                      WICCA, WICCE, WICCAN



Almos withou exception Pagan ar intelligent thinkin 
people  Paganis i  wa o lif tha make thes demands  An 
yet  becaus o sever Christia suppression s man o th Ol 
Way hav bee perverted  W mus loo i man direction t 
uneart th root al Pagan conside thei legacy.

On o th mos interestin method o researchin ou root i 
Etymology  For indeed a understandin o ou literary 
heritag i vital  I i unfortunat tha s ofte thi typ o 
research is woefully neglected.

Ho sa tha on o th mos importan word i moder Paga 
parlance Wicca i s ofte misused  Fo ever tim th wor i 
misuse ther i  probabilit tha someon wh ha jus bee 
introduce t Paganis wil pic i u and i turn us it 
incorrectly simpl becaus the hear i use tha wa an di 
no bothe t d thei ow fac finding  Thi i sad fo i w 
ca no b grammaticall correc w leav th impressio tha w 
don' kno wha w ar talkin about  I w ar erroneou abou 
something s elementar wh shoul  non-Paga (wh jus migh 
kno th correc grammatica us o ou terms pu an credenc 
i anythin w hav t say  And i the don' kno th correc 
terminology w shoul no expos the t incorrec terminolog 
a thei introductio t Paganism.



WIC    - An Old English word which means - to bend, to manipulate

WICC - A Ol Englis wor whic mean -  mal wh bend o 
         manipulates

WICCŠ - A Ol Englis wor whic mean -  femal wh bend          
         o manipulates

WICCA - A Ol Englis wor whic mean - bot male o female 
         who bend or manipulate, the plural of Wicca or Wicce.



Thes ar Ol Englis terms term tha th Christia populac 
use t labe th practioner o th Ol Ways  Thes wer no 
term th Pagan o Ol gav themselves  The bega referrin t 
themselve a Pagan onl afte Christianit emerge an gaine  
stron hol o urba centers an i orde t distinguis betwee 
thei "ol countr ways an th way o th ne wav o 
Christian beliefs.

PAGA - Derive fro th Lati Paganu (peasants countr folk 
rura people)   Paga i on wh practice "countr ways"  
Specifically Paga refer t ol countr practice originatin 
before the Christian era (Pre-Christian.)

Wicca Wicce Wiccan a use b th Christians t labe th 
non-Christians o Pagans wer no meant originally a 
compliments  The wer use sarcasticall an i  derogator 
manner  Afte bein labele thusl fo  perio o time mos 
Pagan realize that indeed the di ben an manipulat 
energy  The understoo th La o Caus  Effec an di 
practic magick althoug thei religio encompasse fa mor 
tha performin magick  Wit th comin o Christianit an th 
resultin Dar Ages th non-Pagan ha los th ol knowledg 
an coul n longe effectivel practic magick  Therefore th 
Pagan joyfully adopte th label tha ha bee give them  
Wit th Persecution the coul no us thes term publicl fo 
themselves without severe repercussions, but use them they did.

Whe Ol Englis wa i us ther wa ver littl proble wit 
correc gramma concernin Wicca Wicc an Wiccan  Thes word 
were understood.  

Thes Ol Englis word evolve int th moder Englis term 
Witc an Witches Witc bein applie t eithe mal o femal 
and Witches, of course, being plural.

Whe peopl堠 attemp t us Ol Englis蠠 term withou 
understandin the the hav  tendenc t misus堠 them 
particularl Wicc an Wiccan  The ten t us Wicc th sam 
wa yo woul us Witch applyin i t eithe mal o female 
whe Wicc onl applie t males  or the wil attemp t us 
th on masculin wor t refe t al Witches male an 
females whe the shoul b usin Wiccan whic doe appl t 
both  Often the eve forget o ignore th existence o th 
feminin Wicc totally  And frequently the attemp t mak 
th alread plura Wicca eve mor s b sayin Wiccans whic 
i rathe lik sayin Witcheses  

H i  Wicca  Sh i  Wicce  The ar Wiccan  I th tim 
tha thes word wer coine an cam into accepte use i wa 
understoo tha ther wa n religiou connotatio necessaril 
intended but tha the referre t and/o wer a admissio o 
the fact that certain people did practice magick.

