THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WITCHCRAFT AND WICCA

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WICCA AND WITCHCRAFT

I have had people come up to me and say "I'm a wiccan" and I say "OK, you follow a religion." and I've had other people come up to me and say "I'm a witch" and I say "OK, you work with the scientific workings of the craft, that others overlay with religion."

So what is the difference between Wicca and Witchcraft?

This is a question that is asked of me all the time, and in truth one can be a witch but not necessarily a wiccan, but usually a wiccan works the same methodology as a witch but overlays it with religion. So in many ways a Wiccan can be a witch due to the religious methodology in weaving the energies.

In the beginning of my history I described witchcraft as this with a quote by Lady Sheba from her book "The Witches Workbook" {copywrite 1972}~~~~~

Witchcraft is an exact science.

Knowledge is witchcraft in action.

Wisdom is Knowledge in action.

Witchcraft is Wisdom in action.

Witchcraft is Mind over Matter.

Witchcraft is Magick.

~~~~~~~

Not once in that statement is the word religion or religious belief mentioned. It is knowledge, wisdom and the exact science of working mind over matter.

Witchcraft is the learning to manipulate and use the natural laws, and to live within the boundaries of these natural laws that came about when this universe was created.

1. For every cause there is an effect.

2. For every action an equal but opposite reaction.

No matter what, there must always be balance in nature, upon the earth and in the heavens, if there is sunshine, there must also be rain, if it is warm, then there must be cold, light then also dark, love then also hate, laughter then also tears, birth then also death.

Now these two basic Natural Laws are the ones that give amateur spellcasters, wiccans, pagans, druids, you-name-it, the most trouble. DO NOT CAST A SPELL OR CURSE OR ANYTHING WITHOUT CONSIDERING THESE LAWS AND THEIR PROFOUND EFFECTS.

There is NO escape from these laws, nor is there any way, shape or form of putting them aside. These laws are universal until the end of time.

It is physics in its most basic form. And it was this that was noticed first by the first human, long before the word or idea of religion got into it.

The tired, worn out, statement that "Witchcraft is a Nature Worship, a Fertility Cult" is just that, a worn out phrase and nothing could be further from the truth, Witchcraft is an exact science.

And while most Witches like to live close to nature, and respect the laws of nature --it is Not a Fertility Cult although it does respect fertility. This theory can be proven, just try and cast a spell without charting the right time or phase of sun and moon, just try and do it in a sloppy manner and what will you get---Nothing!

Wicca also recognizes balance in the Universe, just as Witchcraft does, but it also recognizes the wheel of the year (which is the fertility aspect of Wicca) as did most ancient religious, pre-christian, pre-Judaic and pre-Muslim beliefs. Witchcraft also recognizes the wheel of the year, and knows that each season will follow just as the sun follows the moon and the moon follows the sun.

But Wicca itself is a 20th century re-creation of the ancient beliefs of ancient universal laws that recognizes balance, duality and equality in all things, which the Christian, Judaic and Muslim beliefs no longer believe in, having become a patriarchal belief and in doing so have thrown the balance of the Cosmos out of alignment.

No one witch has the exact same powers as another witch, we only have that which was given to us and it will differ from person to person. BUT the one thing that all witches have in common is the Ancient Wisdom of Natural Laws and how to live in harmony within the boundaries of these Laws.

And this is something that modern human kind, in it's ignorance and greed to dominate the earth, has ignored much to it's own health and detriment, and we will all pay for that ignorance and greed.

These Natural laws are all around us, as a matter of fact they overlay us but we don't see them, yet they are there; hidden, implied, unseen yet there. If we train ourselves to be sensitive to these laws or elements we will sense them, for they are alive and impose their invisible order upon the visible order.

We make contact with the visible world with our five senses, but if we train ourselves to heighten our 5 senses then we can see and work with the invisible world.

Granny tried to impress this upon me, she used salt and water, these are two separate elements, but put them together they can become a form of sea water, we see the water and we know it's not clear, we know the salt is in there but we cannot separate it. But if one boils it and distills it though a scientific methodology, the water collects and becomes clear and the salt dries to the sides of the pot and they become two separate elements again. The salt once invisible, becomes visible but only through a long process.

Anyone can do this irregardless of their religious beliefs, BUT once you touch this invisible world, once you discover it, then one realizes how out of balance the physical world is, and despite one's upbringing, will only see the need for the balance. This is something the non-pagan religions do not want anyone to discover independently, they claim it must only be done according to their own religious writings and through their "leaders" interpretations.

They are afraid to let go of their own control and cease to be the leaders controlling their own little patch of dirt, when in reality if they did let go and only acted as guides would we then have world peace.

