The Witchtower Magazine

I cannot lay claim to have ever been initiated into either a Wiccan or Witchcraft coven, but I have worked as a solitary Witch following the Wiccan path for three years, and now work as a solitary Witch leaning towards Traditional Witchcraft. In the time that I have been working as a Witch, I have come to notice, in my opinion, just how many differences there are between the two.

Witchcraft is a European term for a set of practices that crop up in various forms all over the world. It is not a religion, although there is often a spiritual aspect to it. Witchcraft involves the use of magic and the honouring of Gods, Spirits, and Ancestors. Wicca is an initiatory mystery tradition that involves the use of magic. It is also a religion created out of a combination of fact, fiction, history, philosophy, psychology and other world religions. A Witch is someone who practices.

Witchcraft, and if a Wiccan practices Witchcraft, then they are de facto Witches. The modern usage of the terms 'Wicca' and 'Witchcraft' are relatively new inventions coming from specific cultural backgrounds (although stemming from Old English). The first definition of a Witch is mentioned in Aelfric's Homilies, which was written between 955 and 1012, and the first definition of a Wiccan came from Gerald Gardner. The 1950's were the decade in which Gardner announced the existence of his Witch religion to the world and succeeded in establishing it as a lasting component of modern spirituality. In 1954, his book 'Witchcraft Today' gave that religion a generic name of 'Wica', adapted by the 1960s to its enduring form of 'Wicca'. Most people who come to learn the traditions of Witchcraft already have some basis in the practice. Nevertheless, it seems it has become popular to use the term 'Witchcraft' by many people who seek to remove themselves from the scope of Wicca. Although this may also be said for many people calling themselves Wiccan, so as to escape the stigma that can be associated with someone being called a Witch. Many such people flock to a term to define themselves without the understanding to which the term refers. This is not a do-whatever-you-want-to-do practice; there are set traditions and structure. Some people who follow these practices do not even call themselves Witches as the term 'Witch' is something that was placed upon their belief. In southern counties, the Midlands and Wales the terms 'Cunning man' and 'Cunning women' were used to describe practitioners who offered a range of skills linked to the operation of apparent supernatural power. Some confusion has been caused by the habit of folklore collectors in the late 19th and early 20th centuries of referring to all popular magical practices as 'Witchcraft' and to Cunning folkas 'White witches'. However, using the term 'Witchcraft is an easy way to collectively identify with these beliefs and those who follow them.

Beliefs
Some Witches do not believe in deities at all and believe in a singular all-powerful force known as nature. Nature encompasses all things and we generally see but a small part of it. Witchcraft is comprised of many individual traditions that may differ greatly from one another at times. However, most traditions follow some important elements. Wiccans believe that the divine is male and female, equal and in balance and that we should strive for that balance both in ourselves and in our lives. They believe that there is a Goddess as well as a God and that both are equally powerful, although some festivals and workings may be more appropriately directed to one or the other. Both the God and the Goddess may be referred to by different names at different times, but this does not mean that each Wiccan believes that there are many Gods and Goddesses. There are also polytheistic Wiccans.

The After-life
Some Wiccans have a strong belief in reincarnation, they believe we live many lives and between them we return to the Summerlands. There we review the lessons we have learned in the life that we have just completed and select the lessons to be learned in the life to come. We do not come back as the same person but rather our spirit is born again. When we die according to some Witches we travel to the plane of existence called the Spiritworld. This is where we also rest before continuing our journey, where we may be born into a new life. Another alternative is that we meld with nature becoming one with it, commonly becoming what is known as a land spirit. Yet there are some that believe that we are nothing but physical beings which decay as nature desires.