Wiccans and Witches

[pt_tangles]

Today's article in the WildHunt has hit on something that I have been contemplating for some time now.  In my interactions with teens and Newbie Witches, I have seen it become more and more popular.  It is the idea that Witchcraft can be seperated out of Wicca.

"What is Wicca if it isn't religious Witchcraft? How much can you change or remove before certain forms of Wicca aren't even recognizable as part of a larger religious framework? Will we end up with congregational models of Wicca that seem little removed from a Unitarian-Universalist service (no offense intended to my UU pals)? It seems entirely possible that this desire to be seen as inoffensive (in order to escape persecution) won't reward us in the long run."

There are different trends reguarding use of the label 'Wicca'.  In some English communities I have seen that what they think of as American Eclectic is called Wicca and traditional models of Witchcraft are called Witchcraft.  Where it seems most the opposite in most communities here.  Wicca is reserved for the traditional religion, and eclectics and others are just left with Witchcraft to name their paths.  Then, on top of that you get the spelling and capitalization differences (wicca = eclectic neoWicca and Wicca/Wica = BTW).

Do you think that Wicca will fracture into a myriad of different faiths ... some which bear no resemblance to one another.  Similar, perhaps, to how Christianity has splintered between Catholic and the many different Protestant/Morman/JW faiths?  Will there be new names altogether in an effort to subtley point out that they don't do what I do?  Or will Witchcraft religions come to a point (or perhaps return to that point), where all Witchcraft is seen as a different tradiiton of Wicca, and the label will come to mean only 'British/European-based Witchcraft'?

Is it something that is to be fought for or against?  Or is it something that is better left to run its course and see where the dust settles?  Thoughts?

--Phae

x-posted to Phae In Space (my covenspace)

Comments

[brock-tn.livejournal.com]

The fracturing is inevitable. It's simply the normal pattern in the development of a new religion. Fractures start to appear not long after the death of the founder and those who were close to him. Witness the fracturing of both Christianity and Islam in the years after the deaths of the founders. Eventually, over time, an "orthodoxy" will develop. For Christianity, this took 300+ years. Presumably for Wicca it will take somewhat less, due to the ease of communication in the present era. But I don't expect to see that end-state for Wicca in my own lifetime.