As a reply to my last blog entry, HappyYellowBall asked, "Is it the Craft or is it Wicca?" This made me realize that I hadn't defined my terms, so I will now try to correct that error. Anyone who is not interested, please feel free to ignore this.

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The words Witch, Witchcraft, and Wicca are all bound together in knots of definition. I told part of the story in the last blog entry, so I'll just summarize that part. Basically, Saxons came to the British Isles and found people who presided over the folk religion of the people. They were told that these priests, priestesses, healers, and oracles were "Wise Ones" (or something similar). The Saxons translated this into their own tongue as "Wicca". Thus, "wicca" means a male Witch and "wicce" means a female Witch. These became the common terms, and as time went by the 'cc' became a 'ch' sound and the word "witch" was born. After the persecutions caused Witchcraft to fade away (either because all the practitioners went into hiding or because they were dead) we took the new definition of the term which was offered by the victors. Witches were people who used magick, particularly to harm people, and more particularly if they gained their power from the Devil. Anthropologists used the term whenever they came across people in any country who claimed to be able to use magick, thus further muddying the waters. Then the Witches came back. In modern times, one of the preeminent authors about Witchcraft was Gerald Gardner (I'll talk about him more if I ever get a chance to write part 2 of my history article). Gardner made the observation that "Witch" came from "Wicca" and therefore the religion could be called "The Craft of the Wicca" or "Wiccacraft". Many readers misread this or misheard it from other sources and began to simply use the word "Wicca" to refer to the religion. Many people practiced the religion but were uncomfortable with the negative connotations of the word "Witchcraft" so they began to use this new/old term instead. Now there have been two backlashes against this, and they are polar opposites. Some Witches, especially those raised in a family tradition or Famtrad, have eschewed the use of the term "Wicca" because they believe that it refers only to the type of Witchcraft practiced (and perhaps created) by Gerald Gardner. In contrast, they believe their tradition to be more "pure" and... well, traditional. Meanwhile, another smaller group are claiming that "Wicca" should be the correct term because "Witchcraft" refers to any type of magick (they have been confused by the anthropological use of the word). This view is opined by the author of the Wicca article on About.com whose only comment on my explanatory emails has been "I disagree." So much for scholarship. So, to sum up. "Wicca" means "a male Witch" but is now used to refer to the religion of Witchcraft. If used this way, a practitioner is called a "Wiccan". These terms refer to the same religion as the terms "Witchcraft" and "Witch". Because "Witchcraft" is a reasonably long word to write or say, the term "The Craft" is often substituted (perhaps less so since the movie came out). There are some people who prefer one term or another, and as far as I'm concerned that is just fine. My only objection is when people start telling others what term they should use. There are other terms out there, but this is the most confusing distinction. I hope this was somewhat clear (as much as a history this long can be). Oh, and it should go without saying at this point that "Witchcraft" and "magick" are two different things. "Witchcraft" is a religion while "magick" is a practice which can be used by anyone in any religion. Feel free, once again, to ask any questions you may have. Blessed be and Hurdy gur, -Marc