Well known physicist David Bohm, was born and educated in the United States and he joined Einstein's circle of theorists and scientists. During the McCarthy period (1950's) he moved to Britain to escape the Communist Witch Hunt that the late Senator Joseph McCarthy imposed upon a recovering and vastly paranoid United States, in his later years David Bohm became a kind of mystic

He was a very great thinker, throughout his life he sought deeper theories to explain the universe. One such theory he called "implicate order", a hidden order enfolded in the visible surface that we've all come to know.

The implicate order lies beneath the visible order and gives rise to it, affects it, and it's out of this implicate order that the universe that is observed, is sprung.

The theory is too complex to explain here, but the event that inspired this theory, was really very simple. Bohm was sort of half dreaming in front of his TV set watching one of those well done BBC science shows , when he was suddenly struck by an experiment that was being demonstrated.

The experiment required two glass cylinders one set inside the other, in between the space or gap between the two cylinders a quantity of glycerin was poured and was suspended there squeezed between the cylinders. Then a drop of black ink was added. Now the drop of black ink could be seen floating in the glycerin as a separate small glob.

As the outside cylinder was rotated the ink drop was spun thinner and thinner into a thread until finally it disappeared. Much like the way we would mix chocolate syrup into milk but instead of the milk taking on a chocolate color, it would remain white yet we know that the chocolate syrup is in there.

And technically the ink was still in the glycerin but it just couldn't be seen, But when the outer cylinder was rotated in reverse the thread of ink reappeared and became thicker and thicker until it collapsed back into the original drop of black ink separate from the glycerin.

Visually on Television an experiment of this sort would have seemed like magic. And it did make an impression on David Bohm. And because he was a genius, he took this concept to another higher step, using it as the starting point for his theory. The solid ink drop and the glycerin, two seperate items, as the explicate order or matter which we can see, but the invisible thread of ink, enfolded into the glycerin as the implicate order yet to be sensed or understood.

Now that is the elements of the exact science of Witchcraft that witches work with and try to control and understand yet still working with the natural laws of the universe or the implicate laws that are invisible that affect the explicate world.

These are living, breathing laws.

And one does not have to be a pagan, wiccan or druid to be a witch--one can be Catholic, Buddhist, Protestant, Muslim, Jewish etc., as long as one understands these laws and work with them, then one is also a witch but still practicing their Christian or non-pagan beliefs.

When you think upon it it does blow ones mind---Gee!!! I can be a Catholic or Christian or whatever and still be a witch!!!!

But what had happened in the non-pagan religions is that long ago certain people realized the power behind these laws and used these laws to frighten the populace and bring them under control to what ever mind set these ancient clergy had.

Ancient Human kind realized that women had a natural magic power, they could bleed but not die, and that this bleeding followed the cycle of the moon, again a natural law. But if woman remained alone she would bleed at certain times until she took unto herself man, and from that the bleeding stopped. Woman then would grow full and round as the Moon and from her life came forth, then again she would bleed, but this life came from the blood of woman.

It didn't take much for early human kind to realize that if you want life there must be male and female, but because the woman gave forth life and that man didn’t, then woman had the greater power. Hence the Goddess beliefs.

The Goddess gives birth, she creates with wisdom, and she also heals, and she can destroy. In many packs or prides it is the female who hunts, the male will support and in some cases defend, but it is truly the female who does the "Lions share" of the work. This too was not lost on primitive human kind.

In time it took on a form of ceremony, because it was noticed that if certain things were done a certain way it would be in balance and come out right, but if not done a certain way, it would come out wrong, thus came religion and the Goddess Worship.

Now adays it would be called a formula, or recipe,or a ritual, that one has to follow or the cake will not bake, the experiment will fail, because they have to follow an implicit order in order to get an explicit result, a result that is not seen but felt.

But how did religion come into this if Witchcraft is really a science of natural laws instead of a religion?

My Granny told me that all things have spirit and this was reiterated by a West African Shaman named "Kim" (the rest of his name was too long to get right). Kim told me that everything even things we think of as inanimate has spirit, such as a mountain, , rocks, shells, etc. things that are inanimate in nature will have an energy that is of nature base. And things man made such as a car, boat, clothing, jewelry will also attract an energy that is borrowed from the one(s) who have made it or worn it or infuse it. This is "spirit" as well.

This spirit in nature comes from the great living source, and just as the human body is composed of many cells which can act independently, so can the living spirit be independent from the great living source but still be in touch with it, apart from yet apart of, thinking with yet thinking from the great living source. In time these individual living bits of energy become gnomes, fairies, undines, salamanders, trolls, sidhe, you-name-it-and it's a part of it.

