Wicca is an Earth-based, nature centered religion drawing on the ancient practice of Witchcraft. The term witchcraft literally means the craft of the wise. In its original usage, witchcraft was practiced by those persons, generally female, who had knowledge of herbal lore, the law, psychology and physiology. The term didn't have much to do with religion until the Inquisition linked Paganism with Witchcraft--and ever since, the two have been inseparable. The term Wicca is a modern version of the term of Witchcraft, and is a modern revival of the old, Pagan religions, using magick, nature and a female Deity along with Her Consort, the Horned Lord, as its central core.

Because Wiccans believe in a Horned Lord, many people believe that we worship Satan. The truth is that the Horned God represents the animal side of nature, and the Horned God has existed long before Christianity--in other words, long before Satan was ever "invented". The flaw of modern times is to think that Paganism and Witchcraft/Wicca are the same things as Satanism. This is entirely untrue. Satanism is a highly egotistical religion, focused around greed, hedonism, social Darwinism, self love and indulgence. The most important person in the Satanist religion is the individual, and by doctrine their relationship with the most hedonistic character of all religions: Satan. Their creed is: Do unto others as they do unto you ( a mocking of the Christian religion) and the other is: Do what ye will ( a mocking of the Wiccan religion) Everything that makes up the core of Satanism is rebuked by Wicca.

Wicca is centered around the use of positive thought, positive action and love of nature to create an atmosphere of positive energies which are then used for our own benefits. Wicca teaches that there is certainly a higher power, namely the Goddess and God, often referred to solely as the Goddess, but that the Goddess is always attainable, for She is everywhere: in the tree, in the leaf, in the ant, within ourselves. In this sense, Wicca is a pantheistic religion. Wicca teaches that there is much more in our universe than we can see or understand.

The central law of Wicca is: "An It Harm None, Do What Ye Will" (see what I mean when I say the Satanists mock us?) which means exactly what it says: as long as you don't do anything that will hurt anyone (including yourself) it is allowed. Many people use this rule as it applies strictly to magick, but I believe that the rule applies to every aspect of the Craft (another term for Wicca). This would include doing unto others as you would want done unto you, abstaining from drugs, alcohol to excess and smoking, learning not to hate and learning tolerance.

This rule is reinforced by a second major aspect of Wicca: Everything you put out comes back to you Three fold. This means that every good deed you do, every terrible thing you do, every good spell you cast, every harmful spell you cast will come back to you thrice what you put out. Therefore, the punishment for breaking the law of Harm None is a threefold return of whatever you did. I have already mentioned that we use magick. Yes, we do. I'm not going to go into what is is here, because I have included the section about Magick at my web site, so if you want to know more about the nature of magick, go see that entry.

The difference between Witchcraft and Wicca is, for many, a fine line. I think the two are best differentiated by the idea of religion vs. practice. Wicca is a religion which involves communion with the Earth, communion with a God/Goddess (or several of them if you're a polytheist), living in peace with yourself and others, and giving to those that gave to you. Witchcraft, however, is what we practice. Witchcraft is the art of magick, the art of energy manipulation, the art of altered states of consciousness. This is not a religion in and of itself.

In fact, not all people who practice witchcraft are Wiccans. Witchcraft may be practiced in many different forms, and admittedly, not all of them are positive. Satanist practices come to mind as an example of negative magick. A Witch in the Wiccan religion is someone who has studied very hard, committed the Pagan ways to memory, and has given his/her life over to the Goddess for protection and guidance. The term Witch for us is a high title--just because you are Wiccan does not make you a Witch. (Sort of in the same sense that being a Christian does not make you a Priest) A Witch in other religions is anyone who practices magick. I use the term, however, to mean the former.