Wiccans, Pagans, what are they?

I've heard alot of them, Wiccan, NeoPagan, Pagan.. & more? What are they about? What are the differences? Which are you/do you perfer? I don't have a Religion at the moment, so nothing you say will offend me.

They tend to be naked wizards that get tased.

Just kidding.

Wiccans- witches,

Pagans- I believe worship like the earth flowers the sun etc. etc. I'm not sure on that though.

Advice from me, stay out of any religion.

I'm agnostic/athiest. Bordline.

Originally posted by Republican08


Advice from me, stay out of any religion.

It's what I've been doing for ahwile now. So much easier. Thank you anyhow.

Wicca is a type of Paganism, it was started in the 50's, and is a form of Earth worship. It has several different types due to the fluid nature of it's core values.
Paganism is a catch all term that the Romans probably coined for folk religion.

Everytime someone asks me what religion I am, i answer well I don't know what I believe.

Instanteounously, they want me in their religion, so they do really nice things for me and gestures, but I never convert, just say hmm I like this religion.

It's the only sure fire way to get every religious person to like you, except for extremist they may try to kill you.

Originally posted by nymph
I've heard alot of them, Wiccan, NeoPagan, Pagan.. & more? What are they about? What are the differences? Which are you/do you perfer? I don't have a Religion at the moment, so nothing you say will offend me.

Hello, and welcome to ATS. There is a thread over in BTS regarding Paganism if you want to have a gander.

Opinions differ with regards the differences between pagans and wiccans - wiccans perform (white - good) magic whilst paganism is a religion of the land (as such), which pre-dates Christianity.

The only real schooling I have had in Paganism / Wicca (since high school) was the recent reading of a book called 'DruidCraft'. I cannot remember the name of the author at the moment, but he amalgamated the Wiccan and Druid cultures into a modern version.

Anyway, thought I would chime in as a complete novice (wanting to learn more myself) and look forward to the responses you get.

Blessed be.

reply to post by Republican08


Same here. My parents are Christian, and I grew up with that faith as a child but slowly ventured out of it. I came to the church with my father once, his girlfriend was getting baptised, and they were holding candles. I think this was around Easter? But it was creepy and looked like a cult. I said I'd go out of curtosy.
Yes, many people have asked me to look into their relgion, I tell them when I have the chance. Even though I don't think I ever will.

reply to post by Breifne


Thanks for your interest. It seems like an interesting read, the religions that is. Even though I'm not about to join a religion any time soon, I do look forward to learning about it myself. And I'll have to check out that fourm!

Wicca is called the old religion. It predates the Christian era and was based on a matriarchal society where the mother was Mother Goddess is revered as the care giver and the Father God is the hunter protector.

There are many off shoots of the old religion. They were of course persecuted by the church and were burned and hung and tortured and those who survived were driven out of the Christian areas and became nomadic.

Many of them reached the Americas and most ended up living in the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains. The Craft is another name for Wicca and once it became popularized in the early 80's it kind of went Hollywood and got pretty distorted.

The authentic craft or Wicca is still practiced by mostly solitary worshipers or small groups called Covens. There are even a few seminaries that teach Wicca.

For the record, there is no such thing as "paganism". The term "pagan" is a blanket term used for any earth based religion. Native americans were pagan. Wiccans are pagan. Many other belief structures fit into the term "pagan".


The blanket term Pagan came about because it was an easy way for christians to group all if the "heathens" as one.

I'm Wiccan, and they are all touched with nature, like earth, the trees, and spirits. The Wiccans are a Pagan Religion, while Pagan is an umbrella term for other religions, such as Druidism, Wicca, and Shamanism.

Fyi on how they see death, They go to a place called, the Summerland. Only then they either choose to stay, or reincarnate.

I do not see most as extremists either, so that's a good start for them too

I'd prefer Paganism for you, because its open minded really. I like wicca, because of their beliefs, so there you have it

Also I am a Witch

this is a very interesting thread that i think will help you on your journey.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

i have spent many years searching different religions and denominations trying to find the one that feels right to me.

so far i have not come close.

most seem to be man made, though all seem to have the same basic moral structure. so in a sense i feel that any is just as good as the other.

me myself am not religious, i consider myself spiritual.

I have a book which is in my basement somewhere that I read many years ago, sorry to lazy to go look. It basically described the beginings of paganism which predated christianity. It also got into the start of the earth based religions in North America.

A few interesting things I can remember were.

When Christianity labeled them Pagan, they as someone mentioned wanted a name for the "heathens" that refused to follow christ after chrstian inception.

After a while those that wanted to keep worshipping mother earth and not jesus were thought of as being against christ....(see where this is goung?)
So if you are not for him you are against him. As a result they were labeled as anti-christian. And the Antichrist is born.

Another interesting thing mentioned was some of the rituals. These so called pagans worshipped different gods. Fertility, Love, Nature etc.
One of these was a god who was supposed to be responsible for the crops. Part of the ritual was to go out into the fields under the moon with, I forget which gardening tool... Hoe? Reaper? cant remember, and run around the fields praying to this god. They thought that if they put this tool between their legs and ran about jumping up and down that the higher they jumped the higher the crops would grow.

So some christians witnessed this and......... witches were born, with there flowing clothes in the dark of night riding broom sticks.



Sorry for babbling.........ugh

It's worth noting that Wikipedia has a decent article on Wicca.

Originally posted by cautiouslypessimistic
For the record, there is no such thing as "paganism". The term "pagan" is a blanket term used for any earth based religion. Native americans were pagan. Wiccans are pagan. Many other belief structures fit into the term "pagan".


The blanket term Pagan came about because it was an easy way for christians to group all if the "heathens" as one.

Just thought I'd clarify that it doesn't matter if it's earth based or not.

Any religion that's not JCI(or even some of those, depending on the person you're talking to), is technically pagan.

If someone worshiped their dog as the "great deforester" that would be a pagan religion. Pagan merely describes what a belief is not, and not what it is.

[edit on 30-4-2009 by Core90]

reply to post by PowerSlave


Hm that sounds really interesting .. to bad your so lazy

reply to post by keeff


that's exacty how i feel , some what.
what do you mean by spiritual?

reply to post by Shoomoo


Thank you for the fyi, that sounds a lot better then heaven. Lol
And the term witch, thats a label right?

reply to post by nymph


Wicca is what witches are called now. They are Pagans, and they have been around for awhile. Wicca as a name is fairly new, but the practice itself is quite old. Wiccans use magick and other means to bring good karma to themselves and others. The wicked witch who worships Satan is a stereotype that is seen mainly in movies. Paganism deals with nature and the Earth. All life is connected to each other, and we must protect our beautiful planet.

I am a Pagan as I believe in the Earth Goddess and the Mother Goddess. I believe the Earth (or my preferred Terra) is a living entity and we must treat her well in order to live well. I am still learning more and more, but I do not call it a religion. I know we all have souls, but do not quite know what happens when we die. The variety of the natural world and living creatures shows we did not come about by chance. There is something wonderful that is the creative force of the universe, and I call her the Mother Goddess.

Religion is associated with dogma. Most religions have rules and regulations from governing the churches to how to get into heaven. Christianity and Islam are the only mainstream religions to have a hell. I was raised Catholic, and started to question the dogma. That is against the rules, as one never questions the teachings of the Church or Bible. I started to look elsewhere and found more information about Paganism and it seems to be what I have been believing all my life.