Wicca and Paganism

Wicca is a joyous religion, connecting us to our kinship with nature, a merging of our spirit with the Goddess and God, the universal energies that created all that is. It is a personal, positive celebration of life. It is NOT a destructive, violent belief system in which we sell our souls to the devil, sacrifice humans, or eat babies. It is Celtic in its origins, but in modern times has expanded to include traditions and practices of many peoples. There are many traditions in Wicca, each having its own rites and tenets. There is no ONE great authority, but most share common beliefs. Not all Wiccans belongs to covens, those who don't are called solitaries.

Gerald Gardner is given credit for being the founder of modern Wicca with his publication of High Magick's Aid, a fictional account of witches, in 1949 under the pen-name Scire. After the repeal of witchcraft laws in Britain in 1951, Gardner published Witchcraft Today in 1954, a non-fictional account of modern witchcraft. However there is speculation about the existence of Wicca earlier than this date.

Paganism is a much broader, eclectic, contemporary religious movement. It encompass shamanism, ecstatic, polytheistic (as opposed to Christianity, Judaism or Islam, which are all monotheistic) and magical religions. Most, but not all, of the religions termed Pagan are characterized by nature-centered spirituality, honouring of pre-Christian deities,our ancestors, dynamic, personal belief systems, lack of institutionalisation, and endeavour to develop the self, and acceptance and encouragement of diversity. Paganism is sometimes referred to as Neo-Paganism (rarely by the Pagans themselves) to emphasize its connection to as well as difference from pre-Christian religions.

Modern Paganism is interwoven with artistic, visionary, and libertarian traditions and emphasizes the free will of the individual. Many traditions celebrate rituals to mark transitions in the natural world, such as solstices or lunar phases, as well as in a person's life, such as the coming of age, marriage, the birth of a child, or moving to a new home.

Satanism is a different thing entirely. Wiccans are NOT Satanists. I don't know much about Satanism personally, because I do not practice that particular religion. All I can do is direct you to where you can find the information for yourself.
What Satanists say about themselves.