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Pagan + Wiccan
What is Pagan and Wiccan?
Doesn't Pagan have something to do with witches?
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Paganism is a kind of belief system created long before todays established religions. It's based on spirituality and a connection to the earth. To explain it, think of the Egyptian religion, which is considered a pagan religion. They believed that the gods weren't people but were symbols of nature and life. They prayed to particular gods for things like the annual flooding of the Nile so that their crops would flourish or for fertility in women so they can bare a child and saw these gods as the water, the crops, the land, the sun etc.
It's hard to really define the practices of Pagans and Wiccans because it's such a diverse religion. Wiccan can mean witchcraft but in the way I practice it, it does not. In wicca spells do exist but I don't do anything like that. I believe in the triple moon goddess (as well as others like the horned god) and the idea that everything in the universe, whether it be men, women, animals, the earth, the elements and everything in between, is equal to one another.
Some people choose to call themsleves witches and to practice witchcraft (which can be defined as using spells, chants or conducting rituals) but not in the way movies and television represent it. The kind of spells and chants are used for protection, anything that's used to harm or affect someone else is not use. The rituals are just like any other holiday festival in the modern world like Christmas, where we celebrate certain days by feasting and having a good time. Quite a lot of Christianity was actually created to convert Pagans. Christmas was actually the Yule holiday to the Pagans but the church wanted to get rid of Paganism so they created their own holiday on top of it.
Pagan's can be classified as people who believe in multiple gods, people who do not follow one of the major religions or people who follow religious practices before Christianity was introduced. There are numerous other classifications for Pagans in other cultures, sometimes it is just a person that believes in a close connection to the earth and nature, and sometimes hedonists.
Wicca is like a revival of the ancient pagan beliefs (which is why it's sometimes referred to as neo-paganism). People who consider themselves wiccan sometimes practice the religion with a group of other people known as a coven, or they can be solitary practitioners and practice their beliefs by themselves. I choose to be a solitary practitioner as Wicca to me is a very personal religion where you choose what you believe in from the gods/goddesses to the philosophical ideals.
I know this is probably very confusing and that's because there is no real definition for Wicca, it's so personal and people choose whatever they want to believe in which makes it so different from the major religions like Christianity and Judaism.
My understanding of Wicca is that it's where you believe in spirituality, that connection to not only earth and nature but things that cannot be seen with the eye (like spirits). It's where nothing is positive or negative but equal. There is one side of nature that equals out another like water and fire, the sun and the moon, but we are all connected.
I'm sorry I couldn't explain it very well, it's so very diverse that I cannot tell you what is and is not Wicca. If you google 'Wicca' you can find lots of different opinions on wicca from what others believe.
[Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
This site has a very general understanding of what Wicca is if you would like to know more.
It talks more about the symbols of wicca and different parts of the ideology.
I hope I've helped you understand it a little :)
EDIT: Just to add, Pagans are also like shamans and witch doctors which is where the idea of witches seems to stem from. So in a way, yes Pagan has something to do with witches, but not all pagans are witches and they do not all practice witchcraft.
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