On a message board recently (again, I'm a Gemini--communication of all sorts is a necessity of life) people have been getting into a tizzy over the fact that some use ideas and words such as "Wicca," "Witchcraft," and "Paganism" interchangably. The debates have gone further when questions arise over magick and spells, and people give lectures about the Wiccan Rede and the Three-Fold Law.

I can understand the frustration, but I think raging at people when they equate the words does little to no good. Instead, let's try to look at this constructively.

Now I'll admit from the beginning that these are my opinions. Feel free to agree or disagree, but it's also my website and therefore a forum for my thoughts along with information I choose to post. *grin* I just had to get that out.

Back to the topic: First, I believe that practices are not necessarily religious. Most practices, actions, physical activities, etc. surpass the boundaries of religion. They can be used in a religious context, but they are not religious in themselves. The word "religion" means "to tie or bind back," generally referencing being tied back to a universal force of some kind, often a Deity. So the use of shamanistic drumming is a practice that is used in religion, but can also be used in more secular means.

As confusing as this sounds right now, I want to make it clear why I make the first division between Religion and Practice.

Under "religion" we find the spiritual belief systems. Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Paganism, Wicca, Asatru, and Zoroastrianism are all examples of religions. Practices include prayer, chanting, song, magick, witchcraft, and the shamanic vision quest. As a Wiccan, I can pray to Deity, sing hymns, practice magick, or, if given permission, use a sweat lodge. (I'm half Finnish--the sauna is an incredibly important part of Finnish culture and in fact it originated there.) But anyone can use these practices, too.

I'm going to try to stick to the topic here and keep it focused on Paganism and Magick. As you can probably guess, these are what I believe to be the main two categories of our focus. To make the analogy, Magick is to Practice as Paganism is to Religion. Here is a visual:

Within Magick, we find several other types of practices. There's witchcraft, voodoo (not to be confused with the Voudoun religion), Ceremonial Magick, scrying, shamanism (again, not to be mixed up with particular shamanic religions), necromancy, cartomancy, augury, etc. I believe witchcraft is a practice. A person can practice magick without being a Witch. In addition, a person can practice any number of different types of magick and it has nothing to do with his/her religion. A friend, for example, is an agnostic leaning towards Buddhism and she reads the Tarot. There are Christian Spiritualists who speak with the dead. The Kabbalah may stem from Judaism, but one does not have to be Jewish to use it with Ceremonial Magick. Anyone can make a wish before blowing out the candles on a birthday cake--candle magick! The visual is similar to the first:

You can make the different practices overlap however you choose. It will be different for everyone.

On the other side of the coin, we have religion. This is easier to grasp, but still debates rage over what exactly is a Pagan. Some say "any non-Christian religion," but that would include Judaism and Islam. Some say "any non-Christian, Judaic, or Islamic religion," but again, that would include Hinduism and Buddhism. Still others say "any polytheistic religion," which would include Hinduism...but it's also too simplistic of a definition and would rule me out, too! Finally, I see people say, "any religion but the Big 5 (Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism)," but again, it's over-simplified. We could go on and on, and I doubt we would come to an agreement. It gets even trickier when we throw in polytheistic, animistic, and universalist religions.

So to try to avoid confusion (and because I'm the one doing the writing), this is how I vaguely define Paganism: "A collection of Earth- and nature-based religions from any culture that focus on the cycles of the year, life, and the Earth." Emphasis is placed on the Earth- and nature-based characteristics. Why? In Donald M. Ayers' book English Words from Latin and Greek Elements, the word pagan

owes its modern meaning to its use as a bit of military slang by the soldiers of Rome. Originally the word meant "peasant" (from the Latin pagus, "village"), but the legionaries applied it in a somewhat contemptuous fashion to anyone who was not a soldier, and so it became the equivalent of "civilian." Later, the Christians, who felt a strong similarity between the sacrament of baptism and a Roman soldier's solemn oath of allegiance to his commander, and who thus regarded themselves as "soldiers of Christ," adopted the word pagan to refer to non-Christians. p.237

While the word went through a degeneration of meaning, it is presently going through a re-elevation. The word stems back to those of the country who based their religious beliefs on Earth-based cycles such as the harvest, the life cycle from birth to death (and consequently, rebirth), moon cycles, and the length of days through the seasons. With this in mind, I count Wicca, Asatru, Discordianism, Goddess worship, animism, and even shamanism (of different cultures) as Pagan religions, to name a few. I do not count Buddhism, amongst others, as being Pagan. (Hinduism, in my opinion, can count, but due to the larger Hindu population, I don't include it. Technicalities.) Whew! But time for another visual:

Now if you're eclectic, you may have an overlap of a few of these religions, and even overlap religions not found within the "Paganism" category. For the ease of understanding, think of the "white space" within the Paganism category as being the general and eclectic Pagans who choose not to classify themselves according to one particular sect.

This is where you get the often-confusing phrase "Wiccans are Pagan, but not all Pagans are Wiccan." Be sure to remember that, because it helps with the even more confusing (and even wrong) "Wiccans are Witches, but not all Witches are Wiccan." Here is where we combine the ideas of religion and practice. I'm going to give the image first, then explain the breakdown:

1) Includes all non-magickal practices such as prayer. (Yes, there can be overlap, but we're trying to make this as simple as possible.)

2) Includes all non-Pagan religions such as Christianity, Judaism, Islam...you name it.

3) Ahhh...Includes all magickal practices including Witchcraft, Ceremonial Magick, scrying, etc.

4) The Pagan religions, including those people who simply call themselves "Pagan" without adhering to a more specific title.

5) Witchcraft-The practice of one form of magick. Not all magick is witchcraft.

6) Wicca. Just one form of Paganism. Again, Wicca can be broken down into further traditions, but we won't go there right now.

7) Magick in general and Paganism in general mix. Eclectic Pagans who practice an "other" form of magick are here. Be careful--do not assume they practice one specific form of magick or Paganism unless they tell you first.

8) The Pagans who call themselves Witches. These are the ones who will say that "witchcraft" is a religion to them (generally)...though you can see I disagree. *grin* They are not Wiccan.

9) Wiccans who choose not to practice witchcraft, but do practice magick. I knew a person who considered himself a Wiccan and a Magician, but he did not consider himself a Witch. He went more Ceremonial. This is also where you'd find many Shamanic Wiccans.

10) Don't let the size of this area fool you, but it obviously does not encompass anyone who calls him/herself a Wiccan, Pagan, Witch, or Magician. The members of this group, and this group alone, and the Wiccan Witches.

To sum up, these words are obviously not interchangable, and it would be a smart idea to never assume anything. Just because a person calls himself a Witch or Pagan does not automatically mean he is a Wiccan. In the same manner, just because a person calls herself a Wiccan or Pagan does not mean she practices Magick of any sort.

Again--assume nothing. Ask people what they would like to be called or how they describe their religions and practices. It will keep others from blowing up over the issue, though debates like these also give them lessons in patience!