Question for Wiccans that don't practice witchcraft...?

Margaret Murray taught of two types of witchcraft- operative witchcraft and ritual witchcraft.

Operative witchcraft, in her terms, is silly nonsense like spells and divination.

Ritual Witchcraft, in her terms, is actual worship, prayer, belief and interactions with the gods.

While you can call what she called ritual witchcraft "Witchcraft" it's a very silly and historically inaccurate term to use.

I don't believe in redefining terms to suit a political agenda. I don't believe in it when it's done by conservatives with the words patriot or liberal, and I don't believe in it when done to suit a revisionist history agenda.

If you actually study the grimoires of ancient British mages, you'll find they are FULL of spells and rituals to get rid of witches.

To call what they did, or to call the cunningfolk or any land "witches" is to disrespect their memory and their own beliefs.

To call members of other religions witches is the same disrespect.

No one has "reclaimed" the term witch. People have only CLAIMED it, and given it a meaning it never had before, and like holocaust deniers, insisted we accept their ridiculous nonhistorical claims. If you believe in your ancestors, you should respect their terms.

Clear enough?

Only if Christianity is also considered magic/witchcraft.

Why would our honoring our deities be qualitatively different from any other religion's?

If you put additional details I might be able to respond more in depth, but I don't understand why you would think that our prayers somehow equate to witchcraft and a Christian's prayer doesn't.

EDIT:

And jersie... clearly doesn't know what the hell she's talking about.

I've been Wiccan for twice as long as she claims to be a Witch - and I'm certainly not a Witch.

For her to claim otherwise is as arrogant as the Christians who claim we are really worshipping the devil in disguise.

I do not consider connection with deity to be "witchcraft" because such a definition completely ignores all meaning of that word. It's one thing to tweak the definition (going from malevolent practical magic to practical magic in general) but quite another to simply rewrite the definition.

It can be called "magic," but I would only call it that among people who would understand my use of the word in that context.

Witchcraft is not synonymous with magic. If it was, all ceremonial magicians would be witches, and they aren't...and they generally take offense when people call them that.

I don't cast very many spells. Most witches believe that spell craft is witchcraft and communing with Deity is not witchcraft. However if you read anything from Raymond Buckland he feels Wicca, witchcraft, and being a witch is all one and the same whether you cast spells or not. He does not believe they can be seperated.

When you pray to your god, do you consider that magic/witchcraft?

If you don't practice Witchcraft you are not a Wiccan. I know...I've been a Witch for 10 years.

definately