What is the definition of Pagan vs Wiccan? This question is asked over-and-over-and-over in the spiritual community. And some people claim to be one or the other without even truly knowing the difference themselves. If you want to know the difference between these two spiritual terms, the answer is really simple.
What is Paganism?
Paganism, by definition, is any spiritual practice or religion that doesn’t fit under the umbrella of the world’s majority religions. To be specific, any religion or spiritual belief that isn’t Christian, Jewish, Muslim or Buddhist can fall under the pagan umbrella. Paganism is also used to describe ancestral pre-Christian beliefs and practices, such as old Celtic and Norse traditions.
What is Wicca?
Wicca is a modern pagan religion founded in the 1930s by a man named Gerald Gardner, which began growing in popularity around the 1960s and 1970s. It is a nature-based witchcraft-centered religion that borrows a multitude of symbols, beliefs and traditional tid-bits from other cultures. Wicca is also the most commonly cited religion among people who identify as pagan or as witches.
What’s the difference?
The Pagan vs Wicca definition is simple. If you think about pizza, you know that there are many different flavors and types of pizza — but every different pizza is still a pizza. This same observation can be applied to knowing the difference between Paganism and Wicca. Paganism is the pizza, and Wicca is just one of the many different flavors of pizza. Get it yet?
