Religious Witchcraft — Witchcraft Religion

As the Farrars make fundamentally clear in 'A Witches' Bible: The Complete Witches' Handbook': On all levels, regardless of Tradition or denomination, Wicca is first and foremost a religion which understands itself as also being the Craft of Witches.

As a religion its purpose is to put both the individual and the group in harmony with the Divine and its manifestations (especially in nature); as a craft its purpose is to achieve practical ends by metaphysical means- specifically for good, useful, and healing purposes which aid in aligning oneself with the ethics and intent of the Divine (and, again, nature).

Though properly trained and hived Covens are autonomous systems, and are therefore individual laws unto themselves- which means that the proportion of religious worship to active magical practice will differ from Coven to Coven (in other words, some Covens may put far more emphasis on the magical side than on the religious aspects, and vice versa)? It must always be kept in mind that the religious side always remains; the Deities are always acknowledged as a requirement of Wiccan practice.

Thus, while there are many forms of magic, witchcraft, and adjacent practices, and one does not have to be Wiccan, specifically, in order to practice Witchcraft ... To be Wiccan of any stripe, is always to work Witchcraft from the foundation of some kind of religious belief. And that much cannot be denied or removed from the Wiccan framework.