Is a Warlock a Witch?

Every so often someone asks: "Is a 'warlock' a 'witch'?"

The short answer is "No."

The term "warlock" is generally not used among USA practitioners of magic to denote a male practitioner of "witchcraft" or "magic."

Practitioners of the religion of Wicca, male or female, generally call themselves "Wiccans," "Witches" (uppercase "W"), or sometimes "witches" (lowercase "w"), or identify themselves by a specific tradition.

Practitioners of ceremonial magic, male or female, generally call themselves "magicians," "ceremonial magicians," or identify themselves by which lodge they belong to.

If you really want to know the historical etymology in the English language about "warlock" and "witch," here it is in brief.

In Old English, before 900 ce, wicce was a sorceress or a female practitioner of magic.

In Old English, wicca was a sorcerer or a male practitioner of magic.

What the wicce and wicca practiced was known in Old English as wiccecraefte or wiccacraefte. Basically, the "craft" of a sorceress or a sorcerer.

The words wicce and wicca might have come from the Old English verb wic-, meaning "to bend or shape."

Old English is more like German than Modern English.

Middle English, on the other hand, was what was spoken by Chaucer.

In Middle English, around 900 c.e., a witche was a soceress or a female practitioner of magic.

Modern English includes Shakespeare's writings, Elizabethan English, and the language of the King James' Bible--even these dialects of Modern English sound antiquated to the ears of USA speakers of 21th century Modern English.

In Modern English, a witch was generally a maleficant sorceress or a malign female practitioner of magic. It was somtimes applied to male practitioners in the negative sense. The term wizard was sometimes applied to men as practioners of magic at this time period--that is Shakespeare, Elizabethan English, and the English dialect of the King James Bible.

In Old English, wis meant "wise."

In Middle English, wisard combined the word wis with the suffix -ard. This suffix often denoted persons who engaged in an activity, such as "drunkard," "coward," "dullard." Hence a wisard was a male who was "wise," but perhaps too wise.

In Old English, waerloga was an "oathbreaker" from waer, meaning "covenant," and -loga, meaning "betrayer."

In Middle English, waerlogha was an "oathbreaker" or a "devil" who had broken faith with God.

In Modern English, warlock was a man who practiced the dark or evil arts, a conjurer.

By the 20th century, "witch" still meant a sorceress, enchantress, or a female practitioner of magic--it was often applied to figures in folklore, fairy tales, fiction, and art. For example, witches were often depicted flying on broomsticks at Halloween.

In 1921, Margaret A. Murray published The Witch-Cult in Western Europe, which promoted the theory that those people executed as "witches" during the Renaissance were actually members of an old pre-Christian religion. This concept echoed theories among many 19th century folklorists that folk customs and superstitions were actually survivals of pre-Christian religions.

In the 1939 movie, The Wizard of Oz, Glinda asked Dorothy Gale, "Are you a good witch or a bad witch?" (The movie was based on the 1900 book by L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.) By this time in USA 20th century Modern English, a "witch" could be either a maleficant or benificent sorceress or female practitioner of magic. A "wizard" was often a sorcerer, enchanter, or male practitioner of magic. A "magician" also meant a sorcerer, enchanter, or male practitioner of magic.

In 1954, Gerald B. Gardner published Witchcraft Today, which claimed he had found the surviving coven of a pre-Christian "witch-cult." Witchcraft Today contained a preface by Margaret A. Murray. Gardner referred to both female and male practitioners as "witches."

In the late 20th century, the pre-Christian "witch-cult" promoted by Gardner became widely written as "wicca" (lowercase "w"), "Wicca" (uppercase "W"), "Witchcraft" (uppercase "W"). The adherents of the different branches or "traditions" of this religion called themselves, male or female, "wiccans" (lowercase "w"), "Wicca" (uppercase "W"), "Witches" (uppercase "W"), or sometimes "witches" (lowercase "w").

In a 1964-1972 TV American weekly comedy show, Bewitched, a sorceress or female practitioner of magic was called a "witch," and a sorcerer or male practitioner of magic was called a "warlock." (The "witches" and "warlocks" on Bewitched were not "mortals," and had deity-like powers.)

By the 21st century, practitioners of the religion of Wicca, male or female, generally called themselves "Wiccans" (uppercase "W"), or "Witches" (uppercase "W"), or identified themselves by a specific tradition of Wicca.

copyright 2011 Myth Woodling

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