Wicca/Pagans?

There are technically 4 degrees of Wiccans Initiate, 1st degree, 2nd degree, and 3rd degree. You are a 2nd degree if i'm not mistaken. There are rituals for climbing the ladder of degrees, but we just don't do them. you can just tell people you are a second degree.

A Wiccan is a Wiccan.

Some have studied longer than others or lead groups and are called high priests and priestesses, but I think you're thinking of something like ranks in a game.

Wicca is a religion, not a game.

Titles will vary across and between traditions. For example, a 13 year old picking up a book can call herself a High Priestess in some traditions. In the tradition to which I belong, the designation "high" is added after a minimum of 10 years of active practice at the leadership level.... a 13 year old would've had to start at at least -1 years old to claim it....

(By the way, in standard Wiccan practice it's not normal to call oneself a "first degree" or a "third degree" as degree systems aren't people....)

To put things into perspective ranking systems in wicca are similar to ranking systems tn martial arts . Some people need to have visible sighns such as titles to feel validated in what they do Mind you I am not saying this is a good or bad thing I am just saying this is my thought on the subject Also bear in mind that there are a great number of wiccan that worship on their own that is the one of the beutiful things about wicca you dont need a memborship card , just some faith and a desire to live a good life

Well, most wiccans attribute themselves as witches and necromancy has nothing to do with wicca. (Necromancy is the craft of raising the dead, which is impossible. )

Some covens do have an initiate, priest/priestess, high priest/high priestess ranking, but for the most part the theology is varied and wide ranging, as you heard from other answers.

I will agree with Bobby The Wolf. In the alexandrain system of wicca there does exist High Priest/pristess...under that you have 1st degree, 2nd degree and 3rd degree. That is one example which shows the ranking in many of wicca groups. Where Paganism is concerned there are no ranks as such...

In covens there is ranks, levels, or categories if you will. With solitary Wiccans there is not. My wife and I are solitaries because one of the things that bothered us about the organized religions we were a part of is the "organization chart" concept of rank and file from the holiest down. To us joining a coven is exactly the same. We don't feel the need to be a part of something like that anymore.

As diverse as Wicca is, it's rather hard to answer that question.

The Wicca world view is generally that Wicca is a Stone Age Pagan religion that made it into the 20th century. In reality, it was created by Gerald Gardner circa 1950.

History of Wicca

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AhU3A...

Since this knowlegde began to come to light in the late 1980's, some Wiccans have tried to save face by calling it a "reconstructionist movement", but it isn't. There was never a religion like Wicca in the past, so you can't reconstruct something that never existed before. Even so, the "reconstructionist" Wiccans will still say their religion is somehow older than Christianity or Judaism. It isn't.

The "ranks" depend on the coven. Since most Wiccans are solitary Wiccans, there really aren't any "ranks". It's hard to be a club with just one member. The practices and rituals are different from Tradition to Tradition. Gardnerian covens practice in the nude (skyclad) and practice sado-masochistic rituals called "scourging". Alexandrian and Algard Wicca are almost exactly the same as Gardnerian. There are some covens where the "Great Rite" (sex act) is merely symbolic, with a blade inserted into a chalice, and the members wear robes. Probably the most disturbing form of Wicca is Gavin and Yvonne Frosts "Church of Wicca", which practices polygamy, wife swapping, and pedophillia.

Here's a past answer from another member that details what Frostie Wiccans do right out of their own books:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AiPNd...

The religious concepts are diverse. Some Wiccans are polytheistic, monotheistic, duotheistic, and some even claim to be atheistic. Most believe in "the goddess", and think there was universal cult of goddess worshippers in ancient times. Feminist Cynthia Eller debunked the whole idea in her book 'The Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory'.

Wiccans believe in magic spells, but can't really produce any results. Silver Ravenwolf has written close to a dozen books on the subject of "The Craft", and claims she has been studying it since about 1969, which is almost as long as I’ve been alive. She has written a book on how to cast money spells, and includes a chapter on how to do so in her Teen Witch book. But the thing is, she doesn't particularly sound all that prosperous herself. Ravenwolf writes,

"For years I couldn't afford to go to a hair stylist (still can't, it's shop and chop for me). I got pretty good at stying my own hair from looking at magazine pictures" [SOURCE: Teen Witch, Llewellyn Publications, 2003 edition, page 145]

OK, she so rich she can't go to the hairdresser. Hey, get me a copy of that Prosperity Spell book!

Silver Ravenwolf seems to have inadvertently discovered that Wicca makes life more complicated, but not easier, yet won't ever admit it as such.

In Teen Witch she says

"A lot of people tell me how bad their lives have gotten after casting a spell and tell me they won't do Witchcraft anymore. I tell them their lives would have been much worse for not having cast the spell."

Gee Silver, you would think a lot of people would be saying things like "Hey, Silver Ravenwolf, my life has improved tremendously with the power of Wicca!" if Wicca is as great as they claim. Instead it often just makes things harder, and even Silver Ravenwolf admits she hears this a lot!!!

Wiccans generally have a lot of contempt, if not out right hate, for Christians. A favorite rant of Wiccans is "Never Again The Burning Times". Even though a handful of Wiccans realize no Wiccans were killed during the witch hunts (since Wicca didn't exist until 1954 or so), they still say Wiccans should keep the "Burning Times" mythos as part of their "traditions". This is so they can use it to justify their dislike for "xtians".

I'm going to take a little different angle here.

It sounds like you're asking about *labels*. Here's a very rough, generalized idea of what's out there:

Pagan: a member of any of a number of religions or spiritualities based either on pre-Christian traditions, or on the veneration of the sanctity of nature, or the practice of magic, or a combination thereof.

Witch: May or may not be a Wiccan; witchcraft often, though not always, involves casting a circle in order to perform ritual, work with herbalism, stones, and other forms of "low" magic, and may employ tools such as a broom, ritual knife, cauldron, etc.

Magician: A practitioner of magic for whom magic supersedes religion. A magician may practice ceremonial magic, Chaos magic, or other forms, but the emphasis is on the magic itself, as opposed to spiritual fulfillment.

Shaman: A practitioner of magical arts that originated in indigenous cultures; shamans commonly use astral/spiritual travel to other realms of reality (the "Upper" and "Lower" worlds), work with spirit guides such as power animals, and may use enthoegens (drugs) to enhance their trances.

As I said, these are VERY broad and general categories.

There is often a "Degree System" in Wiccan Traditions. This gives other members in the same circle an idea of how much the person has learned about the faith or that particular Tradition. Because every member of a circle is his or her own priest/ess, they are taught how to perform the rituals used by that Tradition. At each "degree", more is learned. This eventually gives the person the learning and experience to become first a priest/ess, then a high priest/ess, and finally an elder in that Tradition.

I'm a solitary, so I see no need for ranks. Ranks are only found in covens and other like group settings. Solitares do not need ranks or degrees.

In Wicca they have a degree system.

1st degree 2nd degree and 3rd degree.

but in Paganism

(other than mithraism which does seem to have ranks)

No they don't have anything like that.