How is Wicca related to Native American beliefs?
Does Wicca have any relation to the Native American beliefs, such as spirit animals? What significance do animals hold in Wiccan society? Wicca — also known as the Old Religion, Witchcraft, or the Craft — is derived from the old Anglo-Saxon word “wicce,” pronounced “witche,” giving rise to the commonly used but frequently misunderstood term Witchcraft. “Wicce” meant a practitioner of the Old Religion, and reflects the influence of the Old Norse word “vitke,” meaning a priestess, seer or shaman. The word pagan is from the Latin “paganus”, a country dweller. “Heathen,” another related term also misinterpreted as a pejorative, meant one who dwelt on the heath. All were European peoples who, like Native Americans and other indigenous groups, lived close to the Earth and respected their relationship to nature as sacred. Nature is a large part of the Native American traditions and Wicca follows many similar traditions. The Wiccan tenet is that spiritual insight is achieved through living in
