Pagan Vs. Wicca
Pagan is a broad term that often refers to any religion that isn't Christianity or Judaism. Wicca is a relatively recent religion developed in England from ancient and modern beliefs. According to the "Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology," as of 2000, there are an estimated 300,000 to a few million North American Wiccans.
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Pagan
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According to the website Religious Tolerance, the word "pagan" may be derived from the Latin word "paganus" which is variously defined as "rustic," "country bumpkin" or "hick." Some contemporary followers of pagan religions argue that early European Christians used "paganus" as a derogatory term for rural people who didn't accept Christianity. "Paganus" may have also meant "civilian" as opposed to "military." Early Christians called themselves "miles Christi,"or "soldiers of Christ" and may have called non-Christians "pagani," or "civilians." The modern word "pagan" has a variety of meanings. Some conservative Christians use the word "pagan" for any religions other than Christianity or Judaism. In a broader sense it often used for any religion that isn't one of the major religions such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism.
Neopagan
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Neopagans are followers of a contemporary religion that has been reconstructed from ancient beliefs and traditions. Examples include Celtic Druidism, Norse Heathenism or Asatru, Hellenismos or ancient Greek religion and Religio Romana or ancient Roman religion. According to the website Religious Tolerance, Wicca is the largest neopagan religion.
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Wicca
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Although he claimed it was an ancient tradition, according to the Wiccan priestess Lady Sabrina, there is no evidence Wicca existed before British occultist Gerald Gardener created it in 1951. A neopagan tradition, Wicca is a blending of pre-Christian beliefs such as goddess worship and modern practices such as Masonic ritual and ceremonial magic. Some influences on Wicca include Charles Leland's 1899 book "Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches" which describes a supposed pre-Christian Italian religion called "La Vecchia Religione," or the "Old Religion" and Margaret Murray's witch-cult hypothesis described in the 1921 book "The Witch Cult in Western Europe" and the 1931 book "The God of the Witches." These books made the claim that witchcraft was the remnant of an ancient religion that developed in the stone age and was once practiced across western Europe.
Wiccan Beliefs
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Wicca is an earth-centered religion and most Wiccans hold a deep reverence for nature. Wicca's central deities are the Goddess and her consort, sometimes called the Horned God. Unlike religions such as Christianity, Judaism and Islam, Wicca has no centralized authority and practitioners' beliefs can vary widely. However, they hold some views in common. One of their central beliefs in the Wiccan Rede which forbids Wiccans from harming others except in self-defense. In 1973, 73 representatives from a variety of North American Wiccan paths created 13 principles accepted by many American Wiccans. Some of these include living in harmony with nature, accepting that the Creative Power in the universe is divided into masculine and feminine and not accepting the existence of absolute evil.
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