First off, this is my opinion, based off research into bible passages, my experiences and what I learned in my former life of Catholicism.
This is one I have a hard time believing to be compatible. Yeah, Witchcraft can be performed by anyone regardless of if they believe in a religion or not, as Witchcraft itself is not a religion, but a practice; a set of skills. Yeah, OK, sure, I'll let whomever believe what they want, but here is my reasons for why I see the incompatibility.
1) (And this is a big one) Christianity FORBIDS the practice of witchcraft and/or sorcery...states right there in their very own bible!
*"There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. "For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD; and because of these detestable things the LORD your God will drive them out before you." -- Deuteronomy 18:10-12
While I have many issues with the bible as it is, it's their book and they believe in it wholeheartedly, and without question. So why would any faithful, devout Christian even dream of becoming a Witch when their very own "Word of God" say to refrain from the practices?
2) It seems that anyone who wishes to claim the title of "Christian Witch" really wants to keep their beliefs in Christianity and in Jesus while still practicing Witchcraft, yet still go to heaven. Do those who practice Christian Witchcraft confess their deeds to their pastor/priest?? I bet they don't...!
I'll admit that in the beginning I toyed with the idea of becoming a Christian Witch as I myself couldn't let myself let go of the Christian tradition...it was hard. But the more I studied, the more I realized I didn't need the masquerade of Christianity hovering around me. More made sense to me the more I studied. The concept of the Devil and Hell went out the window as I now believe the two to be fabricated creations to instill fear to gain followers.
I find it difficult to understand the concept that any Christian would find ANY form of Witchcraft acceptable enough to practice safely, yet still be sure they'll go to the heaven they so want to go to. If by ignoring the warnings stated by their own bible, are they not disobeying their God? AND if by disobeying their God, won't they go to Hell anyway? They're toying with their own soul just to fulfill their own desires. AND this is not what Witchcraft is for. You cannot expect that casting a few spells will fulfill your immediate desires now. It doesn't work that way. You cannot gain the perfect job with a spell; you cannot land the perfect boyfriend with a spell; You CANNOT...win...the...Lottery...with...a...spell...IT DOESN'T WORK THAT WAY!!!
There is no such thing as "good" witchcraft and "bad" witchcraft either. ANY witch who has studied long enough realizes this. Only those who have been rasied with biased information believe there are good sides and bad sides of the craft. Yes, nature contains a positive side and negative side, but this doesn't make them bad or good. Rain and thunderstorms produce water to nourish the plant life...the lightning strikes hit trees and create fires to make way for new life. Witchcraft cannot be placed into two black and white forms like Good Magic and Bad Magic. The same spell can be used for both positive and negative intent, yet it's the same spell used.
The intention of the castor is what deems the spell or whatever good or bad, therefore it is up to the caster to determine whether they have good intention or not.
But I digress, I do not believe that a Christian SHOULD be a Witch...there is too much anamosity on both sides to have it work right. But this is just my own little opinion.
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2) It seems that anyone who wishes to claim the title of "Christian Witch" really wants to keep their beliefs in Christianity and in Jesus while still practicing Witchcraft, yet still go to heaven. Do those who practice Christian Witchcraft confess their deeds to their pastor/priest?? I bet they don't...!
I'll admit that in the beginning I toyed with the idea of becoming a Christian Witch as I myself couldn't let myself let go of the Christian tradition...it was hard. But the more I studied, the more I realized I didn't need the masquerade of Christianity hovering around me. More made sense to me the more I studied. The concept of the Devil and Hell went out the window as I now believe the two to be fabricated creations to instill fear to gain followers.
I find it difficult to understand the concept that any Christian would find ANY form of Witchcraft acceptable enough to practice safely, yet still be sure they'll go to the heaven they so want to go to. If by ignoring the warnings stated by their own bible, are they not disobeying their God? AND if by disobeying their God, won't they go to Hell anyway? They're toying with their own soul just to fulfill their own desires. AND this is not what Witchcraft is for. You cannot expect that casting a few spells will fulfill your immediate desires now. It doesn't work that way. You cannot gain the perfect job with a spell; you cannot land the perfect boyfriend with a spell; You CANNOT...win...the...Lottery...with...a...spell...IT DOESN'T WORK THAT WAY!!!
There is no such thing as "good" witchcraft and "bad" witchcraft either. ANY witch who has studied long enough realizes this. Only those who have been rasied with biased information believe there are good sides and bad sides of the craft. Yes, nature contains a positive side and negative side, but this doesn't make them bad or good. Rain and thunderstorms produce water to nourish the plant life...the lightning strikes hit trees and create fires to make way for new life. Witchcraft cannot be placed into two black and white forms like Good Magic and Bad Magic. The same spell can be used for both positive and negative intent, yet it's the same spell used.
The intention of the castor is what deems the spell or whatever good or bad, therefore it is up to the caster to determine whether they have good intention or not.
But I digress, I do not believe that a Christian SHOULD be a Witch...there is too much anamosity on both sides to have it work right. But this is just my own little opinion.
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Christian Wiccans
I now want to address the term "Christian Wiccan".
Yet another term I find hard to swallow (but again, let whomever believe what they want, this is just my reasons for why the two are incompatable).
