Monday, July 9, 2012

Witch vs. Wiccan (part of the Pagan Insights Project)


I have recently been pondering the Rede and found myself not quite agreeing with the most famous portion of it.  You know, the whole “…and it harm none, do as ye will” thing.  I just cannot follow that to the letter.  If someone threatens me or mine, I will go all Southern on them and then pay back is a bitch.  So, I got to thinking, if that makes me not Wiccan, just what am I?

I know that I count myself as a witch, I believe in spells and I have proof that they work.  Yet there are some that say witchcraft is not a religion per se.  I do not follow any one path, having been exposed to many when I started out.  I could count myself as eclectic, but eclectic what?  



My patron goddess is Hera, so I guess be default I could start there, but again that is simply a pantheon, not a religion. I do not feel called to Asatru, which is the only other “religion” that comes to mind.  Maybe, I am just over analyzing this and it is fairly simple. 

What else is out there besides Wiccan?  If you have any suggestions, I’m open to hearing them please let me know.


6 comments:

  1. You could simply start by being a witch and doing what appears right from there.

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  2. I started out Wiccan but as I spiritually grew and started exploring other things I got to where I just simply think of myself as a "Witch" or a "Pagan". My path became and eclectic mix of a little bit of everything although I really identify with and feel called to the Greek pantheon.

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  3. WOw I seriously feel you here. I find myself always questioning my own path in this respect. thank you for sharing and helping me think more.

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  4. yeah I found this about myself a while ago, same issue as well. I thought I was wiccan for a few years but wasn't quite comfortable with parts of the rede.
    I still have a poster of the rede even though I don't follow it, it's still something nice to have.

    I just consider myself an eclectic pagan largely influenced by celtic, greek, and a little wicca.
    The wicca aspect is falling away rather quickly though and I often forget to add it in when I explain my ideas to people.


    Just change what influences your path and you can make that title work for anything. :)

    ~Flaming

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  5. I had it once explained to me that Wicca was the religion and Witchcraft is how you 'do' the religion. And that kind of stuck with me. I'm not Wiccan by any stretch of the imagination. I'm Gnostic and I'm Pagan, but I'm not Wiccan. That isn't to say that I don't practice Witchcraft. Because I do. Its how I 'do' my religion. Religion doesn't have to be a set standard. It doesn't have to be a specific set of rules. That's why I always preferred the term spirituality more. Do what feels right to you, and as long as you feel that you are honoring your gods/esses then know you're doing it right!

    Blessings,
    Kourtney

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  6. Thank ya'll for commenting on this. I guess Kourtney summed it up best for me with the thing about spirituality vs. religion. I think I will go with that for now and see where it takes me.

    It is always nice to have others know how one feels and can validate things!

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