look I'm a christian. and look I don't practice any of the false religions but, I can tell you. pagans worship by sacrifice and make animal sacrifices and such and they are mostly satanic. and vicunas worship the trees, grass, plants, greenery, and other worldly things, they also believe that magic is real(false). so ya hope that helped you out. I used to be Wicca but I got saved by my Lord and savior Jesus Christ! amen!!!! God Bless you!
All Baptists are Christian, not all Christians are Baptists
P.S. Anyone who claims that Pagans sacrifice animals obviously knows NOTHING about Paganism. There is NO animal sacrifice, in fact, pagans are highly respectful of all life forms. Also, there is NO connection to "Satan" because Pagans believe that the devil was invented by man. Peace.
Wicca is a specific branch of paganism. Pagan is an umbrella term for all non-mainstream, life-affirming spiritual paths. Pagans do not make animal or human sacrifices and most of them don't even believe there is a devil, much less worship such a critter. As to what pagans DO worship, well, that depends on the pagan. Most, if not all, have a reverence for nature and for a person's free will.
There are people who call themselves pagan and go around practicing animal sacrifice and getting high and drunk, but they aren't really pagan. They are the troublemakers that give the real pagans a bad name.
Paganism is an umbrella term meaning that it covers a lot of different religions and belief systems, Paganism means someone who is not Christian, Muslim, or Jew, however when people talk about Paganism they generally mean Neo-Paganism.
Neo-Paganism covers religions and belief systems that have ancient Pagan routes, those within Paganism [Neo-Paganism] fall into one of two belief systems or a variation of one of these two;
- Pantheism ? Belief that the divine is present in all, all living things ? e.g. Gaia worship
- Polytheism ? Belief that there are many divine beings, follow specific pantheons ? e.g. Asatru
[Pantheons ? Sets of gods ? e.g. Norse mythology, Celtic Mythology, etc.]
Wicca is a specific Pagan religion; they are a polytheistic religion that believes in a god and goddess, specifically they are a priesthood that work on a pagan mystery tradition, they celebrate seasonal changes as reflections of the life cycle of their god and goddess, among other beliefs and practices.
All Wiccans are Neopgans, but not all Neopagans are Wiccans. Just like All Lutherans are Christians, but not all Christians are Lutherans.
Neopagans have basically the same beliefs as Wiccans more or less. They cast spells (that don't work) inside protective "magic circles" drawn on the ground or floor, and worship Prue-Christian gods and goddesses. Neopagans like to think their "religion" (sometimes there's only one or two people and a web page making up these "religions") go back thousands of years, but they don't have a direct connection.
Some of the world's religions which could be called Pagan because they worship a pantheon of gods and goddesses are Hinduism, Shintoism, and many branches of Budhism.
Wicca is a specific religion, by and large the creation of Gerald Gardner and company circa 1951 (give or take a decade or two).
Paganism is a misnomer as there is no single Pagan religion. Its an umbrella term which refers to anything which isn't Abrahamic (IE, Christian, Muslim, or Jewish), and therefore can include many religions which have little to nothing in common with each other. It has a terribly derogatory past, and so the most "PC" thing to do is only to apply it to those who apply it to themselves.
Most people who self-identify as Pagans are Neo-Pagans - meaning that they are following a new religion which is based upon ancient Pre-Abrahamic religions, but is not a historical continuation of those religions. But there are also some Meso-Pagans (those who blend the Abrahamic with the Pre-Abrahamic) as well as some Paleo-Pagans (those who observe a religion which has historical continuance).
Some Neo-Pagan religions stick more closely to what can be known about these ancient pre-Abrahamic religions and are known as Reconstructionists. Some Neo-Pagans are more given to speculation and inspiration and are known as Inspirationists. Reconstructionists tend to focus on a single culture or a small group of cultures which are closely inter-related by history, language and geography. While some Inspirationists do that as well, they are generally more prone to "eclecticism" or using bits and pieces of many unrelated or tenuously related cultures. Wicca is an example of Inspirationist Neo-Paganism, whereas Asatru is an example of Reconstructionist Neo-Paganism.
In my experience, most Pagans choose European, Mediterranean, North African, and Middle Eastern cultural religions for their basis. Those individuals practicing Far Eastern religions and tribal religions tend not to self-identify as Pagan because 1) their experiences with the word as an insult are still too fresh and 2) they would rather identify more specifically by the name of their religion than adopting a nearly useless umbrella term.
what is the difference between wicca and paganism?
