Not a pagan myself but I grew up in a house with witchcraft. In my experience it's a bit of both. Wicca in particular attracts alot of "quirky" people who more often than not get into it because of the aesthetic or because they feel some kind of connection with nature. Alot of the time they are looking for something not so vanilla as Christianity or whatever religion they were raised in. Wicca itself although it claims to be ancient has really only been around since like the 50s and 60s and really has only been mainstream since like the 90s tbh. It basically takes bits and pieces from different pantheon's mostly European ones but occasionally other pantheon's like mesapotamian or Egyptian etc. I really never liked the idea of picking and choosing from different pantheon's. I mean it would seem that one or the other is the right pantheon and you shouldn't be able to choose which one you want to follow or mix and match deities. Plus I was never a fan of "imposing your will on the universe" because it just seems too arrogant and egotistical to believe that YOU can change the outcome by forcing the universe to work in your favor. The universe is infinite and likely could give two fucks about you or anyone else for that matter. And alot of the spells are essentially just highly ritualized praying. Light a candle and say a rhyme and try to concentrate on whatever you is that you want. This is essentially what Catholics do but with less mystique.

I am of course very jaded in my view and biased because of having grown up in it and to me it was just kind of silly. I think alot of people genuinely believe in it but plenty are actively larping. That's my opinion based on my own experiences. There is alot of pageantry involved in the whole thing.

I know people are going to feel offended by what I am saying but that's the honest truth of it. I suppose all religions have their own merit and whatnot but I think the way Wicca atleast is structured it always seemed to be this weird Mish mosh of different beliefs that got hamfisted together and not something organic.