Wicca word "Wicca" has been used as a synonym for witchcraft more generally, including in non-religious and non-Pagan forms. Alongside "Wicca", two other names often used for the religion by its practitioners are "Witchcraft" and "the Craft". However, the use of the word "Witchcraft" in this context is problematic because it causes confusion both with other, non-religious forms of witchcraft as well as other religions—such as Satanism and Luciferianism—whose practitioners sometimes describe themselves as "Witches". Another term that is at times used as a synonym for "Wicca" is "Pagan Witchcraft", although there are also other forms of modern Paganism—such as types
Wicca Wiccans do not claim to know how magic works, merely believing that it does because they have observed it to be so. Some spell it "magick", a variation coined by the influential occultist Aleister Crowley, though this spelling is more commonly associated with Crowley's religion of Thelema than with Wicca. During ritual practices, which are often staged in a sacred circle, Wiccans cast spells or "workings" intended to bring about real changes in the physical world. Common Wiccan spells include those used for healing, for protection, fertility, or to banish negative influences. Many early Wiccans, such as Alex Sanders, Sybil