And because these living energy bits are apart and yet a part of the great living source, they can think. But they too must work with the Natural Laws of the Universe, but because they operate at a higher vibrational level we cannot see them or sense them unless we attune our selves to their implicit presence.

It was found through trial and error that to help attune one's self you had to use a formula, by couching that formula in a form of rote it gave rise to a religious or ritualistic act, for the energies would only work if called and appeased, then and only then by following this rote or ritual would it work.

Now how did this give rise to the Goddess beliefs?

Lets think back to the primite human mind, or what one would think as primitive---in truth Cro-Magnon and Neanderthal people were very smart and artistic. They studied the world around them, observed it, and from it drew "scientific" conclusions. They practiced a form of scientific sympathetic magic--such as by creating the image of the bison, bison would come and offer themselves to be killed so that the people could live. And in return the people would honor the spirit of the bison. "If I do this--this happens----like produces like"---a formula.

But where did this come from? (thought primitive man) The big shining orb that produces light, comes alive in the east but dies in the west--it does this day after day---but then it begins to lose it's power to shine and the world gets colder, will we die?? Now after this time after this many moons the sun comes alive at this point in the sky and dies on the other side, but after that it gains power---why is that?(asks primitive man)

Can you imagine the power such an event, that I have described, could have on ancient human kind.---this happens with the females, they get big and round like the orb in the night sky and then a small creature appears from their bodies--they are powerful and the wet red liquid is powerful. For the females can produce it and do not die, and the small creatures are covered with it when they appear---Why is That?? Again can you imagine the profound effect that this would have on them?

Then they began to think--"There must be a great female that give birth to the shining light, and it appears to die and then it gets strong again. We see the great female go round and full in the night sky and then she gets small, has she given birth to something else?"

Such imagery around them would not have gone un-noticed--it would be natural then to assume that a Great Creatrix would have given birth to everything around them. The ancient goddess figures that are 25,000 years old attest to that fact. The way a person or animal is born would give rise to the idea that caves are the birth canal of the great Goddess. To enter this--the womb of the goddess, would be a sacred act, by painting images of the bison, the horse, elephants and other animals would be trying to impregnate the goddess to insure more of the animals. The hand print would be to show who had asked for such gifts, and also maybe to ask the Goddess to help produce more of their tribe or to recognize new initiates to the sacred path.

In time myths arose to help explain why and when things happen, these myths would teach a person to work in terms of the seasonal cycle, and would in societies be taken very seriously. These myths would also teach the society how to act accordingly. In time this would also create an ethos, an understanding between people. And through these stories or myths would be taught the wisdom of life.

Joseph Campbell, in his interview with Bill Moyers in the "Power of Myth" series, at the very beginning [and I'm paraphrasing here] responded to Moyers question "What happens when a society no longer embraces a powerful mythology?" Campbell replied that one would just have to read the New York Times newspaper and one would see the news of the day, including destructive and violent acts by young people who don't know how to behave in a civilized society.

Primitive scientific observation (witchcraft) gave rise to the powerful Goddess myths (currently wicca) and in doing so created a means of how to behave in a society of one's peers and elders (civilization), to not follow those means of behavior, (which brings about beneficial bounty), would and could bring about the destruction of the people. When young people were no longer taught the meaning of myth, we began the slow destruction of society and gave rise to destructive, suicidal cults and irrational acts of hate and violence. (see Jonestown, Branch Davidians, Heaven's Gate, the Columbine Highschool massacare for examples.)

Witchcraft is a science working with wisdom and knowledge and works with the implicate order in an explicate world. It is much like Vulcan logic and methodology.

Wicca is a religious belief that works with wisdom and knowledge to work with the implicate order in a explicit world. It is much like Nylix of "Voyager" who comes up with a chicken soup remedy to get one well.

Witchcraft knows the how and why of chicken soup and that it works.

Wicca knows, through faith, that chicken soup does what it suppose to do.

The difference?? Witchcraft knows "scientifically" how to work with the energies. Wicca knows the religious way to work with the energies. Wicca is the "Mythos" and Witchcraft is the understanding behind the mythos.

Witchcraft then becomes a foundation upon which Wicca is built. But the workings of Witchcraft is also the foundations of all religions and science.

Bright Blessings,

Inanna

11-21-2000--revised 2-16-2001