Witch or Wiccan? Knowing the difference.

     One of the questions that I  am having to  deal  with  since I  started my paganism lesson videos is: Is there a difference between Wicca witches and traditional witches? And the answer is Yes most definitely there are many  differences.  And I  would like to  discuss them with  you now.

     Wicca is a branch of paganism that  was created by  Gerald Gardner.  Gardner was a witch  that  was inducted into a coven and decided to  write about it.  He had the idea of making his beliefs better known and accepted. Which I  do  find very admiral in concept. Gerald brought in a lot of different concepts from other religions and organizations mixed those with  what  he learned in the coven and created Wicca.  There are two primary traditions in Wicca Gardnerian and Alexandrian. However with  the fast spread of Wicca many  eclectic traditions were created.

     Wicca has a one piece of dogma, the wiccan rede.  The one most used part is about " As long as you harm none, do as you will."   This is viewed by many  wiccans as a rule or law to follow. And that is not the case, 'rede' is Anglo-Saxon for 'advice".  meaning that  they  advice you to  not harm others if you have the choice.  Traditional  Witches have no such  law. They have a better understanding of the ways of nature. Witches follow a more nature path, they know that  there are times to  fight and a time to be peaceful.  In nature animals die everyday  so  that  other animals can live. That is the balance of nature , everyday  life is born, life consumes, and life dies.  If a person or persons is a threat to you family, land, or beliefs they must be dealt with. And a traditional witch is more adept into  doing just that. Many wiccans embrace a view of 'Love and Light" seeking a positive outlook of the universe. This concept is easy to understand by many of the urban wiccans that have never lived the hardship of nature , or refuse to see the darker side of life. These wiccans view the earth as a loving mother in which evil doesn't exist. But Mother nature is cruel at times.

     Wiccans have some concepts that  have no  historical merit in traditional  witchcraft.  Karma is an Indian/ Hindu  concept.  Traditional witches believe in fate.   Karma is a concept to  guilt people into  doing or not doing a certain act.  The three fold law is another concept that is not found in European  beliefs and traditional witchcraft.  The threat of the christian hell  was replaced with  the three fold law.  There is no proof that  what  we do  will rebound back on us three fold.  If you attack  a person, then that person and there family  might get even with  you, and that  would be over three fold. Look  at  all the people that  harm nature and how they  can walk  away from it. 
    
     Wicca is an overly structured belief system, brought over from the churches and masons by  Gardner.  In Wicca there is a degree system and title such  as  "high priestess" .  I  have seen ads for witch classes with  various  wiccan teachers for a 2nd degree.  I  seen one set of classes  for a week  cost $400.  You  can  advance in degrees quickly with  a book. So time has very little importance with Wicca. Traditional  witchcraft  doesn't have a system of rank  and titles. Progress in traditional  witchcraft is measured with  experience and  initiations are based on personal  events , not a year and a day. Covens are formed with  a certain one or two people in charge of the group. traditional  witches  form an open circle and work in a community mentality.

     Wiccan rituals are very  formal  and detailed.  Ceremonial magic is effective because the more time you spend  building up to  a moment , the more energy you can pool  and focus. Wiccan rituals need you  to  cast a circle ,  call  the quarters, perform a certain series of steps  to  accomplish a ritual. Traditional  witches work  more simple rituals with  little structure to  them. They  believe in casting spells as needed , where needed. Traditional witches see that  the intent why you do something is more important that  how you did the spell.  Wicca requires you to make a sacred space to cast a circle , traditional  witchcraft doesn't. The traditional  witches view all of the earth as already  sacred.

     Wiccans have a "Book of Shadows" or BOS.  This is not historically correct either. I  say  this  because most people in the dark ages and such  couldn't read or write, so  they  couldn't  write down  magical information.  99% of all  traditional  witchcraft knowledge was pass down orally.  The second thing you have to  remember is that  witchcraft was illegal  and people were killed for being a witch. So  if your home was searched and a spell  was found, you  would have been killed.  I  do  have a book of shadows, I  use it to  keep information that I  think is important.  Humans forget  most of what  they  learn if they  don't use it frequently.

      Views of god worship is one of the most  hostile topics. Eclectic  Wicca has turned  deity's into  a mix and match  purpose only collection that lacks theme. A coven could say that  they  follow the Celtic gods but  will  recite the "Charge of the God".  They  lack  the respect and honor of any  culture. This is a new-age creation, historically people honored their culture. One must learn to  embrace all of a culture and not only the parts you like. Integrity is build from understanding and learning of a single culture while on your path.

      The main reason that  wiccans do  this is because they   have a new age concept that  all  gods are one god and all goddesses are one goddess. A duo theism that  transcends into  monotheism when they give the divine  a view of oneness.  Traditional witches and the pre-christian beliefs of Europe were polytheists. They  believed in many  gods and goddesses, each  was unique and special.  There was no  specific witch  god or goddess. A witches culture  usually determined which  pantheon they  observed.

    Wicca has 8 sabbats, every 45 days , as the seasons change wiccans celebrate a  sabbat.  Different cultures didn't celebrate these events.  According to  the Celtic seasons there was  only 2 seasons not 4.  Traditional witches followed the holidays of the culture that  they  were in. The Celts had 4 main holidays, the equinox's and solstices were not honored by  the Celts. Gardner  brought in the8  fold calender from other influences. Like what  the Christians did to convert the early pagans to Christianity. He collected holidays  from different cultures and made them wiccan. So  that  the new wiccans  wouldn't be bored with  their new beliefs and convert back  to  Christianity.