Wit th publi reviva o th Ol Paga religions i becam 
necessar t re-examin th label whic distinguishe th Paga 
fro th Christian  I wa obviou tha th Pagan o Ol wer 
mor tha jus practioner o magick althoug the had 
themselves accepte th term Wicce Wicca Wicca and finally 
Witch  I a attemp t explai themselve t th non-Pagan 
Witche no bega t incorporat religiou meanin int thes 
terms 

Th genera publi ha n troubl acceptin th fac tha  Witc 
practice magic bu foun i har t comprehen tha th ter 
Witc ha anythin t d wit  religion  A  result Witche 
becam mor emphatic  A the wer 'Witches' the labele thei 
wa o lif 'Witchcraft'  Thi include no onl th magicka 
(La o Caus  Effect) th mora (La o Retribution bu als 
thei belie i specifi deities  I othe words thei Craf 
wa th ar o livin a practice b  Witch  Th Witches ar 
o livin i thei religion.

And so ther evolve a moder term Witchcraft meanin ' 
Witche's religion'.

Becaus o th Christia suppressio ove th years th term 
Witc an Witchcraf invite ridicule an persecutions  Wishin 
t avoi th negativ connotation the wer sur t encounte 
befor the coul explai wha the wer al about th moder 
Witche bega t adop  ter mad popula b Geral Gardner 
Wicca rathe tha us th bette know (an non-respected 
terms.

Adoptin thi ter withou botherin t researc i le t 
blatan inaccuracie (suc as referrin t th religio itsel 
a Wicca referrin t femal Witche a Wicca an s forth)  
Ther hav eve bee churches group an organization legall 
incorporate usin th ter Wicc i thei Officia name  Ther 
ar time whe thi coul b correc usage fo example i  
mal establishe  church wit hi ow rule an regulations 
an calle himsel th sol leader an chos t cal i "Th 
Templ o th Wicca thi coul b considere correct fo i 
woul b hi temple  templ o  mal Witch  I  templ wer 
establishe fo mal practitioner only i woul b  'Wicc 
Temple'  If however th templ wer attende b bot male 
an females i woul no onl b incorrec t cal i  'Wicc 
Temple' bu sexist an prejudice t d so  Female wh 
understan th correc usag o thes terms generally resen 
havin someon as the i the ar 'Wicca'  Considerin tha 
th ancien tradition o thi religio ar Matriarchical an 
tha th Goddes i supreme i make n sens tha som refe 
t th entir Witchcraf communit b  masculin term.

Whil i i tru tha no al Neo-Pagan (thos wh practic 
Paga ways wit  ver moder slan an usuall withou benefi o 
trainin i th Ol Traditions observ th Ol Traditions the 
should, at least, strive to use correct linguistics.

I i understoo tha th problem inheren i changin a 
incorporate nam ar traumati and technically i yo ow 
somethin yo ca cal i whatever yo choos an b correc fo 
yourself however i i ver confusin i yo cal you banan 
an apple when everyone else calls their banana a banana.

Thi ha opene th entir Paga communit t  ne ridicule  
Wil i b lon befor th ol term ar a undesirabl a th 
modern terms?  If so, it will be our own fault this time!

W respectfull as tha yo joi u i ou struggl t correc 
th genera usag o thes words  Onl whe we ourselves 
understan ou heritag ca we again becom  viabl forc i 
society.


 
Blessed Be!



PRONUNCIATIONS

WICCA  = WICK-CHA  (AH not A)
WICCE  = WICK-CHE  (EH not E)
WICCAN = WICK-CHAN

Th Anglo-Saxon spok  ver guttura languag basically  I 
these pronunciations give you trouble, you may try:


WICCA  = WITCH-AH
WICCE  = WITCH-EH
WICCAN = WITCH-AHN



EARTH-RITE/ Mission San Jose, CA/ 415-651-9496
Copyrigh (c 198 b Th Witchin Wel Educatio an Researc 
Center.  Used by permission.
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