1) One cannot serve two masters (so to speak). You cannot be fully faithful to the Wiccan deities, AND be fully faithful to the Christian God, as in the bible it states that the Christian God is a vengeful and jealous God ("You shall have no other gods before me," "You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me").- Exodus 20:3, 5
2) Those who claim the title of "Christian Wiccan" like to say that in order to practice this so called Wiccan way, they honor the Wiccan deities in the form of Jesus (The God) and Mary (The Goddess). Somehow I don't see how this works considering Mary was Human. Wouldn't worshipping Mary be a form of Idolatry? Worshipping a Human as a Deity? Somehow I don't see how this works to begin with. But, as I always say, let whomever believe what they want, for it's their belief and everyone has the right to believe what they want, regardless of whether or not I agree.
I now want to address the term "Christian Wiccan".
Yet another term I find hard to swallow (but again, let whomever believe what they want, this is just my reasons for why the two are incompatable).
1) One cannot serve two masters (so to speak). You cannot be fully faithful to the Wiccan deities, AND be fully faithful to the Christian God, as in the bible it states that the Christian God is a vengeful and jealous God ("You shall have no other gods before me," "You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me").- Exodus 20:3, 5
2) Those who claim the title of "Christian Wiccan" like to say that in order to practice this so called Wiccan way, they honor the Wiccan deities in the form of Jesus (The God) and Mary (The Goddess). Somehow I don't see how this works considering Mary was Human. Wouldn't worshipping Mary be a form of Idolatry? Worshipping a Human as a Deity? Somehow I don't see how this works to begin with. But, as I always say, let whomever believe what they want, for it's their belief and everyone has the right to believe what they want, regardless of whether or not I agree.
~~*P.S. Can't ever say I don't provide evidence
The reason there are Christian witches and Christian Wiccans is because they aren't quite as incompatible as one might think. Any direct use of the word witchcraft in the Bible is mistranslated, and not every Christian follows the Bible word for word (actually none do because the Bible is so contradictory it's actually impossible to follow it 100%). To be a Christian, one must merely follow the teachings of Jesus and believe him to be the lord and savior. These beliefs are not incompatible with witchcraft at all, and aren't too incompatible with Wicca. If a Christian rejects those parts of the Bible that condemn witchcraft as attempts by the Church to squash ancient pagan religions, the Christian no longer sees witchcraft as a sin and can practice without guilt. A Christian witch will probably be a little more critical of negative energy than a Pagan witch might be, and will probably filter witchcraft with his or her Christian philosophies, but will still be a witch.
ReplyDeleteChristian Wicca is a little more difficult to find how it works, but the Bible actually only says "No gods before me", which means that no gods can be worshiped as higher than God, but says nothing about alongside or below him. There was a Jewish goddess long ago who was God's consort, and a Christian Wiccan might choose her as the Goddess. Think of the Christian part of the religion to be more of a description of the pantheon being honored. Why is the Christian pantheon any less valid than the Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Norse, Celtic, or other Pagan pantheon? We have no problem accepting Hellenic Wiccans, Roman Wiccans, Kemetic Wiccans, Norse Wiccans, or Celtic Wiccans; what makes Christian Wiccans any different?
Just my own thoughts on Christian Wicca and Christian witchcraft.
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ReplyDeleteWhile the mere word "Witch" may be a mistranslation, the words sorcerer, diviner, occultist, etc, are not one in the same words as Witch, so therefore regardless of if Witch was mistranslated from "poisoner", it still condemns occultic practices, INLCUDING Witchcraft.
ReplyDeleteI thank you for your thoughts, though. And as stated, I'll let whomever believe what they want, that's their perogative. I'm simply stating why I understand the incompatability of the two religions. People are Christian for a reason...because they believe in the Christian God and in Jesus Christ...and both condemn the practice of Witchcraft. You either take the bible as it is, or don't take it at all, otherwise you are not Christian (according to the Church). You can't cherry pick at the bible.
Just going with what I was taught in my 13 years in the Catholic school system, as well as church.
Actually there are tons of deified humans/mortals among pagan religions, Kuan Yin, 8 Immortals, Imhotep,Tanit aka Dido, is a good example, also the Egyptian/Roman/Chinese/Japanese Emperors. Although worshipping a goodess in Christianity is kinda weird....well since they classify themeselves as Christian Pagan, maybe they think its not idolatry because idolatry usually defined as worship of any image or object, well Mary is a person, so maybe just like some neopagans and pagans like Hindus, they believed that a human soul is a piece or part of the souls of God, since they believed that Mary is in heaven so technically her soul is reunite with God so her personality became an aspect of God....I think...
ReplyDeleteI think you missed the point in what I was trying to say. The point was not that it wasn’t possible for one to worship Mary as a Goddess in this idea of “Christian Wicca”…the point was, that it would be considered idolatry; worshipping a human as a deity and a sin in the eyes of the church. And since everyone knows the ten commandments (whether they follow them or not), it clearly states “thou shalt not have any other Gods before me”. It makes little or no sense for a Christian (any Christian) to want to go against the rules of their religion and God. If they want to practice something outside the rules and regulations set down by their God, then they aren’t as faithful to their religion as they like to claim, and would be damned to hell anyways. If someone’s a part of the religion, then it’s only natural that they would want to go to heaven, and in order to get to heaven, they would have to follow the rules set forth by their God. The Christian God forbids occult practices (including Witchcraft), idol worship (including worshipping humans as deities) and the worship of other Gods (whether the “worship-ee” is an actual deity or not). Therefore it would not be appropriate for a Christian to engage in a practice that is clearly forbidden in the religion. And for one to claim they can use Mary as the Goddess, in order to practice Christian Wicca, does not make one faithful to either religion, but instead disgraces BOTH religions.
ReplyDelete