We can essentially look at Witchcraft from two different perspectives. One is as a religion that hails back to pre-Christian Europe; the other is as a modern system of exploration and affirmation which people turn to for empowerment and personal growth. Neither definition is completely correct, just as neither is actually wrong. The modern Craft is a multi-faceted culture which embraces a great many beliefs, practices, and ideals.
On one hand, many Witches, Wiccans, and Pagans strive to return to beliefs similar to those that predated the arrival of Christianity in Western Europe. The reasons for doing this are almost endless. Some practitioners have grown disillusioned with the Christian Church and seek a path that they believe is untainted by modern concepts and the hunger for power that has contaminated much of the Church's history. Others have searched numerous religions for their answers, only to find those answers on a Pagan path. They feel most at home in a religion that honors both the masculine and feminine as divine, that respects life -- whether human or non-human, and which calls upon the gods of their ancestors and those of the ancient cultures the practitioners feel most drawn to.
The other group is attracted to the simplicity of living a life in harmony with nature. There is a quiet satisfaction in knowing your holy days are determined by the measured cycles of the sun and the moon and can be observed by anyone who can see the heavens. There are no laws except to live your life the best you possibly can. You set your own goals, struggle toward them out from under the weight of judgement or sin, and focus on your own battles, your own strengths and weaknesses, and your own personal growth. Because nature is so diverse and unique, the practitioners' uniqueness is encouraged. You don't strive toward someone else's ideal; you strive to reach your own.
Both approaches to Witchcraft have a number of similarities, although there are also fundamental differences. Both typically honor certain days of the solar cycle -- the solstices, equinoxes and the days that fall at the mid-point of the two. These eight days are typically referred to as Sabbats, although Traditions I have encountered may celebrate four, five, or all eight days. In a similar manner, certain observances are celebrated on specific nights of the lunar cycle. These nocturnal observances are commonly referred to as Esbats and while a Tradition, Coven, Circle, or solitary practitioner is most likely to honor the night of the full moon, it is not uncommon for the new, waxing, and waning moons to be observed as well.
Modern Witchcraft also incorporates concepts like magick, ceremony, and ritual, which can seem confusing and mysterious to the outside observer. However, once you begin to understand the symbolism behind each concept, you begin to realize that they hold a simple, elegant significance. These rites are used to empower individuals, to honor personal milestones and achievements, and to enable us to overcome life's obstacles on our own.
Diversity
There is no simple definition that encompasses all of what Witchcraft is. It is impossible to capture the diversity that is inherent in the Craft in a single sentence or short phrase. Part of this is because of the individuality encouraged within many Pagan Traditions, but the roots of this diversity go much deeper.
In times long past, a village, clan, or tribe would build their beliefs around the lore of their people and an interpretation of the environment those people lived in. For instance, if you were to study Native American lore, you would find that their legends are populated with their ancestors, the animals indiginous to their homeland and the features of that environment. You will not find tales of White Buffalo Woman among the Inuit (a Native Arctic people) just as you will not find stories of fur seals among the Hopi (who call the American Southwest home). Each people builds their myths around the world they live in, their beliefs a reflection of their environment and their heritage.
While Native American beliefs began to be suppressed by Europeans and the Christian Church in the 1500's, indiginous European Pagan beliefs had been assaulted centuries earlier. A systematic conversion began to push its way through Western Europe and the pre-Christian Pagan beliefs honored by the native Europeans were first altered and adopted, and later condemned and stamped out. Without an oral tradition, without teachers to pass the Craft down from one generation to the next, much of the Craft was lost. While we can recover portions of our ancestors' beliefs from archaeological finds and from traditions that are only now fading from the West Country, modern Paganism has been forced to rebuild.
Just as our ancestors' beliefs grew from the richness of their heritage and an interpretation of their modern environment, modern Pagans are doing the same. Instead of tracing our ancestry to a single village, in a global culture, many of us can trace our lineage to widely separated countries and peoples. By looking at the beliefs of our ancestors and those early cultures we find ourselves drawn to, and incorporating them with an observation and understanding of the environments we live in, we're beginning to rebuild the Craft and develop a new heritage to pass on to future generations.
It is this rebuilding process that is adding so much diversity to the Craft. With countless Pagans around the globe, not only do we have a vast cultural heritage to draw from, but we are also working with an almost endless variety of environments. In the early years of the revival, teachers were so rare and so desperately sought that individuals began teaching their personal approaches to Paganism. These were adopted and spread across wide areas by practitioners who learned under a specific teacher or within a Coven or Circle and then moved hundreds or thousands of miles away. What began in one area was moved to another and altered by the students in the new location to meet their needs and the world they lived in. Over the decades, the Craft continued to spread in this manner, first by individuals, then by authors who could reach a wider audience, and then via the Internet where a single interpretation could reach the far corners of the globe.
When you begin to look at modern Paganism, you'll find that you can't simply encompass what we believe in a single sentence. Say that we follow a Goddess and a God and you will be corrected by Christian Witches who follow Christ and the Christian God, by animists who focus on how the divine manifests in the natural world, and by agnostic Pagans who understand the power of the traditions and rituals, but believe they are a psychological process, not something mystical. Say that we are a nature-oriented religion and urban Witches will dispute that, even as other will challenge the definition of "religion." Say that we gather in Covens and Circles, and solitaries will be left out. That we study and are advanced through a hierarchy and those groups that embrace consensus will correct you. What we are is human. For our own reasons, we have turned to a system of belief that has its roots in a time long before Christianity came into our world and which is being rebuilt with modern ideas and concepts to meet our modern needs. As that diversity is encouraged, the modern Craft will continue to grow and evolve and will remain current and applicable to our lives, no matter how much the culture around us should change.