of plants and were well versed in creating medicines, ointments etc from these for healing purposes. They were the doctors, the chemists, the midwives, the ‘psychologists’ and the political advisers in some instances. They were also the oracles – the ones who foretold the future and relayed messages from the realm of the dead if the need was there.

It is normal and very acceptable to use the terms Wiccan and Witch interchangeably. Most practicing Wiccans and Witches do and nearly no one takes offence. Witches and Wiccans consider themselves to be Pagans. The only time that one will ever differentiate between the terms “Pagan”, “Witch” and “Wiccan”, is if you want to address them as separate groups. And that, in itself will provide its own challengesJ.

Trust that this clarifies!

In Love and Light.