Is It Really Just a Craft?

[pt_tangles]

I have been thinking since I first saw this article:

http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usmo&c=words&id=10563

What I have been thinking about is less the whole Wicca/Witch thing, and more about the common partyline about how Witchcraft is not a religion, but a skillset that can be incorperated into any faith. I was reading TT earlier today and a thread started by a misinfomed Christian, and there were numerous posts all repeating this same thing.

It got me to wondering ... is Witchcraft really just a craft? Can it really be compared to carpentry or to metalworking? And if it is a skillset and nothing more, can it be stripped from every Pagan religion that incorperates it (the claims of 'Wiccan but not Witch' are becoming more commone than in previous years)? Is it wise to do so?

Witchcraft has been illegal before, and in some places, accepting money for reading tarot cards is illegal still. Do you think it is possible, that the practise of Witchcraft could become illegal again if it is shown to not be an essential part of a Witch's religious expression?

Thoughts?

--Phae

X-posted to my journal and thicketeers

Comments

[sine-silverwing.livejournal.com]

I haven't read the article; as a British Traditional Wiccan, WV frequently gives me a large pain that the hydrocodone just won't touch.

I truly do believe that witchcraft isn't necessarily religious, though it can be readily used in more than one religious context. It appears to me to be a certain variety of folk-magic.

There is no way to be a BTW, for example, without using witchcraft: casting circles etc is witchcraft. What some people may do, in whatever fantasy-form of sorta-Wicca with which they indulge themselves, I have no idea.

'Course, if certain laws change, we'll just call what we do "religious ritual" because it is that, as well.

[elf]

The article is by Mike Nichols, arguing that "Wicca" and "witchcraft" are one and the same, mainly because the word "wicca" or "wicce" originally meant the same as "witch."

His logic has some holes (he's not trying to claim "pagan" means "country dweller"), and he's apparently oblivious to the eclectic, do-whatever-you-like stuff that's calling itself "Wicca" in some places.

He seems to think that witchcraft--as I believe you're defining it--is universal in modern "Wicca," and doesn't seem to be aware that there are kids who don't believe in Gods & Goddesses, don't cast circles, don't have any tools and wouldn't know what to do with them if they did... but call themselves "Wiccan" because they love nature and believe in "karma."

While I agree with him that the practice of witchcraft is essential to Wicca, and it is equally accurate to refer to such a person as "a Wiccan" or "a witch," I disagree that all forms of witchcraft are religions. He seems to be saying that there is only one "witchcraft," and it is the kind Wicca practices--or it is the universal pre-Christian, goddess-worshipping, magical way of relating to the world. (Or maybe he's implying that all tribal religions are really pretty much the same. I dunno. But there's something vaguely insulting in his notions about how Wicca & witchcraft are "the same thing.")

[pjvj.livejournal.com]

I think Witchcraft is intergral to the practice of some Pagan religions, but I still view it as a craft, a skillset as you say. Some practice it outside of a religious context so how would their practice be called religious? Should they have to choose a different name because maybe someday it may be labelled illegal? Naw.

It can be stripped from religions that do not require it, like any nonrequired part, but not from others. If someone decides to suddenly call my Craft illegal it will quickly become an essential part of my religion. The good part of living in The States, we have ways around being fucked with when it comes to law and religion. I'd happily dedicate all my workings to Yemaya and make it religious.

[jalilifer.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's a religion, but neither do I think it's *just* a craft. It's a craft that takes a certain way of seeing things, and a certain amount of talent, too, I suppose.

I know that I could never be a witch (one of the reasons why I have a hard time wrapping my mind around the concept of "Christian Witch"). It really doesn't fit into my understanding of the world, which is rooted in Christianity.

Does that mean that I think there can't be Christian Witches? I dunno. Do know that most people who self-define with the phrase have an entirely different understanding of Christ than I do. I'd go so far as to say that they have an understanding of Jesus, but not of Jesus AS Christ. So maybe they are Jesusian Witches. ;)

That probably offended someone somewhere...

Anyway, that's my thoughts from the Christian Side of the Fence.