a little background info

Wicca vs. Witchcraft
Though sometimes used interchangeably, "Wicca" and "Witchcraft" are
not the same thing. The confusion comes, understandably, because both
practitioners of Wicca and practitioners of witchcraft are called
witches. All practitioners of Wicca are witches, but not all witches
are practitioners of Wicca.

"Wicca" refers to a religion. The term can refer to the initiatory
tradition, where initiates are assigned a degree and generally work
in covens, or to Solitary Wicca, where practitioners self-dedicate
themselves to the tradition and generally practice on their own. Both
Initiates and Solitary Wiccans worship the Goddess and/or the God,
and both celebrate the Sabbats and Esbats.

"Witchcraft," or "The Craft," on the other hand, requires no belief
in specific gods or goddesses and is not a specific spiritual path.
Thus, there are witches who adhere to a variety of beliefs and
religious systems besides Wiccan ones. Witchcraft, the casting of
spells and the practice of magic, is considered to be a learned skill
that can be separated from religious beliefs.

Neopaganism vs Wicca
Neopaganism (or Neo-Paganism or Paganism) is a broad designation that
refers to any nature-based or earth-based religion, most of which
pattern themselves on ancient western pagan religions.

Wicca is one form of Neopaganism. Thus all Wiccans are Neopagans (or
Pagans), but not all Pagans are Wiccans. The main difference between
Pagans who refer to themselves as such and Wiccans is that Wiccans
practice magic and witchcraft.


Neopaganism is not an organized religion and has no official
doctrine. Pagans follow a wide variety of paths and may have a
variety of beliefs on religious questions like the divine, human
nature and the afterlife. However, there are some common beliefs that
are held by most Neopagans.

Perhaps the most fundamental belief of Neopaganism is the recognition
of the divine in nature. Pagans revere the cycle of the seasons,
which is regarded as an expression of the divine and a model for
spiritual growth and renewal. The Earth herself is regarded as sacred
by many Pagans, and deep ecological concerns are characteristic of
most followers of Neopaganism.

Different deities are connected with different times of the year and
worshipped in seasonal festivals, and practices like astrology and
divination are rooted in the belief in nature's divinity.

Neopaganism is also characterized by its revival of ancient
polytheistic religions. Pagans are especially interested in the
pantheons of northern Europe (Norse) and Britain (Celtic) but also
incorporate gods and beliefs of ancient Greek, Roman and Egyptian
paganism.

Some Pagans regard one particular god (or the God and Goddess pair)
as the Supreme Principle, worshipping that divinity above all others.
Some regard all gods as aspects of the Great God and all goddesses as
aspects of the Great Goddess, for example. But nearly all Neopagans
recognize the existence and true divinity of other gods; virtually no
Neopagans are monotheists.

In addition to gods and goddesses, Neopagans usually honor ancestral
and locational spirits. These might include deceased relatives
(honored especially at Samhain), local and national heros, Elves, the
spirit of the hearth, and so on.

In additon to these commonly-held beliefs, Neopagans who follow a
particular path usually have their own distinctive religious beliefs.


Wiccan Ethics
The Wiccan Rede
Wiccan morality is ruled according to the Wiccan Rede, which (in
part) states "An it harm none, do what thou wilt." ("An" is an
archaic word meaning "if".)

Others follow the slightly adapted Rede of "An it harm none, do what
ye will; if harm it does, do what ye must." Either way, the Rede is
central to the understanding that personal responsibility, rather
than a religious authority, is where moral structure resides.

One of the major differences between Wiccans and other types of
witchcraft is the Rede. Many "traditional" witches or witches that
follow other paths do not believe in the Rede. This is a major topic
of controversy within the Wiccan and Pagan communities.

Many Wiccans also believe that no magick can be performed on any
other person without that person's direct permission (excepting pets
and young children who can be protected by parents and owners).
Sometimes when permission is expected but not yet attained magical
energy will be placed on the astral plane for the receiver to gather
if and when he/she is ready.

