What is the Difference Between Witchcraft and Wicca? Is there a Difference?
What is the Difference Between Witchcraft and Wicca? Is there a Difference?
Many people have asked me: I have heard the Wicca is simply another name for Witchcraft. OR I have heard that Wicca means Good or White Witchcraft, while the term Witchcraft applies to evil or black Witchcraft. OR Some folks tell me that Witchcraft and Wicca are the same thing, others tell me they are two different things. Who is right?
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Yes there is a difference, but it can be subtle. Wicca is a religion. Witchcraft is a spiritual practice. Witchcraft is an important part of Wiccan religious practice, but not all who practice Witchcraft are Wiccans.
It is like perhaps the comparison of Hindu religion and Yoga. Yoga is an important part of Hindu religious practice. It is a prescribed method to reach the goals of Hindu religion. However, many people who are not followers of Hindu religion practice Yoga. People practice Yoga within many spiritual contexts and some assign no spiritual significance whatsoever to their Yoga practice. It is important to note also that in the above comparison the Yoga practiced by adherents to Hindu religion may look and feel quite different from the Yoga practiced by people outside of the religion.
So it is with Witchcraft and Wicca: Wicca gives its adherents a framework for Witchcraft within which to practice, defines the appropriate goals for Wiccan Witchcraft and provides a clear path for a Witch to follow from the beginning of his/her journey. Witchcraft within Wicca has a specific look and feel to it, a ritual progression, an energy, that may or may not exist outside of Wicca's religious context.
There are many other types of witchcraft outside of Wiccan religion. Indeed witches can be found in nearly every religious path and there are atheist witches as well. Some witches practice witchcraft as part of their religion while others keep it completely separate. Each witch has her own style of witchcraft, her own rituals, her own rules and values that govern his or her practice of Witchcraft which may or may not be governed by his or her religious beliefs. Some Witches believe that witchcraft is a force of nature, governed by the laws of nature, and having nothing to do with religion. For others, Nature and religion are one in the same.
Some Witches who are atheist, or at least not Wiccan, still use the Wiccan framework and ritual progression for their Witchcraft because it is a good, well-organized framework and because this framework is the most well-publicized and available to those who seek it. But unless these folks also follow the Wiccan laws and worship the Wiccan Gods and celebrate the Wiccan holidays, they are not Wiccan. They are Witches who practice Witchcraft in the Wiccan style. This, I think is where the confusion often happens.