Short Answer: A large group of religions and practices whose members call themselves Witches Long Answer: Witchcraft is, literally, the practices of Witches, which leads us to the question, Who is a witch?
There is a large group of people who identify with the term Witch, they include:
-Practitioners of some Familial Magical Traditions (FMTs)
-Some Wiccans
-Some members of Radical Feminist movements
-practicioners of one of several modern religions called "Witchcraft"
-Some non-Wiccan Pagans
-Christian, Jewish, and Other Faith members who practice secular "magick"
-People who like the word
-Some People who practice Magick
-Some people who practice Bad Magick
-Some people who practice Good Magick
-Some Satanists
-Others
The operative word here is some. The word Witch is largely nonsense without an "operational definition" that means, when someone says that they are a witch, they can mean a lot of different things. Some people say they are reclaiming the word, believing in a past when the word meant something good. Others are more accurate, and say they are claiming a word that in the past meant a bad thing.
Witches can be good, bad, mythological, real, green faced, beautiful, Ranting, and more. They can practice Witchcraft as a religion, or as a non-religious art while practicing a different religion.
The only rule here is:don't call a person a Witch who wouldn't call themselves such!
More Info:
"Is there a difference between Paganism and Neo-Paganism?"
-In general, no. Many people use the term "Neo-Pagan" to distinguish between
Ancient Indigenous Religions, which they call "Pagan" and Modern religions,
which they call "Neo-Pagan."
For most of these ancient religions, Pagan is a perjorative, so it is best
to call self-identified Pagans Pagans, and others by the proper term for
their religion, or at least the generic term (like "indigenous religion of
Ancient Sparta").
"What's a Familial Magickal tradition"
An FMT, or "Fam-Trad" is a faith-based and/or metaphysical tradition passed down to members of a family. Some FMTs are called Witchcraft, but some others not only reject the term, but perceive it as an insult.
Citations: Beliefnet.com, Witchvox.com, All One Wicca, Drawing Down the Moon, The Witches (Lethbridge), Triumph of the Moon.Go to next Question OR, SIMPLY CLOSE THIS WINDOW TO CONTINUE
