Which came first

Great post, the startings of Wicca in detail was quite interesting.

Wicca I agree is not very old at all considering the fact that Christianity, being much old, is actually considered a newer religion (the older for is Judaism).

Wiccanism branched off of Paganism, which was a very general, and sometimes eclectic way of practice and belief. Paganism is very old. It includes those ancient practices of the early Indo-Europeans.

So if you look at it this way, as Wiccan beliefs came from Paganism, and practice is technically older than even some languages and ultimately the word witch, Wicca religion itself is very new, but the beliefs go much further back before the persecution of practitioners where the word witch originated.

I think this is another chicken or the egg question.

Vitki (Norse) was pronounced normally, but when Latin took over all V's were pronounced as W's. So when the norse would say Vitki to mean wise one/sorceror, the Latin speakers would way Witke (wit kee). Sounds a lot like Wiccae no? So truly, its all the same word. But within the 20th century a set religion was formed by Gardner that seperated "Wiccans" to mean a specific sect of "witchcraft". So you can be a witch without being a wiccan (of the new set religion), but to be a wiccan and a witch is redundant because its the same thing.

Above is my interpretation, but this is from en.academic.ru

Witch, n. [OE. wicche, AS. wicce, fem., wicca, masc.; perhaps the same word as AS. w [=i] tiga, w [=i] tga, a soothsayer (cf. (Wiseacre)); cf. Fries. wikke, a witch, LG. wikken to predict, Icel. vitki a wizard, vitka to bewitch.] [1913 Webster] 1. One who practices the black art, or magic; one regarded as possessing supernatural or magical power; a sorcerer or sorceress; --now applied chiefly or only to women, but formerly used of men as well. [1913 Webster]

witch Wicca Wic"ca (w [i^] k"k [.a] ), prop. n. [OE. wicche wizard, AS. wicce, fem., wicca, masc.; see also (witch) and (wicked).] 1. A religion derived from pre-Christian times, also called (Witchcraft) [4] , which practices a benevolent reverence for nature, and recognizes two deities, variously viewed as Mother & Father, Goddess & God, Female & Male, etc.; its practitioners are called Wiccans, Wiccas, or witches. Since there is no central authority to propagate dogma, the beliefs and practices of Wiccans vary significantly. [PJC]

Note: Wicca is a ditheistic religion, also called Witchcraft, founded on the beliefs and doctrines of pre-Roman Celts, including the reverence for nature and the belief in a universal balance. Though frequently practiced in covens, solitary practitioners do exist. The modern form of the religion was popularized in 1954 by Gerald Gardener's Witchcraft Today. It is viewed as a form of neo-paganism. Wicca recognizes two deities, visualized as Mother & Father, Goddess & God, Female & Male, etc. These dieties are nameless, but many Wiccans adopt a name with which they refer to the two: Diana is a popular name for the Goddess to take, among others such as Artemis, Isis, Morrigan, etc. Some of her symbols are: the moon; the ocean; a cauldron; and the labrys (two-headed axe), among others. The God is of equal power to the Goddess, and takes on names such as Apollo, Odin, Lugh, etc. A small number of his symbols are: the sun; the sky; a horn (or two horns); and others. Witchcraft is not a Christian denomination; there is no devil in its mythos, thus the devil cannot be worshiped, and the medieval view of Witches as Satan-worshipers is erroneous. Satanists are not Witches and Witches are not Satanists. Both have a tendency to be offended when the two are confused. In the Wiccan religion male Witches are not ``Warlocks''. The term Warlock comes from Scottish, meaning 'oathbreaker', 'traitor', or 'devil'. Its application to male witches is of uncertain origin. The Wiccan Rede, ``An it harm none, do what thou wilt'' comes in many variations. All of them say the same thing, ``Do as you wish, just don't do anything to harm anyone.'' It is implied that 'anyone' includes one's self. Witches practice in groups called Covens or as solitary practitioners, and some practice ``magic'', which is to say, they pray. Since the one rule that Witches have requires that they can not do harm, harmful magic does not exist in Wicca. In Wicca, ``magic'' is simply subtly altering small things, to gain a desired effect. Wicca, sometimes called Neo-Witchcraft, was revived in the 1950s, when the last laws against Witchcraft were repealed. Gerald Gardner founded Gardnerian Wicca sometime after his book, Witchcraft Today, was published in 1954. Raymond Buckland, in America, did much the same that Gardner did in Europe --stood up to the misconceptions about Witchcraft. Two other books describing the modern practice of Wicca are: Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner, by Scott Cunningham, Llewellyn Publications, 1988. Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft, by Raymond Buckland, Llewellyn Publications, 1975. [PJC]