Witchcraft vs. Sorcery

[Jameta]

The subject came up in another Guild I'm in, so I thought I'd pose the question to you knowledgable fellows:

What is, if there is, the difference between witchcraft and sorcery?  

[crazy_burrito]

I don't know much on the subject, sorry if I'm wrong xp , but can I take a guess?

Witchcraft- simple spells slightly involving nature and the psych

Sorcery- complicated spells directly using nature and the psych

mer, I have no idea, gomen sweatdrop  

[WebenBanu]

Around 8 years ago or so, I think I drafted a list of definitions which differentiated between a witch, a sorceror, a wizard, a mage, a mystic... and probably any other word for "magic user" which I had encountered. Technically, all those words are synonyms, but they have different emotional baggage attached to them for different people. There isn''t really a standard specific nuance to attach to the words, though, so my list- while entertaining for people who liked words- was simply my own creation.

Many people will add a darker shade of meaning to the word "sorcery," I think, but that''s probably only because other people have worked so hard to reshape the impression of the word "witchcraft." Essentially, they mean the same thing.  

[Jishin]

I think I'd agree that the difference is mostly connotation, as WebenBanu suggests.

That said, I'm not a witch. I'm a mage. mrgreen Connotation is important.  

[Starlock]

I use the term 'sorcery' excusively to discuss magic which is not posible in our reality. Aka, conjuring fireballs, summoning beasts from other planes, and the like.  

[crazy_burrito]

Starlock

I use the term 'sorcery' excusively to discuss magic which is not posible in our reality. Aka, conjuring fireballs, summoning beasts from other planes, and the like.

yeah, I was thinking that too...  

[Jishin]

It's not a bad idea to do that. The problem being that I'm both pagan and a gamer. So I always have to make sure I'm using the right word in the right context. I don't even use the word sorcery outside D&D, truth be told.  

[Nihilistic Seraph]

I'm going with Starlock, the word pops up way to many times in fluff fantasy, and never (or allmost) in reality-based fantasy novels (i.e. Marion Zimmer Bradley)  

[Jameta]

From what little research I've done, "sorery" seems to be synonomous(sp?) with magic, derived from "Old French sorcerie, which is from Vulgar Latin *sortiarius, from sors 'fate', apparently meaning 'one who influences fate.'"

So, yeah, sorcery seems to be just a fancy word. confused And I was hoping for somethign special... crying  

[WebenBanu]

Yeah, sorry to disappoint you- but it seems to be just another word meaning the same basic thing.^_^' However, discussions like these always seem to turn up interesting nuances, and can be helpful when chosing which of a set of similar words is most appropriate to the context at hand. Like Jishin said, connotation is important.^_^  

[Starlock]

Wow, I didn't think so many people would agree with me on this. sweatdrop Technically the term was a sort of 'scowl' word against 'black' magic and that's how it is used in the academic literature for the most part. I just find it more useful to set a distinction between fantasy magic and ritual magic.  

[The Bookwyrm]

Even as a gamer, I've always associated sorcery as a "higher" form of magick. Rather than relying on nature, it works directly with specific spirits. It's not a belief system, more a way of life that centers around generating results, not living in harmony or balance. Mind you, I've also done very little reading on the matter so I could be way out in left field on this.  

[Rakei]

Well, I normally don't use Wizard or Sourcerer because it reminds me of fantasy books and the like, I would use Sourcerer as a sort of more powerful entity than a Wizard I've always concidered courcery as a form of magic containing more, something that's beyond all accomplishable in this reality.
I'm a mage myself, Or that's how I precieve the magic I use, since I use mostly my will instead of any rituals, cermonies or spells.