     Tools are another interesting  difference. Wicca has a list of specific tools each assigned an element and a gender aspect. Traditional  witches use a different collection of tools.  Some traditions use a knife, but  without all  the ceremony.  Besoms, cauldrons, stangs, and  cords are most often used by traditional  Witches compared to  the Cup, athame, staff, and pentacle of the Wiccans.  Some traditions for both witches and wiccans  can use a mixed collection of tools or no  tools at all.  In Ray buckland's Scottish  Witta, he kept everything very simple.

     Now I  know that  you will  think I  might be  attacking Wicca. I  am not trying to  do  that  at all. There are differences and they  need to  be defined and understood. Both  group  call  themselves witches, and  how you  define it will  determine if you think  you are yourself a witch or not.

      Celtic views and Wiccan views differ greatly as well. And many  people love to  mix Celtic paganism with  Wicca.  Gardner did a lot of borrowing from Celtic traditions and thinking.  But  that  doesn't mean that  they  are that  closely similar. Wicca has  nature divided into the 4 elements.  The Celts viewed nature into  3 realms, the sky, land, and sea.   Shamanic Witchcraft also  views those same realms.

     Now I  hope that  you  have learned something from this post.   We need to understand the differences between the two, to understand and grow with  the forms of witchcraft. Labels are only bad if they  are used to negatively  label someone.  You have to  give yourself a label if you want to  find other people that  are like you.

St. Patrick's day , a Lesson in Terror

     I  am one of those people that tries to  look at the bigger picture of things.  I  think  that  most modern holidays are terrible. And the next holiday is called St. Patrick's day.  Now the customs and traditions of this event are simple enough. A person must wear green,  you try to  talk  with an Irish accent, you drink  green beer, and you get loud.   It is used as an excuse for millions of people to  get stupid. Something that I  am not a fan of.

     So  what  made this St. Patrick  guy so  dang special? He was a catholic missionary that  wanted to  stamp out paganism. He is said to  have drove all  the snakes from Ireland, those snakes being Celtic pagans. This was done during the time of the great spread of Christianity. St. Patrick  caused great trouble in Ireland during his crusade against pagans. The story I  remember most is about the Irish King's fire.  On this day all  fires across Ireland were put out, then the king would lite a large bonfire and from this fire all fires in Ireland would be re lit.  However on an adjacent hill  St. Patrick  lit a fire before the Irish King to  cause trouble.  St. Patrick  insulted the king and Irish tradition.

     When Christianity was converting the Irish  from Paganism, the Christians were adapting Irish  traditions and trying to  pass it off as christian. The female saint of Ireland is St. Brigit. The Catholic church  realized that  this goddess was so  beloved that  they  couldn't tell the pagans to shun her.  So  they  adapted the story and turned  a goddess into  a saint. There are stories that  Brigit was the handmaid of the virgin Mary  at Jesus's birth.  I  find such  actions and lies to  be very  disturbing.

     One of the most common misconceptions of the Celts is that  they  didn't write anything down. There are were a few druid books. Caesar stated that  the Gauls were using Greek  and Latin script.  The Ogham that  is linked to  the Celts  was mostly in Ireland and was meant for tree and stone inscriptions. St. Patrick is said to  have burned druid books.  I have done some research  that  says laws and judgements were recorded, and maybe that is what  St. Patrick  burned.  If you can remove all historical proof of something, it will fade into memory. And that  was the goal of St. Patrick.

     St. Patrick is given credit for the creation of the Celtic Cross.  It was written that  to  help in the conversion of the sun worshipping pagans that  he started to impose the sun on the christian cross. That is why there are 2 types of Christian crosses. The  cross with 3 equal length arms and a longer  base with a circle at the intersection is a christian Celtic cross. However, the  cross with  4 arms of equal length with a circle the intersection is a true pagan Celtic cross.  And it is that  symbol that  the pagans used originally to  represent the sun.  Another case of Christians  adapting pagan themes.

     Maybe Pagans were like snakes during this time. I  say  this because snakes will hide deeper if threatened. It would have been impossible for everything pagan to  be destroyed or removed by the christian church.  Paganism survived at great loss, but it  did survive. St. Patricks mission was not a complete success, for which I  am very happy.

     I  call  this  event St. Hatred's day.  I see the hate that  the christian religion and it's followers have for other people's life style and beliefs. I  think of all  the missionary work  that  the christian religion has done all over the world. How many other cultures has it wiped out? To me this is just like Thanksgiving day  to  the Native Americans.  People are honoring a person that was full of hate and hostility toward others.   I  know many  other people that  call  it "bring  back  the Snakes" day.  The snakes never completely left Ireland.  We need to use this terrible salute to  remind people what  they are actually promoting.

     I find my example to  be very  extreme, but I  do  want to mention it, so that you have a concept on how terrible this event actually is.  St. Patrick's day is used as an excuse for millions to  drink. But why do you need a reason to  drink?  Do these people look for an excuse to be louder and possibly more destructive?  Then why  don't they  celebrate  date of other people that sought the destruction of  human cultures.  April 20th is Adolf Hitler's birthday  and he tried to  remove the Jewish culture from the planet. They  could call it swastika day.

     We as a people need to rethink  of who we honor and why. There are great minds and history is full of people that have done wonderful  things without oppressing anyone to  achieve their goals.  Why  not have Winston Churchill day  and drink  a couple pints of warm ale.  Then there is Maria Curie who is called the mother of  Modern Physics, you can eat polish sausages and drink  vodka.  If we are going to  honor someone, make it a worthy person.