jritayik asked this question on 4/26/2000:

SatyrWitch, i have a question for you(lol) You said that witchcraft is a religion right? Isn't it just the practice of magick? Wicca and Paganism are religions that sometime*use* magick(therefore some wiccans/pagans can be witches,some witches can be pagans/wiccans) right?

Tell me what you think! Thanks ~May the God and Goddess(or whoever you worship!:) smile upon you~ Blesses Be, MoOn ShaDoe

SatyrWitch gave this response on 4/26/2000:

Dear MoOn ShaDoe,

Witchcraft is more than just the practice of magick. Witchcraft is an ancient nature-oriented religion. Let's examine what the words mean and where they come from.... "Witch" is the English translation of the word "Wicce", or "Wise". "Wicca" is a new word, invented in 1948 by anthropologist Margaret Murray, to define the new generation of people who use the old religion. (Since we don't have written records of what they really did 10,000 years ago, we have to make educated guesses based on anthropological findings and religious research and such. Since we don't *know* that we've got it exactly right, she said, we can't in all fairness use the old name to define the new faith. So she invented the word "Wicca" to seperate old from new.) "Pagan" is a latin word meaning 'country people'. The word "Pageant", like in Christmas pageant, comes from Pagan. The Christians misinterpreted the word, and said that it means "anyone who is not Christian". (They also mininterpreted the word "Heathen" (people from the Heath (ancient Scottish for fields, like in heather)) and said that it means "Anyone who is without God". But thats another story...)

So, Pagans are the country people who follow the old ways. Druids, Witches, Shamans, are all considered Pagan. Witches are like the 'priests', the clergy, of the pagan people. And Wicca is the new word for people who follow the old ways. So it sort of blurs the line between Witch and Pagan. Thus Witches are Pagans, but not all pagans are neccasarily Witches, and Pagans are anyone of the modern age who follow the new interpretation of the old religion.

There are some Witches who claim family ancestry back to the middle ages and beyond, who have retained the old practices. The consider themselves Witches, but not Wiccan.

Did all this make sense? I sure hope so!!!!!

Blessed Be, Satyr

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