The Law of Threefold Return
Many Wiccans also promote the Law of Threefold Return, or the idea
that anything that one does may be returned to them threefold. In
other words, good deeds are magnified back to the doer, but so are
ill deeds. The Threefold Law is sometimes stated like this:

Ever Mind The Rule Of Three
Three Times Your Acts Return To Thee
This Lesson Well, Thou Must Learn
Thou Only Gets What Thee Dost Earn.

Gerina Dunwich, an American author whose books (particularly Wicca
Craft) were instrumental in the increase in popularity of Wicca in
the late 1980s and 1990s, disagrees with the Wiccan concept of
threefold return on the grounds that it is inconsistent with the laws
of physics. Pointing out that the origin of the Law of Threefold
Return is traceable to Raymond Buckland in the 20th century, Dunwich
is of the opinion that "There is little backing to support it as
anything other than a psychological law." Her own personal belief,
which differs from the usual interpretation of the Threefold Law, is
that whatever we do on a physical, mental, or spiritual level will
sooner or later affect us, in either a positive or negative way, on
all three levels of being.

161 Laws
A few Wiccans also follow, or at least consider, a set of 161 Laws
often referred to as Lady Sheba's Laws. They are based in large part
on Gerald Gardner's Old Laws, which he attributed to his New Forest
coven and first came to light in 1957.

Some Wiccans find these rules to be outdated and counterproductive.
One Wiccan comments, "I find much of this document, regardless of
origins, to be outdated and unnecessary. It is at points sexist and
ageist, and it is saturated with the paranoia associated with the
myth of the Burning Times." {3}

Eight Wiccan Virtues
Most Wiccans also seek to cultivate the Eight Wiccan Virtues. These
may have been derived from earlier Virtue ethics, but were first
formulated by Doreen Valiente in the Charge of the Goddess. They are
Mirth, Reverence, Honour, Humility, Strength, Beauty, Power, and
Compassion. They are in paired opposites which are perceived as
balancing each other.

Wicca and Feminism
Wicca has a close association with feminism, and many women Wiccans
say they are attracted to Wicca in large part because of its emphasis
on female equality, divinity and power. In addition to the emphasis
on the Goddess, an attractive aspect of Wicca for feminists is the
ability to identify with powerful historical women who were
persecuted by the male-dominated Christian church.

Dianic Wicca is the most feminist-oriented tradition of Wicca, in
that it emphasizes the Goddess alone and excludes men from covens.
Other traditions, however, believe that this approach is improper and
interferes with the balance of masculine and feminine in nature.

Wicca and Homosexuality
Throughout most of Wicca and Neopaganism, all sexual orientations are
considered healthy and positive, provided that individual sexual
relationships are healthy and loving. Sexual orientation is therefore
not considered an issue. Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender
people are almost always welcomed in individual communities, covens,
study groups, and circles. Many homosexual Neo-Pagans were initially
attracted to Neo-Pagan religions because of this inclusion, in which
their relationships are seen on an equal footing. Sometimes their
desire is more specifically to move away from what they see as
homophobic pressure in their original religion.

In support of this philosophy, many Neopagans cite the Charge of the
Goddess, which says "All acts of Love and Pleasure are Her rituals."
Therefore all forms and expressions of sexuality, as long as they are
otherwise healthy and consensual, are accepted.
One qualified exception is Gardnerian Wicca and other relatively
traditional groups. Gardnerians do not make any moral judgments about
homosexual people, but they usually form their covens from male-
female pairs.

Most traditional Wiccans worship the God and Goddess. Traditional
Wiccan covens aspire to having equal numbers of men and women, to
embody their belief in the importance of balance between the male and
female (which extends sexually). This, and the imbalance of female
and male practitioners, can sometimes be a practical obstacle to gay
people and women who wish to join traditional circles, an obstacle
often shared by single people. The actual sexual orientation of the
individual is not an issue.