The word "witch" derives from the Old English "wicca" (m) or "wicce"
        (f); the original meaning of the word is still debated, but most people
        think it meant either wisdom, or to change and to shape. Pagan means a
        "country dweller", but is now used to refer to followers of
        non-Judeo-Christian, nature-based religions, which use the deities of
        the pre-Christian world.
        Pagan religions don't expect you to follow any one belief system -
        they are free of all dogma. Some people may literally believe in the
        gods and goddesses envoked, others see them as a poetic way of embodying
        whatever they do believe in, be it the importance of the earth and
        nature, whatever power or force may lie behind the universe, or just a
        way of entering a state of consciousness where you become more in tune
        with yourself.
        Pagan religions generally respect the earth and the natural powers in
        the universe, and the celebrations are based around the natural cycles
        of the year. Pagan rituals are no stranger, and certainly no more
        dangerous, than the rituals carried out in most Christian churches.
        Pagan religions, particularly Wicca, tend to emphasize the Goddess, and
        are very free of rules and hierachies, so they hold a great appeal for
        feminists and free-thinkers who are looking to explore their spiritual
        side.
        Paganism, and particularly Witchcraft, suffers from a great deal of
        prejudice from the uninformed, and from fundamentalist followers of
        other religions. The early Christian church turned Pagan deities into
        the devil, and the more narrowminded Christians still sometimes believe
        that Witches and Pagans are devil-worshippers. We are not. We don't
        believe in the devil. We have our own moral codes (the Wiccan Rede
        states than Wiccans should "harm none"), and our religion celebrates
        life and love.