Paganism
There is a lot that comes to ones mind when the term "pagan" is referenced. If someone has never heard of the term the imagination might jump to cult practices with mundane rituals that occur in a graveyard or evil Witches and there spells. Propaganda to media has lead to this conclusion for some. But truly is it?
First let's take a look at what the word "pagan" means. Let's look at it history and etymology.
"Pagan" comes from the Latin word paganus. The word paganus means rural or rustic of country. During those times pagan was used to refer to the "country dweller/villager". That literally meant the lower class of a village were mostly referred to as pagan in a rural area. This may have been because in the areas where the "country/village" dweller lived they were seen with images that reflected idolatry.
Also there has been reference to "heathen" in the term pagan. It is still unclear when this became an application to anyone referred to as a pagan. According to Oxford English Dictionary:
According to this definition mines would be correct. But one must look at the etymology of the word Wicca again as we did for the word "pagan" and "heathen".
Wicca comes from an Old English term to describe male sorcerer while wicce referred to female practitioners. This was a reference used in med evil times.
Originally when Gerald Gardner had brought Wicca to the United States he had spelled it with one c instead of two.
First let's take a look at what the word "pagan" means. Let's look at it history and etymology.
"Pagan" comes from the Latin word paganus. The word paganus means rural or rustic of country. During those times pagan was used to refer to the "country dweller/villager". That literally meant the lower class of a village were mostly referred to as pagan in a rural area. This may have been because in the areas where the "country/village" dweller lived they were seen with images that reflected idolatry.
Also there has been reference to "heathen" in the term pagan. It is still unclear when this became an application to anyone referred to as a pagan. According to Oxford English Dictionary:
The sense 'heathen' arose from an interpretation of paganus as denoting a person who has outside a particular group or community, hence 'not of the city' or 'rural'. The word has generally been assumed to be a direct derivative of Gothic as if 'dweller on the heath', taken a kind of loose rendering of Latin paganus (originally 'villager, rustic', later, after Christianity became the religion of the towns, while the ancient deities were still retained in rural districts, 'pagan, heathen').
Wicca
There has been also debate amongst many what is Wicca. Is it a religion on its own? Is it paganism? What is the difference between a Witch and a Wiccan? Why are they used interchangeably. Well, here in my blog I will clear the differences a bit.
Wicca is a neo pagan (or pagan, depending on your view points) religion that deals with a bit of modern witchcraft, the Horned God and Goddess of ancient lore, rituals, spiritualism, and animism.Wicca is a beautiful, peace-loving religion that have a pantheon of gods and Goddess fit to suit the Wiccan (the practiconer of Wicca) view. It is polytheistic in nature and has roots back to pre-Christian beliefs. Connection to oneself, nature, and the Goddess and God is also apart of Wicca along with the study of certain aspects of magic. Wicca was not made popular until 1954 by Gerald Gardner who brought his learnings of Wicca to the United States from Britian and created his own tradition of Wicca called "Gardnerian" and after which many such others started to arise. This is my definition and what I believe Wicca is and means to me.
1. A polytheistic Neo-Pagan nature religion inspired by various pre-Christian western European beliefs, whose central deity is a mother goddess and which includes the use of herbal magic and benign witchcraft.
2. A group or community of believers or followers of this religion. (Wicca, 2010)
According to this definition mines would be correct. But one must look at the etymology of the word Wicca again as we did for the word "pagan" and "heathen".
Wicca comes from an Old English term to describe male sorcerer while wicce referred to female practitioners. This was a reference used in med evil times.
Originally when Gerald Gardner had brought Wicca to the United States he had spelled it with one c instead of two.
Witch
The etymology of the word Witch goes along with that of the etymology of the word Wicca.
Works Cited
pagan (n. adj. d.). In Dictionary Definitions. Retrieved November 2010, from http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/135980?redirectedFrom=pagan.
paganism (n.d) In Dictionary Definitions. Retrived November 25, 2010, from http://www.yourdictionary.com/paganism
Wicca. (n.d). The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition (2003). Retrieved March 2, 2010 from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Wicca
paganism (n.d) In Dictionary Definitions. Retrived November 25, 2010, from http://www.yourdictionary.com/paganism
Wicca. (n.d). The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition (2003). Retrieved March 2, 2010 from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Wicca
