Wicca, Wicce, and Witchcraft.

[TheMagickSprite]

It basically excludes the God in the craft

Definitely a feminist trad.  Dianics don't believe in the male aspect either.  To me that's sort of like the Moon without Sun, water without fire, Yin without Yan.  Everything in nature has equal parts of the masculine and feminine.

Doesn't make too much sense to me, but if that's what your into, more power to ya.

that on this earth it's things really aren't balanced

Actually almost everything in nature is balanced.  Without balance there is chaos.  If you study atomic theory, or any sort of physics, that is obvious.  If nature is not "balanced", it *WILL* try and "balance itself".  That's nature's core.  Balance.  Chaotic things like tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, nuclear fission etc., are examples of nature "trying to balance itself" and it always succeeds.  Nature always strives for balance.  One doesn't even need religion to see that, simple science can explain that.

BB Sprite

[Kaleesie]

I can always count on you, Sprite, to help me out and let me see what's as obvious as the nose on my face.
The more I read, I figured out its a Dianic based Trad. And that's fine.
I can healthily admit I can get swept up in the moment, and that's what gets me in hot water sometimes
I don't particularly like it when one "religion" thinks they are better than the rest, to be quite honest. But I do understand how peoples can get in that rut.
Pride can be an awful thing at times. And a great thing too.. A balance...
Alrighty then. I'm glad you guys helped me out!

Blessed Be
Kaleesie

[Ken Ra]

For me Wicca is the balance and cooperation of Male and Female from the Divine all the way down.  So to me a Goddess only trad is not Wiccan but Goddess Worshipers. 

That balance of Lord and Lady is an " Ideal "  that we are to strive for not an "actuality"  here and now. Besides the balance of the world is not static but dynamic and always changing.

[Malikite]

I went to the link and found the "very powerful" Banishing ritual, Don't know who this woman is, but she has some twisted sense of Banishing, its more of a reversal spell with harmful intent upon people who would send bad energies or even bad mouth the caster. Now this really does not matter to me at all, but to Wiccans it might, she in her "banishing" ritual does mess with a persons free will, by calling upon Hecate to have the target of the ritual taste ash and have nightmares, not to mention implied words of physical harm and even possible death. but hey I'm not one to judge, I have far worse spells in my arsenal and I wont deny having used a few more than once. But I don't believe in "Harm ye none". I'm a firm believer in Retribution and Vengeance.

[Michael]

In Old English wicca was masculine, wicce feminine, and wicca plural (actually pronounced witch-a, witch-eh, witch-en) as terms used in references to witches. They were not however, specific paths or traditions of witchcraft, so there is no 'Wicce' religious witchcraft tradition oriented around the 'Divine Feminine,' so whoever is stating that is making it up, or it is their own creation.

The O.E. terms were out of date&only used in a few works before Gardner published them, therefore the term 'Wicca' today is used in regards to the specific religious witchcraft tradition, in which polarity is essential.

[averno]

I have been doing a lot of research lately and came across a section I will post.  It supports what Michael posted.

The book is from

A history of withcraft: Sorcerers, Heretics & Pagans
1980, 2007

It states what Michael said,
In Old English wicca (sounds like witcha) = male witch
wicce (sounds like witcheh) = female witch
wiccian (witchan) means to cast a spell

Other things I found from reading through a bunch of different books at my university libray was the term Warlock originally meant any traitor or oath breaker and referred to both men and women and was associated in relation to one who breaks an oath to god to perform diabolical witchcraft.  This term apparently did not exist before the middle ages.  Interesting how we transform words and meanings through time.

The term coven may have been created by the inquisition as well as the idea that a coven consisted of 12 or 13 members in reference to the devil being the 13th.  From before the time of witch prosecution it is believed that witches may have worked alone and may have only met at what we now refer to as sabbats.

How does this play into our modern existence.  We can take and use whatever we want that is the bottom line.  If our understanding of our craft comes from and may have been created by bigoted Christian fiends who tortured and killed for their god than so be it.  We have taken it and made it ours.  It is most likely true that because of the persecutions, those holding on to their beliefs had to meet in secret and safety in numbers most likely regulated that they establish small groups to celebrate the gods.  Past history has shown that people singled out for genocide do ban together to seek comfort and safety.  In all things there is the truth and even if someone, as in Alexandrian Wicca where the foudner (Alex Sanders) admitted that he, made up many of the things they follow, it still has meaning and still has an existence in the world.

Wicca is more and more taking on the meaning of witchcraft as a whole.  Like it or not it will come to be associated same as the term Christian.  It is just a part of our human nature.  I read on one forum that many followers of buddah or eastern religions are now being lumped with pagans and some are annoyed at being called wiccans especially because they are not related at all.  I think pagan has lots of negative associations with it in the public eye so wiccan is a more natural innocent name.