Is there any difference between traditional witchcraft&W

[Tinevisce]

Okay, can anyone please tell me whether there's supposed to be any difference between Traditional Witchcraft and Wicca. If there is, can anyone please tell me what it is? :

[Sara]

The difference between Wicca and Traditional Witchcraft... Well, that depends who you're asking the question from. Some might and, sooner or later most likely will, tell you that Wicca is a religion while traditional witchcraft is not. This means that traditional witchcraft would be only a collection of practises/techniques used by witches and may
be used by practitioner of any religion.

Then there are people, such as myself, who will reply that the most important difference is that you're talking about
two different religions and could be easily and shortly described as pre-Gardnerian witchcraft. Personally I follow
the path of the crafter as closely as possible - as a solitary practitioner I am, however, forced to re-create by listening to my heart, remaining true to myself and my Path. History, published writings of mr. Cochrane and
other written theory I have access to are, mostly, what I'm building on. I call myself as one of the Old, but do so on my own right. I do not speak for traditionalists here, but try to mentioned some things I've learned on my way.

In the end, when we're thinking about the differences we should discuss almost every basic ideas found in Wicca/Traditional Witchcraft. Even though these two paths have some things in common, they also have plenty of differences. The way we see our Gods, work our magic, ethics, rituals (starting from circle casting), Sabbats/Holy Days..

One of the easiest differences between these two pathways to notice might be hierarchy and structure. Wicca embraces initiations, hierarchy and clearly defined rituals (even though they are not always followed by all groups/practitioners) while Traditional Witchcraft does not. Second, Wiccan Rede or Three-fold law have nothing to do with Traditional Witchcraft which
makes a big difference in my eyes. This doesn't make Traditionalists followers of the "left hand path", evil or anything like that but it is one of the differences.

This is an interesting topic for discussion, hopefully others will come forth to answer as well.

[Aloron]

Thats pretty spot on but I guess what it all comes down to is that Wicca is really new. And Traditional Witchcraft (which may/may not have a religious aspect depending on where its followed) is a very old and widespread practice.

[JBRaven]

Also I do belive that "Harm Not" is a Wiccan thing.

[BlackenedRose*]

Not neccesarily, JB. I consider 'Harm Not' a rule (albeit one not always followed) that applies to everything. But I see your point.

[Aloron]

Well, "An it harm none, do what ye will." Is the last line of the Wiccan Rede written by Doreen Valiente specifically for wicca. But there are golden rules in almost every religion its true.

[Tinevisce]

And also,(it's been sometime since I started this thread), wiccans believe in casting circles, prior to working any magick, while traditionalists, I believe, view all of the earth as a huge "sacred" space and do not see the necessity of casting a circle.
While wicccans eleviate The God and The Goddess to a high, "divine" position, and consider nature to be generally sacred, but not of the same status of the Lord and Lady, traditionalists give the same status to nature as they give to the God/dess.

[Aloron]

I suppose for some wiccans that would make sense, but most wiccan teachings I have read state that "the lord and lady are of everything and everything is of them". So, how nature would be worshipped less than their "personified deity" forms, I dont see.